The Benefits Package
Romans 5:1-5
* When most people look to secure employment they have several things on their minds. Beyond wanting to know if this job “fits” their skills and will give them some satisfaction, they want to know the pay, the working conditions, AND they want to know the “benefits” they will receive. This is a big deal today.
* Benefits. Now that’s a word which captures our attention. Vacation, holidays, retirement, and especially insurance are all important to us. And the list goes on.
* However, did you ever stop to consider that when we come to faith in Jesus that we have a “benefits package?” Some people say the “retirement is out of this world.” Seriously, most of us know, understand, and can repeat the two main benefits which we have come to understand about being saved. They are; we miss hell & make heaven. This is true but it is not “the complete package” or, as Paul Harvey might say, “the rest of the story.”
* Turn with me to Romans 5 & let’s read verses numbered one through five. It is my belief that Paul gives us 5 benefits which we need to see and understand. These are important “if” you are a believer in Jesus. However, if you are checking out Jesus, these will be of great interest to you. Let’s Read. (Explain “therefore” in verse one)
* Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Person asked a young accountant who was fresh out of school, "What starting salary were you thinking about?" The Accountant said, "In the neighborhood of 100,000 a year, depending on the benefits package." The interviewer said, "Well, what would you say to a package of 5 weeks vacation, full medical and dental, Company Retirement Fund to 50% of salary, Executive Share Option Scheme, Profit Related Pay and a company car leased every 2 years - say, a 5 series BMW?" The Accountant sat up straight and said, "Wow! Are you kidding?" The interviewer replied, "Yes, but you started it."
* I can say with great confidence that the benefits of a faith in Jesus Christ are beyond any benefit package offered by any employer on earth. Let’s walk through the text and discover some of the benefits we are offered;
1) PEACE WITH GOD – (VS 1) This benefit seems to be lost on today’s culture, because of the attitude we possess.
* In the 21st century in the USA, it is a hard sell to the average person that we are not at peace with God.
* How does the attitude of today differ from days past and even from what the Bible teaches?
* In the Bible the last time mankind was at peace with God was in Eden. Adam’s act of disobedience broke the peace which existed between God and man. Consider this picture; to keep Adam and Eve OUT of the garden, God put an Angel with a “flaming sword” at the gate. What a sign that the peace has been broken. I submit that this picture demonstrate we are not at peace with God. God has one desire, our flesh has a contrary desire, and so like Paul, we say “what I want to do, I don’t, and what I don’t want to do, I do.” This is not only what the Bible teaches us but what mankind has understood throughout history.
* In 1953, Billy Graham wrote a book entitled, “Peace with God.” Not only was it a hot seller but it has now become a classic. Why? Because not too long ago, as a people, we knew and admitted we were at “outs” with God. Today, the desire is to “romanticize” God into a loving Daddy figure who appears to be a cross between Santa Claus and the Easter bunny. The result is an impotent God who accepts what we choose to give, asks little, gives us great latitude in life, and never exercises divine discipline.
* Yet, the Bible teaches us that while God is a God of love, He is also a God of wrath. His wrath is revealed and released against all sin. Guess what, we are all sinners and as such, are subject to His wrath. God will not allow sin in His presence and has proclaimed DEATH to all sin and sinners. This sounds like war.
* Consider this; When God shows me my sin, offers me forgiveness through the shed blood of Jesus and I accept His offer of life, then my peace with Him is restored. The result is I have an ally instead of a foe.
* The scripture teaches us much about peace. The Angels in Luke 2 said, “Peace on earth”. Jesus said, “My peace I leave..” Paul writes, “Love, joy, peace.”
2) POSITION IN GOD – Since we have been declared righteous by our faith, we have been granted access by that same faith into the GRACE (there is that word again) into which we STAND. Think about this; we can stand by faith in grace before the God of all creation! In my mind this word stand is a strong word.
* Think about this; we stand in the very place we don’t deserve to stand—how do we do this? By faith. By faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that faith, we can stand where we don’t deserve and we are made a part of a family in which we don’t deserve to be. In John we read, “To all who received Him, He gave them the rights to become the children of God.”
* Talk about a benefit? When we come to Christ we have the best of both worlds. We are born into the family of God like Jesus says in John 3. But we are also adopted like Paul writes in Ephesians 1.
* Born and Adopted. This means by blood and by law. We can stand in His presence because we are birthed through His Son and we can stand in His presence forever because an adopted child (in those days) could never be disowned. In His love, grace, & mercy, God has made a way for us to stand before Him.
3) PRAISE FOR GOD – Two times in two verses Paul uses the word rejoice. Although in both verses the same Greek word is used, it is true that KJV translates the verse 3 as GLORY. However, the emphasis is clear, whether we think we have a reason or not, we should praise Him or we should rejoice. Do you remember the words that Paul wrote from prison? Philippians 4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS, I’ll say it again, “REJOICE.” We read Paul’s heart when he ends his last letter to the Corinthians and says, (2 Cor 13:11) “Finally, brothers, rejoice..” No matter what comes, “praise God”. But now, he does offers a couple situation for us to be thankful:
* First He says be thankful for the hope in the glory of God. Because of our faith in God through Jesus, we look forward to the day of our glorification. We will be changed to be like Him (1 John), in a perfect place.
* Next, He says be thankful for our afflictions. Whoa! How exactly do I praise God for the struggles in my life? Yea I know that Paul says, “Rejoice in Affliction” and I know that James says, “Count it all joy”, but just exactly how do I do this? The answer is clear.
* The same way a mother endures childbirth, the same way martyrs of the have endured painful deaths, and the very same way Jesus saw the joy set before Him, He endured the cross for me. The joy which He saw was the end result you and me coming to faith. Jesus found joy in the cross because of the outcome.
* We are to praise God in the good times because of the hope (that is the assurance, the blessed Hope) He’s given to us. We are to praise God in the times of struggle because out of those some wonderful things happen in and for us. That brings us to the 4th benefit.
4) PLAN FROM GOD – All of our lives we have heard, “God has a plan for you.” In fact most of us can recite the Jeremiah 29:11 passages (“for I know the plans I have for you”). God plans for each of us to “grow up”, “mature”, and become strong people of FAITH. Paul gives us God’s plan to accomplish this.
* It just a thought but have you ever considered that the times in history when the Church was the strongest, possessed the greatest influence, and reached the most people for Christ were NOT during times like we have today in America. When the Christian church has an ‘easy’ go of it, somehow the supernatural, spiritual, and significant power of the church is non-existent. It is only during times of affliction that the power of God is unleashed in and through the church.
* Case in Point; This past week I heard John Whaley (missionary out of North Highlands) speak at our Pastor’s conference. He was telling of the work which God was doing over in the area of Iran. He told of a little boy seeing a vision of Jesus and then almost apologized to us because in the USA church this is almost consider “Charismatic” but it is expected over there. Please listen; God isn’t any more powerful over there. They believe it and expect it and we don’t. Seems to me the “ASK” principle is being employed.
* Look at God’s plan for us to become mature and complete, lacking nothing. Look at these four stages; Affliction, Endurance, Character, Hope. When the struggles come we can run away, around, or through. One thing about running from a problem is this; when you return the problem is generally still there. In progressing through the problem endurance becomes part of the mantra. Impatience is a sign of Immaturity. It’s like our little Piper girl, “I want it, want it my way, and want it NOW.” At the risk of being offensive, she already sounds like a Baptist. Yet when we begin exercising endurance or patience we begin to develop Character. A person of character is a person who can be counted on to do the “right thing.” It’s not one who does right when people are looking; it’s one who does the right thing because it’s right. Character always is the grandchild of affliction or struggle. Character, when it is proven, gives hope. Because in this stage of development I can see beyond the struggle, beyond my patience being tried and tested, beyond my need to possess Character and I understand the “joy” set before me through the struggle, just like Jesus did.
* This is God’s path for every believer. Candidly, some get hung up in one of the stages along the path. The process becomes too painful, too trying, or too demanding. Yet, short changing the process is to stop growing. The path God lays out is the best ever designed to help us become all that we can be. It’s a great benefit to possessing faith. One more benie…
5) PROMISE BY GOD – In being declared righteous by faith you enjoy the peace with, the position in, the praise for, and the path of God. All these benefits bring hope, the blessed hope for your life. This hope will not be disappointing. Why? In it you’ll find the greatest benefit of all, “The Love of God.” This love has been spilled out into your life. It is a love for God, a love for His church, a love for people outside of the church, a love for His word. This love’s crowning achievement is not simply when you see the pearly gates and the face of Jesus, it’s when you influence someone else to make the same decision. To see a person come in the family is a rush.
* Having given you this laundry list of the “benefits” of faith I need to remind each of us of one thing. Let me do it in a hypothetical story form;
* Let’s say you and I were looking for a job. We decided to go to Montgomery and apply at the Hyundai plant. As we arrived they sat us down in the lobby, gave us an application, an employee’s handbook, a job description and gave us instructions on what to do. We were to fill out the application, read the handbook and job description, wait for the interview, and that we would be hired because they are really short-handed. Well, we filled out the application, read the handbook and about the job, and then got super excited about this great job opportunity. The interviewer came and spoke to us about the job and did, in fact, offer us a job. You, being the smarter of the two, immediately say, “YES.” On the other hand I respond, “Do I have to make this decision today?” “NO”…well, when will these benefits begin? Know what he says, “not till you become an employee of this company.”
* You will never have peace with God until you, by faith, become a member of God’s family and through your faith be declared righteous. What will you do?
