-We talk in the Christian church, especially the protestant church, about salvation
-However, I don’t think that we really know what we are talking about sometimes
-Salvation means that we were in danger
-What was the cause of our danger?
-Or maybe better yet, from what did Jesus save us?
-Most of the time, I think, we answer from our sins
-But is that really the case or is that the full story {PAUSE}
-Have you ever been at odds with another person?
-Maybe they did something to offend you and it took a lot of time and energy to come to forgive them.
-Do you remember ever going up to them and letting them know that you forgave them and they were oblivious to the fact that you had been offended? {PAUSE}
-I had a similar circumstance to that happen to me one time.
-It was near the beginning of my second year at seminary.
-I had shown up to a class early. One of my classmates was sitting in the classroom already. I sat down and we began to talk. We had talked before but never at great length. After a few minutes, he blurts out, “You know you’re okay.”
-I was like, “okay, thanks. But what’s up with that?”
-He told me that he, along with a few of my classmates, couldn’t figure me out during our entire first year together. They didn’t know what to make of my energy level and my going around and high-fiving everybody before class and giving people hugs. I guess they thought it was some sort of act or something.
-After a year, he finally figured out that I was being genuine.
-I had no idea that that was even a question. I was stunned.
-The point is that sometimes we can be oblivious to a reality or in this case a perception of reality and sometimes that new knowledge can be quite shocking {PAUSE}
-Our text today reveals some potentially shocking truths for us
-The first one is the answer to the question from what did Jesus save us?
-Like I said earlier, most of us would answer from our sins
-And that is partially correct
-You might say from hell
-That also is partially correct
-You could also partially answer correctly, from ourselves
-Our text says, however, that Jesus saved us from God
-In verse 1, Paul writes to the Romans that, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
-We know that our sins have separated us from God the Father
-However, we often don’t think about that reality
-We focus so much on Jesus, who we know loves us and cares about us, and forget about the God who flooded the earth destroying all but Noah and his family
-We forget about the God who destroyed all of Sodom and Gomorrah except for Lot and his daughters
-We forget about the God who judged the Old Testament Jews as being unworthy to remain in the promised land and had them taken into captivity by heathens
-We forget about the God who killed Ananias and Sapphira on the spot when they lied to Peter about the price of the land they sold and offered as an offering to the church
-We forget about how much God hates our sins
-Any one of them could send us to hell
-Any one of them brings out the worst of God’s holy judgement {PAUSE}
-Fortunately, for our sake, Christ came and fulfilled the demands of God’s holy judgement by not only keeping the law perfectly but also suffering and dying in our place.
-That way, God no longer needs to punish us because of our sins but rewards us because of Jesus’ righteousness with eternal life {PAUSE}
-Do you like to suffer?
-Do you like to be uncomfortable?
-I don’t
-We have a tendency to run from situations, places and people that make us feel uncomfortable
-However, our text says that we rejoice in our sufferings
-That is another shocking revelation from God {PAUSE}
-I love the commercials for Southwest Airlines
-They show people in various uncomfortable situations and then it asks, “Want to get away?”
-That is our tendency without Christ
-However, with Christ, we can hang tough knowing that God has our back and will help us to grow through our struggles
-I was talking to a guy who was going through struggles at work one time
-I shared with him that sometimes we struggle with injustices but the truth generally wins out in the end but most of the time we have to wait
-I asked him how Martin Luther was able to withstand the abuse he took taking on the whole Catholic church, the pope and the emperor.
-I asked him how Martin Luther King Jr. was able to withstand the injustices taking on a culture
-Because they knew they were right and they knew God was behind them
-Like our text says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
-If God loved us so much He made a way for us to be saved from His wrath by Christ’s suffering and death, how much more will He sustain us and strengthen us through our sufferings
-God won’t give us more than He is able to help us get through, as we trust in Him and look to Him for strength
-You see, in verse 6, Paul uses my favorite biblical word
-It is kairos
-It is translated, “at just the right time”
-God’s timing is perfect
-We can be late for a meeting or an appointment
-I hate being late for things
-The morning after I got back from my TDY to Creech, I had an eye appt scheduled but I forgot to check my blackberry the night before
-I slept in the next morning. I woke up when I was supposed to be at my appt.
-I jumped into some clothes and got there just before they were going to report me as a no show
-We can be late but God’s always on time
-His timing is perfect
-He will allow us to go through difficulties in order to grow our faith in Him
-That He will save us not only from Himself but also from our problems is a shocking truth
-Thanks be to God
