"To Die For"
Romans 5:6-8 (NLT)
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Intro: How many have heard the expression "to die For". You know like when someone is describing that is really good.
. I saw a menu one time that was highlighting a dessert that was called death by chocolate. It was so packed with chocolate that it was described in this way.
. The ultimate is when something is to die for. When you are describing something that is so wonderful or magnificent that you say that it is something worth dying for.
. There are not many things worth dying for are there?
. When it comes down to it, not many people would really die for a piece of cake.
. Many times, love of something is demonstrated in sacrifice.
. This guy says to his girlfriend:
“I’d climb the highest mountain for you,
“I’d swim the deepest ocean,
“I’d give my very life for you”
She says, “Oh, honey, that’s so wonderful. But what I really need is for you to help me clean up the garage on Saturday.”
And he says, “Are you kidding? Now you’re just trying to take advantage of me!”
It’s easy to say “I’d die for you,” when we’re pretty darn sure we won’t ever be called upon to fulfill our vow.
. Our love is truly proven by our sacrifice though.
On the southern border of the empire of Cyrus, there lived a great chieftain named Cagular who tore to shreds & completely defeated the various detachments of Cyrus’ army sent to subdue him.
Finally the emperor, amassing his whole army, marched down, surrounded & overwhelmed Cagular's forces, captured him & his wife, & brought them to the capital for execution.
On the scheduled day for their execution, he & his wife were brought to the judgment chamber - Cagular, a fine looking man of more than 6 feet, with a noble manner about him - a magnificent specimen of a man.
So impressed was Cyrus with his appearance, that he said to Cagular: "What would you do should I spare your life?"
"Your Majesty, if you spared my life, I would return to my home & remain your obedient servant as long as I lived."
"What would you do if I spared the life of your wife?"
"Your Majesty, if you spared the life of my wife, I would die for you."
So moved was the emperor by Cagular's words & attitude that he freed them both & returned Cagular to his homeland to serve as its governor.
Upon arriving home, Cagular reminisced about the trip with his wife. "Did you notice the marble at the entrance of the palace? Did you see the tapestry on the walls as we went down the corridor into the throne room? And did you see the throne on which the emperor sat? It must have been carved from one lump of pure gold."
His wife replied: "I really don’t remember any of that."
"Well," said Cagular in amazement, "What do you remember?"
His wife looked at him & said, "I remember only the face of the man who said he would die for me."
This morning folks, I want to talk to you about the one who showed his love for you and me by not just saying He would die for us but actually did.
. Easter is just around the corner. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, the time when we remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and his death on the cross.
. Then on Easter, we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
. We have our Easter musical and communion next Sunday so today I wanted to see just who Jesus loved enough t "to die for".
. Our scripture this morning is out of Romans chapter 5:6-8
. Clay has been preaching through Romans and he has aptly named it Theology 101. Romans clearly lays out the foundation of our Christian faith.
. Paul is writing to the church in Rome, making sure that they understand Salvation.
. Let's look at our scripture.
6When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
7Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.
8But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
. Folks, mankind was not nor are we good enough for Christ to die for us.
. Look at verse 6 again
6When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
. Without Christ, without Jesus, we would be lost.
. We could never be good enough to stand in the presence of God. We are helpless without Christ's love for us.
. During the war in Vietnam, a young West Point graduate was sent over to lead a group of new recruits into battle. He did his job well, trying his best to keep his team from ambush and death. But one night when they had been under attack, he was unable to get just one of his men to safety.
The soldier left behind had been severely wounded. From their trenches, the young lieutenant and his men could hear him in his pain. They all knew any attempt to save him – even if it was successful -- would almost certainly mean death for the would-be rescuer.
Eventually the young lieutenant crawled out of hiding toward the dying man. He got to him safely but was killed before he could save himself.
After the rescued man returned to the States, the lieutenant’s parents heard that he was in their vicinity. Wanting to know this young man whose life was spared at such a great cost to them, they invited him to dinner.
When their honored guest arrived, he was obviously drunk. He was rowdy and obnoxious. He told off-color jokes and showed no gratitude for the sacrifice of the man who died to save him. The grieving parents did the best they could to make the man’s visit worthwhile, but their efforts went unrewarded.
Their guest finally left. As the dad closed the door behind him, the mother collapsed in tears and cried, "To think that our precious son had to die for somebody like that."
. That's what Paul is telling us.
. Even when we were beyond hope, when we were helpless, Jesus chose to die for us.
. You see folks, we, you and I, are "to die for"
. Christ died for us while we were still sinners
Not, “once our good deeds had outweighed our bad ones”
Not, “once he saw we were basically good people”
While we were still sinners
While we had not the slightest interest in Him
But while we were helpless to save ourselves
. Jesus died for us.
. That's the beginning of the Easter Story.
. You see, without the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, there could be no resurrection. There would be no Easter.
. The ultimate gift of love that you can give a person is to die for them.
. Look at verse 7 again:
7Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.
So if someone isn’t just a righteous person, but a truly good person, someone like Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King or Mother Theresa
Would you die for one of them? I still don’t know if I would
Few would be willing to die for someone just because they were righteous, or even because we saw them as truly good.
The only reason most people might to die for another is out of love.
But God’s love exceeds the most noble expression of human love
He loved us enough to die for us, not when we were righteous or good, but JUST because He loved us.
. We tell people that God is love and that He loves them.
. They say yeah yeah, I have heard it all before. Prove it, prove to me that God loves me.
. The Easter story proves it:
. The Easter story shows us the heart of God. What God is really like.
Vs 8 tells us all we need to know about God.
. 8But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
. By having Christ die on a cross for us.
. I read this one time in an article.
. "To stare at the cross is to get the clearest, deepest look into the heart of God."
. And what do we see as we gaze into the heart of God?
Is it judgment?
No, although those who reject His love will be judged
.Is it “You lousy sinner!”?
No, even though all of us have sinned “and have fallen (so far) short of the glory of God.”
We have all rejected Him at some time.
.When we “get the clearest, deepest look into the heart of God” what we see, what we hear, is “I love you.”
God is saying, “When I think of what I love the most, I think of you! You’re “to die for”.
. I want to close with a story this morning.
The mother of a nine-year-old boy named Mark received a phone call in the middle of the afternoon. It was the teacher from her son’s school.
"Mrs. Smith, something unusual happened today in your son’s third grade class. Your son did something that surprised me so much that I thought you should know about it immediately." That was not a particularly comforting thing to say to her.
The teacher continued, "Nothing like this has happened in all my years of teaching. This morning I was teaching a lesson on creative writing. And as I always do, I tell the story of the ant and the grasshopper:
"The ant works hard all summer and stores up plenty of food. But the grasshopper plays all summer and does no work.
"Then winter comes. The grasshopper begins to starve because he has no food. So he begs, ’Please Mr. Ant, you have so much food. Please let me eat, too.’" Then I say, "Boys and girls, your job is to write the end of the story."
"Your son, Mark, raised his hand. ’Teacher, may I draw a picture?’
"’Well, yes, Mark, if you like, you may draw a picture. But first you must write the ending to the story.’
"As in all the years past, most of the students said the ant shared his food through the winter, and both the ant and the grasshopper lived. A few children wrote, ’No, Mr. Grasshopper. You should have worked in the summer. Now, I have just enough food for myself.’ So the ant lived and the grasshopper died.
"But your son ended the story in a way different from any other child, ever. He wrote, ’So the ant gave all of his food to the grasshopper; the grasshopper lived through the winter. But the ant died.’
"And the picture? At the bottom of the page, Mark had drawn three crosses."
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The cross of Christ shows that He loves us and that we are
"To Die For"
Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources:
The Holy Bible, NLT
Mary Lewis; A Love To Die For, sermon central
Melvin Newland, Palm Sunday-Almost, sermon central
