Peace with God
Romans 5:1-11
Last Sunday Pastor Steve introduced our church's theme for 2013: Peace-making. Peace is very important to all of us. Peace of mind instead of worry and anxiety. Peace in relationships instead of bickering and bitterness. Peace between countries instead of war and terrorism. Peace with God instead of guilt, shame or fear.
We all can use a little more peace in our lives. And I'd like for us to consider peace with God this morning. Peace with God means to live as a friend of God, rather than an enemy of God.
There are people who overlook the need for peace with God. When Henry David Thoreau was dying, he was asked if he had made peace with God yet. Thoreau replied, “I never knew that we had argued.”
Everyday we argue with God. We choose to do life our own way rather than God’s way. We choose to come to God on our own terms rather than on God’s terms. In fact, the Bible tells us all have offended God. That's the bad news. The good news is that the Bible also tells us how to restore peace with God.
Our text this morning is Romans 5:1-11. Let me read it, give a bit of context and then share with us the good news of peace with God. (READ Romans 5:1-11)
The book of Romans was a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome. In this letter, Paul helps the readers understand that we all need peace with God. And in the verses we read, we see peace with God requires faith, results in hope and rests on love. Let's take a closer look.
First, we see that peace with God requires faith. Verses 1-2a, and 9-11.
All of us have offended God by disregarding God and His ways. We can try to justify ourselves in one of at least three ways. Justify means to make right by removing the offense by proof or payment.
When we do wrong against God, we have the need to justify ourselves. First, we can pretend that there is no God or if there is, we have not offended Him. That's how some justify themselves. It's called denial.
Second, we can try to perfect our lives so that we offend God less. But we still have offended God. It's called partial denial. Or third, we can partake in what God has done to justify us. And that is what Paul calls us to do.
God knew we need to make things right, but we didn't have enough to pay. So He paid our penalty, came in the form of a man, Jesus Christ, and died on the cross. Verse 9 tells us, "We have now been justified by His blood." And verse 1 tells us we can partake in God's justification by faith. By simply trusting God's payment for us on the cross.
Sometime ago, I talked to a college student who newly put His trust in Jesus' death on the cross to have peace with God. When he told his dad, his dad asked him a good question. The question was this: "How were people justified before Jesus died on the cross? And how can people who never hear of Jesus be justified?"
Paul answers those questions in Romans, chapters 1 through 4 and summarizes it in Chapter 5, verse 1: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith." Justified by trusting God to pay for what we could not.
Paul speaking of how Abraham, who lived thousands of years before Jesus, could be justified before God. Romans 4:5, "However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness."
In other words, if a person trusts God to pay for them, even if they don't know that God paid through Jesus on the cross, the person can be justified. Next week, we'll look at the remainder of Romans 5 and discover why Jesus is the only sufficient payment. Nothing else will do.
First, we see peace with God requires faith. Second, we see peace with God results in hope. Verses 2b - 4.
Paul talks about hope for the future and hope for the present for those who have peace with God. For the future, we have the hope of being with God in heaven. For the present, we have hope of being with God in suffering.
All of us will meet our Maker. The question is, will that meeting in Heaven be a fearful one or a joyful one? For the people who have peace with God, the hope of meeting our Maker brings joy. For others, the hope of that meeting brings fear.
Here's what else. All of us will suffer. We suffer accidents, illnesses, evils and losses. The Bible tells us, and our experience confirms, that we live in a broken world and in a broken body. The question is, will our suffering lead us to grow or give up?
For those who have peace with God, suffering can lead to growth. Growth in perseverance, growth in character, growth in hope. For those who do not have peace with God, suffering can lead to giving up. Giving up on everything and everyone, giving up character, and giving up hope.
A number of years ago, a Christian college student was beaten up and robbed. He first wondered if the incident was God's punishing him for his sins. Then he wondered if the incident was God abandoning him. The last time we talked, he told me he didn't believe in God anymore.
It is so important for us to understand that when bad things happen to us, they are the facts of life in a broken world. They are not God's punishment or abandonment. We need to separate the facts of life from the acts of God.
Here is the acts of God. He paid for our sins through the cross, and given us peace with Himself. He would not make us pay again for our sins, nor would He walk away from us when we suffer. In our suffering, God doesn't want us to give up but to grow up. God is there to help us persevere, grow in faith, hope and love.
First, we see peace with God requires faith. Second, we see peace with God results in hope. Third, we see peace with God rests on God's love. Verses 5-8
Paul is saying that peace with God is not just about payment for our offenses against God. It's about God's love for us. He loved us while we were sinners.
I grew up as a latch key kid. My parents worked long hours and gave me keys to the house since I was in elementary school. I would let myself in and out of the house. Sometimes I would not go home right after school.
Once I went to Walgreen after school. I shoplifted a candy bar. The manager saw me in the security camera, and stopped me before I could get out. He warned me never to come back or he would call the police. After more than 30 years, I still have not been back to that Walgreen.
Before I had peace with God, I thought God was like the video camera at a Walgreen store. Waiting to catch me do something wrong. After having peace with God, becoming a Christian for a number of years, I saw God like the video camera held by a proud father. Waiting to catch me do something well.
But the longer His Spirit lives in me, the more I realize God isn’t waiting for me to perform at all. In fact, God isn’t even holding a camera. He is holding me.
While the Holy Spirit gives me the feeling that God loves me unconditionally, the historical death of Jesus Christ gives me the fact that God loves me unconditionally. If you ever wonder whether God can love a sinner like you, remember the Holy Spirit and historical sacrifice of God.
Let me close with a story of two best friends who became enemies. One of them came up with an idea for his school project. Before the project was due, his best friend in the same class stole the idea, turned it in early and got an A for it.
The one who came up with the idea was right to be angry. The friend who got an A regretted what he did, but he wasn't sure what to do now. Should he forget his best friend and move on with other friends? Or should he do something to make it up to his friend? Or should he talk with friend to find out what he can do to restore the friendship?
The story can have one of three endings. And you get to finish the story however you want. The story is really about God's relationship with mankind.
We stole the place and took the credit that God deserves. He is our Maker, and we have disregarded Him and His ways. We have made ourselves the god of our lives. And God was right to be angry.
Will you forget him and move on? Will you try to win Him back by your own effort? Or will you simply talk to Him and be restored on His terms?
For those who want to talk to God and be restored on His terms, you can do that with the words I pray that expresses your desire: "Dear God, I don't want to ignore YOU or take Your place as God of my life. I believe through Jesus' death YOU've already paid the penalty for my offenses against You. I want to accept your hand of friendship, to have peace with YOU."
If you've prayed that prayer for the first time, will you let me or one of the pastors know? The Bible tells us that the angels in Heaven celebrates when an enemy of God becomes a friend of God. We want to celebrate with you and provide some resources for you to grow in your relationship with God.
