Did you hear about the guy who 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 take out the trash".
And he says, “Are you kidding? Now you’re just trying to take advantage of me!”
Talk is cheap. Action requires true commitment.
I)God demonstrates His love for the lost - Vs.6
Rom 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
A) He loves the helpless
Helpless (NAS)
Powerless (NIV)
Weak (RSV)
Without strength (NKJV)
Utterly helpless, with no way of escape (TLB)
The word usually refers to a physical weakness – here spiritual.
Man’s nature is :
Helpless.
Hopeless.
Unable and incapable of saving itself.
Man may change on the outside by :
Developing disciplines.
Following moral philosophies.
Becoming educated.
Learning new patterns of speaking and thinking.
This modifies his actions but doesn’t change his nature.
Man has tried legislation : resulting in overcrowded jails.
Man has tried education : now man commits white collar crime.
Man has tried social reformation (Prohibition) : it only leads to a black market.
But his nature is still fallen.
The Bible does not teach "God helps those who help themselves."
"God helps those who admit they can’t help themselves."
When you come to the point where you say "I can’t do it", (end of the rope)
He says "I have been waiting for you to get here so I can help you.
B) His love is perfectly timed (in the incarnation)
Dr. A.T. Robertson “At the proper time, the fullness of time”.
Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.
At the right time the Father sent the Son:
If our greatest need had been information,
God would have sent us an educator.
If your greatest need had been technology,
God would have sent us an engineer.
If our greatest need had been money,
God would have sent us an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer.
But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.
The time appointed by the Father, agreed to by Christ, fixed in prophecy,
There are over 300 prophecies about the coming of Christ :
It was told :
The time of His birth – Dan 9:25
Where He would be born - Mic 5:2
The manner of His birth - Is 7:14
- all were fulfilled in perfect timing.
At times it may seem as though He has forgotten you.
He knows about your problems and is working in your life.
His timing was right for sending a savior, He is still on time today.
C) He loves the ungodly
He didn’t die for Himself – He had no sin to die for.
He didn’t die for angels – they don’t need salvation.
He died for man.
He didn’t die for the self-righteous, they have no need of Him.
He died for the ungodly.
Mark 2:17 ...They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
The ungodly who repents :
- Realizes he has a need that is beyond himself.
- Can’t rely on his own morality.
- Loves God out of gratefulness for deliverance from wrath.
What should our response be ?
Gratefulness realizing the punishment we deserved.
C.H. Spurgeon September 6, 1874 - "Christ’s death for the ungodly is the grandest argument to make the ungodly love him when they are saved. To love Christ is the mainspring of obedience in men.... No doubt all of us require to know the threatenings of the wrath of God; but that which soonest touches my heart is Christ’s free love to an unworthy one like myself."
What affect does His love have on my life ?
It makes me
Love Him.
Have an abiding relationship.
Want to live a life of obedience and good works.
II) God demonstrates the extent of His love - Vs. 7
Rom 5:7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
A) The extent of man’s love
56 men signed the Declaration of Independence.
Their conviction resulted in untold sufferings for themselves and their families.
5 were captured by the British and tortured before they died.
12 had their homes ransacked and burned.
2 lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army.
9 fought and died from wounds of the war.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. His fields and mill were destroyed. For over a year, he lived in forest and caves, returning home only to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later, he died from exhaustion.
Some are willing to die for another - but it is a risk.
What if they don’t appreciate it ?
What if they forget about it ?
B) The extent of God’s love
The difference between man’s love and God’s love is... :
Man’s love is limited, God’s is unlimited.
Man’s is imperfect (He wants something in return, ulterior motives, etc...), God’s is perfect.
Man’s is conditional, God’s is unconditional.
Long ago, there ruled in a foreign land, a wise and good king. He loved his people. He wanted to know how they lived. He wanted to know about their hardships. Often he dressed in the clothes of a working man or a beggar, and went to the homes of the poor. No one whom he visited thought that he was their ruler. One time he visited a very poor man who lived in a cellar. He ate the coarse food the poor man ate. He spoke cheerful, kind words to him. Then he left. Later he visited the poor man again and disclosed his identity by saying, "I am your king!" The king thought the man would surely ask for some gift or favor, but he didn’t. Instead he said, "You left your palace and your glory to visit me in this dark, dreary place. You ate the course food I ate. You brought gladness to my heart! To others you have given your rich gifts. To me you have given yourself!"
God is willing to make any accommodation to have fellowship with us. Even becoming human.
III) God demonstrates His love in the death of Christ
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
His death...
A) Was vicarious
He died in our place.
When Adam and Eve sinned they plunged the entire human race into sin.
Sin has passed on through each generation.
We deserved the full punishment of God’s wrath
Ever since man sinned, God has shown that He would provide a vicarious sacrifice.
Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.
Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
As a result of His vicarious death we are reconciled.
We are friends with God,
We have peace with God,
We have relationship / fellowship with Him.
His death...
B) Was satisfaction
It satisfied the justice of God.
Two of God’s attributes are holiness and justice.
He can not deny these in justifying the sinner.
The penalty for sin is death - it had to be paid.
God does not merely overlook sin, minimize it, or ignore it.
He doesn’t lower His standard of holiness.
Christ’s death satisfied the demands of the Law of God. Ro. 10:3
Only through Christ’s death could God be just while justifying the sinner.
It was a permanent satisfaction :
In the O.T. Sacrifices merely covered over sin – Atonement.
The idea of atonement is not found in the N.T. (Ro 5:11 = reconciliation)
In the N.T. The sacrifice of Christ is a propitiation for sin.
Heb 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
C) Was not what we deserved
Paul uses the language of a paradox.
This seems to contradict reason.
The Bible is filled with paradoxes :
If you want to become : rich, become poor,
strong, become weak
If you want to save your life / lose it.
Christ died for the least deserving.
This is God’s love demonstrated to us.
What are we going to do with it?
