Fringe Benefits
(Romans 5:1-11)
1. Healthcare has gotten out of hand.
2. Many of us get our medications via the internet from foreign countries to save money. Most popular: Canada, New Zealand and Australia…medicine from…down under…
3. Healthcare insurance is so high that many people gravitate toward certain jobs mostly for the insurance benefit that goes along with the position.
4. Corporations would rather offer time and a half to their employees than hire additional personnel because it is cheaper than paying an additional healthcare benefit.
5. The fringe benefit of good insurance is a major factor in today’s economy.
6. Many people show interest in the Gospel because of its fringe benefits: eternal life and deliverance from the wrath of God.
7. But the main focus of the Gospel is a restored relationship with God through receiving the righteousness of Christ: everything else can be labeled, “fringe benefits,” important as they are.
Main idea: When we come to Christ in saving faith, we are justified (declared righteous). Our sins are forgiven and we receive the righteousness of Christ. But justification carries with it many fringe benefits. Being Right With God is the Foundation for A Rich Life.
I. ___Peace___(Shalom) With God (1)
1. The dual nature of Messiah being the Prince of Peace
(1) Personal peace ___NOW___
a. If you think of all the money we spend to find peace, it amounts to a fortune. I do not have all the answers, but I know this: men, women, and young people who spend time with the Lord have more peace than those who do not. A walk with the Lord is not a cure all, but it sure makes a difference.
b. Phil. 4: 4-7 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
c. Physical causes: God built into human nature a reward for praying: serotonin; that’s why even unbelievers feel a peace when they pray.
d. Spiritual causes: we access the very throne room of God, HS intercedes…
(2) Literal ___PEACE__ on Earth during the Millennium
Isaiah 11:6
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling [ 11:6 Hebrew; Septuagint [ lion will feed ] ] together; and a little child will lead them.
Isaiah 65:25
The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD .
2. What is so unique about peace with ___GOD___?
Romans 8:7
because the mind set on the flesh is [James 4:4] hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
Colossians 1:21
And although you were [Rom 5:10; Eph 2:3, 12] formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,
Romans 1: 18, The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men
3. One aspect of Spiritual Maturity is learning to experience the peace of God here and now.
Being Right With God is the Foundation for A Rich Life.
II. Standing in the Pampered ___Position___ of Grace (2a)
1. We are exempt from rejection
2. The picture: entering a King’s chamber, living in his palace as a family member
3. We all crave acceptance….teens crave to be accepted by a certain peer group…adults compete with the Joneses….
4. But our acceptance with God is what matters most…the Joneses are just like you and won’t go on forever…the peer group might be made up of teens who are fearful and insecure with anyone who is different…
5. As Christians, we have to sometimes just get over it. Our privileged status with God should do more for your self-esteem than winning a contest, being popular, or retiring with a big bankroll…
6. We should be motivated to match our blessings in our living:
ILL. A self-made millionaire Eugene Lang, who greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how he could get these predominantly black and Puerto Rican children even to look at him.
- Scrapping his notes, he decided to speak to them from his heart. "Stay in school," he admonished, "and I’ll help pay the college tuition for every one of you." At that moment the lives of these students changed. For the first time they had hope. Said one student, "I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling." Nearly 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school. Parade Magazine. http://www.christianglobe.com/illustrations/
7. This pampered privilege should motivate us to reach our potential.
Being Right With God is the Foundation for A Rich Life.
III. Rejoicing in Our ___Hope___ (2)
1. Hope means anticipation, not remote _____possibility______
(1) understood properly, hope is CRUCIAL to motivation
(2) dead marriage: no hope for improvement
(3) a dead faith: no anticipation of God using us, eternal rewards
(4) everyone talks about faith and love, but hope is a forgotten child
2. What we are waiting for: the ____glory____ of God
(1) one day God will manifest His glory…His kingdom will come
(2) all those people who thought we were fools to make Jesus the Lord of our lives will be quiet, as God is vindicated, and with Him, all His servants
(3) this is actually the flavor of Philippians
Philippians 2
10 so that at the name of Jesus (1) EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of (2) those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is (3) Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
3. So many Christians are as aimless as the world…
(1) work, watch TV, save up for retirement, make trips to Florida and die…
(2) if that’s what life is about, why bother?
ILL: The school system in a large city had a program to help children keep up with their school work during stays in the city’s hospitals. One day a teacher who was assigned to the program received a routine call asking her to visit a particular child. She took the child’s name and room number and talked briefly with the child’s regular class teacher. "We’re studying nouns and adverbs in his class now," the regular teacher said, "and I’d be grateful if you could help him understand them so he doesn’t fall too far behind."
- The hospital program teacher went to see the boy that afternoon. No one had mentioned to her that the boy had been badly burned and was in great pain. Upset at the sight of the boy, she stammered as she told him, "I’ve been sent by your school to help you with nouns and adverbs." When she left she felt she hadn’t accomplished much.
- But the next day, a nurse asked her, "What did you do to that boy?" The teacher felt she must have done something wrong and began to apologize. "No, no," said the nurse. "You don’t know what I mean. We’ve been worried about that little boy, but ever since yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He’s fighting back, responding to treatment. It’s as though he’s decided to live."
- Two weeks later the boy explained that he had completely given up hope until the teacher arrived. Everything changed when he came to a simple realization. He expressed it this way: "They wouldn’t send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they?" Bits & Pieces, July 1991. http://www.christianglobe.com/illustrations/
Being Right With God is the Foundation for A Rich Life.
IV. __Assurance___ of God’s Love (3-11)
1. God’s love is revealed to us subjectively by His ___SPIRIT___ as we suffer for the faith (3-5)
(1) I agree with John Stott: the idea here is the unique sufferings we face as a consequence of following __CHRIST__, not the sufferings of life in general
---too many Christians are unwilling to be ridiculed or put down; cave in…
(2) these sufferings produce perseverance, ___character____, & hope
(3) hope in turn releases God’s Love in us through the Holy Spirit
2. God’s love is revealed to us objectively by the ____sacrifice____of Christ (6-11)
(1) our condition before salvation, helpless….do you believe that?
(2) at the right time…do you believe that? Christ’s death intentional, planned
(3) Christ died for the ungodly…are you ungodly?
(4) the salvation of sinners described as:
a. hope given to the hopeless (6)
b. love which targets the sinner (8)
c. blood which averts the wrath of God (9)
d. reconciliation between two enemies (10)
3. Listen to this:
(1) You do not know God loves you because of what happens in life. You know God loves you because of the price He paid to purchase you on Calvary.
(2) You will see and experience many things that will make you doubt God’s love; look to Calvary…
Being Right With God is the Foundation for A Rich Life.
CONCLUSION
1. Are you right with God?
2. If so, do you access His peace? The password is prayer and devotions.
3. Do you realize how pampered you are? Do you respond by striving for your spiritual potential? Do you look forward to God’s glory being revealed, or do you live like everyone else except that you go to church and don’t swear?
4. Do you anticipate that life will be unfair and sometimes cruel? Do you believe God loves you because of Calvary?
5. If so, you have a rich life indeed.
