Title: Rejoice, for Today is the Day of Salvation!
Scripture: Romans 5:1-8
5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Introduction:
The stone was rolled away. Then later, Jesus appeared to Mary. A little later, Jesus appeared here and there. Finally, he appeared at a gathering of the disciples. Why doesn’t it appear more organized? Why not have all those disciples gathered in one place so that He could have gotten to them quicker? Because they were not ready! There hearts were not ready to see HIM! It wasn’t time.
Moses, a Jew from birth, grew up in the court of Pharaoh. When he was grown, he killed an Egyptian soldier then ran away to the desert. There he met he and married his wife and began a new life. Then, God calls to him through the burning bush. Why didn’t God come to Moses when he first sat down on that rock by that well in Midian? Because Moses was not ready! His heart was not ready for God! It wasn’t time.
A man boarded an early plane because his company had wrapped up business early, and he wanted to be home for Christmas. He left Indonesia at dawn on the morning that the great Tsunami hit the hotel that he stayed in. And, a year later, this same man decided to get to a business meeting early, in London. He took the subway or ‘tube’ as they call it. He got off at his stop and, and a few minutes later, that same train blew up.
We live in time. We live based on time and timing. We live based on God’s time, though God does not live in time as we know it. We are totally dependent upon time, and are dependent upon the sun, moon, and stars, with which of course base our time on.
At just the right time rice is harvested. At just the right time, the baker takes the bread out of the oven. At just the right time the birds fly south to escape the cold weather. At just the right moment in history a baby is brought into this world.
Our scripture reading tells us that, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
I have often wondered about that verse, I mean the time aspect. Yet, I don’t have the ready resources available to research what would have happened if Jesus came at some other time in history. I must take Paul at his word and believe that it was just the right time.
It would be hard to speculate about Jesus appearing later than He did, simply because history is very dependent upon His appearing at the time that He did appear.
So, we have to go with the time that He did appear, which brings us to the reason that He came to this earth. And, that is because of what happened in the Garden of Eden.
It’s been said that in the Garden of Eden, man ran away from God. We alienated ourselves from life with God and we lost our inclination toward God. But, that’s not all. God had to turn away from man as He could not look upon sinful man.
But then, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6). This sacrifice of a sinless man upon the cross, provided by God, enables God to once more look upon man and to hold out His heart and hands to man and say “Come, now is the day of salvation.”
(Isaiah 49:8) … In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you;
God is standing and holding out His hands and asking each one of us to take advantage of His unconditional offer of GRACE.
(Romans 5:10) For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
(2 Corinthians 5:18-20) All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
When we take that step toward those open hands, it is with the free gift of faith that He put in us to begin with. God, through the gracious faith that He put in us is leading us to even more grace that is freely offered by Him. Ephesians 2:8 makes it very clear, that the faith we put in Him, came from Him in the first place.
(Ephesians 2:8) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
(Romans 5:1) Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,
Faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ erases our sin from God’s sight. Some people say it is ‘just-as-if’ we never sinned. But, we cannot say that because, though we are asked not to dwell on our past, Jesus has told us in Luke 7:47, But he who has been forgiven little loves little. No matter your sin, you need to realize just how far down into sin you were buried. We need to know just how far it was to the top so we’ll realize the depth at which we were in our sins. The payment on the cross brought you out of that deep. The payment on the cross bridged that gap between God and us, so that we could, in the faith that He gives us, walk across that bridge.
That’s your testimony!
The door is open, all we have to do is walk through it to claim His promises.
The bridge is there, all we have to do is walk across it to claim His promises.
The payment has been made, all we have to do is reach out and take those promises.
Promises of:
I. Peace with God
II. Access to God
III. The Hope of the Glory of God
IV. Triumph in Troubles
V. Love of God
VI. The Holy Spirit
I. Peace with God
5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Notice the stepping stone that we’re presented with. Look at the one-two punch that Paul uses here. He says since we have been justified through faith, we have peace. Paul uses this throughout his epistles, but we know it as grace and peace. Look at Romans 5:2, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. That is the foundational doctrine for all greeting the churches as he did.
Romans 5:2 tells us that we step into the grace of God through faith in the One who paid the price for allowing us to stand in God’s grace. And, when we are in God’s presence, we have peace.
Paul uses this clever one-two punch to express one of the basics of doctrines of the cross, grace through God, then peace through God. As we’ve said, he uses it many times in his epistles: Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians 1:2, Colossians 1:2, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, and 2 Thessalonians 1:2, and Titus 1:4.
Not only does Paul use it but Peter and John both use it as well. Peter uses it in 1 Peter 1:2 and in 2 Peter 1:2, while John uses this same phrase in Revelation 1:4, when he addressed the seven churches in the province of Asia.
Not let’s look at the word peace itself. This isn’t the same peace that the United Nations are seeking for those war-torn countries. It’s not the peace that the husband is looking for between his mother and his wife.
Then what kind of peace is it?
(John 14:27) Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Is that it? No, that is simply what we call tranquility of soul. This is that inner calm that you receive when you know you’ve trusted Christ and are resting in Him and doing the will of God.
What peace, then, are we talking about? Well, Paul expresses it best in:
(Philippians 4:7) And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
This is a peace that comes to those that have come to God and know that He no longer has any charge against them. This is the peace that comes because sins are forgiven and everything is right, you are righteous, before God. It means everything is right between your soul and God.
II. Access to God
Romans 5:2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
In the book of Esther, when Haman was plotting the annihilation of the Jews, Esther sent this word to her uncle, Mordecai:
(Esther 4:11) All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life.
You don’t have access. It doesn’t matter who you are, because the president, or the governor, or the mayor, are all busy people. You can’t just walk right into their offices. Because of security reasons and a host of other reasons, it makes sense that these people are unavailable for us to just show up one day to talk with them.
Not so with God. God transcends all of that and, because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, He is accessible day and night. It doesn’t matter what time of the day, you have access to God. Isn’t that wonderful?
Remember though, that’s a two way street. You have 24 hour access to God, well, He has 24 hour access to you.
III. The Hope of the Glory of God
Romans 5:2
…And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us,
We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. What exactly does that mean? This is the hope that is placed in the heart of every believer of Jesus Christ. We are all waiting for his glorious appearing.
Let’s look at Titus 2:11-13,
(Titus 2:11-13) For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Every child of God has this blessed hope in their hearts. With every beat of that same heart, we get one second closer to meeting Jesus face to face. That is our hope, and nothing can take that away from us.
IV. Triumph in Troubles
But He doesn’t leave you there in that suffering. When we put our faith in Jesus we will experience God’s peace and have access to Him, but there will be persecution. There will be suffering, but direct and indirect. Direct suffering involves persecution because you are a Christian. Indirect suffering stems from the fact of the fallen state of the world.
But we are told to rejoice, because this suffering brings perseverance. Our resolve and determination to maintain our “Christian status,” so to speak, is built up. We mature through the persecution. As we mature, our character, our personality, our moral fiber, changes into a more ‘Christ-like’ character.
When we move through this continual process
Faith>Suffering>Perseverance>Character
Stronger Faith>Suffering>Perseverance>Character
Even Stronger Faith>Suffering>Perseverance>Character
This then is our hope, knowing that we are being sanctified, knowing that we are being purified, knowing that we are being used by God for His magnificent will on this earth.
V. Love of God
Romans 5:5
God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
As we progress through our spiritual building up in Christ Jesus. We see a pattern begin to emerge.
Faith>Suffering>Perseverance>Character>Hope>Love
God has poured out His love first. The Bible says that we love because He first loved us.
Poured into the faithful heart is the Spirit of Love. A continual pouring out of love exists for the heart that continues in its love of Christ. This continual refreshing can be a continual ‘fountain’ or ‘spring’ but it depends upon one thing, continued fellowship with God. And, continued fellowship with God demands a righteous standing before God. And a righteous standing before God demands a pure heart before God. A pure heart is attained by forgiveness of your sins by God.
All of this is intended to produce within each one of us a mirror image of Christ’s love for the us.
(Philippians 2:1-)
2:1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
VI. The Holy Spirit
One of the easiest things to see at work in a child of God is the Spirit of God.
Paul tells us in Romans 5:5
because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Through the giving of the Holy Spirit, God has poured out His love into each heart that will receive Him. We need the peace of God in our lives, and access to God for our own mental well-being. Add to that the hope and triumphs in God as well. Those all deal with the inner makeup of the believer. So does love to some extent, but love can go one step further and spill over into the lives of those around us. And, when that love spills over, people can get closer to us and see the peace of God in our lives. It’ll become visible as God loves other people through us.
People just like to be around happier people! Did you know that? Why do people like to be around happy people? Because at first, they’re curious. Then they realize this person is this way all the time, and, being around a happy person all the time will eventually make you into a happy person [unless the happy person becomes like you, then we have a couple of grumpy people].
It’s the same with a loving person. Or a cynical person. Or a complaining person. If you spend the majority of your time around a particular kind of person, you may end up that way.
Now take that though and transfer it to God. If you spend your time around Jesus Christ and the Book that’s been written about Him, chances are you will become more and more like HIM!
That’s what the Holy Spirit is for! To make you more and more like Him! Get to know the Holy Spirit. Get know the one that has been sent to fashion your life after Jesus Christ. You see, the Holy Spirit is the gift of God, and that gift of God administers the gift of God, your spiritual gift or gifts.
Are you sour-faced all the time? Let love that He has poured into your heart flow forth!
Are you down-cast all the time? Let love that He has poured into your heart flow forth!
Are you weak and suffering all the time? Let love that He has poured into your heart flow forth!
God wants you to have a happy life. He’s not responsible for any of those awful things that are happening in your life, that’s what the nature of sin is all about.
God wants you to have a happy life. He’s not purposefully sitting in heaven and trying to think of all those bad things He can throw your way.
God wants you to have a happy and productive life. Happy in Him, and productive IN HIM. How can you do that? Through the Spirit of God, whom He has given us.
Are you ready to lead an exciting life? You have the Spirit of God to rely upon!
Are you ready to mature in your Christian walk? You have the Spirit of God to rely upon!
The Spirit of God, whom He gave you when you put your faith in Jesus Christ is standing by waiting for you to ask for help. Ask for it!! RELY ON HIM TODAY!
Conclusion:
In conclusion, we have to understand that all of this, all of these points today, hinges on one fact. The fact that you have put your faith in Jesus Christ. The fact that you lead a life totally surrendered, totally yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
You can only have all of these:
Peace with God
Access to God
The Hope of the Glory of God
Triumph in Troubles
Love of God
The Holy Spirit
when you surrender all of you to HIM!
