Rejoice, For Today Is The Day Of Salvation!

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!