The Why Of Easter (Romans5:1-11) Series

You like the custom hardwood floors? Did those myself. I put in a lot of hours volunteering for my church to get those put in.

What do you think of the Italian marble in the master bath? I did all that. That’s what four years of seminary education will get ya. I learned Greek and Hebrew. I read all these theology books.

And on and on it would go. Paul says it was while we were still powerless that Christ died for us.

Allistair Begg is one of my preaching heroes. He’s Scottish, which means he could read his Wal-Mart shopping list and I’d be motivated to go fight the English. But this sermon clip from Allistair Begg has been making the rounds on social media this week, and its worth watching:

[Allistair Begg clip]

He’s right. That’s the only answer. Let me tell you what happened to me this week. I’m working on this sermon. I’m doing what I always do—I’m looking up all my Greek and Hebrew words, and I’ve got two commentaries and three theological dictionaries spread out on my desk. It’s Wednesday, and I’m scheduled to meet Doug Burkhalter and Will Smith after Bible study to shoot their testimonies for these baptism videos.

And they both show up for Bible study and prayer meeting. And I’m sitting next to Doug for the prayer time. And Dave Johnson comes over and sits with us. And Doug looks at us both and he’s like, “Man, what is this? What are we doing?” And I’m like, “We’re praying.”

And you heard his testimony in the baptism video. And then you heard Will. And Will is at the other end of the spectrum. Will spent his life up to this point searching for answers from an intellectual/philosophical perspective. And both of these men have come to an understanding that Christ died for them.

While we were still weak, Christ died for the ungodly.

The man on the cross in the middle said I could come. And the man on the cross in the middle says you can come. This is how God demonstrated His love for you.

Without the cross, we are enemies against God (5:9-11)

Here’s where we land the plane. The why of Easter is because we needed to have peace with God, and the blood of Christ provides that.

The why of Easter is that God loves us, and the death of Christ demonstrates that.

The why of Easter is that we must be reconciled to God, and the death and resurrection of Christ accomplishes that.

Look at verses 9-11:

9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

[reconciliation is one way—not two ways. Talk about this if there is time]