By Faith - Romans 5:6-11
Notes
Transcript
St Patrick Prayer
St Patrick Prayer
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.
Romans 5:6-11
For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.
It is pretty amazing that we are in this section of Romans today because it’s St Patrick’s day. He was kidnapped when He was 16, and he spent 6 years in captivity. He eventually escaped and then years later he had a dream where he felt called to go back to Ireland to bring the Gospel.
Patrick went back to his enemies to let them know they were called to be reconciled to God.
Two Orthodox Views on Sin
Two Orthodox Views on Sin
When we say orthodox here we do not mean the Orthodox Church like Greek or Russian but the faith that we share and all agree makes us Christians.
Orthodox means right belief or right opinion. Big broad category alert.
There is an Eastern church and a Western church. They split in 1054 which is called the Great Schism. There are two big views of sin.
The Western Church takes an Augustinian thought and says we are born with original sin. We are born sinners. Then we continue to sin. He was not the first to promote this but he was very persuasive.
The Eastern Church had nothing to do with Augustine because he wrote in Latin and they read in Greek. They believe that yes we share in the guilt and the penalty of death but we chose to sin and that is what makes us sinners. They have a very different way of thinking.
We All Need Saving
We All Need Saving
Why do we mention this? Because no matter how you slice that pie you are a sinner. We are not some innocent bystander who needed rescuing. We are not the damsel in distress. We are the villain in the story.
For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
This is what make the whole thing incredible. We were not innocent. We were helpless because we could not get out of sin or make restitution for ourselves.
The beauty of the story is that God chose to rescue those who were opposed to Him.
God has wrath against sin and wickedness. A debt must be paid but we could not pay it so Jesus made satisfaction on our behalf.
I will glory not because I am righteous but because I am redeemed; I will glory not because I am free from sins but because my sins are forgiven me. I will glory not because I have done good nor because someone has done good to me but because Christ is my advocate with the Father and because the blood of Christ has been shed for me. Ambrose of Milan 4th Century
That God would save, redeem, and reconcile those opposed to Him should tell us so much about who He is and who we are.
The value of thing is in what someone is willing to pay for it. If Jesus paid for you with His life what does that tell you about your value? What does it tell you about someone else's value?
When we think about our worth. Our value it is great because He paid a great price. You are worth something.
For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb.
Christ bought you with at a cost. You have value. The person who bugs you the most is worth great value.
Museum Story
God saves Those Opposed to Him
God saves Those Opposed to Him
When we were in the world we were tied to the world’s system.
For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.
God saves not just the lost, we are lost, but we were lost and opposed to Him.
This is exactly what we see with St Patrick. He went back to preach and share the Gospel with those who kidnapped him.
There are two kingdoms. There is the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Darkness. These are not physcial places but they are spiritual and unseen. But the Bible tells us these are the only two options.
The first is the Kingdom of Darkness.
in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.”
The ultimate enemy of God and us has control over things for now. He works in the world and through various systems and structures. Before we come to Christ this is where we live. We live under this order and rule.
The enemy has power over the earth and is determined to mess with God’s plans and people. The Devil as we call him is also called the accuser and the adversary. He is opposed to God and as sinful fallen people we live or lived in that kingdom.
Then we have the Kingdom of God
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Jesus came to bring the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God. Jesus ushered in Kingdom of God. He started the process. It is not complete. The Kingdom of God now exists as a now not yet kingdom. It is here but it is not fulfilled. When we accept Christ, when we surrender and submit to His rule and reign as the King of the Kingdom of Heaven we are moved to that Kingdom. We do not make Jesus Lord but we do surrender to His Lordship.
When we do this we are then reconciled to God.
For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.
We are reconciled or put right with God. This is the good news, this is the Gospel, God took enemies and made them sons and daughters.
We Become Ambassadors of Reconciliation
We Become Ambassadors of Reconciliation
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”
These two Kingdoms overlap. Both present on the earth right now. The Kingdom of Darkness and the Kingdom of Light. When we come to Christ we get an allegiance shift. We move from one to another. But because God has reconciled us we are called to be ambassadors calling other to reconciliation.
We do not get pulled out of the world but we get changed. It is not just that our allegiance changes but our desires start to change. We start to desire the things of God. We start to want to do the things of God. This is for two reasons.
First is because we are made alive. Before Jesus we are spiritually dead but when we come to Jesus we are made alive.
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!
We were dead and now we are alive. We start to desire the things of God because we are now alive in Christ.
Second, is that we were sanctified. We were set apart. That is what that word means.
There is also a sanctification process. Some people have a bad tendency to judge new Christians like they have been walking with Jesus for years when they are just babes in Christ. I see this whenever a celebrity comes to the Lord. Instead of rejoicing we start telling them everything they are doing wrong. We need to nurture. We need to encourage. But we also need to give Jesus a minute to start working on someone. I have been walking with Jesus for over 20 years now and somethings have taken time to change.
So like we said. these two Kingdoms overlap. Both present on the earth right now. The Kingdom of Darkness and the Kingdom of Light. When we come to Christ we get an allegiance shift. We move from one to the other. But because God has reconciled us we are called to be ambassadors calling other to reconciliation.
Because we are called to be ministers of reconciliation we are calling people to live in a new world with a new way of thinking. We call this evangelism but it really just telling people about this change.
Evangelism does not have to be scary
Evangelism does not have to be scary
When we think of evangelism we can get a little scared because I am no Billy Graham. But Billy Graham was not Billy Graham until he was Billy Graham. He did not start out preaching to thousands. I am going to give us two simple methods of sharing the Gospel today. The first is through your story.
Your testimony, your story is the most powerful thing you have because it is yours. It is what God has done in and through you. It is about how He came into your life and changed everything. But you need to practice it. Practice with friends, practice by yourself, practice at the store. Just practice.
Anything you want to be good at requires you practice. If you want to be good at something then you need to practice it. There is no way around it. If you want to be able to share your testimony with someone then you have to practice and know what you are going to say. In missions training we used to run drills. We would practice sharing our testimony in 5 minutes, then in 3 minutes, then in 1 minute, then in 30 seconds. There is usually not time nor attention for your life story so how do you get to what someone needs in 1 minute without practice?
The second is learn a method of sharing the Gospel. That is what those cards are. It is called 3 Circles.
3 Circles
3 Circles
The world is broken. We do not have to look hard to find broken. we can watch the new, look on socials, or just go outside. Brokenness is all around us.
But it was not supposed to be this way. God’s original design was perfect and everything worked perfectly.
Sin messed that all up.
We try to find ways to escape brokenness. Sex, Money, jobs, etc.
God sent His Son Jesus to make a way out. He lived a perfect life, died for our sin, and then rose again three days later. When we accept this and repent God moves us into His kingdom. We become God’s people. But then he sends us back to the world to tell others.
We see there are only two types of people. Those in God’s perfect design and those in brokenness. Which one are you?
Boasting in Christ
Boasting in Christ
This is why we boast, this is why we glory in the Cross. This is why we celebrate, because Jesus did it all. We just accept what He did.
And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.