Peace through the King’s Son

Introduction

Good morning! What a great weekend! We had a great day at the parade and my kids enjoyed decorating their gingerbread men. Thank you to all of you who participated and helped make it possible. If you have your Bible with you, will find your way to Romans 5. We will be there shortly.

There was a little girl was playing with her puppy in the backyard one day. Suddenly, a loud thunderstorm rolled in, causing the puppy to run under the porch. The girl laughed and said, 'Don’t worry, it’s just a little noise!' She continued to play in the rain, carefree and at peace.

Have you ever met a person that no matter what they are going through they have peace like that girl? I can imagine her mother hollering, “get in this house, there is a storm coming in!” Yet, that little girl, unlike her dog or even her mom, was at complete peace.

The fact is that people love the idea of peace. Often those outside the faith hear believers talking about peace, and they consider it to be some kind of therapeutic feeling of peace. But our peace is different from stretching exercises, deep-breathing activities, the smell of essential oils, calm walks beside creeks, or peaceful bike rides in the woods. Christian peace is rooted in something objective: the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Certain experiences can give one a sense of peace, but the ultimate peace is not found in the gifts of creation but in the Creator himself, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ Jesus. Sin has created the problem of alienation from God, and there is only one cure: Christ Jesus.

Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Romans, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2021), 74.

Are you at total peace trusting the Lord or do you find yourself uneasy? We started a series last week titled the Reason for the Season, we talked about the Hope in a Child and how that child is Jesus Christ. Today, I’d like to to talk to you about how we have “Peace through the King’s Son” no matter what we are facing.

If you have found your place in Romans 5 can you say word? Let us look together at the first 11 verses together.

Romans 5:1–11 ESV

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 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.

Pray.

What is therefore, there for?

Exalting Jesus in Romans (We Have Peace with God (Romans 5:1))

In Romans 4:23–25 Paul taught that our justification is rooted in the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Christ Jesus was “raised for our justification” (4:25). The events of Easter are central in human history, and they have abiding significance. Those who believe in the work of Christ are counted righteous (4:22). Being counted righteous leads to the celebration we see in 5:1–11.

Transition: The first thing we see is that we are to:

1. Rejoice in God’s redeeming work.

Romans 5:1–2 ESV

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Paul begins this portion of scripture reminding the church that we have all been “justified by faith.”

It is important for us to recognize the significance of being “justified by faith.” We we recognize that we can never be good enough, holy enough, christlike enough, and place our sole trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, we are declared good, holy, and righteous! It is not our doing, the greek word (justified—δικαιόω (dikaioō)—declared righteous) testifies that our being justified comes from outside of our own work. It is declared upon us. How we know this is that the greek verb is passive meaning we are a recipient of this wonderful gift as a result of our faith in the Lord. What Paul is saying is that we have been declared righteous by trusting in the work of Jesus. In other words, when we stop trying to get our life together and trust Jesus with our entire life we receive a declaration of righteousness before the King of glory!

Paul declares that since we have been justified by faith, we now have “peace with God.”

Apart from justification through faith, we are under God’s wrath. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden (Genesis 3), death was birthed and we became the enemies of God. Paul tells us that we were hostile in mind towards God in Colossians 1:21-22.

Colossians 1:21–22 ESV

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

Ephesians 2:14-15, further builds on the peace that God gives to those who have been justified by faith, when he writes:

Ephesians 2:14–15 ESV

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,

When we place our faith in Jesus, he makes a new creation and makes it possible for us to obtain peace with God! Also, keep in mind that means we have a relationship that no longer has any hostility towards God because of sins removal in our heart and God’s wrath on us is totally removed. We experience freedom in Christ!

Paul explains that another benefit is that we have received grace because of this faith that has given us justification and peace.

In a powerful sequence Paul declares that we have been justified by God, made at peace with God, and received grace from God through our faith in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ! Keep in mind that grace is the undeserved love and acceptance of God. In other words, we did not deserve to be able to be at peace with God. Our sin should have eternally separated us from God. Yet, God demonstrated love toward by giving us a gift we did not deserve, His Son Jesus!

Which is why Paul tells the Roman church “we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

“rejoice in hope of the glory of God”

Rejoice is a great word, the greek word gives us the understanding of to pride oneself in something or to boast about something. In other words, we Paul tells them to rejoice he is saying boast in the work of the work of Jesus Christ for his our hope of the the glory of God.

Paul is telling the Roman church that it is through Jesus that “we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the expectancy of the greatness of God!”

Transition: We have every reason to rejoice in the redeeming work of Jesus! He has bought us and redeemed us so that we can have peace with God!

The second thing we see is that we are to,

2. Rejoice in God’s rectifying work.

Romans 5:3–5 ESV

3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Paul gives instruction that we are to rejoice in our sufferings. There may be no more significant and difficult discipline than to boast in what God is doing while suffering difficulty in our lives. There is a temptation to ignore the advice of people who haven’t experienced the same situations as you. We might say that is great but you don’t know what I’ve experienced, what I’ve gone through. Yet, when we hear the same advice from someone who has been in the dirty trenches of life and they speak, we listen. We applaud. We rally together. That is one of the reasons Paul’s words carry so much weight here. Paul was no stranger to great difficulties. Paul provides us a list of his afflictions in 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, I encourage you to go read that passage anytime you feel your situation is overwhelming, to just name a few of his afflictions he says that he suffered shipwrecks, beatings, and imprisonments. The same man who had suffered so many trails because of his service to the Lord proclaims “we rejoice in our sufferings.” (NASB, NKJV—tribulation, CSB—afflictions).

It is important to not lose sight of the purpose of the sufferings. Paul explains that why they rejoice in sufferings is because they know that suffering produces endurance which produces character, that produces hope!

One of the purposes of our suffering is that we can persevere in our faithfulness. When we have placed our trust in the Lord and we remain faithful to rejoice in the goodness of God, it confirms the work that God has done in our life. It can draw us closer to the Lord and it brings about Christlike character. In fact the word for Character here means proven character.

I can think back to a Deacon in a previous church I had the honor of serving alongside. Before I began serving, he had gone through a huge ordeal with the IRS. He had a former employee that had not conducted themselves properly and it resulted in his name getting sullied in the midst of the probe. Yet, he remained faithful to the Lord, he continued to rejoice even in the season of suffering. He is one of the most humble and trust worthy people I know. His character was proven through that difficult season.

God uses our difficulties to testify of his goodness through how we give him glory even in the midst of storms and it is through these storms that our hope in the work of Christ is fully realized because we cannot get through these storms without Jesus being the center of our lives. Ultimately, the trials we experience help us become more like Christ. That is why we rejoice! Jesus does not waste our trials and affliction!

That is why we rejoice in God’s rectifying work in our lives!

Transition: We have see that we rejoice in God’s redeeming work and rectifying work, now lets see how we are to,

3. Rejoice in God’s reconciling work.

Romans 5:6–11 ESV

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 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.

In verse six Paul explains that the love we have experienced through the Holy Spirit is a product of the work of Jesus on the Cross! Not only is it a work of Jesus and at the right time that Christ died for us. He tells us that while we were weak and ungodly, Christ died! Just the word translated weak has a great importance, some translators have chosen to translate it helpless. The word actually carries an even greater significance in that it means sick and even crippled. In other words, we were totally incapable of doing anything to change our state, we were eternally sick with ungodliness, yet Jesus died for us!

Paul then points out that for a righteous person and even a good person few would even dare to die. Yet, the Son of God demonstrates the perfect love of God that while we were still sinners, eternally condemned and separated from God, Jesus died for us! Praise God!

As a result of Jesus death we have been justified and ultimately saved from the perfect and holy wrath of God! When we place our faith in Jesus we are redeemed, rectified, and reconciled to the Lord!

Paul says that while we were enemies of God that we have been reconciled. What Paul is explaining is that the work of Jesus has changed us from a state of hostility towards God to being in a friendly relationship with God through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Because of we have become friends of God, we know that we will never lose our salvation in Christ.

A young boy and his best friend got into a argument over which superhero was the best, batman or superman. The argument was so bad that they stopped playing together. As the days passed each boy become more lonely. One day, one of the boys decided to draw a picture of both superheroes as allies and gave it to his friend, along with a simple note: 'Best friends stay united!' They laughed together and quickly reconciled, proving how petty arguments can be resolved with a bit of creativity and love.

Our sin is no petty argument, it required bloodshed of the King’s Son. He came as a child to live a life we could not live, paid a price we could never pay, and wrote the greatest love story ever written, so that whoever trusts in the work of the Son can have eternal peace with the King of kings.

Have you placed your trust in the King’s son, Jesus? He came to bring about peace between himself and his those made in his image! He died so we might live! Are you trusting in him alone?

Conclusion

We have cause to rejoice this Christmas season because it reminds of the greatest gift ever given, the gift of peace between God and humanity through Jesus Christ alone. When we place our trust in Jesus we can rejoice in the work of God’s redeeming work thorugh Jesus. We can rejoice in seasons of great difficulties because it is God’s rectifying work. And we can rejoice because of God’s reconciling work!

Kent Hughes shares a letter from:

Romans—Righteousness From Heaven Justification-Exultation ( Romans 5:1-11 )

Lloyd Ogilvie wrote these heartening words, relevant to our present text:

This past year has been the most difficult year of my life. My wife has been through five major surgeries, radiation treatment, and chemotherapy. I am thankful that I now know she is going to make it. During the same year, I suffered the loss of several key staff teammates whose moves were very guided for them, but a source of pressure and uncertainty in my work. Problems which I could have tackled with gusto under normal circumstances seemed to loom in all directions. Discouragement lurked around every corner, trying to capture my feelings. Prayer was no longer a contemplative luxury, but the only way to survive. My own intercessions were multiplied by the prayers of others. Friendships were deepened as I was forced to allow people to assure me with words I had preached for years. No day went by without a conversation, letter, or phone call giving me love and hope. The greatest discovery that I have made in the midst of all the difficulties is that I can have joy when I don’t feel like it—artesian joy.

When we have peace with Jesus, we can face the most difficult situations with rejoicing.

With every head bowed and eyes closed,

For some in the room, you know you are friends with Jesus but you have allowed this world’s trials to take you away from the warm embrace of Jesus’ love for you and you find yourself adrift, uneasy, and facing life without the comfort of the Lord. Will you lay down your struggle before the Lord? Would you allow him to provide you his peace?

Or maybe, you need to just take this time praising God for what he has done for you and in your life because he has shown you his love and mercy time and again.

Yet, for others, you find yourself uneasy and at war with God this Christmas season. If that is you where would you be if you were face to face with Jesus would you be at war or at peace with him? Would you be face to face as enemies or would you be side by side as friends walking together one step at a time?

Will you place all of your trust in what Jesus has done for you on the cross? Will you ask Jesus to save you from your sin? —Lead them in a sinners prayer— Keith and Jack will be at the front here to pray with you and to encourage you.

Pray…