A New Solution: The Grace of Jesus
Making All Things New (Easter 2025) • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsWe all love the experience of receiving something new. Out with the old and in with the new, the broken the torn the dysfunctional…and in with the new! From the beginning to the end, God's Word is filled with all He is doing in us that is new! Today, we look at God’s NEW solution…to a very old problem.
Notes
Transcript
I am excited to begin a new series with you this morning on Palm Sunday…Making All things new.
This is where we will be going over the next few weeks:
Series Overview…[SLIDE]
April 13…A New Solution…The Grace of Christ
April 18…A New Relationship…The Death of Christ (10am communion)
April 20…A New Life…The Resurrection of Christ
April 27…A New Way…The Spirit of Christ
May 4…A New Message…The Gospel of Christ
May 11…A New Mission…The Love of Christ
“What is the most recent thing that you have bought that is NEW?
Maybe not brand NEW…but it’s NEW to you. Something you purchased?…or given to you?
As you think about that…ask yourself…WHY did you have to buy something NEW?
Was the previous item Broken?
Was it Old?
Did it need an upgrade…
Or maybe you didn’t have it before?
Sometimes you don’t need a reason to buy the new item? You see…like…and you want to get it.
Some…never buy anything NEW…what’s wrong with the old?…duct tape makes it last longer...
Hopefully something has come to your mind…something NEW in your life.
Over the next few weeks that will be our THEME…how in the Scriptures…from beginning to end…
There are actually many different times where God has…or is making NEW…here are just a few examples:
[SLIDE] commandment…self…creation…song…Spirit…heart…covenant…thing…mercies…life…earth…Jerusalem…name…and the list goes on…
God is doing something NEW and He has promised…He will make all things NEW.
“And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
Just as you thought about your NEW thing…there’s a reason why something NEW is needed.
There’s a reason these things need to be made NEW…
Because there’s something wrong with the old…something broken…something dysfunctional…something worn out.
We don’t have to look far…to know that things are not the way they should be…things are broken
Whenever I read the news…reminds me Come Lord Jesus Come…because this world is broken.
If something is broken, or wrong and when something needs to be made new…which we’ll talk about in this series…
It begins with understanding what God’s NEW SOLUTION is for that problem…
BIG IDEA: God has provided a NEW Solution…the Grace of Christ.
We want to understand the new SOLUTION God has provided for us…in the grace of Jesus Christ.
We are going to use Paul’s letter to the Roman’s as an anchor/guide to help us understand this reality…
Not a study of Romans…it is a study in Romans.
Sometimes we work our way through a book of the Bible in great detail…(i.e. Revelation)
Other times we look at anchor passages…
We come back to because they are rich in theology & understanding & provide a solid foundation.
That’s what we will do in this series.
This morning we will be in: Romans 3:20-26
So…WHY do we need this NEW Solution…found in the grace of Christ?
Background: The apostle Paul wrote the book of Romans…in the first century.
He went around preaching the Gospel…as new followers of Jesus rose up he formed them into groups we call churches.
Paul then wrote letters to the churches to strengthen…encourage and correct any misunderstandings.
The church in Rome was a divided church (Jews & Gentiles)…with different understandings of what it meant to be a follower of Jesus.
In Romans, Paul gives the fullest & most detailed account of the message of the Gospel of J.C.
Paul wanted to make sure that the Roman Christians understood the Gospel.
He said one of the best ways to bring believers together & unify them…is to make sure they understand and are unified around the Gospel. So that’s what Paul does in Romans.
In order to unify people around the Gospel he helps them understand
WHY the Gospel is so IMPORTANT …why this NEW SOLUTION is even necessary.
1. Our Relationship with God is BROKEN…Romans 1-3
So Paul begins Romans by helping the reader understand: Our Relationship with God is BROKEN!
Our relationship with God needs a NEW solution. So as he begins his letter he says things like this:
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
There is something wrong here…
“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
“For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they did not honour Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
A. Something Went Wrong?
As we look at humanity…the world we live in…something is definitely not working.
Mankind knows God exists…
There is enough evidence of God
(General Revelation…creation) that we should recognize & know that God exists, a Creator exists.
But instead of honouring God…they became futile…futile minds & foolish hearts…as a result of sin.
So what is Paul doing in these first chapters Romans 1-3?
He Is helping us know WHAT WENT WRONG…by taking us back to the book of Genesis.
We all see the wrong, the dysfunctional, the brokenness…in the world around us.
He is establishing the world view of what is wrong and the brokenness we see in the world…
Is because our relationship with our Creator is broken.
Paul is taking us back to Genesis 1 where Moses said:
“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
B. God MADE Us…Genesis 1:27
To understand the problem we must first understand the fact that…God made us.
That He has made us in His image…
This does not mean we are little gods…but it does mean we are godly…God like…
He is the One who made us in His image…
He is the One who gives us PURPOSE…
He is the One who gives us VALUE…
He is the One who gives us an IDENTITY…so that we find our identity in Him.
And He established us & made us to be in a right relationship with Him…the original design!
C. But then SIN Entered the World…Genesis 3
So often we think of sin as just the wrong we do… but we have to understand how God made us…
He intended us to be in a right relationship with Him.
SIN BREAKS that relationship…
Sin has always separated us from God…
That is the PROBLEM needing a SOLUTION.
It’s interesting that when Adam & Eve disobey God in Genesis 3 the first thing they did was to HIDE themselves from Him.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
First… it implies that before sin…they didn’t have to hide themselves from God.
They were in a good & right relationship with Him…
But when they sinned they experienced guilt & shame…
And they knew the relationship was broken…and so they hid themselves from God.
The first question God asked them after they sinned…was not “What did you do?…
His question to Adam & Eve was: “Where are you?” (not accusatory…He wants to be with them)
What happened to our relationship?
The relationship that once was right…now has gone wrong…and is now broken.
At the very core of our being…we know that that’s a reality.
D. Our Relationship With God is BROKEN!
We know our relationship with God is broken & we have spent our lives in a sense hiding from Him.
Ever since…it has been a spiral downwards of humanity…
There’s all kinds of religious activity, good works & good deeds... that we try and do to restore what’s broken or at least to relieve the guilt & shame we feel and experience because of our sin.
But when we come back to Romans 3…
In the opening chapters of Romans…Paul has been making the argument ALL HAVE SINNED!
as Paul comes to his conclusion of his case that we have all sinned…against God…he sums it up in Romans 3:19
He is wrapping up his argument that all are sinful…pagan, religious, irreligious, moral & immoral.
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
We are all under the penalty of sin and we are all under the power of sin.
After working through the mud puddles of human depravity in Romans 1-2 the diagnosis is the same:
All are under sin…our original purpose, intention, identity, original relationship with God is BROKEN.
2. The SOLUTION to Our BROKEN Fallenness…Romans 3:20-22
“Paul…if that is the problem…then What is the solution?
“What do we do now?
“Give us a list of religious activity…hoops to jump through, good deeds to do…to make things right.
“Let us fix it. What do we do?”
It is as if Paul anticipates us asking that very question. He says this in Romans 3:20
20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
A. Know…there is NOTHING We Can Do…Romans 3:20
There are no sets of religious activity…no amount of good deeds…will bring you back into a right relationship with God.
To be justified…is to be given a right standing before God…a declaration of righteousness.
There is nothing you can do …to fix it make it right…to work your way back to God.
Thats sounds pretty HOPELESS! Is there any GOOD NEWS Paul? Well he follows it up by saying…
B. Know…that God HAS DONE Something…Romans 3:21…
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
“But now…” a contrast…a transition…it is the the biggest transition in all of Scripture…
The problem…was that there are no works of the law that we can do to make us right with God.
But now…the righteousness of God has been made manifested (made known) apart from the Law
So Paul is actually saying the good news is that there is ANOTHER WAY!
There is a NEW solution.
Theologically we like to have fun with this phrase…but now.
“The biggest BUT in all of Scripture.”
“…the most beautiful BUT in all of Scripture!”
“Do you see and realize just how big God’s BUT really is!”
[SLIDE v.20 BUT NOW…v.21-22].
Paul Goes from BAD news to GOOD news
Bad news…there’s nothing we can do to be made right with God, the Creator of the universe
But now…He moves from BAD NEWS (law & judgement) to GOOD NEWS (grace & justification)
Paul understood this fully…because he had been on both sides of the BUT NOW…
You and I look back to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ…we know what He did for us.
But Paul had been on both sides of the death of Christ…
He knew what it was like to live under the OLD covenant and was really good at keeping the law!
He said of everyone who has tried to follow the law…he had been better than everybody else.
But he recognized & realized that no matter how good he was at keeping the law…it would never justify him in God’s sight.
So he brings us then to the Good News that there is another way for us to be made right before God.
Another way to obtain the righteousness of God…it is through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe
There is another way…There is a NEW solution…and that is really good news.
NOTICE WHAT GOD DID…Romans 3:22
Now…lets try to digest briefly the theological reality of what God did in and through Jesus Christ to make this BUT NOW… even possible
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
“the righteousness a God” = having a right standing with God
If it can’t come by the works of the law…we are so thankful…there is another way for us to obtain it.
And its possible for all who believe…for there is no distinction…
As a preacher…that’s really GOOD NEWS…
I only have to preach one Gospel…one way…
I don’t have to say: “Men…here’s a way for you! Women…here’s another way for you…Those under 18 you have to do…Or of another ethnicity…”
It is “…for all who believe and there is no distinction.”
And the reason that it is for all who believe is because… all have sinned. We are all guilty of sin.
“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
It is not…for some who have sinned need this solution…and others need this solution…
Because ALL HAVE SINNED… Paul describes what happens.
We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God.
Do you know what he is doing by saying that? He is taking us back to Genesis.
We fall short of…what we were designed and intended to be.
We fall short of…our original purpose, identity…and value.
We fall short of…taking God’s glory to the ends of the earth.
That’s what we fall short of…and here’s the solution He provides.
c. Know…That We Are JUSTIFIED …ONLY…BY HIS GRACE…Romans 3:24a
“…and are justified by His grace as a gift…,
“justified” = We are declared righteous…given a right standing…BY HIS GRACE…as a gift.
Don’t misunderstand grace.
Sometimes people see grace as an ADD ON to what I have already done.
We often see grace…we play a role…we just need someone to get us the rest of the way up.
God…I can handle about 75-80% of things going on in my life…but I just need your grace to fill in the rest.
NO. No it is all by grace or it is not at all by grace.
It is all by grace…it is all a gift.
But we don’t always like that be because we want some of the credit.
We want to stand before God and say: “Did you see what I did to contribute to my salvation? Can I get a little acknowledgement…a little pat on the back for what I did to contribute to my salvation…I know that Jesus died on the cross for my sin.. I know that whole thing…but God I did the rest.”
d. Know that Our REDEMPTION is Through CHRIST JESUS…Romans 3:24b
“…and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
When you redeem something you are buying it back…you’re getting back what is rightfully yours.
So His redemption comes because of what God has done:
God is buying back what was His
Romans 3:25a “whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith.
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith…”
“propitiation” is a big word that means God’s wrath is satisfied…it has been paid for in full
“to be received by faith…” The price has been paid by the blood of Jesus…and we receive it by faith.
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins.
Paul would have understood this perfectly…
Throughout the OT animal sacrifices were made not to do away with sin…but so God could overlook sin and that God would pass over sin.
But it wasn’t until the once for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ that ultimately paid the full price for sins.
“It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
just…in order for a righteous, the holy God had to be JUST…every single sin has to be paid for.
So God is JUST…and He is also the JUSTIFIER because the price is paid for by Jesus Christ…
“…that He might be JUST and the JUSTIFIER…of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Every sin was to be paid for…and every sin was paid for by Jesus Christ.
SO WHAT?
Yet still some still say: “Yeah! He went through all of that …but are you sure there isn’t another way?
Are you sure there is not another way that I can access what I need in my life? Make sense of the world?
I often think if there is another way…why go through all that He did in and through Jesus Christ to bring that about?
Next Sunday we will look at what the resurrection of Jesus…has to do with this…not will help us understand and validate and proves what He has done
The next Sunday after that…we will look at the question…I get all He has done for me…but why do I still struggle?
If I am redeemed, justified & righteous in His sight…why am I still tempted?
Why is sin still a problem in my life?…We will wrestle with that in two weeks.
But if you’re struggling right now…if you’re pushing back and you’re saying:
“Really is this the solution…Is that little contrast really the only solution?”
If it is not this reality…what is the alternative?
Are you going to say that the world s not broken…that you’re not broken..that you don’t need a solution or maybe you recognize that there is something not right the world is broken something in me…isn’t there a different solution? What s that solution?
Is it your good deeds…good works?
Is it your religious activity and then you kind of hope and pray that you did enough?
No…the solution is in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
For those who believe…do you appreciate the reality of what He has done on your behalf?
For those of you who do not believe…would you consider what He has done?
This is a theologically deep and rich passage…but as you read back through it…
Paul is lifting up Jesus Christ …not only as the source of your deliverance but also as the object of your faith.
That is worth pondering as we go into this Holy week and approach Good Friday and Easter.
One way I would encourage you to practically do is simply this:
As you look at yourself right now…everything you are wearing right now…was once new…everything in this room was once new…some things are newer than others…but everything was once new…but it is all…no matter how much it cost not matter how good the technology might be…it is all perishable…it will all decay and break and wear out be dysfunctional..as you go through your house…pay attention to those things that are new, old, really old…be reminded of how perishable they really are
They do it to receive a perishable reward…but we have what is imperishable
as we think about that new solution…what makes that solution imperishable?
This is what I want you to think about this week…\
“…knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
What is implication?…the blood of Jesus is imperishable…that’s what you have been purchased with
That’s what He has provided the new solution with …
Everything around us is perishable…
We need these perishable things to live…
It’s ok to take care of the things you have and the things you love…that’s not the point.
Be reminded when you see all that’s new in your life is perishable…
But the blood of Jesus Charts that purchased your soul…is imperishable
His solution is imperishable and it will last and live forever.
Reflection & Action…
In preparation for Good Friday and Easter…
Prepare your heart for Good Friday and Easter
Reflect and remember what God did through Christ to make ALL THINGS NEW.
Suggest Reading the Gospel accounts of the events of this week.
Use a YOU Version Reading Plan…(Easter Theme)
