The Love of God
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Sermon Series: Romans
Sermon Title: The Love of God
Scripture: Romans 5:6-11
Main Idea: Because God loves us, Christ died for us, making us right with God and making us friends with God.
INTRODUCTION:
Assurance
Rocket Mortgage commercial with Tracy Morgan “certain is better”
mom asks, “can we even afford this home?”
dad replies, “pretty sure”
Tracy Morgan (from the bathtub), “Pretty sure!?! With Rocket Mortgage you can be certain!”
dad asks, “what’s the difference?”
Tracy answers, “let me show you”
i’m pretty sure these mushrooms aren’t poisonous
i’m pretty sure these are parachutes
i’m pretty sure these hornets aren’t the murdering kind
“when you’re buying a home, pretty sure isn’t sure enough”
“you need to be certain”
well… when it comes to your salvation, pretty sure isn’t sure enough
You need to be certain!
why we struggle with assurance.... salvation by works.... good deeds… it’s the way the world works
knowing that you are justified, or saved, by faith only, brings great assurance and peace....
on the other hand, someone who thinks they are justified by their works, or by being good enough, will always have to wonder if they’ve done enough.
Dr. Lloyd Jones says that “nothing can give greater assurance of the certainty of our salvation, and its finality, than this very love of God.”
and that’s what the apostle paul is concerned with in today’s passage
the love of God...
PRAY
BODY
Romans 5:6–8 (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.
Verse 6 is one of the greatest verses in the entire Bible. pretty much says everything doesn’t it? Is there a greater statement of God’s love?
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
in a sense, Paul is repeating himself here, saying again what he said in chapter 3:21-26
romans 3:21-26
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 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. 26 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.
why does Paul repeat himself? #1 because he’s a great teacher… great teaching uses repetition because learners need to be reminded… don’t we?
but secondly, Paul repeats himself here in chapter 5 because he has something different in mind… he’s making a different point
in chapter 3, he wants to show that there is no other way of justification except this.... here in chapter 5, it’s not so much to show the way of salvation but the love of God that crafted such a way of salvation!
our salvation and the assurance of our salvation do not depend on our love for God… i think if we’re honest, we know that’s a good thing because we know how shallow our love can be… but thankfully, it’s God’s love for us that matters, and that’s what the Apostle Paul is wanting to show us in today’s passage
God’s love
God the Father
I think it’s important to say that because we need to remember that God the Father initiates salvation. “for God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son....” “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself”
We shouldn’t see God the Father as passive in salvation… that Jesus the Son came to earth....somehow pleading with God to save us because of what he had done
salvation is God’s plan
but isn’t God the Father angry about sin… doesn’t He have wrath toward sin?
this sounds like a contradiction from other parts of the Bible, but there is no conflict here…
Lloyd Jones says it this way, “in the same great and eternal God there is a hatred of sin and at the same time this everlasting and eternal love to the sinner.”
so there is no conflict, both are there
and because of His love for us, Salvation was God’s plan from even before creation...
vs. 6 ---- “At the right time...”
when it had been proven that man could never save himself
The Law had its chance
the people of God had the Law for 1400 years… 1400 years to prove that they could follow the Law and earn their salvation
this is what Paul told us in chapter 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.
the world had more than enough time to show it could save itself and had failed. the Law couldn’t save them. wisdom & philosophy (the search for truth) could not save them. only God and his gift of grace. That’s what Paul is saying in his letter to the church at Corinth:
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in christ alone
the reason it’s so hard for us to wrap our minds around this is because that kind of love is foreign to us
Paul tries to describe God’s love here in vs. 7-8:
English Standard Version Chapter 5
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.
Human love vs. God’s love
a human might die for a good person (soldier, secret service, parent)
that person weighs their life against another and decides it would be better for the other to live
God’s love is better because Christ died for sinners
Describes us:
(vs. 6) weak (like a baby… utterly helpless when it comes to our salvation)
(end of vs. 6) ungodly (without God)(sinners)
(vs. 8) sinners (we had missed the mark)
God loves weak, ungodly, sinners so much… that He gave His only son to die in our place
arrow gets moved! picks the arrow up and sticks it right in the bullseye… “I know you missed it but Jesus didn’t....” and you get credit for that!
That is what was done for me… that is what was done for you on the cross!
vs. 8 “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us
the cross is where God shows his love for us
Lyrics: When I Survey The Wondrous Cross - Issac Watts
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
THIS is how you know the love of God. You go to the cross… look at it, survey it! Think on everything that went into Jesus dying on the cross for you.
You don’t wait for some emotional feeling, or try and make yourself feel some way during the music in a worship service...
NO! You go to the cross, and that is how you will know and understand the depth of God’s love for you!
let’s continue...
This act of love of God.... Christ on the cross… in our place.... as a substitute… has not only taught us about and shown us God’s love, but it has also accomplished 2 things for us...
God shows His love for us by having Christ die for us, and it has:
justified us
reconciled us
Romans 5:9 (ESV)
9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
What did Christ’s death accomplish for us?
Justified us (legal language) (courtroom
God is the judge
the Law is the plantiff
we are the defendant
saved from the wrath of God (judgment we deserved because of our sin)
from guilty to not guilty
Bible uses the word RIGHTEOUS… “in right standing before God”
setup the video clip of US Marshalls
falsely accused of murder
Righteous! i love that
when we go from being guilty to not guilty we are now righteous before God
but here’s the deal… we were not falsely accused
there was no mistake
we were guilty
we rebelled against God
we rejected God and his way of salvation
we worshipped ourselves instead of him and tried to save ourselves
but we couldn’t because without Christ, we aren’t righteous!
you see that’s the problem... no one is righteous! That’s Paul’s whole point in Romans 1,2, and the beginning of 3!
so the question is… “is there a righteousness that we can have that doesn’t belong to us?”
Can we have someone else’s righteousness?
YES! back to 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—
Very interesting… Old Testament people were justified… or declared righteous before Jesus died on the cross?
how?
Their hope was in God… that somehow… someday… he would make a way where he would passover their past sins, allowing them to escape the judgment of His wrath.... and instead count them as not guilty.... count them as righteous!
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Genesis 15:6 (ESV)
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.
Genesis, Psalms, Habakkuk… talking about righteousness coming from faith in God, NOT from following the LAW!
the great theologian Michael Hux would say that "Salvation isn’t achieved it’s received”
So it’s a consistent answer throughout Scripture to the question…
“Who is righteous?”
OT answer: Those who hope in God
NT answer: Those who hope in Christ who is God
the ONLY way to have your standing before God changed from guilty to righteous.... is to believe.... to put your faith, trust, reliance in God and His plan for salvation
your good works won’t cut it
The good news doesn’t stop there… it continues
God not only justifies us (legal language)… giving us His righteousness and saving us from the judgment of His wrath...
God shows His love for us by having Christ die for us, and it has:
justified us (legal language)
reconciled us (friendship language)
Romans 5:10–11 (ESV)
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.
Reconciled us (friendship language)
change in relationship; one toward another
no longer enemies of God but friends of God
Schreiner says, “the difference between justification and reconciliation is that the former emphasizes that believers stand in the right before God as their judge, whereas the latter emphasizes that believers are now friends with God.”
do you see how great this is? God is not reluctantly letting you into the Kingdom because you believed.
“well you’re here but I’m not happy about it”
No! we’ve been reconciled!
it’s the parable of the lost son! the father didn’t take his son back as one of the workers (which was the son’s plan)… he took him back as son! running toward him, arms open to welcome him back into the family!
Reconciliation!
no longer enmity between us and God… but PEACE between us and God
it was our sin that made us enemies with God.... having forgiveness of our sins by the blood of Jesus has made it possible for us to now be friends with God
it’s good to be friends with certain people isn’t it?
well… i have some really good friends.... often times it’s to my benefit that they are my friend and that they love me and my family so well...
but I can’t think of a better friend to have than the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfectly-loving Creator God of the universe!
CONCLUSION:
Main Idea: Because God loves us, Christ died for us, making us right with God and making us friends with God.
have you been made right with God?
are you friends with God?
if not, and today you come face to face with your sin… understanding that because of your sin, you are currently an enemy of the one true God,
I would urge you to take the step of believing in Him and His plan of salvation for you
you ask what does that look like?
after Jesus’s resurrection, he ascended back into heaven to sit in his place with the Father and he sent the Holy Spirit of God to the believers… to fill them and empower them to share this Gospel message with the world
and on the day the followers were filled with the Spirit, Peter preached one of the most incredible sermons in history on the Gospel of God, his love for people and how He had shown that love through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus
listen to what happened when Peter finished his sermon:
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
the answer for you today is the same.... repent (turn away from you sin) and be baptized in the name of Jesus
if that’s you today, don’t leave here without doing 1 of 3 things:
either take that card in front of you and right down on it that you are ready to put your faith in Jesus and be baptized
you can also text the word “decision” to that heritage text line
or in just a minute i’m going to pray and we’ll be done… just come grab me and say I’m ready to know Jesus…
PRAY