Easter 2021 Romans 5:6-11
Good morning, He is risen!
Every year on Easter we participate in several traditions, we get up early for the sunrise-ish service, we usually have Easter breakfast, our regular service, and then a big lunch with family, maybe you do some egg hunts or Easter baskets in there somewhere too.
One of the traditions within all that is to focus on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Nate read that at sunrise and I’d like to read another version of it for you now.
Matthew 28:1-10
Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
Let’s pray
Today Christians all over the world are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and I think the celebration in its various forms is for at least two reasons.
Reason #1 that we are celebrating is that Jesus is no longer dead! We serve a Risen Savior, He is alive forevermore! Amen?!
Reason #2 that we are celebrating is that Jesus’ death and resurrection actually accomplished something wonderful for us, for the whole world! And that’s the reason for celebrating that I would like to focus on this morning.
We are going to pause our study on 1 Peter for today and look at Romans chapter 5, verses 6-11, that’s on page 942in the pew Bibles.
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.
There are a few words used in Scripture that can’t stand alone, they are words that signal that a thought is part of a larger context. I’ve said it before that the word “therefore” is one of those words, you can’t simply begin your study at a place that begins with a “therefore.” It’s a signal that you have to go back and read the text before that word to get a handle on the original author’s intent, what the original author was trying to say.
Another one of those words is the word: “for.” It’s a connecting word, a word that signals the connection between thoughts. So we cannot simply start our study this morning with verse 6 because it needs to stay connected to the whole argument that Paul is making.
Verses 6-11 have been used many times for evangelistic sermons and challenges to show people that God loves them and has made it possible for them to be saved from their sins by the death of Christ on the cross, that forgiveness and reconciliation are available by God’s grace.
All of that is true. It’s all true even though that was not the point that Paul was trying to make.
Verse 6 starts with the word “for,” a connecting word. So let’s go back and see what it’s connected to…
I would like to tell you that it’s quite simple, we just have to read two or three verses prior to these and we will get the larger context and be able to make sense of the whole thing. But that’s not how this letter works at all.
In fact, almost every paragraph in Paul’s letter to the Romans either begins with a “for,” or a “therefore” or a question. This may be a little tricky!
Up until now, in this letter to the Roman Christians, Paul has represented God as holy, righteous, and just. He has represented Him as a keeper of His promises and the justifier of the faithful. And all that is well and good and true but here in this section Paul reintroduces an old attribute of God, the idea that God is loving. Here in verse 5 is the first time in this letter that Paul mentions God’s love and I think that’s significant.
The idea that God is loving was not new. God’s “steadfast love” was mentioned almost 200 times in the Old Testament. But here in this context we can see that salvation AND suffering, like we talked about last week from 1 Peter, salvation and trials are both evidence of God’s love.
So let’s skip back to verse one of Romans 5.
5:1Therefore, 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.
Last week we talked about about the purpose of our trials because when God is involved pain is productive, we are refined by our trials. Trials and pain produce patient endurance, and proven character, and confident hope and it is evidence that God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. God proves His love for us in our pain.
Through our pain God is making us into something more, making us more like Jesus, more loving, more patient, more dependent on Him.
Paul is saying that God uses pain to accomplish His purposes and His greatest proof of that is at the cross of Jesus Christ.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
When the timing was just right, when it had been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that mankind was powerless to save ourselves from the wrath of God, God stepped in Himself and died on the cross for the ungodly.
Jesus Christ died for those who were powerless to save themselves.
Jesus Christ died for those who had no regard for God, who had given God no place in their lives.
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.
It’s rare that a person would die for his friend. Though exceptions can be found it is still rare. And rare as it is, it is a demonstration of a person’s character and love to lay down one’s life for a friend.
Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
But God does one better. We were not His friends. We were not the chosen few who were good enough to earn His favor.
We were His enemies.
While we were powerless to save ourselves, while we had given no place for God in our lives, while we stood opposed to Him and His principles… Jesus 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.
Through the blood of Christ we are no longer what we once were, we are no longer weak, ungodly sinners who are enemies of God who are under His looming wrath! Our identity has completely changed!
Do you know what you’ve got? Do you know who you are? Don’t you know that through your pain God is working to make you more like Him?
God had a purpose in Christ’s pain, to reconcile you to Himself, and Christ’s pain ended in death!
Even if your pain ends in death, like Christ, you will be resurrected to live eternally!
We are saved from the wrath of God through the blood of Christ, so whatever you’re going through it has nothing to do with His wrath, and everything to do with His love! Through faith in Jesus Christ, God is no longer angry with you.
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.
We were once weak, ungodly, sinners, and enemies of God but through faith in Jesus we aren’t anymore!
Because of Christ’s death on the cross in our place we are now no longer weak but powerful, not because of any power that comes from us but from the Holy Spirit living and working in us.
Because of Christ’s death on the cross in our place we are no longer ungodly, but we give God the place He deserves in our hearts, the throne, He is our King!
Because of Christ’s death on the cross in our place we are no longer sinners but saints! Our lives are marked by the fruit of the Spirit, by love and joy and peace not by sin and shameful behavior. Our lives are lived for His glory not ours!
Because of Christ’s death on the cross in our place we are no longer enemies of God but we are His adopted children. We are reconciled and made His own! We are His and He is ours!
John Calvin wrote: “[Paul] now ascends into the highest strains of glorying; for when we glory that God is ours, whatever blessings can be imagined or wished, ensue and flow from this fountain; for God is not only the chief of all good things, but also possesses in Himself the sum and substance of all blessings; and He becomes ours in Christ.”
That’s what the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead accomplished for us, we are Christ’s and He is ours, We are the Father’s and He is ours.
Our pain, Christ’s pain, is all evidence of God’s love. By faith in Him we are adopted as His own, no longer enemies but His beloved children.
As Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:8-9, “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
Amen. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
