Sin Knows No Strangers, 12 March 2017
13 03 17 Filed in: Sermons | A Love That Never Dies
Sin Knows No Strangers
Series: A Love That Never Dies
Romans 5:6-11
Series Big Idea: Throughout Lent, we prepare for Jesus’ death, resurrection, and return
Big Idea: Because of Jesus, we can be friends of God rather than enemies.
I believe the two most important questions in life are
- Who am I?
- Who is God?
Our text today addresses some powerful issues of identity we must all ponder carefully in order to answer those two questions.
What words describe you?
What words describe God?
A Love That Never Dies. Ever so briefly yet dramatically, these words describe our Lord’s love for us, and they serve as our overarching theme in these weeks leading up to Easter. God’s love for us is a love that never dies, and that’s a good thing! For “sin knows no strangers.” Sin is pervasive, powerful, and persuasive. In both its global and most intimate forms, sin seeks to draw us away God.
Listen for those truths in today’s text:
Paul, once known as Saul of Tarsus, is in the midst of writing to the first Christians in Rome. He offers them rich insight into their identity.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)
For whom did Christ die? The ungodly.
When did Christ die? When we were still powerless.
Why did Paul mention “we” and then “ungodly?” You’re a good person, right? You’re in church. Most of you haven’t murdered anyone or robbed a bank. Jesus died on the cross because we’re good people, we are loveable, and he loves us.
I think most people think they’ll go to heaven when they die because they’re good people. They pay their taxes. They vote. They brush their teeth!
Jesus died for the ungodly. That’s me!
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. (Romans 5:7)
Let that sink in for a moment. Would you die for someone? Your child? Your best friend? Your spouse? What about LeBron James? President Trump? Putin?
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
This is stunning. I’ve heard it 100 times, but it is truly remarkable.
Jesus died for the powerless and feeble (v. 6)
Jesus died for the ungodly (v. 6)
Jesus died for sinners (v. 8)
Jesus died for his enemies (as we will see in verse 10)
Jesus died for you and me.
Drop the mic! That’s incredible!
You don’t have to hope God loves you.
You don’t have to wonder if God loves you.
God loves you. He demonstrated it. He proved it. His actions speak as loud as his words.
He loved you and me while we were unrepentant sinners.
Isn’t this good news? Isn’t this great news?
We celebrate the death of Jesus last Sunday. It’s called Good Friday because Jesus dying for us—hopeless, helpless sinners—provided a pathway for forgiveness, reconciliation with our Heavenly Father, peace, joy, and hope.
But it gets better…and worse.
God’s Wrath
When you mentioned words to describe God, how many said, “Wrath?”
God is love.
God is kind.
God is forgiving and gracious and merciful.
Yes. But God is also just. And justice includes wrath.
Does God hate people? Absolutely not…but He hates sin. He hates sin! And we are sinners. You know this. Earlier in chapter three, Paul states the obvious:
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)
That’s one of the most depressing verses in the Bible.
Have you ever felt short?
God is perfect. 100% pure. He has a zero tolerance policy for sin. Zero! So when we sin—and we all sin—where does that leave us? Separated from God.
That’s the bad news. But the good news is Jesus’ death covered all of our sin.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:9-11)
We have been justified. That means God approves of us because of Jesus, an acquittal that sets of free from the penalty of our sin. Justification happens now. On judgment day we will be saved from God’s wrath. It will be awe-inspiring to see and be spared of God’s wrath.
Because God is just, He must judge. He must be fair. We will all get what we deserve…unless we follow Jesus and receive grace—unmerited, undeserved favor.
Have you ever thought of yourself as an enemy of God? Paul says that’s what we were, enemies of God.
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4:4)
But Paul says we’re reconciled. That’s becoming one of my favorite words. We don’t hear it often because it doesn’t happen often. It’s easier to remain bitter, angry, or even silent. Reconcile means
- Restore friendly relations between
- Cause to coexist in harmony; make or show to be compatible or consistent
- To compose or settle (a quarrel, dispute)
It’s as if we wore white t-shirts, our sin stained them with dirt, and Jesus wraps a white robe around us, allowing us to stand before God perfect and pure. Jesus does the heavy lifting. We just open our arms and say yes.
Hallelujah!
To summarize…
Sin has made us enemies of God.
God’s grace, mercy, and never-ending love have rescued us.
Through Jesus, we can be friends of God.
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15)
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. (James 2:23)
This is a truly amazing reality. We weren’t always friends of God. We were enemies, yet through Jesus we can be reconciled. We can know God…not just about God, but truly know God.
Are you a friend of God?
Credits
Some ideas from Rev. Steven H. Albers, CTA.
You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
Series: A Love That Never Dies
Romans 5:6-11
Series Big Idea: Throughout Lent, we prepare for Jesus’ death, resurrection, and return
Big Idea: Because of Jesus, we can be friends of God rather than enemies.
I believe the two most important questions in life are
- Who am I?
- Who is God?
Our text today addresses some powerful issues of identity we must all ponder carefully in order to answer those two questions.
What words describe you?
What words describe God?
A Love That Never Dies. Ever so briefly yet dramatically, these words describe our Lord’s love for us, and they serve as our overarching theme in these weeks leading up to Easter. God’s love for us is a love that never dies, and that’s a good thing! For “sin knows no strangers.” Sin is pervasive, powerful, and persuasive. In both its global and most intimate forms, sin seeks to draw us away God.
Listen for those truths in today’s text:
Paul, once known as Saul of Tarsus, is in the midst of writing to the first Christians in Rome. He offers them rich insight into their identity.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)
For whom did Christ die? The ungodly.
When did Christ die? When we were still powerless.
Why did Paul mention “we” and then “ungodly?” You’re a good person, right? You’re in church. Most of you haven’t murdered anyone or robbed a bank. Jesus died on the cross because we’re good people, we are loveable, and he loves us.
I think most people think they’ll go to heaven when they die because they’re good people. They pay their taxes. They vote. They brush their teeth!
Jesus died for the ungodly. That’s me!
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. (Romans 5:7)
Let that sink in for a moment. Would you die for someone? Your child? Your best friend? Your spouse? What about LeBron James? President Trump? Putin?
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
This is stunning. I’ve heard it 100 times, but it is truly remarkable.
Jesus died for the powerless and feeble (v. 6)
Jesus died for the ungodly (v. 6)
Jesus died for sinners (v. 8)
Jesus died for his enemies (as we will see in verse 10)
Jesus died for you and me.
Drop the mic! That’s incredible!
You don’t have to hope God loves you.
You don’t have to wonder if God loves you.
God loves you. He demonstrated it. He proved it. His actions speak as loud as his words.
He loved you and me while we were unrepentant sinners.
Isn’t this good news? Isn’t this great news?
We celebrate the death of Jesus last Sunday. It’s called Good Friday because Jesus dying for us—hopeless, helpless sinners—provided a pathway for forgiveness, reconciliation with our Heavenly Father, peace, joy, and hope.
But it gets better…and worse.
God’s Wrath
When you mentioned words to describe God, how many said, “Wrath?”
God is love.
God is kind.
God is forgiving and gracious and merciful.
Yes. But God is also just. And justice includes wrath.
Does God hate people? Absolutely not…but He hates sin. He hates sin! And we are sinners. You know this. Earlier in chapter three, Paul states the obvious:
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)
That’s one of the most depressing verses in the Bible.
Have you ever felt short?
God is perfect. 100% pure. He has a zero tolerance policy for sin. Zero! So when we sin—and we all sin—where does that leave us? Separated from God.
That’s the bad news. But the good news is Jesus’ death covered all of our sin.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:9-11)
We have been justified. That means God approves of us because of Jesus, an acquittal that sets of free from the penalty of our sin. Justification happens now. On judgment day we will be saved from God’s wrath. It will be awe-inspiring to see and be spared of God’s wrath.
Because God is just, He must judge. He must be fair. We will all get what we deserve…unless we follow Jesus and receive grace—unmerited, undeserved favor.
Have you ever thought of yourself as an enemy of God? Paul says that’s what we were, enemies of God.
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4:4)
But Paul says we’re reconciled. That’s becoming one of my favorite words. We don’t hear it often because it doesn’t happen often. It’s easier to remain bitter, angry, or even silent. Reconcile means
- Restore friendly relations between
- Cause to coexist in harmony; make or show to be compatible or consistent
- To compose or settle (a quarrel, dispute)
It’s as if we wore white t-shirts, our sin stained them with dirt, and Jesus wraps a white robe around us, allowing us to stand before God perfect and pure. Jesus does the heavy lifting. We just open our arms and say yes.
Hallelujah!
To summarize…
Sin has made us enemies of God.
God’s grace, mercy, and never-ending love have rescued us.
Through Jesus, we can be friends of God.
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15)
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. (James 2:23)
This is a truly amazing reality. We weren’t always friends of God. We were enemies, yet through Jesus we can be reconciled. We can know God…not just about God, but truly know God.
Are you a friend of God?
Credits
Some ideas from Rev. Steven H. Albers, CTA.