Peace with God (Romans 5:1-11)

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You make known to me the path of life. You fill me with joy in your presence with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to City View Community Church. Kyle, thank you for the introduction. If you don’t know me, my name is Shane. And before we get started, Brandon said ahead 35 minutes for the introduction, and then we’ll see where we go, or is that just 35 minutes? All right, we got a lot of ground to cover anyways. But before we do that, I wanted to get a quick couple of thank yous out of the way for people who have helped me in this process. First and foremost, Brandon, Kyle, the elders that said of you for giving me the opportunity to come before you this morning. And to preach a couple of friends of mine as well, my friend, Mike, my friend, Andrew, my friend, Nolan, a couple of people close to me who have been praying, supporting, listening and giving their ideas, both here and across, down in South America. It’s been fun to talk to them and just help center my thoughts and where the Lord desires to take us. But as Kyle said, this month, we have some different preachers who are going to be up here. And if you know anything about me, or I’ll speak for my cousin Kyle as well, you know that we have a very large passion for baseball. And so I think it’s a very appropriate time to begin our time together with a story about baseball. Shocker. I know. Legend has it that Wally PIPP, the former first baseman for the New York Yankees, had established himself as a every day player and force he had been a part of the New York Yankees for over 10 years by the time the 1925 season began. And over those 10 seasons, man in the position of first base, Pip enjoyed a lot of success. He had three seasons, we had more than 100 RBI. And for a statistically minded baseball individuals, he had seven seasons with an O PS Plus of over 100. This guy was a great ballplayer. But on June the second 1925, Pip woke up with a headache and the team was set to play the Washington Senators and so Pitt made his way over to manager Miller Huggins, and he asked if he could sit out that game be because he just didn’t think that he could give it a go. Huggins honored the requests and instead look down the bench and call the name of a young ballplayer who only had 17 hits across 23 games played in his major league career. Does anybody know the name of the player? Lou Gehrig? That’s right. Lou Gehrig bet at six in the lineup that day had three hits and began a streak of 2130 straight games played for the Yankees. Pip never saw the field again, in a Yankees uniform. So Brandon, I hope that you enjoy the months that you have off. It might not be me this week. Maybe Maybe it’d be merit next week, but there’s a chance that we have heard our last sermon. I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m not calling myself Lou Gehrig, but I think we’ll see. We’ll see we’ll see. Anyways, please grab your Bibles and turn into them to Romans chapter five. Romans chapter five. While you are turning there, allow me to paint a picture for you of one of the most important if not most important days in the history of sports in America. Again, shocker, right we’re two for two with baseball illustrations. I can remember this day as if it was yesterday. I would say this is one of the most monumental days I’ve experienced as a fan in my life. Our team had gotten out to an early lead thanks to a home run by our leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler he had taken Corey Kluber deep are masterful pitcher Kyle Hendricks had come to the mound and suffered through a few bumps in the road but looked as though he was on his way to allowing me at the time a 22 year old long suffering Cubs fan to celebrate a World Series championship. There had been some bumps in the road. So Ron had scored and there was this freak play in which two runners scored on a passed ball from our catcher David Ross, but there were only six outs between the Cubs and eternal glory.
But then, rajai Davis is a longtime journeyman. With no business being at the center of a World Series moments stepped up to the plate and took in a role this Chapman pitch over the left field wall to tie the game in the eighth. All of the sudden my dreams my hopes, my desires of celebrating a world series champion, Chicago cub team had been dashed. In that moment, I don’t know maybe I’m alone in this but maybe others who were watching or even had that opportunity to attend. In that moment, there grew something in me that we had began as piece with a three run lead a four run lead to a fire really had turned into this feeling of uneasiness. As I watched the chaos of a tie ballgame or erupt in Cleveland. I needed peace. In that moment, I didn’t have it. I don’t remember the rest of it. I think it turned out well for the Chicago Cubs. But as we move from an idea of sports to maybe one closer to home, on January 31 2020, the World Health Organization made a statement that the 2019 novel Coronavirus, or COVID. 19 was now a global health emergency that the entire globe needed to take seriously, as infections had jumped from 200 to more than 10,000 in mere days. A few days later, the United States Public Health Emergency declared that it was something for us to be concerned with as well. And within the next two months, you and I found ourselves at the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic. I don’t know about you initially, I really enjoyed the two weeks off, they said I was going to have for my job. But as two became three became a month became four months became six months, there was this uneasiness that began to grow up inside of me I needed peace in that moment. Maybe I am alone in that. But maybe you too were in a similar circumstance where as COVID raged on as infections came as as jobs were lost, this reduction in force happened as unfortunately, people got sick and some even passed away. Need for peace went through my body. And I assume your body as well longing for peace. But both of those examples aren’t necessarily current I will speak for myself as I can’t speak for you. But even in this last week, I have felt the need for peace that I have as work and commitments and things that I have said yes, you have piled up on top of me, I found myself in a place of chaos. When I was in need of peace, I found myself in a place of chaos when I was in need of peace. So maybe you’re here this morning and you’re like me and you’re in need of peace to
maybe it’s not work but its relationship. Maybe it’s not your day to day schedule. But it’s something that’s coming down the line, wherever you find yourself this morning, I come bringing good news. We have peace, I can bring in the good news of the peace that we have. And it’s not a five step plan. We’re not going to walk out of here like a seminar today where if you don’t have peace, you know, break glass and do these five things know what I come to you today with is the good news that we have peace. And his name is Jesus. We have good news. Today we have peace and His name is Jesus. And so this morning, we’re going to walk through Romans chapter five, and see this piece that Jesus Christ has given us so you are someone who’s in the habit of taking notes. We’ve done the work for you that our main idea this morning is this, that Jesus Christ is our peace. It’s my hope that if you hear nothing else I say over the next 30 minutes is that you can walk out of here this morning with the confidence of saying, I have peace, and he has a name. His name is Jesus. We’re going to walk through Romans chapter five though, because in Romans chapter five, Paul is going to break down this idea of peace in a threefold way. First, he is going to show us what Jesus Christ accomplished. Second, he is going to show us how he did it. And third, he’s going to show us why it matters. So Jesus Christ is our piece and we’re going to see how he accomplished that piece. What he accomplished and why it matters. But let’s begin together reading Romans chapter five, starting in verse one which says this. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace, in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Let us first look at this idea of what Christ accomplished for us. What did Jesus Christ accomplished for us in giving us our peace? Well, as we opened up our passage, the first word that we see there is this statement of therefore, and forgive me if you’ve heard this before, but of course, the first thing we need to do whenever we come to a therefore in Scripture is ask ourselves what question? That’s right, exactly. What is it there for because you and I are entering into the midst of what Paul is saying to the church that’s gathered at Rome. And when Paul says this in Romans five, he assumes that we all know what’s taking place in Romans one through four. And so we don’t have time this morning to look directly at all of Romans one through four. But just a picture of where Paul has brought us to this point first in chapter one. Paul started in verse 11, by saying that he had a desire to visit Rome, he had a desire to be with the church that was gathered at Rome. In the second half of chapter one, he continued by speaking and reminding the church of God’s disdain for sin, God could not stand sin because it was counter intuitive to who he is. In the second chapter, Paul continued and made the statements and especially looking in verse two, that God had a righteous judgment that he was going to bring against sin. God had a righteous judgment that he was going to bring against sin. And in chapter three, Paul reminds the readers in verse 23, that it doesn’t matter who someone is, there is no one that is righteous. And in fact, every single person is going to face this judgment for the sin that they’ve committed. In verse nine, he speaks that no one escapes God’s judgment, whether Jew, or Gentile. And in chapter four, Paul brought to the forefront, Abraham, as an example, to the people. In verse three specifically, he talks about the idea that Abraham, the father of the faith, even he required
something to help him in the midst of the judgment that was coming. And he says in verse three, that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. So Paul, in chapter four says that Abraham needed help and that God provided that help. And now, at the end of chapter four, Paul finished by saying this in the verses we didn’t read, as they were in chapter four, not five, he says, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness for us who believe in Him, who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, he was delivered, delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to, to live for our justification. So I say all of that, because it’s really important for us to understand where Paul’s been, so we can understand where he is right now. Paul has laid out the fact that there is sin, that is a problem. Because you and I are impacted by this sin, and we’re in need of rescue. We’re in need of rescue. And that’s exactly where Paul finds us here in chapter five again, as he says, Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So we need help, we need assistance. We can’t do it on our own. We’re in a position of need. But Paul says, We have reason to celebrate because we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That is great news for you and I this morning, because the first thing that God accomplished is he brought forth peace for you and for me through Jesus Christ. But how did you do it? How did Jesus Christ bring forth the peace that you and I required? Paul says that we have been justified for Through faith, we have been justified through faith. And so it’s really important that we understand what this term this idea of justification means. Because I can almost guarantee that probably in all of our conversation this week, you didn’t have a conversation that involve using the word justification. Just stepping out on a limb, maybe it was in, you know, the New York Times crossword puzzle, I highly doubt it. Let’s, let’s define the word justification. So the idea of justification is that when someone is justified, they are declared, right. And what Jesus has done for you and for me is he has declared us right in the sight of God has declared us right in the sight of God. Another way of saying it, the pastor EV Hill who enjoyed a 40 plus year ministry out on the West Coast has a wonderful way of encapsulating this idea. See, Hill was a new pastor in a church and had moved out to the Los Angeles area. And I don’t know if you know anything about Los Angeles or California, but it’s really, really expensive to live there. And as a seminary student, as a recent graduate, with a wife and a family that was beginning, he was in need of purchasing a home that he could then start his family and hopefully stay with his ministry. And so EV Hill did the work that anyone would do any desiring homeowner, he went to every bank he could find, and he was looking for money to help purchase a home, whether it was through a loan, whatever he could do to help purchase this home. And Hill not unlike many young people hadn’t had a chance to build up a resume of financial stability. And so each bank time after time, after time, said no, no, no. Hill had a problem. He had been named the senior pastor of a church, but he didn’t have a house to call his own in the area that he was the pastor of. And so he came to church that Sunday with his head down and with his emotions at an all time low. When someone in the church came to him and asked, he said, Pastor, what’s the matter? And he shared the situation and what had been going on. And it just so happened that this person was the president of a bank.
And he said, Come with me on Monday, first thing in the morning, we’ll get it figured out. So he’ll meets the church member at the bank, and they walk in together, it was the same bank that he’d already been told no, before. He walks in. And he’s so unsure because he has been told no so many times that he thinks it’s going to be no again. They sit down in the bank, and they have their meeting and the bank says congratulations, Mr. Hill will be able to give you the money that you need to purchase a house. And they’ve dropped the contract. And here it is, and they put it in front of him. And in this moment, Hill is victorious. So he picks up the pennies excited to sign. And the banker says, No, not your signature. But his we’re giving you the money based on him. Not on you. You can sign as the cosigner but he must sign as the primary signer. And in that moment, Dr. Evil Hill realize and I hope that we can realize together ourselves. That’s what Jesus Christ does for you and I as he justifies us before the sight of God, God looks upon you, he looks upon me, he looks upon us gathered as sinful human humanity. And he provides forgiveness and access to new life, not on the basis of us, but on the basis of Christ Jesus resume, on the basis of him being the signer, and us being just simply along for the ride. So when Paul says that Jesus Christ justified us, what he did is he made it possible that we could be right in front of God, because you and I could not do it on our own, we could be made right in front of God, and what is the reality we get as a reason that we have peace with God as far as the reason that we’ve been justified is that we have peace with God, we could not justify ourselves, but Jesus Christ came and made it possible that we could be justified. Peace was given to you. And to me, as a result of the work that Jesus Christ did, on the cross peace was given to you and to me, as the work that Jesus Christ did on the cross, but Paul continues, this isn’t simply one verse that he shares with the Romans. No, in the second verse, he says, through whom we have gained access by faith, into this grace in which we now stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God, we boast in the hope of the good Glory of God. So the first thing that Jesus Christ did was that he gave us peace. But the second thing that he accomplished is that he gave us access to grace. He gave us access to grace. So he’s accomplished peace, and he’s accomplished access to grace. Now, the reason we have peace and the reason we have access to grace is not because we have accomplished anything, but because Jesus Christ has accomplished everything. It’s not because we’ve accomplished anything. Jesus has accomplished everything. What Paul says though, and it’s possible that we missed it is that he says that we have been justified through faith. We’ve been justified through faith. And again, in verse two, he says, through whom we have now gained access by faith. So you and I haven’t justified ourselves you and I haven’t given ourselves peace. But we do have something that is our is on our side, the faith that we have in Jesus, Jesus, the Lord saves us he brings salvation to us that we would believe in Him and trust in Him as our Lord and Savior. However, Paul says here, that we need to have faith in order to obtain the peace. And the grace that we have, it is only possible through faith is only possible through faith. But Paul continues, as we’ve already read, once we’ll read again, it says this in verse three, Not only so, but we also glory in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
So what has Christ accomplished? He’s a crown. He’s accomplished peace. He’s accomplished grace. And he’s accomplished hope. Let’s look at these verses a little bit more closely here before we go to our second point, because Paul names a couple of different things here. He names this progression, that it’s important for us to look at first, he says that we know that in our sufferings, we know that suffering produces perseverance. Without Jesus Christ without hope, without peace without grace. Suffering, runs the risk of bringing us to a place of hopelessness, of chaos, and being in a grace needy position. It’s the reality that as we face suffering in our lives, we have a choice that lays before us, we can either look down in hopelessness, or we can look up with perseverance. We get to look down in hopelessness or look up with perseverance, not a perseverance of our own, but a perseverance provided by Jesus Christ. Why? Because He tells us to not give up, we have hope. But Paul continues, and he says that perseverance that we have, well, it produces character. And so as you and I persevere in our life, through the midst of suffering, we have another choice that we make. We can either sour or sweeten. We can either in the midst of persevering through life’s difficult circumstances, sour and begin to lose hope. Or we can taste of the sweet, sweet grace, hope and joy of our Lord Jesus Christ, and allow the perseverance through suffering, to build in us a character to build us a character that is defined by our dependence in the Lord. Finally, Paul says that that character produces hope. That character produces hope. So if we don’t give up in suffering, we persevere through the power of Jesus Christ. If we don’t give up in persevering, and we develop character, in the way of Jesus Christ, we then can receive the hope that Christ promises and provides us we can, we can provide the hope that we need, which is found in Jesus, the hope that we need that is found in Jesus. So what has Christ accomplished for us, he’s accomplished for us peace. He’s accomplished for us hope. He’s accomplished for us grace, and he’s accomplished for us. The ability to change the way in which we view suffering and the things that attack us in our life. Paul has more to say though, and I have time that is running Then so let’s continue jumping. The beauty of Romans chapter five, by the way, is that this could be three separate sermons, but we’re doing it all in one. So let’s jump in together to point number two how he did it. Starting in verse six and going to Verse eight, it says this, For you see at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this While we were still sinners, Christ died for us, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So we know what God did through Jesus Christ. But now we need to see how he did it. How did Jesus Christ bring about peace between you and I, and God, the way that he did it is through the gospel. The way that he did it is through the gospel, if we look at what Paul has to say, he says in verse six, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. When we are still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. The gospel tells us that we have a problem. And the gospel tells us that we have a really big problem. And it’s not simply that our car doesn’t start. It’s not simply that our kids maybe aren’t as they don’t heed our warnings as much as we wished we had no, the problem that we have is sin. And it’s a huge problem. It’s such a big problem, that it’s a big enough problem that puts us at distance from God. Why because he himself cannot stand to be in the presence of sin.
Secondly, we know the gospel tells us that our sin is something that we are unable to get out from underneath. There’s no you know, Peter, Francis racy, declare for bankruptcy and everything’s forgiven. There’s no call this insurance, there’s no, no, we have nowhere to turn, we have nowhere to run, we are unable ourselves or with the help of anyone else, to get out from underneath the problem of sin that we have. But Paul said it here and it’s been said also elsewhere in Scripture, we have a solution for our sin problem. Paul says at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. See, because the gospel tells us that even though you and I even though we are incapable of lifting this weight of, of removing it from us, of taking the stain that exists in our life, Jesus Christ is not incapable, no, rather, he’s fully capable. The gospel tells us that Jesus Christ came down to earth, fully God, fully man, living a perfect life in order that at the proper time, when we were still powerless, he could die for the ungodly, he could overcome death, hell, sin and the grave, through His sacrifice on our behalf for sin. See, because Jesus Christ steps into the place that you and I cannot step and he pays the price for our sin, with the sacrifice of himself. So when Paul says that at just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly, that’s what he’s speaking of, at just the right time. And it wasn’t the right time as though we had been able to clean ourselves up or make ourselves present. Well, no, he dies for us in the moment in which we are at our most wretched, most sinful, most in need of grace. Christ sees that and the way he did it, is through dying Himself on the cross for you. And for me. Paul says, If we continue in verse seven, very rarely will a person die for a righteous person no for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us while you were still a sinner, Christ died for you, while you were still in sin, Christ died for you. While I was still in sin, Christ died for me. Why? Because he loves me, because he loves you because He loves us and desires, as it says in the scriptures that that we would not perish apart from him but instead have everlasting eternal life with Him. Christ died at my very worst Christ died at your very worst for you And for me, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That is how God brought about peace for you and for me. But finally, let’s look at this idea of why does this matter? Why does it matter that God has accomplished peace that he’s provided grace that, why does it matter that he accomplished this through the gospel of Jesus Christ? Well, let us read Romans chapter five, starting in verse nine, which says, 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 grace, not only is the soul but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation, through whom we have now received reconciliation, the peace that God has provided for you, and if we believe in Him by faith matters now, and in eternity, it matters in the here. And in the later. What I mean by that is the piece that you and I have is not simply a piece that gets us through the day is not simply a piece that gets us through a busy season. And work is not simply a piece that gets us through sending our son off to college or sending our daughter across the country for a new job. No, the piece that God provides that we have, begins today, and lasts forever. It begins today and lasts forever. The piece that we have is not simply for the President, but it’s truly peace, that is for eternity. It’s peace for everything we face in this life. And it’s assurance for what we won’t face in the life to come. See, because for those who believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, those who declare Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives, the piece that Paul is speaking about right here, is a protection from Wrath is a protection from us being distanced from God is a protection from death, but is instead an assurance of life forever. It’s a protection from death and an assurance of life for ever.
Now, it’s really, really possible in this, why it matters idea to forget where we started. It’s really, really possible. Maybe you’re here this morning, and you’ve been a believer in Jesus Christ for some time. And you’ve maybe sat even in these pews for a while. And you’ve seen pastors and guest speakers and person after person, come up here and declare the gospel of Jesus Christ. And there’s this possibility that the reality of this message has grown tired in your ear. There’s a possibility that the truth of the peace that God provides for you is something that has begun to become something of a regular assumption. My hope and our prayer this morning is that that not be the case. And if that was the case, as we walk in, it’s not the case as we walk out, because I had an opportunity to have a conversation with a good friend of mine yesterday, and I was talking to him just about the reality that the times in my life where I have seen the Lord, show up and do amazing things, whether it’s in growing me and understanding his word, or in growing me to be more and more like the image His Son Jesus, is when I’ve never gotten used to the miraculous, and allowed it to become typical. Let me say that again, I the moments in which I’m feeling sluggish or stalled or stilled in my faith, or when I’ve done the opposite, that I’ve allowed the miraculous things of the Lord, such as the peace that he provides us through His Son, Jesus Christ, to grow to be regular, and to not be miraculous. So as we draw near our clothes this morning, my prayer for you and I would say Paul’s prayer as he wrote this book of Romans, and it was received and it encouraged the hearts of the church at Rome and it encourages the Church throughout history and hopefully as it encourages our church here and now and encourages the Church throughout eternity is do not let this message of Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ. Do not let that idea become so typical, and regular and normal in your ear, that you lose the miraculous wonder of that truth. Don’t lose the Wonder. Don’t lose the AW. But instead, be encouraged by this, this morning, be encouraged by this as you go throughout the rest of your week, be encouraged by this as you go through the rest of the summer and into the fall. And for whatever season God’s bringing you to next, allow them miraculous truth. Allow the miraculous truth, that we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, to be a reminder, that draws you to him, and draws you to want more and more of him in your life, whether it be through reading His word, through growing in disciplines of prayer, of, of giving, of worship of communing, whatever it may be, allow this message that you have peace with God, to be miraculous, and allow the Lord to use it in your life, in order that it would cause you to continue to worship the one who has provided us our peace. Let me pray. And we’ll continue in our service Jesus Christ, we just come before you this morning and we are in all of you. We do not deserve the peace that we’ve been given, but you have given it still, we do not deserve the grace you have provided but you have given it still got help us. Help us to rehearse the reality of the peace you provide. On a daily basis, help us to rehearse the reality of the peace that you provide on a daily basis that we may glorify you through our dependence on you and the peace you give me we glorify you with our lives man, we glorify you with our hands, and may we now glorify you with our song we pray. In Jesus name,