And it is this experience of God’s love produces a second of two results that the peace with God that we have as a result of our rescue provides. And that second result is that peace with God provides confidence in His love. We see Paul reveal this reality for us, beginning in Romans 5:6. Let’s look at it together:
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.In these verses, we see Paul point out the first of two different aspects of God’s love that help provide confidence in His love as a result of the peace that comes from God’s rescue of us. Paul begins by explaining that while we were still helpless, at just the right time Christ died for the ungodly. By helpless, Paul is revealing that humanity was morally incapable of rescuing themselves in a way that would result in peace with God. Instead, at just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly in order to rescue the ungodly.
At just the right moment in history, Jesus Christ entered into humanity and allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. And Jesus died for the ungodly. Jesus entered into humanity on died on the cross not for those who were seeking Him; Jesus entered into humanity and died on the cross for those who were content with leaving God out and living as though He did not exist. Humanity was not a race of people searching and seeking God; humanity was a race of people that were traitors and had turned their back on Him so as to ignore Him.
Now a natural response to what Paul says in verse 6 is “why would anyone die for someone who ignored Him, or worse yet, were traitors who turned their backs on Him”? Paul, anticipating this response, provides the reason why Jesus would die for those who ignored Him and lived as though He did not exist in verses 7-8. First, in verse 7, Paul readily acknowledges the reality that, as a general rule, human beings are very slow to sacrificially give up their lives in order to save another life.
Paul explains that on a rare occasion, someone will willingly sacrifice their lives in order to rescue someone who they view as being right with God and who lives their life that reflects their relationship with God. Paul then reinforces this point by acknowledging that there are occasions when someone would demonstrate the boldness and resolution necessary to sacrifice their lives in order to rescue someone who was a good moral person who lived their lives according to a high moral standard.
On occasion, human beings are provoked by a selfless love to sacrifice themselves in order to rescue those whom they view worthy of such sacrificial action. And as a culture, we respond to such sacrificial love that is demonstrated to those who are viewed as being worthy of such love by building monuments and memorials. We respond to such sacrificial love in action by naming streets and buildings after the one who made such a sacrifice. And such sacrificial and loving action provokes gratitude and thanksgiving from those who are impacted by such a sacrifice.
After readily acknowledging that human beings will occasionally demonstrate the courage to sacrifice their lives for someone they believe is worthy of such a sacrifice, Paul makes a timeless and true statement about God’s love. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. You see, unlike humanity throughout history, God’s selfless and sacrificial love was not simply bent towards those who He felt were worthy of such a sacrifice. God’s selfless and sacrificial love was not something that was simply reciprocated to those who loved Him first. The word demonstrates here, in the language this letter was originally written in, means to provide evidence of a characteristic or claim through action. When Paul talks about sinners, he is referring to those who are outsiders who were far from God as a result of selfishness and rebellion. Outsiders like me; outsiders like you.
You see you find yourself wrestling with the idea that God could actually love you. You find it hard to imagine that God could even remotely love you after all that you have done to Him and others. You feel like you need proof, you need evidence that God could love you. Paul is saying to you this morning “Here is the proof, here is the evidence. While you were an outsider that selfishly rebelled against God; while you chose to leave God out and live as though He did not exist; God responded to your choice by loving you enough to give what was closest to Himself to rescue what was furthest away.
God loved you, even though you were an outsider that could not be further away from God, and provided the evidence and proof of His love by sending what was closest to Himself, His only Son Jesus Christ, who lived the life you refused to live and died the death you deserved to die. And here we see the timeless reality that God’s love is totally undeserved.
Here is a question for you that will put this reality in stark display; would you willingly give the person who was closest to you in order to rescue the person who was the furthest away from you? You know the person at your job or at your school or in your family that you felt constantly ignored you, rebelled against you, and even hurt you. The person who you would not even consider inviting out for a meal; would you give what was closest to you to die for that person. If we are honest all of us would say “no way”. And the reason why we would say “no way” is because “that person does not deserve it. That person is not deserving of my giving up what is closest to me”.
That is exactly what God did for me; and that is exactly what God did for you. God lovingly gave what was closest to Himself to rescue what was furthest away and that love was totally undeserved. And it is the fact that God’s love is undeserved that enables us to have confidence in His love.
Paul then concludes this section of his letter by revealing for us a second aspect of God’s love that enables us to have confidence in God’s love in Romans 5:9-11:
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.Paul begins by explaining that if we have been declared not guilty of having a problem with God as a result of placing our confident trust in Jesus life death and resurrection, by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader, then we shall also be saved from the wrath of God through Him. In other words, the peace on account of being declared not guilty of having a problem with God through faith in Christ results in us being rescued from God’s right and just response to the selfish rebellion and sin of humanity that will occur at the end of God’s story here on earth, when Jesus will return to earth to defeat selfishness, sin, and death and judge all of humanity.
And to reinforce this reality, Paul asks a rhetorical question: “if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”? What is so interesting here is that the word reconciled, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to exchange hostility for a friendly relationship. If Paul were writing this question in the language that we use in our culture today, this question might sound something like this: If when we were hostile to God and at odds with God, God chose to exchange that hostility for a friendly relationship through Jesus death on the cross for our selfishness and rebellion, how much more then after having this relationship established by God, will we be rescued from God’s right response to selfishness and sin through Jesus resurrection from the dead to life.
Paul’s point here is that because Jesus was raised from the dead to eternal life, we also are rescued to experience eternal life with God. And here we see revealed for us the timeless reality that God’s love is unending. The rescue that results in peace with God provides us with a love from God that is unending. The peace that we have with God as a result of our rescue from God’s right and just response to selfishness and rebellion, provides us confidence that we will experience the love of God for all eternity in relationship with Him in Heaven.
And, in verse 11, it is this confidence that we have as a result of God’s love that should result in followers of Jesus taking pride in God, who took the initiative to exchange a hostile relationship with rebellious humanity for a friendly relationship with those He rescued by selflessly giving what was closest to Himself to rescue what was furthest away. You see, our rescue results in peace with God. And it is the peace with God that we have as a result of our rescue that provides hope in the midst of our troubles and trials. And it is the peace with God that we have as a result of our rescue that provides confidence in God’s love. Because God’s love is both undeserved and unending.
So do you have peace with God? Do you have hope in the midst of the trials and troubles you may be experiencing? Do you have confidence in God’s love? You see, we can have hope in the midst of trials; we can have confidence in God’s love because God has provided the evidence of His love in His Son Jesus. God gave what was closest to Himself to rescue what was furthest away. And that rescue results in peace with God. The peace with God that provides hope in the midst of the trials and troubles we experience here on earth. The peace with God that provides confidence in His love.
And the rescue that results in peace with God is available to all who place their confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.
So do you have peace?
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