Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Romans

Romans 5:1-11 Part 1

INTRO: Early 1990's. Veterans Stadium. Philadelphia Eagles. I once  saw Randal Cunningham throw a screen pass to Hershal Walker and Walker squared his shoulders and  ran, and ran, threw off  tackles even ran over a few of his own men. He crossed the goal line with 3 Giants on his back. When the Giant players let go of him and he spiked the ball in the end zone, the place went crazy. People were giving high fives, jumping around and screaming. Their man scored a touchdown.

         I've seen the same thing happen when Mike Schmidt hit a home run in a Phillies game. Cannons went off , the Liberty Bell in center field lit up, the people stood and shouted because their man hit a home run. When  Philadelphia teams did what they were supposed to do, the fans were ecstatic, joyful even.

EXP: With this being the beginning of the football season and baseball post season play, I thought this illustration was appropriate. People show great emotion, great joy when their team scores and wins the game. But, do they show the same emotion in church? Understand,  I'm not saying  when you come to church you need to give each other high fives or do cartwheels down the aisle. But worship is a time of great Joy, of anticipating and expecting to meet with God.

         We come together on Sundays,  because all week God has been knocking home runs and scoring touchdowns in our lives. He has given us victory time and time again over the power of sin. Do we show the same emotion? Doe's God's work in our lives ever excite us?

 TRANS: In Romans 5:1-11 we will find that the work of God, declaring  us  justified by faith, is both immediate and eternal. And it  carries with it continual blessing for the Believer until they are re-united with Christ at death. The passage we will look at this morning reveals the blessings of Covenant membership as it gives us 4 of 7 reasons the Believer is to rejoice in their life in Christ.  We will look at the other 3 next week.

I. The blessings of God through Justification by faith. (Rom. 5:1-11)
The first reason to rejoice is found in vs 1. We have
      A. Peace with God (vs. 1)

DEF: Eirene: a state of peace. This is not only a peaceful feeling, but something even greater. This is a 'condition' or 'place' of  peace with God.

ILL: There is a painting called 'Peace'. It shows waves crashing against jagged rocks. It portrays the violence of a crushing storm. It seems anything but peaceful. But down in a small corner of the painting, tucked away in the rocks, is a little bird sitting on her nest totally oblivious to the raging storm all about. That's peace.' That little bird has found a place of peace. Have you?

          Verse 1 is a summary statement of the Covenantal Blessings to the Believer. Men and women, formally in a state of rebellion against God have now been reconciled, have become friends of God through faith in JC. The war is over. The treaty is signed in the blood of JC and it will last forever.

ILL: St. Augustine who lived over 1500 years ago  said 'You have made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you.'

APP: If you look for peace anywhere; money, job security, another person, and you don't draw near to God by accepting His peace offering in a love relationship with JC,  your  have searched in vain. You will never know peace.

TRANS: J. Oswald Sanders once said 'Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God.'  Peace with God  naturally leads to our second reason to rejoice as Believers, we have

    B. Access to God (vs. 2a)
        Once enemies with God, we were not permitted into His holy presence. BUT NOW, by grace, thru faith  in JC, former rebels, enemies of God are not only forgiven but are brought into a place of favor with God. We are not only allowed in,  but God begs us, 'come'. Through faith in JC we gain access to the very presence of God. WHAT JOY! Wonderful, beyond imagination and it's forever.  That's what brother Joe Driscoll is experiencing this very moment.

TRANS: What we experience thru prayer and the ministry of the HS, Joe  and Lois are rejoicing in right now. The Covenant promise is to all who believe, that one day, we will see Jesus face to face. Amen!  Our  third reason to rejoice according to our text is that we have

    C. Hope of the glory of God (vs. 2b)
DEF: Exalt: to shout with joy, to exclaim with jubilation.

         Hope: World = desire or want that maybe something will happen.
                   Believer = surety, to expect with confidence that something will happen based on the presence of God in the life of
                                   the Believer.

       The Glory of God: This is what Adam and Eve experienced before the Fall. It is both the very nature of God and I believe it is that which is the image of God in man. Let's put this together.  Paul in Rom. 3:23 said 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God'. I believe Paul is now saying that thru justification by faith, belief in JC,  one day we will return to the same relationship Adam and Eve had with God in the garden before they fell in sin. The image of God in man will be restored. And we will know and experience first hand the very nature of God. It's a done deal.  So Rejoice!

TRANS: Paul in vs. 3 says 'and not only this', as if Peace, Access and Hope are not enough to get you excited, he shouts  'we also rejoice in our tribulation'. Paul is not saying that we are joyful because of our suffering, but through it,  we rejoice. Why, because

    D. Christian character (vs. 3-4)
         Tribulation, trials, suffering is a means to a very productive end for the Believer. It develops Christian character. This is the fourth reason the Believe has to rejoice. Suffering and difficult times are placed in your life to work FOR you , not AGAINST you.

DEF: Tribulation: Latin tribulum. In Paul's day a tribulum was a heavy piece of wood with spikes in it. Kind of like a big comb. It was used in threshing grain. The tribulum would be drawn over the grain and it would separate the wheat from the chaff.

APP: As we, then, go thru tribulation and depend on God's grace, the trials only help us get rid of the chaff, the useless things in our lives.

ILL: Cheri Register in 'Living with chronic illness' said 'Lived fully, the experience of illness can free you from the curse of perfectionism that makes happiness conditional on having everything just right. '

APP: What kind of chaff is God, thru adversity, attempting to remove from your life? How's He doing? Are you helping or hindering Him? If you see God's hand in  your trials then you are already on the road to developing: Perseverance: endurance, steadfastness and patience. It is the ability to remain stable during trying time because you have been there before.  This word denotes action in the Greek. We  do not sit back and just put up with trials and suffering in life. We stand up and face them head on, actively seeking to conquer and overcome them thru the grace of God and the presence and power of the HS in our lives. Remember Rom. 8:37 'But in all things we overwhelming conquer thru Him who loved us.' Amen!

        Perseverance  leads to: Proven Character: The quality of being approved as the result of testing and trials. It is like the process of refining precious metals. The dross or waste material is taken away by the extreme heat leaving only the valuable metal.

APP: Do you have a reputation of being a man or woman of character? One who when tested will come thru with their integrity in tact? If you do then you will understand what it means to have:

        Hope: we already defined as confidence in God.

ILL: A Korean Believer who had been persecuted for his faith  said
 'We Christians should be like nails. The harder you hit us the deeper you drive us.'

APP: A Believer undergoing suffering is to have a victorious and joyful attitude because he knows that the trials and suffering he is now experiencing is :
         -Under the watchful and caring eyes of God.
         -Therefore is allowed by God for His purpose.
         -That purpose is to change you into the image of Christ. The hope of the glory of God. So rejoice!

Conclusion:
         Some of you will go home today and watch the Giants play the Chargers. You'll get excited if they actually play well enough to win. You'll yell if Tiki Barber rushes for a touchdown or Chris Calloway catches a pass and spikes it in the end zone.  I'll be watching the Eagles play and quite honestly, I'll be ecstatic if they ever score an offensive touchdown.  Perhaps you will cheer for the Yankees to continue their record breaking winning season. Or  when you catch  Sammy Sosa or Mark McGwire hit home run #67 you'll clap you hands and shout for joy!'.

         It's fine to do that. But let me challenge you. Look for the activity of God this week. Try and catch Him at work keeping you from sin and forgiving you when you do.  When life gets tough and you wonder where God is in the midst of  a trial, remember as a member of the covenant family of God thru faith in JC

YOU have a position of peace with God,
YOU have access to the throne of Grace,
YOU have hope in the Glory of God,
YOU have God working in your to produce Christian character
YOU will not be let down because as we will see next week,