Would you read with me Romans 5:1:  Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Therefore - here in verse 1 is like a stop sign.  It means that we need to slow down - to read this verse very slowly and to think very carefully about the meaning of what Paul is writing here.  Verse 1 is the key theme verse of this whole section of Paul’s letter - everything that we’re looking at in Romans 1 to 5.

Look with me again at verse 1.  Let me read this for us and as I’m reading think about the words - what they mean - and what Paul is writing here. 

Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.    

Let’s unpack that a bit.

Paul has written - in what we’ve been looking at on previous Sundays - previously in Romans - Paul has written that each of us has fallen far short of the high standard of God’s righteousness.  We’re sinners because of the choice made by Adam for all of us and by the choices each of us has made individually to sin which have proven that Adam made the right choice as our representative.

As sinners were are separated from God - destined for the wrath of God - eternal horrendous punishment - without any hope or possibility of doing anything about it.

But God by His grace - not because we deserve it or could ever hope to earn it - when we take God at His word - by faith trusting that God really is gracious - that everything we need done for us to make us right with God and to save us from His deserved wrath - Jesus’ work on our behalf on the cross - when by faith we throw ourselves on God’s grace and mercy - God right then and there God declares us - counts us as justified - just as if I’d never sinned - righteous - forgiven - justified by faith because God is gracious.

“Our” meaning this personal - not some abstract philosophical religious experience.  This is about God and us.  “Lord” meaning sovereign over His creation - able to do what He wills to do.  Meaning we need to surrender to His authority over us - to do what He wills to do in us and through us.  “Jesus” meaning He is our Savior - God who has taken on what it means to be human - fully God - fully man - going to the cross as our - without sin - representative.  “Christ” meaning the one anointed by God to fulfill God’s promise of salvation.  The one true means of our salvation.

Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

That’s a lot to pack into one verse.  Isn’t it?  Well worth slowing down for.

Question:  Because we’re justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ - what does it mean for us - individually - to have peace with God?   Peace with God being the point of Paul’s stop sign.

Paul’s point in these chapters is not about our being toast before a wrathful God.  Paul’s written about that.  We know we deserve that.  Paul’s point is what God has done about it.  How God has satisfied our deepest need.  What does it mean for us to have peace with God?

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”  (John 14:27).  Jesus’ peace - the quality of peace that Paul is writing about - peace with God is way different that the world’s brand of peace.

Peace in the world is a very subjective thing - a feeling that comes and goes.  Peace based on circumstances.  Treaties that get made and broken.  Personally we may feel a settledness within.  But unless that settledness is based on what comes from God - even that settledness is going to leave us.

Peace with God is an objective reality.  Peace with God describes our no longer being subject to God’s wrath because of our sin.  Peace means that our relationship with God is right - righteous - restored.

Jesus told a parable about a banker who had two people who owed him money.  One owed five hundred pieces of silver and the other fifty pieces of silver.  Neither of them had any hope of paying the debt.  So the banker  cancelled the debt.

Jesus asked, “Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”  Simon - the Pharisee who’s house he was in - Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the larger debt.”  And Jesus said to him, “You have chosen wisely.”  (Luke 7:41-43)

The death of our Lord Jesus Christ satisfied our debt of sin - set aside the wrath of God - brought us into a restored relationship with God.  Our standing - our relationship with God.  Peace with God.

One life changing result of that objective permanent reality is a huge sense of lasting relief for all of us who by faith have received what God has graciously done for us.

Its like saying to a terminally ill cancer patient:  “You’re cured.”  Or to an inmate on death row:  “You’re pardoned.  You’re free.”  Its hard to process that.  Positionally what that means and the immensity of the sense of relief - how we are now able to think of ourselves and how we are now able to live.

If we’ve ever been caught up in the trap of trying to earn God’s favor or trying to be good enough for God or appease God by doing all kinds of religious works - or maybe we’re really understanding how far we fall short and how hopeless our situation really is - or we’re just carrying around a ton of guilt and inability to realize God’s forgiveness - slow down and read verse 1 again slowly for yourself.  In the place of “we” put your name.

You have peace with God.  Hold onto what that means - even the relief of verse 1 - for yourself. 

What comes next - here in chapter 5 - is Paul describing the practical reality of what it means for us to live in this peace with God that we’ve been given.

Verses 2 to 5 speak to Where We Stand With God.

Would you read with me verse 2 to 5:  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.  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 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.

Let’s go back and do some unpacking.

“Access” is a Greek word that has the idea of an introduction.

Imagine a throne room - banners - courtiers - plush carpets - regality to the max.  The king sits on his throne at one end - up on a raised dais.  The large ornate carved wooden doors are opened and you’re ushered into this throne room.  The staff gets pounded - boom boom - bringing everyone’s attention to you - as you are announced - introduced into that throne room before the king.

That’s access.  Paul writing that through Jesus we’ve been given access - introduced - into the very presence of God.  Its obtained - completed action.  Which means its ours now.  We belong there - with all that that can mean for us.

Jesus has given us access into a whole different life - a life lived by the grace of God.  A life lived by totally different rules and standards that the life we used to live in.   

Paul - in Ephesians - writing about our access to God - uses the same term to describe prayer for the Christian.  Paul writes, “This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.”  (Ephesians 3:11,12)

Access means we have the God given right - the opportunity - to come with boldness - to address the sovereign God of creation.

Paul writes that we stand - again completed action.  Right now we have standing - our place of belonging is in the presence of God.  The life of grace that we now live is a permanent reality for us.

And so - Paul writes, “we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Three words.

First “rejoice” which has the idea of a kind of giddy joyful confidence in life that’s based on who God is and our standing before Him.

Second word:  “Hope” which is about having assurance - expectation - based on God and what He promises to us.

Third:  “Glory” which is all about Who God is - the very character and nature of God.  God being able to do and accomplish what God wills to do and to accomplish.

If we’re given a ticket to a football game - such and such seat in such and such a section - a ticket to watch the 49ers cream some helpless opponent.  We have in our hands a ticket that give us a joyful assurance of access to that game.

In a much greater way - what Paul is saying is this:  Since we have peace with God - by God’s grace we have access to God - a permanent standing before God.  That’s a done deal which gives us a joyful assurance - a hope - a confidence based in the very character of God Himself - that nothing is going to remove us from that position of peace now - or forever.  Whatever takes place in life - or after this life - God putting all things right - judgment - we have peace with God now and forever.

Are we together?

Look at where Paul goes with this - very practically - what does it mean for us to live in this peace with God that we’ve been given.

Verse 3:  “More than that.”  Which is kind of like choosing curtain number 1 which is the big deal of day and getting deal number 2 thrown in besides.  It just keeps getting better.  Only this is God and not Monte Hall.  No real comparison there.  God just keeps pouring on His blessings.

“More than that we rejoice in our sufferings.”  We can joyfully boast while we’re suffering.

“Suffering” is a word in Greek that has the idea of being under pressure.  Like when we have too much stuff for the suitcase and we just keep shoving and pushing on it trying to cram it in.

Sometimes we feel like that stuff.  Yes?  Being crammed into a little tiny space in life.

The challenges in life that are overwhelming.  Which seems like most of life these days.  The intense pressure of failing health - drama at work - drama at home - at school - deadlines - the economy - people’s expectations - we could go on.  If we had 25 hours in a day we’d need 26.

When you get to the end of your rope tie a knot and hang on - which assumes that we have a rope.

Paul is writing that - because of where we stand - we can have joyful confidence when we’re suffering under intense pressure.

“Knowing that…” three things we know when we’re under pressure.

First:  “Suffering produces endurance.”  Endurance has the idea of patiently hanging in there.  Sometimes we go through things where there is no remedy or solution.  Or we can’t see that anything is going to change.  Things may get worse.  Endurance is deliberately choosing to hang in there - calmly - patiently.

Second:  “Endurance produces character.”  Character meaning inner fortitude.  The word in Greek was used of testing metal - by heating it up - to see what kind of metal it really was.  The word came to describe a soldier having their metal tested on the battle field - under the intense pressure of combat - to see what kind of person they really are inside.

Third:  “Character produces hope.”  Hope meaning confidence.

Last Thursday going into the fourth quarter Stanford was leading Oregon 26 to 0.  Astounding.  Considering that Oregon - the number 2 team in the country - was averaging 56 points per game.  Oregon went into the 4th quarter against Stanford with 0 points.  

Any of you watch this game?

With 10 minutes left in the game Oregon scored its first touchdown.  With 2 minutes left the score was Stanford 26 Oregon 20.  Could Stanford hang on?  Oregon’s offense was explosive - dangerous.  It was a nail biter. 

The kind of confident hope Paul is writing about comes when we know the outcome of the game.  Knowing the outcome is a game changer - a life changer in how we face the drama of life.  Stanford wins.  God wins.  We win.

A person can endure all kinds of hardship if we have hope.  But real hope - life changing hope - is not wishful thinking.

Paul writes that when we have hope in God we will never be put to shame.  We will never be disappointed.  God will never leave us hanging.  God will never fails us.  God will never come up short at the end.  God always fulfills His promises.  God has already won.  In Christ - our outcome - our victory is already assured.

Putting together what Paul writes here:  Because we have peace with God - our access - our standing before God - because we have peace with God  we can rejoice with confidence in the midst of even the worst drama of life - because we know that our victory is assured by God.  That hope gives us the basis by which to hang in there - which comes out in proven character - what God is developing within us - as we learn to hang in there calmly - patiently - trusting in God.

Then - verse 5 - Paul gives us two truths - because we have peace with God - truth number one:  the love God has been poured out in our hearts - and truth number two:  the Holy Spirit has been given to us.

Which means that in the midst of whatever life throws at us we can experience the love of God - His loving commitment to us - His provision and presence.

And, in the midst of whatever life throws at us we have the working of the Holy Spirit within us - transforming us - empowering us - strengthening us in our weakness - giving us wisdom in foolishness - guiding us - gifting us.  The Holy Spirit Who - the Bible tells us - enters us as a present time guarantee of our future victory with God.

Because we have peace with God, God never leaves us alone in life.  We may at times feel lonely.  But, we are never alone.

What does it mean for us to have peace with God?  Standing.  Relief.  Promise.  Provision.  Joy.  Confidence.  Hope.  Victory.  The very presence of God working within us and through us.

Let’s go on.  What does it mean for us to have peace with God?   Verses 6 to 11 speak to How God Relates To Us.  Our relationship with God.

Let’s read together starting at verse 6:  For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will scarcely die of a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Years ago I read about a man who had 20 ducks that he put his son in charge of.  Each morning the son would lead the ducks out to the pond to play and do the things ducks do.  Every night the son would lead the ducks home again.

The boy’s father said this:  “The trick to herding ducks is to make sure they are all in a row.  If you can’t keep your ducks in a row you’ll never be a great duck herder.”

If you’ve ever tried herding ducks you know that keeping 5 ducks in a row is fairly easy.  10 ducks is harder.  20 is next to impossible.  It involves constantly running from one end of the herd to the other trying to keep all those ducks moving in a line together.

The son - no matter how hard he worked at it - the son could never keep his ducks in line.  For the rest of his life he felt the disapproval of his father and all the other duck herders.  He died alone and dejected.

That’s how the world does relationships.  How the world does love.  Based on achievement - performance - what you do for me.  We live in a world saturated with that thinking - approval based on what we do.  Which makes it so much harder to process grace.  So much harder to grasp God loving us.

But what Paul is writing about here has to do with how God does relationships.  Peace with God doesn’t come with strings attached.  Our standing with God - our access - our relationship with God isn’t achieved by what we do.  God’s choosing to love us - accepting us - the basis of our relationship with God is Who God is.  God Who is grace.  God Who is love.  Choosing us.

Paul writes “while we were still weak” - meaning morally and spiritually helpless - sick - diseased - terminal.

“at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”  At the right time - meaning the time of God’s choosing - God’s planning. 

Before creation was creation God chose the when and where and how of Jesus’ birth - life - sacrifice and resurrection.  At the unique juncture of time when the stability of the Roman Empire and the common use of Greek as a language - facilitated the spread the Gospel.  Which is true about God’s timing.

But also - at the right time - means at the time when we needed it most.  At the time when we were still weak - Christ died for us - the ungodly.

Verse 7:  For one will scarcely die of a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Do you remember Philippians 2?  Jesus - “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  (Philippians 2:6-8)

God stoops to become a man - suffers our punishment.  That is so counter man’s thinking about how we do relationships no wonder we struggle to process it.  God dying for an unrightous person - undeserving - unworthy of that sacrifice.  Who would do such a thing?

Take a look around - left - right - front - back.  Weigh this one carefully.  If you knew the deepest hidden worst crud of that person’s life - especially if they had spent their life hurting you - rejecting you - despising you - trashing you - would you willingly choose to die for that person?

Jesus did.  Died for you.  Died for me.

How does God relate to us?  Sacrificially.

Let’s read verses 9 to 11 together:  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.  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.  More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

This last week Billy Graham celebrated his 95th birthday.  Did any of you see any of that?  Anyone see the video:  The Cross?  Pretty good.  Yes?

Tonight our Life Groups are going to be watching the video “Defining Moments” - which is another video that BGEA has put out for the My Hope outreach.  Some of you have seen this.

Part of what’s on that video is the testimony of Jim Monroe.

I don’t want to tell you everything but Jim had gone in for tests and the doctors came back and told Jim, “You have cancer and we can’t cure it.”  Some of you have heard those words yourself.  In Jim’s situation Jim’s white blood cells were making bad copies of bad copies.

The doctors said there is one thing we can try - a bone marrow transplant.  What that involved was a vicious concoction of chemo - the purpose of which was to complete destroy Jim’s blood system that was killing him. 

The idea would be to search the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry and find someone with a perfect DNA match in order to substitute someone else’s perfect blood on Jim’s behalf in order to grow a whole new blood system.

Which they did.  Out of about 7 million people they found one match - a 19 year old woman.  On April 23rd the doctors came with a bag of new blood and Jim - when he received that blood - to hear him share what happened - on the day he received the new blood in place of his blood that was killing him - April 23rd he literally was born anew.  A whole new birthday. 

Today when the doctors look at Jim’s blood what they see is the blood of a 19 year old woman.  And Jim is 100% cancer free.

That’s what God does for us.  Christ’s blood for our blood.  Not when we’re strong.  But when we’re weak - terminal - ungodly - unrighteous.  That’s how God does love.  How God does relationships.   

How does God relate to us?  He loves us.

God saves us from wrath - no strings.  We want to keep herding ducks.  But, if we’re willing to trust God - there is a life altering confidence - a relief - a peace - that comes when we realize what God does for us simply because He chooses to do so.  God loves us.

In verse 10 and 11 Paul introduces the word “reconciliation.”   Reconciliation in Greek is a word that describes what a money changer does.  Exchanging drachmas for denariuses - sestertiuses for shekels - dollars for pesos.  A reconciler reconciles - or makes right - the differences between the currencies.

Are we together?  God reconciling us means that God does the work of reconciling - making right - the differences between us and Him.  God bringing us into a right relationship with Him.

Reading through verses 6 to 11 - Paul writes that we were weak - ungodly - unrighteous - sinners - enemies of God.  Those are differences.  Yes?  But God has made us to be His friends.  Not enemies.  But has brought us into a deep abiding friendship with Him.

How does God relate to us?  We’re His friends.

Paul writes that God reconciled us - which in the Greek verb has the idea of God’s completed work - the effect of which continues today in our lives.  God has brought us into friendship with Him and we continue as God’s friends.

Much more - verse 10 - much more - meaning it gets better - much more - because God has reconciled us - and we continue as God’s friends - shall we - or we shall - the certainty of what God will do for us - we shall be saved by His life.

Jesus’ death pays the penalty for our sin.  Making possible our standing with God.  That Jesus lives - His life - gives us the certain hope of life with God today and forever.  When God friends us God does not unfriend us.  To use a Facebook term.

Verse 11 - more than that - meaning it just keeps getting better - more than that - having received reconciliation - which has the idea of God’s completed and ongoing work on our behalf - friending us - we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

That word “rejoice” translates the same Greek word that Paul used back in verse 3 - a kind of giddy boasting because of our friendship with God.

God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah and told His people this:  “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness on the earth.”  (Jeremiah 9:23,24)

That boasting is a joyful confidence based in God.

Let’s grab Paul’s point here.  When we begin to understand that God really does relate to us in a way that is totally different than how the world does relationships - that God knows us for who are - and yet sacrificially loves us - that He is the God who is loving - just - and righteous - Who makes us His friend now and forever - that knowing of God’s friendship is the basis of real ongoing joy.

Joy that transcends all other considerations in life.  Joy that gives confidence despite the pressures of living in a fallen world.  Joy that gives us strength in the midst of physical weakness.  Joy that heals wounds of past failures.

What does it mean that we have peace with God?  Paul writes that we have access - the right to come before God and to know Him as He has chosen to know us - to relate to us lovingly as our friend.

There is an assurance and confidence and joy in that - that we need to hang onto as we head out of here into the drama of this week - and as God brings us into contact with others who need to know peace with God. 

Hang on to this:  Now that you have peace with God you have only just begun to live by His grace and it only gets better from here.

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