Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Romans 5:6-11
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  June 28, 2020

Reconciliation. That’s our word for today. And in more ways than one. We are in a country in great need of reconciliation, right now. Political enemies have drawn lines, there are racial protests, heated debates, authority is challenged, we need reconciliation. We are also in families in great need of reconciliation. Many marriages are strained, many family members are no longer speaking, many kids go back and forth between antagonistic parents, we need reconciliation.  We long for reconciliation. Could there be a more appropriate word to study today? This section of Romans before us beautifully lays out our reconciliation with God. Through a series of contrasts, the Apostle Paul puts our differences with others in the correct perspective. To the extent that we understand our reconciliation with God, we will be able to pursue reconciliation on earth. Let’s turn to Romans chapter 5.

In this section, we hear how Jesus died for us. And we know that this is the central point of Scripture. But that is not Paul’s exact focus in these verses. Here the focus is on the condition of those for whom he died. This is what shows the love of Christ to be so amazing. Look at the contrast of verses 7 and 8: “It is rare indeed that someone will die for a righteous person. Perhaps someone might actually go so far as to die for a person who has been good to him.” The point here is to show that the pinnacle of human love is to die for someone who has been especially good to us. But it is very rare to see this love. Even for the life of a comparably equal and demonstrably worthy person, it is rare to see someone go so far as to die for a good person. And keep in mind the idea of length here, or depth of love if you will, because this is what sets up the great contrast of verse 8: “But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The depth of God’s love for us, the length of his love, is seen in this: when he chose to love us, even at the cost of his own son’s life, we were in no way worthy of his love. The greatness of his love is shown in this: he did not wait for any change in us. He loved us despite ourselves. While we were still sinners, the full sacrifice was made by Christ.

Paul actually uses two more words to describe our condition in verse 6 he says, “while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly. “Helpless” refers to the fact that we could not save ourselves, we weren’t going to improve. God didn’t see a vast potential of goodness inherent in us. We were helplessly lost in sin. And we were “ungodly”. The word means we had no god or respect for God. And it is used in Romans 1:18 where Paul says, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness.” So we were guilty sinners, we were helpless, we were ungodly and deserving of the just wrath of a holy God. 

My friends, if we are ever to grasp the gospel, we must grasp this about ourselves. We do not deserve the love of God. We were by nature his enemies. We still have within us a godless nature, a capacity for evil and hatred which is terrifying. Until this is understood and felt in some significant measure, the gospel will not be cherished. Unless you understand the depth of your own sin, and how impossibly far away from the holiness of God you were when Christ died for you, you won’t be able to appreciate his sacrifice. You won’t understand how far he came to bring reconciliation. 

Imagine your friend comes to your house and brings you a bottle of aspirin or ibuprofen. That would be nice of them, right? Weird, to be sure, rather unnecessary, but nice. But then imagine that you find out the pills inside the bottle were actually doses of an antidote which will cure you and your family of a terrible disease which you had unknowingly been infected with. And your friend gave up their life savings to buy it for you and will now die from the disease themselves. This is just an analogy, but if you don’t understand how sick you were, how you were truly headed for everlasting destruction in sin, then Jesus’ sacrifice is just going to sound weird and rather unnecessary. But if you understand what state you were truly in when Christ died for you, if you understand the length of God’s love, not just willing to go six-feet under the ground for you, but that he came from the holy heights of heaven, all the way down to a sinful earth, and then in order to appease God’s wrath, all the way to the pit of hell, if you understand the length of God’s love, then you will appreciate your reconciliation for what it is: the greatest demonstration of love the world will ever know.

For a good person, someone might possibly dare to die, but God shows his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Do you understand how far God went to reconcile you to himself? I talked about this in my Christian conscience Bible study, but as you grow in faith you understand more and more just how holy God is, and you better understand the fullness of his law and how far you fall short. And in doing so, you begin to see the cross grow in size. As Paul prayed for his Ephesian congregation, “I pray that you…would have power, along with all God’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.” The length of God’s love to reconcile sinners surpasses our understanding, but as we grow in faith we can better understand it. As children grow up, they understand better the love and sacrifices their parents made for them and so we too, as children of God, as we mature in faith should better understand our heavenly Father’s love. 

Now it is my prayer that we not only grow in our understanding of our reconciliation with God but that we would apply it to the people and situations in our life which call for reconciliation.

Loving Others Who Are Different Than Us: I want you right now, to imagine the most detestable person you can. What would they do, what would they say, or think, or support? Can you picture that person? Can you feel the almost righteous anger in your heart against that person? But now realize that your sin—your sinful heart, was much more unattractive and unpleasant to God than that person is to you. And yet, God loves you. While we were still sinners, Christ died. If God has loved us this way, shouldn’t we love others this way too? Shouldn’t our love overcome our rage, in order that we might seek reconciliation? Shouldn’t we set aside our self-granted right to be angry or offended, in order to love as we have been loved by God? 

This is what Paul talks about in verse 10: “…while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,” Jesus himself once said “You have heard it said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you (Mat. 5:43–44).” Here is the source of that love. Romans 5:10, While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Let us be willing to seek reconciliation with those we might think of as enemies; let’s act like our Father!

Go to Great Lengths to Reconcile: So often I hear people say something like, “Well, they turned their back on me, so I really have no choice but to cut them out of my life!” The truth is that you would have every right to do so…if you weren’t a Christian. But as a Christian, you know the lengths to which God went in order to reconcile with you, even when you were against him, even when you were his enemy!” Be bold and go to great lengths to reconcile with the people in your life. Maybe, they tried to close the proverbial door on your relationship. How about you show up at their actual door and tell them that you love them and want to be reconciled! Tell them that you have been forgiven by Christ and you want to forgive what is in the past and be reconciled! 

Reconciliation With God is the Most Important: Are you uncomfortable with some of the conversations surrounding racial tensions in America today? The news will tell us that if you are truly against racism you can’t also support the police. It tells you that if you go to a protest, you are condoning violence and looting. It tells you that you cannot reason with those who think differently. There are so many divisive false distinctions and assumptions. It tells us that there will never be reconciliation between people from the right and the left. But the truth is that your sin has been forgiven as far as the east is from the west, and in love, in Christ-like character, we should remember that this distinction is the most important. There are members of Eastside on opposite ends of the spectrum on some of these matters. There are strong consciences among us that are greatly tested. But let us remember that our unity as reconciled children of God is more important and more lasting than any earthly division. Let us seek reconciliation with one another, let us seek to have loving conversations about these matters, but never let them supersede the joy and the unity we have as reconciled children of God. Amen.