Rejoice in the certainty of God’s grace.

 

Sermon for Lent 3, March 12, 2023

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God his Father—to him be the glory and the power forever.  Amen.

Romans 5:1-11  Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  ²Through him we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.  And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory of God.  ³Not only this, but we also rejoice confidently in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, ⁴and patient endurance produces tested character, and tested character produces hope.  ⁵And hope will not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us.  ⁶For at the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly.  ⁷It 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.  ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  ⁹Therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, it is even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him.  ¹⁰For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, it is even more certain that, since we have been reconciled, we will be saved by his life.  ¹¹And not only is this so, but we also go on rejoicing confidently in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received this reconciliation. (EHV)

Rejoice in the certainty of God’s grace.

Dear beloved in the Lord,

            It has been said that the only sure things in life are death and taxes.  Now, we might argue about whether there are other sure things, however, no one can deny that there is a lot of uncertainty in our lives.  And, while the prognosticators (a big word for those who make guesses about the future) pour out endless forecasts concerning the weather, the economy, future climate, the outcome of various sporting events, the political scene and how it will change in the next election, the only thing we know for sure is we will die. 

Furthermore, regardless of whether one is a believer or denies the existence of God, it is just as sure and certain that every person will stand before God in judgment, either at our deaths or on Judgment Day.  The Bible warns that those who stand in sin before the Judge “will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!” (Hosea 10:8)  The terror of those who stand condemned before God will be beyond anything this world has known.  Still, that is not what God desires for anyone.  Therefore, our text explains the great gift we have been given by faith, so we Rejoice in the certainty of God’s grace.

St. Paul assures his readers, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Being justified means that God has declared sinners like you and me to be innocent because Jesus took the punishment our guilt deserved.  Therefore, because God now counts us as innocent, He no longer holds us under the condemnation that “The soul who sins is the one who will die.” (Ezekiel 18:20)  Now, some may scoff and say, “So what, everyone dies.”  True, everyone dies—because of sin.  Yet, the death God wants to prevent in us is the everlasting separation from Him in hell.  That’s why He gave His Son into death on a cross to pay for our sins.  Thus, Jesus solemnly promised, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.” (John 14:6) 

The sad truth today, though, is that so many people view this as ho-hum news.  The world has worked very hard to convince people that there will be no penalty to pay for not believing in Jesus.  It has worked just as hard to convince the gullible that this life is all there is.  Satan continues to weave his web of lies in his attempt to convince even believers that sin doesn’t matter—that God doesn’t care or doesn’t exist.  Yet, apart from justification through faith in Jesus, the soul is destined to eternal torment with the devil and his wicked cohorts.  Therefore, the Holy Spirit brings Good News through Paul which assures us that “Through [Christ] we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.  And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory of God.”

What shows us that God exists is that He predicted everything He would do to save us through His Son—and then carried it out.  On a time scale impossible to be contrived by men, God prophesied for multitudes of centuries about what the promised Savior would do, where He would be born, where He would grow up, what miracles He would do to show Himself, how He would suffer and die, but most important, how He would rise to live again and be given authority over all things to judge.

One of Satan’s favorite lies is that the troubles and uncertainties we face in life are because God wants to hurt us, or because He doesn’t care to help us.  To that, Paul defiantly declares, “We also rejoice confidently in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, and patient endurance produces tested character, and tested character produces hope.  And hope will not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us.”  True faith is seen in how it reacts to opposition.  If everything went perfectly all the time, who would look to God for help?  Examine the history of the world and you will see that when life is easy, God is often forgotten.  Yet, in forgetting God, we earn His wrath and rightful condemnation, so God in love allows hardship that we may be turned to Him.

Now, every person ever born was under the same condemnation because we all sin for we inherit that affliction from our parents.  On our own, we couldn’t escape the sentence of eternal death in hell, but Jesus came, so that we would have a reason to hope for a better life.  “For at the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly.  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.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

You might find good examples of people who gave their lives for the good of country, or to save loved ones, but who among mankind has ever given his life to save his mortal enemy?  Imagine the president of Ukraine offering to give his heart and lungs to save the life of the president of Russia.  That is the kind of undeserved, sacrificial love Jesus showed for us. 

God’s Son, Jesus, holy from everlasting to everlasting lived a perfectly holy life after taking on human flesh to live among us.  Then, with a willingness beyond anything we could imagine, He allowed Himself to be arrested, tortured, falsely accused, and nailed to a cross in order that He might face God’s wrath for sin in the place of those who rejected Him, cursed Him, ignored His gracious invitation to come to Him for help and healing in every need, and even for those who denied He exists.  Jesus didn’t live, suffer, die, and rise again for good people.  He did all this for all of us who deserved only banishment from God’s presence forever.

This morning, we had a baptism—a little child was brought forward for the bath of water and Word so that by cleansing him of his sin God could claim him as His own dear child and make him fully acceptable in His heaven.  This is available to us because Jesus died for us, satisfying God’s just and righteous requirement that sin be paid for with death.  Because of the reconciliation with God and the faith in Jesus granted in Baptism, a little child is made righteous in God’s house.  And because “Christ died for us.  Therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, it is even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him.” 

With that exchange of sin for righteousness also comes life in heaven.  This gives us every reason to rejoice.  Paul wrote, For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, it is even more certain that, since we have been reconciled, we will be saved by his life.  And not only is this so, but we also go on rejoicing confidently in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received this reconciliation.”  We rejoice, because God will never change His mind about accepting Jesus’ payment for our sins.  Forever after, God wants all people to be saved in Jesus’ loving embrace. 

Our sermon theme exhorts us, Rejoice in the certainty of God’s grace.  God’s grace is His unconditional love and mercy granted to sinners for Jesus’ sake.  We didn’t deserve it, or do anything to merit it, but Jesus did.  He did it all, and it cannot be undone.  Therefore, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16)

There is one danger that should concern us.  God will never change His mind, but what happens if we change ours?  God gives faith in Jesus which brings forgiveness, life, and salvation, but what happens if we abandon His love?  St. Paul warned, “By rejecting these, some people have suffered shipwreck with regard to their faith.” (1 Timothy 1:19)  Just as Jesus warned, “Whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)  So, what are we to do?

Far too many people today want to go it alone against the world.  They say things like, “I don’t need church, or the help of my fellow congregants.”  “I know about Jesus so why be bothered with all that extra stuff.  All they really want is my money anyway.”  “Why pay attention to a God who demands holy living instead of doing what feels good in the moment?” 

Setting yourself or your loved ones apart from God’s protecting hand puts you in danger of the most savage killer ever to torment the world.  Peter warned, “Be alert.  Your adversary, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  Resist him by being firm in the faith.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)  The lone lamb is always in grave danger, so we need our Good Shepherd to be guarding and feeding us continually.

The reason God calls us to worship, and to rejoice in His mercy, is that He wants to keep on serving us with His grace and goodness.  He wants to have us hear again and again in numerous different ways all the mercy God has shown us in His Son.  God promises, “My word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty.  Rather, it will accomplish whatever I please, and it will succeed in the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)  “So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)

Dear friends, the only thing more sure than death and taxes is God’s love for you, which caused Him to live and die and rise again so that you may have life.  We Rejoice in the certainty of God’s grace because Jesus said, “A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)  We rejoice because Jesus lived, died, and rose again for you.  We rejoice because Jesus paid for all our guilt and shame to open the doors of heaven to all who believe.  We rejoice because the Holy Spirit has brought this Good News to us as a free gift and worked faith in our heart to believe it.  We rejoice, “For God has said: ‘I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5)  Rejoice in the certainty of God’s grace.  Amen.

May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our fathers.  May he never leave us or abandon us.  May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways.  Amen.