Right With God Right Now
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)
Okay, okay, we get it, right? We did the whole Easter thing last week, and we get it. God’s love in sacrificing Jesus -- and Jesus’ love for the Father and for us in following through all the way to that last agonizing breath -- it’s overwhelming. We didn’t deserve it. And the power of God to raise Jesus from the death? Whoa. Untouchable. It’s easy to sing praises to a God like that. The celebration of Easter makes sense.
But that was last week. Now let’s ask a really selfish, really practical question. What does Jesus' death and resurrection mean for me right now, this week, when I’m looking at the back of some guy’s head on the bus, or in math class, or on the world’s worst reality show.
For the next few weeks, we’re going to break down the benefits for those who trust in that alive-again Jesus. Paul spells them out very clearly in Romans 5:1-11, and I think it helps to remember exactly why faith in Jesus is the only choice that makes sense in this life.
The first big benefit for me Paul describes is that as a person who has made the choice to trust in Jesus for my salvation -- my life and afterlife -- I become "okay" with the God of the universe forever. I know you already know that, but I wonder if you know just how ridiculous that concept must sound to most of the people in the world today -- and those who lived in the thousands of years before Jesus escaped death.
Nearly every religion in the history of the world is built on the idea of my attempt to become okay enough with God to be blessed in this life and to be “okay” in the afterlife. If I do just exactly what my god wants -- in the right order and with the right attitude -- just maybe he/she/it will be pleased enough with me that everything will be “okay.” They live every moment with the uncertainty of knowing whether or not their god accepts them.
Paul says that through faith in Jesus, I can stop worrying about being okay with God. I just am. Right now. Present tense. Why? Not because I'm good enough or God lowered His standards. But because it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Jesus. Look at the first four good things about trusting in Christ.
1) “We have been justified.” (v. 1)
If you typed my ID number into God’s database before I was a Christian, it would have said “Sin detected; unjustified.” I had zero chance of getting into heaven with God. Unjustified people just don’t belong with Him. Type in Jesus’ ID number, and you’ll see “No sin detected. Justified.” And now mine does, too. One of the transactions that happened because of Easter weekend was that Jesus’ life record replaced the account of every person who comes to Him for salvation from sin. Yes, I still struggle with sin, but my record isn’t the one that’s “official.” His is. Through faith in Him, I’m justified.
2) “We have peace with God.” (v. 1)
In those old westerns, the gun fighters were always saying, “Git ready to meet your maker." Some Christians I know are scared silly they won’t have a chance to “git ready” before they die. But Jesus did all the getting ready there will ever be to do. As a believer, you’ll never have more peace with God than you do right now (even if you don’t “feel” very peaceful today).
3) We stand in grace right now. (v. 2)
Grace is getting a good thing you’d couldn’t have paid for on your own. By the Easter Jesus, we have God’s grace. Right now. This minute. Yes, even when we’re still stupidly sinning. That’s why it’s called grace.
4) We have the hope of the glory of God. (v. 2)
In Bible-talk, hope doesn’t mean wish. Hope means an iron-clad expectation of what’s definitely coming. Paul’s talking about heaven. Being with God. No more pain, sorrow, death, or 404 error pages. Paul said that’s worth “rejoicing” about.
Next week, we’ll look at some even more practical right-now benefits of faith in Jesus.
Okay, okay, we get it, right? We did the whole Easter thing last week, and we get it. God’s love in sacrificing Jesus -- and Jesus’ love for the Father and for us in following through all the way to that last agonizing breath -- it’s overwhelming. We didn’t deserve it. And the power of God to raise Jesus from the death? Whoa. Untouchable. It’s easy to sing praises to a God like that. The celebration of Easter makes sense.
But that was last week. Now let’s ask a really selfish, really practical question. What does Jesus' death and resurrection mean for me right now, this week, when I’m looking at the back of some guy’s head on the bus, or in math class, or on the world’s worst reality show.
For the next few weeks, we’re going to break down the benefits for those who trust in that alive-again Jesus. Paul spells them out very clearly in Romans 5:1-11, and I think it helps to remember exactly why faith in Jesus is the only choice that makes sense in this life.
The first big benefit for me Paul describes is that as a person who has made the choice to trust in Jesus for my salvation -- my life and afterlife -- I become "okay" with the God of the universe forever. I know you already know that, but I wonder if you know just how ridiculous that concept must sound to most of the people in the world today -- and those who lived in the thousands of years before Jesus escaped death.
Nearly every religion in the history of the world is built on the idea of my attempt to become okay enough with God to be blessed in this life and to be “okay” in the afterlife. If I do just exactly what my god wants -- in the right order and with the right attitude -- just maybe he/she/it will be pleased enough with me that everything will be “okay.” They live every moment with the uncertainty of knowing whether or not their god accepts them.
Paul says that through faith in Jesus, I can stop worrying about being okay with God. I just am. Right now. Present tense. Why? Not because I'm good enough or God lowered His standards. But because it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Jesus. Look at the first four good things about trusting in Christ.
1) “We have been justified.” (v. 1)
If you typed my ID number into God’s database before I was a Christian, it would have said “Sin detected; unjustified.” I had zero chance of getting into heaven with God. Unjustified people just don’t belong with Him. Type in Jesus’ ID number, and you’ll see “No sin detected. Justified.” And now mine does, too. One of the transactions that happened because of Easter weekend was that Jesus’ life record replaced the account of every person who comes to Him for salvation from sin. Yes, I still struggle with sin, but my record isn’t the one that’s “official.” His is. Through faith in Him, I’m justified.
2) “We have peace with God.” (v. 1)
In those old westerns, the gun fighters were always saying, “Git ready to meet your maker." Some Christians I know are scared silly they won’t have a chance to “git ready” before they die. But Jesus did all the getting ready there will ever be to do. As a believer, you’ll never have more peace with God than you do right now (even if you don’t “feel” very peaceful today).
3) We stand in grace right now. (v. 2)
Grace is getting a good thing you’d couldn’t have paid for on your own. By the Easter Jesus, we have God’s grace. Right now. This minute. Yes, even when we’re still stupidly sinning. That’s why it’s called grace.
4) We have the hope of the glory of God. (v. 2)
In Bible-talk, hope doesn’t mean wish. Hope means an iron-clad expectation of what’s definitely coming. Paul’s talking about heaven. Being with God. No more pain, sorrow, death, or 404 error pages. Paul said that’s worth “rejoicing” about.
Next week, we’ll look at some even more practical right-now benefits of faith in Jesus.
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