The Love of God

And let's pick up the thought in verse 1 to refresh us as we move forward. You know, even when we do a Bible study in church, when we read from God's Word, friends, we should always just expect a blessing. When we open a Bible and when we are refreshed with the words of God.

You know, when I'm away in Cincinnati and Susie and I wrote right back to one another, we always share a verse. We share a portion of the Bible. And sometimes, when life is challenging or you don't quite know which way to go and you just have God's Word before you and you read it, it's just like being under a tropical waterfall. You are just literally refreshed because it is eternally life-sustaining. So, Susie will pick out a verse or have a book that she's reading and she'll send it to me and I'll go through the Psalms in the morning.

I'm in my little laptop there in the hotel room and I'll send her a portion of the Psalms. And you know, when you start out that way, your life just changes. Your perspectives change. Your framework to whatever is going to come your way changes. That's why I like to start in Romans 1, verse 1, just to back up for a moment, lest we go right into the middle of the movie. Let's read it together. Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God. It is interesting that in this he both denotes the humility and the privilege of being one to convey the very good news of the sovereign of the universe, which he promised, speaking of God, before through his prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning his son Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was born of the seed of David, according to the flesh.

Here, Paul is harkening back that Jesus Christ is, after all, the personification of the prophecies of the Old Testament, and that the good news of God, in verse 1, basically, when you take out verse 2, is about what he is doing through Jesus Christ, who is our Lord, and declared to be the Son of God, with power according to the Spirit of Holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Through him, we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all the nations for his name.

Faith is not something that is just ethereal. It is not just a recipe. It is practice. It is obedience. It is yielding ourselves to the will of God Almighty. And he says among you, whom are called of Jesus Christ, to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, beloved, cherished, desired, family of God, called to be holy, set apart, sanctified, what we call by nickname saints.

To recognize that, as we're coming up to the spring festival's beginning, friends, you might want to read Romans 1, 1-6 again and again, and allow that message just to sink in. That we're not just coming to a building. We are not just other human beings for the moment that are out there walking to and fro and going down the freeway and just taking this life as it is, as if this is the only thing that is. That we are simply the end result of evolution. That life and the universe is but an accident.

That there is a design. That there is a purpose. And that as all the planets and all the satellites and all the galaxies revolve in harmony, it is only man that is out of harmony. It is only we that have been out of harmony. And God, by His grace, by His invitation, by His reach into our life, says, come back. Return to Eden before the curse, before the decision, and you may be in harmony with me and be a part of my family. Paul goes through, then after this, talks about why man has not been in harmony down through the ages.

He speaks of the Greeks who had truth, intellectual truth, but that intellectual truth was not transforming. He speaks to his fellow Jews who had the oracles of God, who had the Bible before them, who had been recipients of the law, but they made the law a God. And because they did that, they too were not transformed. Then we come up to Romans 3. Join me if you would in Romans 3. Let's turn a few pages for a moment, just to be able to center here for a moment. Because basically, to this point, it looks very, very bleak for humanity.

That's why the call of the Gospel goes out. That's why the good news is sent forth. Because whether it be Jew or whether it be Gentile, all have fallen short of the glory of God. And then there is this verse that just comes out of Scripture. But now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed being witnessed by the law and the prophets. And even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all.

It is nobody's private property. To all and on all. God is not a respecter of persons who believe. For there is no difference. For all have sinned, all have fallen short of the glory of God. But now, being justified freely, can't buy it, can earn it, but it can notice, come freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness. Because in His forbearance, God had passed over sins that were previously committed. Two very important words that come out of this. If we'll look at it for a moment, you might want to jot them down just to stay with me. Demonstrate and forbearance. A lot of people talk. A lot of people have good ideas.

The power of the Gospel. The power of what we're going to begin to go through again as the sacred year develops and as we move through the festivals is that God is not just simply talk. There is demonstration of that love and there is forbearance of that love. Very important to understand. We then see how we become recipients of that in chapter 4 verse 1.

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not be for God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. We come to understand it was very important, very hard sometimes, to take a drill and move it through people that are in a religious concrete silo. Who have done something for years and years and years because that's just the way everybody taught it, everybody did it, that's what grandma did, that's what grandpa thought, and those were the expectations of that religious community. Sincere? Absolutely. But you can be sincere and you can be sincerely wrong. You can think that you're serving God.

And that is such a tragedy and such a travesty at times when you think you're serving God, but you're not serving the way God desires. Thus, it is put out here by Paul and Romans. What does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God. It is not what he did. It was not his list of performances. It was because of his belief and his faith that there was a sovereign that had intervened in his life and earned the qualities and brought him into an entirely new relationship with him. That now jettisons us to chapter 5 and verse 1. I hope that wasn't too long, but I wanted some background because here comes another word as big as the word that we mentioned in Romans 3, that big but that was out there, but the righteousness of God has come. Because now we have another big word. It's always a big word in the Bible. If you ever study the Bible and you want to look for a big word, here it comes right now. Are you ready? Therefore, because therefore is speaking about everything that has proceeded before it in chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, and chapter 4. We've all stated now there is a dynamic therefore. This is what it's coming to, and now we approach it. Therefore, we now have a transition, and when we're studying the Bible, I'm not just talking to you up here today. I'm trying to show you how to read the Bible. Look for the butts and look for the therefores, and then expect transitions. Therefore, having been justified by faith, going back to Romans 4, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. This spells out what the magnificent theme of Romans 5 is. You might want to jot it down because I'm going to ask you to focus on it in the next few minutes as we go through this. The theme of Romans 5 is Rejoicing in God.

So often we think of Romans as the great treatise of the great doctrines, the depth of spiritual intellectualism, the systematic display of salvation, and sometimes we can get so academic about it that we lose what the Gospel is about. It's about rejoicing, of what God is doing in us. I ask you a question. How much rejoicing are we doing right now today in whatever is coming your way? I didn't ask you if you're happy. I ask you, are you rejoicing?

And there is a tremendous difference. Therefore, having been justified, brought into relationship with God by faith, not by a list of do's and don'ts alone. Do's and don'ts, hear me please, are important. On the shady side of faith. Faith is the engine. Faith is the catalyst. It is the spark that ignites our relationship to God. And then the list follows. And when we do that, and when we understand that, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace is something that we don't always understand, especially in America anymore. Some of you that are older will remember what V.J. said. Or what V.J. Day was like. Or V.E. Day was like. World at war.

And wars that we can't even imagine now because of the technology that we have. And every life is precious. Every life that falls in Iraq or Afghanistan or other theaters of action.

Precious. But imagine a world at war on every continent.

From 1939 to 1945 when you think of the European War.

The sound of guns. The bombs dropping on cities. The two men coming to the door.

And you know what's coming as they come to the door. And you know what they have to tell you.

Being apart from your husband. Being apart from your boyfriend as my dad and my mom were for four years. And some of your parents were, of course.

Never knowing what the next day is going to bring. What headline you're going to read.

And then V.E. Day. V.J. Day.

Peace breaking out. As much as spring breaking out after a very long and frigid winter. When you begin to see life come back again. To recognize that you and I were apart from God. We were in conflict with God. We were in confrontation to God. We were separated from God. We were going our own way. We were not at peace. Even if we think that we are at peace. Because we were apart from the King of Peace.

We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The cessation of hostilities. Because remember Romans 1 and Romans 2, the wrath of God. God moving His self away from humanity. Allowing them to go their own way. Allowing them to go their own way.

Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace. In which we stand. And rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Some thoughts here in verse 2. For whom we have access. Access from whom? From God.

From the source of all power, of all love, of all wisdom. Some of us are in business. Some of us have relationships with suppliers.

They think of Dennis and his business, sales. They think of Paul and his business as far as in construction and developments. That there's people that you expect things from and hoping that they will supply. You have the demand. There's a need. You hope that it will come. When we look at this, the access that we have is to none other than God Almighty. And it is in this grace, in this freedom of his desire to call you and me now. In which we stand.

He says, like this square that's up here, it is in grace that we stand. Nowhere you stand.

If you think that we can do it by yourself and you stand in this square, closest of no value, unless it's horseshoes or hand grenades.

It says firmly that we must understand what we're being called to, that it is a free gift by the love of God. And we therefore must stand, not sit down on the job, but we must stand in this grace. There is an activity that we must also engender. And if we do, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And this is the key word of Romans 5, and it's developed in three stages. Number one is there's the hope of glory. We're going to cover that in verse one, verse two. There's also a rejoicing in suffering. And that is further on down the line in the chapter. There's also a rejoicing in God as our friend, and we may only be able to get there today. If we don't finish all of Romans 5, that'll be well and fine, and we will cover what we do. Each of these represents a level of spiritual growth. And it's usually the first, especially of baptism, the hope of glory that we begin with. But then it elevates itself to hope and suffering. And then later on, the realization that when all is away from us, that it is in hope with God as our friend.

The gospel, the good news, mentioned in Romans 1 and now here in Romans 5, the gospel was designed to produce a spirit which cannot help but rejoice.

Let's think about that for a moment. Okay, friends? The gospel is... have you ever thought about that way?

The gospel is not just about facts. It's not just simply about nuances. It's not just simply about black and white. It's not just simply about three languages, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek. The intent of the gospel is to create a spirit of rejoicing in us, to understand what God is doing, to allow us to have a deep sense of security in God.

May I say something? Even when our life and all of our well-laid-out plans are crumbling all around us. And that's very important to understand. It says that this grace is incredible, that we can stand in and that we can rejoice. Why can we rejoice in it? I'd like to slice that pie down for just a moment as we move into the understanding of the gospel. The first thing is, the reason why we can rejoice and we can rejoice as we move towards the Passover is because we have peace with God. Through Jesus Christ, our conflict with God is over.

And when we understand that and the totality of that, then we lose our fear of God. There's a lot of people that are afraid of a wrathful God out there today, afraid that God is just out to get them or to pull the carpet from underneath them. We come to realize that He is not merely our judge, but that He is our Father. Why is that faith so important? Because we lose fear, and fear has torment. Number two, when we think of the hope of glory and of the resurrection, we lose our fear of dying. Freedom from a gripping fear. When we understand as we move towards the New Testament Passover that Jesus Christ is our Lord and our Savior and that He was sprung from this earth, there was no stone that was too heavy. Join me if you would for a moment. Let's take another scripture here and look at it. Keep your finger there, Hebrews 2 and verse 15. Hebrews 2 and verse 15. Speaking of what Christ is doing, breaking into the thought, there is a release of those who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. There is a fear of death. I don't know about your story, but I've had the incredible honor and privilege in my lifetime as a pastor of Jesus Christ to be with people when they are dying in their bed at home or in a hospital and their knees are shaking. But I'm there to help their heart not shake, to make that transition. To help them come to a peace of God that passeth all understanding and to remind them that we have a hope and glory.

To let them remind and to remind them of what Jesus Christ has done and is doing and will yet do.

And that I make a pact with them that I am looking forward to seeing them on the other side of death. And that there awaits a savor for us designed by none other than God the Father.

That is an awesome privilege. I don't in one sense wish it on any of you because it is challenging to be by death. But to take that sting away, as the book of Corinthians says, to remind people of our hope of glory. And that's really what we're doing as we come up to the Passover, friends, isn't it? We begin the process again, the annual rehearsal that begins concerning the life and the death and the resurrection of the Lamb of God.

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance, character and character hope. Now let's talk about that for a moment. I know, and you know, and I know our elders know this, sometimes in their counseling with people, and I'm sure you've been there before sometimes, that when we try to warn people, are you with me? We try to warn people that, you know, when you're baptized, just get ready. The race has just started.

It's not the end, it's just the beginning. Commencement. Because what people sometimes often think is, I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I am in the grace of God the Father. Life can't be sweeter. There will be no more bitter. And I'm ready to go. I've read about all those blessings, and I'm ready to have some blessings just poured down on me. And then, boom, they get smacked right in the kisser, right across the cheek. Then the other cheek, because they've read in the Bible that they're supposed to what? Turn the other cheek. They say, God, I've run out of cheeks!

Ever been there? Ever said, God, I've run out of... What do I do now? You rejoice in tribulation. You glory in it. It's not that you just kind of get by silently. God says we're supposed to glory. The Bible, the clear demonstration of its word, says that Christians are expected to suffer. Join me if you would for a moment in thinking about this. Join me in 1 Peter 4 for a second. I have many averse, but I'll just go to one for sake of time. 1 Peter 4 verse 12. Beloved, don't think it's strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

And if you are reproach for the name of Christ, blessed are you. For the Spirit of glory and of God rest upon you. And on their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. Now there's a principle here speaking specifically about spiritual persecution. But beyond people coming through the door for you, as they did in the early church, Satan is alive. Satan is well. We are in this age, this cosmos, this culture, with the push, and the tsunami coming through the door of a world that is completely opposite the ways of God. You and I live in it in every day. And we will be persecuted. The Spirit of God will try to be pushed back by the Spirit of this world. We will be attacked by people. We will be attacked by our own human nature. We will be attacked by circumstances that are outside of our control, where we have tried to do everything that we can.

And God says, don't think it's strange. You glory in tribulation.

But the one thing that we've got to remember is there's some tribulating in tribulation. We don't mind going through the tribulation sometimes. It's the tribulating. Let me describe the tribulating here for you just a little bit when we think about it, to recognize that our knees will be shaking. And we need to recognize that at times we may not choose our trials, but we choose how to go through them with this framework of glorying in tribulation. How do you want to learn how to tribulate better when tribulation comes upon you?

I'd like to share a few thoughts. May I for a moment? You might want to jot them down. Some of you could use them right now. Number one, take time to adjust.

It took Job after all 42 chapters. Major adjustment. Take time to adjust because you are going to think it's strange, but the book says, Beloved, don't think it's strange. But it is strange. Yeah, it is strange. But the book says, don't think it's strange. And by the way, you're still my beloved. I haven't forgotten you. Number two, learning to tribulate through tribulation means it comes through reflection. It comes through meditation. But it will not come through freefall. It will not come through thinking that your life is out of control because you've already given the controls of your life over to God the Father and Jesus Christ. And he said that he would give you a tool, and he'd give you a gift, and he'd give you a way that would convict you, that would remind you, that would encourage you, and that would set a hedge about you, and whatever you're going through on this Saturday. Number three, look and listen for the truths God is trying to reveal.

Look for the truths that God is trying to reveal. And sometimes he will not reveal everything. You know, when you go through the book of Job, you know, you know Job's friends. You know, you know Job's friends, and I've been Job's fourth friend or fifth friend. We've all been Job's friends, if you want to be honest. And even at the end of the book of Job, Job really doesn't have all the answers other than God is God. That's really the end of the book of Job. He's saying, I'm God, and you're going to have to trust me and believe in me and know that I want the best for you. And what I've led you through this tribulation of you losing your family and the boils, and even un-blessing you with Mrs. Job. Man, how would you like to be married to Mrs. Job?

She was not rejoicing in hope of glory.

Job, curse God and die! Now, now why do I say that, friends? While we're smiling and having a little humor, it is simply this. If we don't do this, otherwise, your suffering is for naught.

Your suffering and what you are going through is for nothing if you do not utilize these three points. Knowing, then, that tribulation is not an end in itself, but it's a means to bring about certain things. Let's notice them for a moment. Tribulation is not an end in itself when you think your life is out of control and everybody is against you and you don't know what's going to happen next. There is something that God is trying to produce in us. Number one is perseverance. Number two is character, and number three is hope. Let's talk about them. Perseverance. The word there implies to remain firm under pressure.

A steadfastness. Standing in that grace that was mentioned in verse one and verse two.

See, the whole thing, you know, that's why the books in the New Testament always begin and end with grace, and that's what we're to stand in. Grace is not just simply propitiation for what we have done wrong and separates us from God. Grace also involves, from the beginning, moving from God towards us and an invitation now to be a part of his family. I'm going to stand in that. Not to panic. Not to be like the disciples that were in the boat that were coming undone, that were panicking. The storm came upon them as it does on the Sea of Galilee. Those rapid, dynamic winds that shoot down into the Sea of Galilee. And the twelve were coming undone.

And Jesus came up. He calmed the storms. And they said, who is what is this man that even the winds obey him and he calms the storms? That was to remind you and me in 2010 that when life grabs us and runs with us and takes us off to recognize that no matter what the storm is, Jesus Christ can calm that storm in our life. Because his purpose on behalf of God the Father is ultimately going to be done. It also produces character. Look at that. What does it mean? Character. Tribulation produces character. Being put to the test and being approved.

Character that shares with God that you and I are not just simply an unknown quantity, but that we are proven. That we are veterans. That we do as Abraham did believe in God even when we don't see the results all at once. We're veterans. A belief that God knows best, God's ways work best, and that God is never late in our life. And that character is produced. God is not in the process of creating eternal problems, but eternal veterans of his way of life that believe in him.

Join me if you would in Hebrews 5 and verse 28 for a second.

Hebrews 5 8 And let's take a peek at verse 28.

Did I say 28? Maybe it's 5-8. Pardon me. Yeah, pardon me. 5-8.

Oh, you have little faith out there. I tell you. Just join the pastor. Just mob violence. I'm tribulating up here before you. But I know there was a blessing on this message.

Though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered.

God does not have favorites. His only begotten son, his beloved, even the wisdom of God personified in this human tent, had to suffer. Where are we then? To develop that character. And that's why we love him. And that's why when we come to the Passover here in a couple of weeks, we can have confidence because the testimony is before us that Jesus was perfect in all of his ways, unblemished as the Lamb of God, but no longer just simply a substitutional offering, but an offering of self-sacrifice. Now, that's what it says. Perseverance, character, and character, and hope.

When at this point it talks about hope, it is not simply a hope of glory, as was mentioned in verse 2, a hope of the kingdom to come, a hope that kind of comes to us when we sit with the Scripture and we read the book of Isaiah, which is like a postcard of the millennium, the postcard of God's kingdom, like a tropical drink sent to Ohio in the middle of winter to refresh you. No, we're not talking about something that is distant. We're talking about something that is now. It is beyond life and death. It is not simply reserved for the future. A hope now, certainty that we can be Christ-like and glorify God by what we are doing now, as we grow and we develop in Christ-like wisdom and love and courage and patience, that you and I have a hope, that you and I have a certainty, my friends, that even now we are being transformed into the image of His Son.

There's one thing that I have found oftentimes in our church community, may I dare say it, is that we mortgage things to the future. We push things off to the future, as if all in all is to be a future event, other than the kingdom of God being in the here and the now in our life. The kingdom of God is upon us when it does come to us. I'm not talking about in its fulfillment or in its millennial grandeur, but when God has made His visitation upon you and upon me, you and I are experiencing the kingdom of God. And in our belief, and that belief transformed into obedience and a lifestyle, is to display the Christ-like centeredness that will be in the kingdom of God when it is over this entire earth. And we can have that hope now to be Christ-like. It's promised. It's guaranteed by the Spirit of God in us.

But where does this all lead to? And I'd like to conclude the message with this.

Now, hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. What a fantastic verse to be able to share with you and to encourage you to help you beyond simply tribulating in any tribulation that you and I might be upon to look at this verse. God says, the hope that I give you does not disappoint. Why? Because of the love of God. You may not have known this until I mentioned this to you, but here it goes. It's a class. This is the first time the love of God is mentioned in the book of Romans. You already knew that. Maybe not. This is the first mention of the love of God in the book of Romans. Romans is not just a theological treatise. It is relational.

It is body, blood, and spirit uniting us with God through Jesus Christ. It does not disappoint.

And it has been poured out. Now, I live up in Sun City, and you know why it got its name.

In August in Sun City, just think of a big, big picture of seeing we're in church. I'll just leave it to Ice-T. I'll let you fill in the blanks. 110, 112. Not even the flies are moving. They're in the siesta zone. Think of that picture of Ice-T, and you hear those ice cubes rattling in there. You know how cold. And then just that.

And you just see that liquid. You just see that glass filled up to the brim, and it's just so very, very good. That's what God's done with you and me. He has poured out. Notice what it says. He has poured out into our hearts. Not into our brain.

Not into just simply what we see and touch and feel and hear and taste. But He goes into our inner person. He goes into our inner man, our inner woman. God is not limited to just simply tickling our gray matter. He goes to the heart. The Bible is about heart surgery.

There are many, many people that have far better intellects, far higher IQ, and better brains than me and are you.

It's about the heart. And how does He do this? By the Holy Spirit who is given unto us. The way that we come to understand this love of God is by the Holy Spirit.

For when? I'm going to finish up here, and I hope you'll bear with me for a few minutes, because it leads us to Passover. Because now what the Holy Spirit does, remember you might want to jot this John. John 14. We're going to take a break for a moment. Just look out the window for a second what you're missing. Go ahead. Somebody's car is being washed out there.

That was your emotional break before we come to the climax of the sermon.

Because we're going to get very serious here for a moment.

The Holy Spirit, my friends, and my brothers and sisters in Christ, is a gift that was promised to bring us into remembrance and to convict us.

And it always starts at the foot of the cross. Let's notice what it says here. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Here, then, is Paul's answer to tribulation. Here, then, is Paul's answer to get over the shakes of tribulating. He says, for the love of God. And we say, well, what kind of love is that?

John later in his book, in 1 John 3 and verse 2, about 30 years later, would say, for what manner of love has God bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sins of God? In the Greek, that means, where does this come from? It sure doesn't come from around here.

It's unnatural. It's not human. It's not ordinary. And here is the answer.

If we understand what the love of God is, we then understand the depth of the argument that is being made in Romans 5. We will know, then, friends, why we rejoice in all things, even in suffering.

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But now, let's center on verse 8. But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Paul says, this is the amazing love.

This is not earthly.

And he shares not something that is somebody else's love, but his own love. He begins to reveal that his love does not have a take-back, does not have a kick-back, does not, for the moment, think it's going to receive something back, but it's totally outflowing and outgoing concern away from the divine self. And he did all of this while, guess what? We were still in sin and apart from him and not redeemed, not reconciled. There had been no propitiation. And yet God broke through that and said, I want you to be a part of my family. Thus, when we were broken, when we were willful, when we were sinful, when we were worthless, when we were lovable by everybody else, helpless and hopeless, God said, I give you the Christ.

Thus, the argument goes this way then. If God did this while you were apart, and you were not reconciled, but now you are reconciled, you are no longer an enemy, we are at peace with God. Are you with me? Don't think that the deal has changed.

If he did that while you were yet in sin, now you're a child and he is your father, and you have received him and he has received you much more than, you might want to circle that. That's transitional. Much more than, not as before, not when you were thou, not when you were an enemy, much more than, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of a son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. If God did that all for you when you were apart from him and he gave you his own son's death, let's understand then something friends Paul says, that Jesus did not remain like the lambs of old, but he is risen and he is alive. He remains active, that his heavenly ministry is not only about being the lamb of God that was slain from the foundation of the earth, but he is now on his feet at the throne of God. He is working for us, ministering to us, advocating for us in our tribulation. As we stand in grace, as it said in Romans 5, 1-2, standing in that grace, I sure thought with you, is to understand that Christ is standing for us. Just as much as when you go to Acts 7 and you understand that at Stephen's last breath, he was given a blessing and a vision, that he looked up. Are you with me? He looked up in vision and he says, I see one as the Son of Man standing. He wasn't sitting down in a rocking chair. He was watching a veteran, a jewel being created and molded, rejoicing, even as he, the Christ, had done years before, saying, Father, your will be done. And God granted him that vision, that Jesus is not a bored Savior. He is on the sidelines. He is in the crowd. He is cheering on, saying, you can make it. You can do it. I am for you. And that is not just left in 35 or 48 AD, my friends. That is today in 2010. Whatever you are going through, a job issue, a health issue, a family issue, a marital issue, a congregational issue, whatever that issue is, I worship a Savior and I bring to you a Savior that Paul brought 2,000 years ago and says, I'm not going to give up on you. I'm going to stand for you. If you thought things were like this before you came, recognize even more so now the love of God surrounds you, embraces you, reaches into your heart, protects you and guides you. No matter what you're going through, you remember what God did for you, as it says in verse 6, for when we were still without strength, when Jesus Christ was on Golgotha, when Jesus Christ was lifted up on that stake and it went into the ground, when that spear was put into his side, and when he that had created all was put to death by that which he had made, we came to understand the love of God. That was no longer substitutional, but self-sacrifice. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God, verse 11, through our Lord Jesus Christ. We rejoice in the Father who is supreme and omnipotent over all, but he asks us to understand that rejoicing through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. We end here in Romans for now that you and I can rejoice in God the Father as a Father and as our friend. I want you as a student of the Bible, as we finish here, to look very carefully. As Paul, as did Peter and John and all the other writers of the Bible, they always link the Father through the Son.

God the Father and Jesus Christ are not strangers, either in heaven above or in Scriptures. There is always a link. Why is that? Jesus himself said in John 14.6, you can jot it down, I am the way. I am the way. I am the way to the Father.

I am the redemption. I am the propitiation. Jesus said, I am the door. That's why, with the festivals that are coming up, it begins with an observance of his death.

That he is the door. As much as there is only one... think this through for a moment, will you please? Keep it for just a moment. As there was but one door to the tabernacle of old in the wilderness, only one entrance. And every Israelite, as they gathered around the tabernacle, knew that there were not three ways, there were not four ways, they could not be helicopter-ed in.

There is only one way toward sacrifice into the Holy of Holies. Jesus, 1500 years later, came and said, I am that door.

That's why it is so important when we see this, where it says that we also rejoice in God, it must be through what he allowed Jesus Christ to do.

He is that open door to the kingdom of God.

Let me share a thought with you. We conclude. When we see... you might want to jot this down and go home and think about it this week. When we see the greatness of Christ, we see the greatness of God.

And when we see the love of Christ, we see the heart of God.

As we conclude today, as we have gone through Romans 5, this is why we rejoice in God through Christ.

I'd like to play a song. We've heard it before, but I think it fits in well.

The love of God. Marty sings it. I think it will be very apropos, especially with this last stretch. And you might keep your Bibles open if you want to go through Romans 5 as Marty sings this song and reflect on what God the Father and Jesus Christ have done for you and for me.