May 22, 2016
All Scripture from NIV unless otherwise documented.
Introduction:
“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. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5: 1 – 5)
We live in a world today in which peace is pretty elusive. I would like to have thought that after WWII that people all over the world were desperate for peace. But the reality is that there has never been a time in which people have been at perfect peace with one another. Oh, people may strive to get along, but hatred always rears its ugly head and before long, one nation is at odds with another and fighting breaks out between them and that eventually leads to war. Our nation has been drawn into a number of wars since WWII, and we continue to this day to be involved at one level or another in various conflicts, trying to be peacemakers in all around the world. Let me assure you this morning, that’s never going to happen.
As long as there is sin in the world, there will not be peace among men.
Does that mean that we shouldn’t try to achieve peace in the world? No! Jesus said “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” And yet, when asked by His disciples what would be the signs of the coming of His kingdom and the end of the age Jesus responded in part, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars . . . Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” It’s a terrifying world that we live in today. As you know just a few days ago an Egyptian airplane crashed into the Mediterranean Sea with high suspicion that the crash was an act of terrorism. I find it very difficult to envision a world at peace, and because of my own concerns for safety, I am uncomfortable even considering a trip to Israel which has been on my bucket list for many years.
Even so, today there is peace available to us through Jesus Christ. Look with me again at our Scripture for this morning. In verse one Paul, based on his arguments in the previous chapters, said that when we were justified through faith in Jesus Christ, we entered into peace with God. Think about that for a minute. When Adam sinned, he brought alienation from God to all mankind because his sin was imputed to all mankind. Sin entered into the world and it made us enemies with God.
Jesus on the other hand, brought peace with God by grace through faith. The peace that we have with God through faith is a settled peace based on the work of Christ on the cross. There is nothing that you and I can do to earn it and there is nothing that we have to do to maintain that peace. It has already been done by Jesus.
Don’t confuse this peace with God with the kind of peace we long for in the world. It’s a different kinds of peace.
In verse 2 Paul said that we have gained access to into this grace through faith. The word translated access means to be ushered into the presence of royalty. Jesus through what He did on the cross brings us into the very presence of God. Did you hear that? We enter into the presence of God by what Jesus has done and not by any merit of our own. You and I can stand before God in perfect peace because Jesus has already taken God’s wrath on Himself.
Bear in mind that this peace is different than the peace Paul spoke about in Philippians 4: 7. William Newell, author of Romans Verse by Verse, says that the “peace of God” of Philippians 4:7 is a subjective state, an inner peace if you will, whereas the peace with God of Romans 5: 1 is an objective fact – outside of ourselves, based on the finished work of Christ on Calvary. Pg. 165 Commentary on Romans As believers we are at peace with God, regardless of what is going on in the world or in our individual lives.
This peace Paul said, leads to rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God. (Vs 2) John MacArthur says of this hope; “It’s not wishful thinking. It’s a settled fact. It’s a settled knowledge.” In other words, this hope isn’t “wanting or thinking that something could happen” it is a confident expectation that it is going to happen. Do you know that someday we will not only stand in the glory of God, but we will share in God’s glory? In fact, in some sense we already share in that glory. In John 17:22, Jesus in His high priestly prayer said, “The glory which you gave me, I have given them.” If you are a believer, Jesus has already shared His glory with you by giving you the Holy Spirit who dwells within you, the very presence of the glory of God. (John MacArthur)
Paul went on to address the sufferings that you and I experience as believers. You might ask, what peace do we have with all the suffering that goes on in and around us? And that’s a good question. But Paul, like James in his epistle, tells us that suffering produces perseverance and perseverance character, and character hope that does not disappoint us. How do we find peace in suffering? I believe that we find peace in knowing the results of the suffering, which is hope.
Paul says that this hope does not disappoint us. I like that thought. There are so many things in life and there are people in our lives that disappoint us. Oh, the circumstances may not be intentional and the intentions of other people may not be to disappoint, but the reality is that we live with a lot of disappointment in our lives.
Isn’t it nice to know that the hope that we have in Jesus Christ does not disappoint?
Why does this hope not disappoint? Because it is a product of the Holy Spirit through the love of God that He has poured out on us.
Vinnie and I were talking the other day about the Holy Spirit and how we have a tendency to not think about the impact that He has in our lives. We think about God the Father and pray to Him. We think about Jesus and what He has done for us and we pray in His name to God. But we somehow miss out on the fact that the Holy Spirit is in us and with us daily, 24/7. Imagine how much more empowered our lives would be to live for Jesus if we were more in tune with the Holy Spirit within us.
Paul said that “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”
If want to experience real peace in your life, get in touch with the Spirit who lives in you and for you. Then you will have peace with God and be enabled to experience peace in your life no matter what is going on in and around you.