Romans 5:6-11 (NKJV)

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  ⁷ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.  ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.  ¹⁰ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.  ¹¹ And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Two elderly brothers sat down at a table and began talking.  It doesn’t sound all that important, but for their family, it was a momentous occasion.  These two brothers had not seen or spoken to each other in years.  There had been a fight.  Both had walked away angry.  And for a long time both refused to apologize.  So long a time that family began to worry that one of them would die before they had a chance to patch things up.  But then, seemingly out of the blue, one of them was finally persuaded to go to the other and make peace.  These two brothers sat down and began treating each other like family again.  And everyone rejoiced!    

The past couple of weeks we’ve been looking at the basic teachings of our salvation in the terminology of different places.  First we went to the temple, the place of religious life, when we spoke about atonement.  Last week we entered the courtroom when we addressed the issue of righteousness.  Today, we enter the sphere of personal and family life as we continue our look at the Christian faith, one word at a time.  The word that we consider today is the word “reconciliation.” 

Reconciliation, as we are talking about it today, refers to “the restoration of friendly relations” (Oxford English Dictionary).  It’s about restoring broken relationships—specifically restoring our broken relationship with God.  Sin had made us God’s enemies, in a state of constant rebellion against Him—refusing to listen to Him, refusing to do His will.  Our disobedience was an offensive stench in the nostrils of God that incited His wrath and anger.  We were headed for an eternity of separation from God—of being at war with Him forever in hell.  So God sent His Son Jesus to take away our sins.  At the cross, Jesus washed us clean with His own blood, removing every last trace of the stinking guilt of our sin.  And by doing so, God reconciled us to Himself.  He made peace with us, forgiving us for all that we’d done wrong.  Instead of being God’s enemies, He made us His children.  And the angels in heaven rejoiced! 

In these words from Romans chapter 5 we are reminded of the blessings of our being reconciled to God—the blessings of reconciliation.  God’s reconciliation with us is (I) the proof of God’s love and (II) the reason for our joy.       

1. Reconciliation is the proof of God’s love.

How do you know that you are loved?  According to Dr. Gary Chapman, there are five “love languages”—five ways that people give and receive love.  1) Love is shown through “words of affirmation”—saying “I love you,” using kind, loving words to express your appreciation for someone.  2) Love is demonstrated through works of service—through doing something for someone else, sacrificing yourself for them.  3) Love is proven through the spending of quality time with someone—just being there, sacrificing time.  4) Love is revealed by giving gifts—not just any gifts, though, but thoughtful gifts, gifts that reflect the giver’s knowledge of and desired happiness for the receiver, sacrificing treasure.  And 5) Love is shared through physical touch—a reassuring hand on a shoulder, holding hands, a warm hug, sacrificing distance.  These are the ways that people recognize love in the world.    

Sometimes, though, when it comes to the love of God, we have a hard time seeing His love in the midst of life’s hardships and trials.  Again and again Satan comes and points at all our suffering, saying, “See?  If God really loved you, then why on earth would He allow you to be going through this?”  He wears us down to the point where we perhaps start to wonder to ourselves, “Do you really love me God?  Do you care?” 

Yet God’s love is something you never need to question!  Our reconciliation in Christ speaks all the love languages at once.  Jesus’ death on the cross for us was the ultimate act of service—the ultimate gift given.  “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (v. 8).  It’s a love that goes above and beyond anything we know.  When you think about who you would be willing to die for, who makes your list?  Is it your wife?  Your kids?  Your family?  Your friends?  What about the heroin addict downtown who’s shooting up even as we speak?  What about the murderer that’s locked up in prison?  Would you die for them?  They don’t even enter our thoughts, do they?  Even the vaunted American soldier who would gladly lay down his life for his comrades in arms, does so with the understanding that his friends would be willing to do it for him too.  “Perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die” (v. 7).  Not so with God!   “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (v. 6).  Jesus didn’t come into the world to die for good Christian folk; He came to die for sinners! 

The way He carried that sacrifice out was a profound act of intimacy on God’s part:  by becoming one of us, and suffering through everything we suffer.  And the reason He came was His totally undeserved love for us—the same love He had when He looked upon the crowds and saw that they were “weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Mt. 9:36).  Do you know what happens to sheep without a shepherd?  They die!  Jesus had compassion on us because He saw where we were headed without Him:  to eternal death in hell!  So He came to be with us; to suffer in our place. 

And on account of His payment for our sins, Scripture offers up to us some the greatest words of affirmation that we’re ever going to hear:  the voice of God Himself saying, “I love you.”  “The LORD delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples” (Deuteronomy 10:15).  “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son” (John 3:16).  The fact that God has reconciled us to Himself in Christ is the ultimate proof of His love for us. 

That’s the love we live in each and every day.  It’s the sun that shines over us for all time.  And the more we walk around in that light of God’s love, the more we come to see that the other great blessing of being reconciled to God in Christ is the joy that we have in Him.  In addition to being the proof of God’s love,

2. Reconciliation is the reason for our joy.

When we look around, it can seem like there’s no joy to be had anymore.  Life just seems to get tougher and tougher with no relief in sight.  More and more work in the inbox.  More and more strife at home in the family.  More and more chaos in the world.  And to top it all off, in the back of our minds we know that as bad as all these things are, they’re also signs—signs that the last day is coming; signs that the wrath of God is looming out there in the future.  The day will come when God will judge all men and all their ways, when God will destroy them all. 

Yet we also know something else, don’t we?  Because we know that we are reconciled in Christ, we know that—at least for us—life’s hardships and struggles no longer point to impending doom.  Instead of looming wrath, we have a looming Christ (Franzmann), who at the end of days will rescue us from that day of wrath and take us to be with Him forever.  “Much more, then, having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (v. 9).  We take joy in the sure and certain hope of peace with God that lasts forever and ever. 

That peace gives us joy even now, in the midst of all of life’s struggles and difficulties.  The joy of knowing the wonderful love of God—that even though we were His enemies, He made peace with us through the shed blood of His Son.  He has forgiven us all our sins and cleansed us from all unrighteousness. 

But there’s still another joy, isn’t there?  “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (v. 10).  Since God’s love was there for us Jesus’ death by which He reconciled us to Himself, how much more will God’s love be there for us in Jesus’ life!  Jesus lives—having risen from the dead!  In the midst of difficulties at work, strife in the home, craziness in the world; in the midst of suffering and persecution; in the midst of pain and illness, sorrow and grief; in the midst of death itself—Jesus is there.  He is there for us—with His love and mercy; with His forgiveness and peace; with His help and strength.  Jesus is there with His peace—the peace that surpasses all understanding. 

And the Holy Spirit by that peace fills us with joy—joy to rejoice in God, to rejoice in the great things that He has done, to rejoice even in suffering.  To sing God’s praises—knowing that whatever happens, we have peace with Him:  “we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation” (v. 11). 

Reconciliation means peace in the family of God:  the peace that inspires joy in heaven and on earth, the peace of God’s unfailing love.  Amen.