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Reconciliation with God
Romans 5:1-11
Mari Ikeda
Today we are going to read the first half of Romans 5. This part can be said to be the conclusion of chapters 1 through 4. Here, Paul’s contentious tone stops for a moment and he talks about the joy and hope of living by faith in Jesus in a way that he cannot contain. Let’s read it a little at a time. First, let’s look at verses 1-2.
1. Reconciliation with God produces hope (1-2)
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
These two verses can be said to represent the theme of today’s entire passage. The theme is that because we have been reconciled to God, we have a hope that cannot be shaken at any time in the present or the future. Being reconciled to God means that we have restored our relationship with God, as it is said here, “we have peace with God”. It means having a loving relationship with God, having the confidence that God loves us, and desiring to live a life of love for Him. By having this relationship, we can boast of our hope. What this means is explained again in the following verses. First, in verses 3-4.
2. Hope is strengthened through sufferings (3-4)
3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
The confidence and hope in God’s love for us is shaken and tested by sufferings, but it is also strengthened by it. The perseverance that comes from sufferings is not merely to be patient and wait for the time to pass, but to cry out to God for help and continuously make up our minds to trust Him. During great trials, there may be times when we doubt God and get tired of crying out to Him, but there is a love of God that can only be known through such trials.
That is why Paul says, ” Perseverance produces character”. The Japanese word ‘hinkaku’ which is closer in meaning to “personality” is translated as “character” in English, and “mastery” in the Japanese New Inter confessional Translation Bible. It seems to be a difficult word to translate, but it means something like “a tempered character.” It means that we can be strengthened as believers by continuously seeking help from God in our sufferings.
And, we, who are strengthened as believers, can turn our sufferings into hope, trusting in the God who still loves us even in the midst of sufferings. We can, therefore, be proud of the hope that God gives us, and at the same time, we can be proud of our sufferings.
3. The foundation of our hope (5-8)
5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
a. Jesus’ death (God invites us to be reconciled)
If we look at verses 6-8, the emphasis is on the fact that Jesus died. He died for us though we did not ask for help or even realize that we needed it. It can also be said that, we are all the reason why Jesus had to die, and we are also the ones who killed him.
I mentioned earlier that hope is strengthened through sufferings. Those sufferings can range from things like illnesses and disasters for which no one can be held responsible, to things for which we, humans are clearly responsible. And there is no one in this world who is completely free of responsibility that brings suffering. This is because we are all self-centered, insensitive to the pain of others, and ignorant or indifferent to injustice. So, we are all victims and offenders of each other. We can be both victims of someone else’s sin and sinners who victimize others. There is no one who is just one or the other.
Jesus died in order to save us from all of that. First, Jesus took our place so that we, as perpetrators, would not have to suffer and die from the punishment of our sins. He knew that we were irredeemably bad and fallible, but He still wanted to forgive us our sins so that we could live a new and righteous life with Him.
The second reason Jesus died was to testify to us, as victims, that God knows whatever suffering we receive from others. Jesus experienced betrayal from friends, irresponsible hatred, cold indifference, and unfounded discrimination and insults. He also knows the physical pain resulting from violence. It is the reality of this world that is created by the cycle of human sin. Jesus came to this world to end this reality. And He wants to change this world through each of us who realize that this reality is not the world God wants us to live in.
The third meaning of Jesus’ death is to testify that God’s love remains the same even in the face of physical death and in situations where God is silent to our pleas for help. On the cross, Jesus experienced the despair of being abandoned by God. That despair however, turned into hope with His resurrection. This is because it proves that God will never abandon us and will continue to have a relationship with us beyond even our physical death.
In this way, God proved His love for us through Jesus’ death. This is a love that forgives us of our sins, suffers with us in our sufferings, and desires to be with us forever, never abandoning
b. God’s love poured out on our hearts by the Holy Spirit
If we go back to verse 5, it says that this love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Although we know that Jesus died for us, it is meaningless if our hearts are not moved by that knowledge. It is the Holy Spirit that moves our hearts. The Holy Spirit also gives us the confidence that God loves us through Jesus’ death. That conviction becomes security and joy and changes our hearts. On the contrary, we should ask for the help of the Holy Spirit when we no longer feel such assurance and joy in our hearts. We are weak, and without the help of the Holy Spirit, we will forget or lose sight of the certainty that we are loved.
So let us move to the conclusion of today’s message, starting with verses 9-10.
4. The foundation of our hope (5-8)
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
These two verses repeat the same thing in a different way. But there is something noteworthy about the paraphrase. The phrase “be justified” in verse 9 is paraphrased in verse 10 as “be reconciled to God.” To be justified by God is to be reconciled to God.
This paraphrase is a change, as if the judge suddenly came down from the courtroom and reached out to the defendant along with the plaintiff. It is as if the one who judges us from above has come down and offered reconciliation. God, who forgave us of our sins through the death of Jesus, welcomes us as His friends and wants to rekindle the relationship. It means that God is approaching us and offering to restore our relationship with Him, which we cannot do on our own. Each of us must decide whether or not we will believe and receive God’s love as true through the cross of Jesus. Receiving it and living by it is our salvation. Let me read the last verse, verse 11.
5. Let us live our lives boasting in God (11)
11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
In the first part of today’s message, we saw that we are to boast in our hope, and in our sufferings; but in this last verse, we are to boast in God as well. The last verse says that ‘we also boast in God’. We get to know God’s love through Jesus, we receive that love through the Holy Spirit, and we have the joy and security of being loved by God. On top of that, we are given the opportunity to live our lives with boasting in God, rejoicing and praising Him. Jesus is the one who wants to be our best friend and share our joys and sorrows. Are we receiving this invitation?
(Prayer) Dear God, we (often) suffer from our sins and the sins of others, and it is easy to lose sight of the path we should take. We sometimes face difficulty in believing that you love us and that you created this world as a good thing. Lord, in such times, please help us to remember your cross and receive your forgiveness, mercy, and love. Fill our hearts with your Spirit and make us assured of your love for us and of our desire to live in love with you and with others. Increase in us the joy and gratitude that we can live with you. Lord Jesus, we pray in your name. Amen.
Summary
When we are confident that God loves us, we can be reconciled to him and cultivate the kind of hope that is not shaken even when we experience hardship. God’s love for us is demonstrated through Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus knows everything about our past and our suffering and still longs to walk alongside us. With the help of the Holy Spirit, let us know Jesus even more, and savor the joy and hope that comes from life with him.
For Discussion
- Are you confident that you are loved by God?
- Is Jesus your best friend?
For the children
Jesus is the one who wants to be our best friend. We tend to forget about Jesus, or even change our mind about him, thinking that he is just one of our friends but not our best friend. Sometimes we almost fight with him, wondering why he would do such a horrible thing to our best friend, and sometimes we think, “I’m done with him. But Jesus’ feeling for us do not change. A good friend who always cares for us makes us stronger. Jesus is the one who will become our best friend. He will never want to break up with us. He always wants to make up with us. (Read: John 15:3, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”)