Tag: reconciled by death
Reconciled with God by His death!
Scripture reading for July 19th: Romans 5:3-21
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8)
We are in reality all ungodly people with no hope of saving ourselves. Paul has clearly laid out his case for the universal depravity of men, both Jew and Gentile. We are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God and need a savior! (Romans 3:23) But thanks be to God, He has sent His Son at just the right time to die for the ungodly! This act of God sending Jesus Christ to die for us is the supreme act of love.
The shedding of Christ’s blood brought justification to sinners. We have been declared righteous on the basis of Christ’s innocent blood shed for us. (Romans 5:9) We are no longer subject to God’s wrath against sin. “For we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:10-11) We are not ‘barely’ saved, but fully brought back into relationship with God. We can rejoice in our salvation and in God as our Father! We are safe in His family.
Sin entered the world through one man, Adam. Along with sin came death for all men–eternal separation from God. Death reigned like a ‘king’ over all men from Adam’s time, bringing condemnation to all men. The second ‘Adam’, Jesus Christ bought men back from death by an act of righteousness, His death on the cross in obedience to the plan of God! “For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one Man the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19) “so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 5:21) Praise the Lord for his wonderful grace!