Transcript

Robert Lewis writes, “In 1851, many of the most accomplished engineers in the country thought James Roebling was out of his mind. That year, he began to work on the unthinkable: building a bridge over the Niagara River Gorge.

Disaster was nearly universally predicted. There was the sheer mathematics of the thing: 825 feet across and more terrifyingly 200 feet straight down. But the distance across the river paled in comparison to the sheer power and rage of the waters below.

Niagara River Gorge was just upriver from Niagara Falls, where up to 37.4 million gallons of water per minute fell into the Gorge. From there the waters had cut a deep abyss with the series of ravage rapids before ending in a terrifying whirlpool.

Across such a chasm, Roebling believed a train could cross. History was not his ally. Although greater spans had already been bridged, including Roebling’s own bridge across the Ohio River, the Niagara was far more difficult.

No girders or bridge supports would ever survive the raging currents. The only possible solution was a suspension bridge. And that’s what had people worried. At the time suspension bridges were not highly regarded.

They were considered disasters in the making. They shook in the wind and after a few years twisted and crumbled into the waters they were designed to span.

In England and France suspension bridges had collapsed under the mere weight of crossing humans, killing hundreds. In America, a number of small suspension bridges had collapsed, mostly from moving livestock.

So when Roebling proposed the suspension bridge, it came as no surprise that most people were putting their money on the gorge, not the bridge.

Yet construction began and Roebling’s bridge opened in 1855. The bottom level was for carriage and pedestrian traffic and the top was reserved for the Great Western Canada Railroad.

On Friday March 16, the first train rolled over twice the weight of regular trains to test the bridge. Just a few days later, a passenger train packed to capacity made the journey from Canada to the United States.

Because of his efforts, two countries which had been separated from each other were now connected.

The sinner and God are separated from each other because of sin. An infinitely wide chasm with a deep abyss below separated us from God. A bridge needed to be built to bring us together again.

And it’s been said that “With only 3 nails, 2 pieces of wood, and 1 rugged Cross, Jesus built a bridge.” The Cross of Christ is the bridge to our reconciliation with God. In this episode, we’ll be looking at the key word: reconciliation.

Romans 5:6-8: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Four terms, that are increasingly uncomplimentary, are used by Paul in verses 6-11 to describe those for whom Christ died.

The first is that “we were…without strength.” Without strength means that we were helpless, weak, and powerless. Without Christ, we are without strength.

In our sins, we are utterly helpless to help ourselves and incapable to bring ourselves to God. The death of Christ at the Cross teaches all that we are weak and unable to do anything to save ourselves from our sin problem.

We were powerless to work out any righteousness to make ourselves right with God. We were all powerless to deliver ourselves from our sins. We were powerless to please God in any way. And thus, we were powerless to escape the wrath of God.

But praise God, “In due time Christ died for the ungodly” Paul wrote. “In due time” means at God’s appointed time, the right time from God’s perspective. This means that circumstances did not solely bring Christ to the Cross, the divine, master plan of God did.

According to God’s schedule and at His appointed time, Christ died for the “ungodly.” We are not only weak, but wicked in our sins.

Ungodly speaks of being unrighteous, irreverent, rebellious against God, no desire to serve Him or glorify Him as God, bankrupt of all moral and spiritual inclination toward God.

Romans 1-3 demonstrate that all mankind falls into this category. In our sins, we are all ungodly. We are all in the same boat. The same sin-corrupted heart beats in all of us.

But yet, amazingly, in love and grace, Christ died for the ungodly. Dying for the “ungodly” means that Christ died for all of us. Dying for us, means He died in our place, in our interest, as our Substitute. He faced the judgment we deserved for our sins.

Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” To provide us with the salvation from our sins that we so desperately need, Christ died in our place.

And this is love. But God’s love for us is not based on how lovable we are. God’s love for us is unconditional. God loves us in spite of our unloveliness.

In verse 7, Paul speaks by way of human analogy. He says “for scarcely [or hardly] for a righteous man will one day.” Paul used “righteous” here in a human level, the general sense of an upright person, not in the theological sense of a person made right with God. It’s a just person, moral, honest, and fair.

Paul says there are rare occasions and examples, but it hardly happens, that one will sacrifice their own life for a righteous person to save their life.

Then he points out “yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.” A good man carries the idea of one who is not only upright, but loved for it, because he or she helps others. It is a noble person, generous, and of high character.

Paul says perhaps a more likely, but still rare occasion, is that one might dare to offer themselves as a substitute so that a good person can continue to live.

But verse 8 delivers a knockout punch. “But God.” Paul contrasts Christ’s willingness to die for sinners with mankind’s overall unwillingness to die for others.

As uncommon as such a sacrifice is for people to die for righteous or good people so they might live, Paul’s point is that we were neither of these persons; we’re not righteous or good in God’s sight, yet Christ died for us.

If it’s hard and rare for one to die for a righteous person or even a good person, then what about those who are neither righteous nor good? What about those who deserve to die? Or those who have been unkind and hostile to you? Would you die for them?

It would take a lot of love to die for even a righteous or a good person, but it would take unimaginable love to die for an unrighteous person or to give your life for someone who was a wicked, ungodly person. And yet that’s exactly what God’s Son did for us.

“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” There is no reason for God to love us. We are unworthy, ungodly, sinners, yet Christ died for us. That sort of selfless, undeserved, unconditional love is beyond understanding. Love may be the best known, but least understood of all God’s attributes.

A.W. Tozer said this about knowing God’s love: “It is like trying to take the ocean in your arms, or embrace the atmosphere…I can no more do justice to this awesome and wonder-filled topic than a child can grasp a star. Still, by reaching toward the star the child may call attention to it and even indicate the direction one must look to see it.

“And so, I stretch my heart toward the high, shining love of God…No one can do it, so I suppose I must do the best I can and trust the Holy Spirit to make up for human lack.”

The direction one must look to see the love of God is the Cross of Christ. We see God’s love commended to us there. It is the highest exhibit and demonstration of God’s love.

We can’t explain God’s love or fully understand why He would love us and send His Son to die for us. But we accept it by faith, and of course, we rejoice in it and should be always grateful for it, and allow that love to transform our heart and lives.

The God who hates sin and every sinful thought and deed, nevertheless loves the sinner who thinks and does those things. God hates sin, but He loves the sinner.

The word “sinners” means to miss the target, to deviate. We have all totally missed the mark of God’s glory, righteousness, and perfection. We are all guilty sinners. We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, yet God loves us. He loves every single person.

He demonstrated and exhibited His love toward us, and the depth of it, by giving His Son, and our Savior willingly died for all in our place so we might be saved from all our sins, and the eternal judgment and wrath our sins deserve.

It’s been said well, “There will be millions and millions of people who will go to hell unsaved, but there will be absolutely no one who will go to hell unloved.” (Stanley)

Romans 5:9: “Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”

Paul’s argument is from the greater to the less. If God has done the greater thing, then of course, surely He will do the lesser thing. Since we are justified by the blood of Christ, how much more will He save us from wrath through Christ.

Paul had already referred to benefits of our justification in verses 1-5, that we have peace with God, access to God, hope of the glory of God, the indwelling Holy Spirit of God.

As if all that were not enough, there is “much more” Paul pointed out, as he continues to escalate his elevation of the love of God, and we will be delivered from the wrath of God.

The wrath Paul speaks of is in reference to an event in the future. The wrath he is referring to is the day of judgment at the Great White Throne.

Romans 2:5-6 reads, “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds.”

There is a great day coming when the wrath of God again sin, when the righteous judgment of God against sin will be manifest, revealed, and pronounced.

All who appear at that day of wrath, the Great White Throne, will face the wrath of God. Christ will judge their sinful deeds and will cast them into the Lake of Fire forever.

Apart from Christ we are all under God’s wrath. We are all condemned sinners justly deserving God’s eternal punishment for our sins. By our sinful deeds, we continually store up wrath against the day of wrath.

But if you’ve placed your faith in Christ, that He died for your sins and rose again, then you have been justified by His blood.

And having been justified by His blood, how “much more,” Paul says, will you be saved from God’s wrath through Christ. We are assured of this: “we SHALL be saved from wrath.”

Having been declared righteous by God on the basis of Christ’s shed blood, we are delivered from danger and from that coming day of wrath at the Great White Throne.

God’s righteous wrath was unleashed on Christ, Who died as our Substitute, in our place at the Cross. He suffered the wrath that we deserved. All God’s wrath was poured out on Christ against our sins. There is now no wrath left for us. Christ took God’s wrath away. And now we have the hope of the glory of God in heaven.

That is the issue with salvation: accepting the Substitute who faced the wrath of God against our sins at the Cross which takes God’s wrath away, or rejecting the Substitute and personally facing the wrath of God against your sins in the lake of fire forever.

Romans 5:10-11: “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

“And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”

On September 29, 2006, Navy SEAL Michael Monsoor was on a rooftop in Baghdad with three Iraqi soldiers and two other SEALs when a grenade suddenly flew out of nowhere and bounced off his chest onto the roof.

Now Monsoor probably could have escaped, but then the other soldiers would have been killed or injured. Instead he jumped on the grenade, and he took the full force of the blast for them. He was killed by the explosion, but he saved the lives of the five other men.

We are rightly amazed at this man’s bravery and thankful for his sacrifice for his friends. This is an example of verse 7, “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.”

But the difference with our Savior is that Christ didn’t die for the righteous or the good, He died for His enemies. He died so that His enemies would live forever. He took the full force of the blast of sin for us, and He did it while we were still God’s enemies.

When Paul writes, “For” in the middle of this context, it’s like he’s saying, “Let me explain this more fully.”

The construct of the verse is like the previous: If God has already done the greater thing, He cannot fail to do the lesser thing. It is unthinkable for Him not to.

So if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son [the greater thing], then, of course, having believed and being reconciled, we will be saved by His life.”

Paul says “For if, when we were enemies.” There’s a progression in the terms from bad to worse to describe our condition outside of Christ.

We were weak. And not only were we powerless, we were ungodly. And we were not just ungodly, we were sinners. And we were not only sinners, we were enemies.

In our sins, we are not only helpless to save ourselves (v. 6), ungodly (v. 6), and sinful (v. 8), but we also set ourselves in opposition against God and His purposes as enemies.

The word “enemies” means we were hostile against God. To be enemies means you must be in a state of war. However, God did not declare war on man, but man declared war on God. We see this explained earlier in Romans 1:18-32. Sin set God and man at war.

Mankind in our relationship to God was in a position of hostility and enmity against God because of our sinfulness, pride, ungodliness, wickedness, disobedience, selfishness, and self-righteousness.

Man has offended and departed from God, and needs reconciliation into relationship with Him. God did not need to be reconciled. It was man who needed it, because he was at enmity with God. The offender was man because of sin. God was the offended party.

And sin gouged out a chasm of separation between God and man infinitely greater than the Grand Canyon.

The basic meaning for the word “reconcile” is “to change thoroughly.” In salvation, it refers to the changed relationship between God and mankind through Jesus Christ.

Reconciliation is the removal of the enmity that stands between us and God. It is about restored fellowship, harmony, and peace with God once we trust Christ.

Often, in life, when two people are at odds, such as perhaps a married couple, it is the one wronged in the quarrel who humbly and selflessly takes the initiative to build the bridge, and approaches the guilty one to reconcile the relationship.

This was the case in the enmity which separated God and man. God was the One who was wronged, but out of His infinite, humble, selfless love, He built a bridge of reconciliation by which man could cross over and have fellowship and an eternal relationship with Him.

He did not wait for mankind’s position of hostility and enmity toward God to change before He sent His Son to die for us. Instead, in unimaginable love, He sent His Son when we were yet enemies of God.

These verses are all about the unconditional love of God toward us. It’s all about our unworthiness and God’s initiative in providing our salvation out of His great love.

It is when we were without strength, Christ died for the ungodly. It’s while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And it is when we were enemies that God reconciled us by the death of His Son. The change in relation between God and man involved the movement of God toward man in love with a view to break and remove the hostility.

That love of God in moving toward us and providing reconciliation to Himself is to reach for mankind’s heart. God deals with mankind now no longer as enemies but as those whom He loves and is ready and anxious to forgive, justify, and redeem through Christ.

Reconciliation is at the very heart of the gospel. The message of the gospel that we share is that God is not against you. God loves you. Christ died for you. Be reconciled to God. Just trust that Christ died for your sins and rose again.

This is the word of reconciliation, the ministry of reconciliation that has been committed to the Body of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:19-20 tells us that God “hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

We are reconciled to God “by the death of His Son.” The Person who reconciles us to God is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the place where He reconciles us is His Cross.

Colossians 1:20-21 says that God has “made peace through the blood of His Cross…And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled.”

God’s part in reconciliation is done. At the Cross, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. He has reconciled the world and made the world save-able by the Cross.

Reconciliation to God demanded Christ’s death as the payment for sin. Our state of enmity and separation from God in our sins was so great, that nothing less than the death of God’s own Son on the Cross could deal with it and remove it.

God has removed and put away everything that meant alienation from His side, which took place by the perfect sacrifice and all-sufficient payment for sin by Christ.

There is nothing more God can do. He gave everything for there to be reconciliation. He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.

God provided for our reconciliation. His reconciliation is available to all. It isn’t initiated or achieved by us; it is only accepted or rejected by us.

Mankind’s side of reconciliation follows God’s side. God has provided our reconciliation. He has done His part, but for the reconciliation to be made complete, we must trust God’s provision. Christ’s death put mankind in a savable condition, but people still need to experience full reconciliation with God by believing in His Son.

The work of reconciliation is complete. The chasm that stood between God and man has been bridged. It was bridged by the Cross of Christ. We cross over that bridge by faith alone in Christ’s death and resurrection. At that moment of trusting Christ, we are reconciled to God and have peace with God forever.

Paul adds that “much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Having done the greater thing, in giving His Son to reconcile us to Himself, God will certainly do the lesser thing, that when we trust Him, much more, God’s reconciled ones SHALL be saved by His life.

In light of what we know God did for us in the past when we were enemies, we can confidently trust that He will do much more for us, His reconciled ones, in the future.

Thus, Paul’s argument is, “If, while you were an enemy in God’s sight, God loved you with such a great love that He sent His own Son to die for you, is it likely that His attitude towards you will change now that you have been reconciled to God and are His child?”

The answer is obviously not. If God showed us the ultimate act of love and God gave Christ for us when we were enemies, now that we have been fully reconciled and have peace with God, how much more can we be assured that we will be saved by Christ’s life.

Once we are His, God’s love is a love that will never let us go. We will be saved from wrath and eternal death by Christ’s resurrection life. We were saved from wrath by His death in the past, and we will be saved by His life in the future.

Because He lives, we live also. We have salvation from wrath because our Savior lives. We share Christ’s risen life forever. Our hope is not empty. It is real. We are eternally secure in Christ.

“Saved by His life” refers to Romans 4:25 that Christ “was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for [on account of] our justification.” Because He died for our sins and rose again, we are eternally saved.

In the first 3 chapter of Romans, we are proven to be guilty, unrighteous, condemned sinners deserving of God’s judgment. But now “through our Lord Jesus Christ” and what He did for us at the Cross, “we joy in God.”

In verse 2 we learn how we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. In verse 11, we learn how we joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom we have now received the atonement, or literally the reconciliation.

The word translated “atonement” is translated “reconcile” or “reconciliation” in all other occurrences in Scripture. Atonement is strictly an Old Testament teaching. Atonement means “to cover.” When the blood sacrifices were offered under the law, the sins of the people were covered. This was a blessed truth at the time.

But now, we have a much greater blessing today. Our sins are not merely covered, they are completely paid for, forgiven, and taken away forever by the precious blood of Christ.

All that we have in God and all that we are in Him, we owe to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, we joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And by living in that joy we have in Christ we can be transformed by grace.