Alcides Moreno was a window washer in Manhattan. He rode platforms with his brother Edgar to wash skyscrapers. From there, he could look down to see the pavement far below where the people looked like ants. On December 7, 2007, catastrophe struck the Moreno family. The brothers were 47 stories up when their platform collapsed. Alcides and Edgar fell from the sky.
They did not land on a passing airplane or get snagged by a flagpole like we see in movies and on cartoons. They fell 47 stories all the way to the pavement below. Edgar died from the fall. Alcides did not. He hung on to life by a thread for two weeks. But on Christmas Day, he reached out and touched the nurse’s face. A month later, an amazed doctor stated that Alcides would probably walk again.
No one of us have ever had a relationship with God like Adam and Eve did. None of us have ever walked with God like they did. And when they disobeyed God, their decision brought sin, death, and judgment into man’s world. And today, we still struggle against flesh and blood, weaknesses and temptations, wondering how we could ever get back into a relationship with God.
The message of the gospel is for everyone and it is made available and known to everyone through the New Covenant of Jesus Christ.
WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD – 5:1-2:
There are two key themes that run through these eleven verses: the idea of reconciliation and the idea of “boasting” or “exulting.”
Having been justified, Paul writes, we have “peace with God.” When Adam and Eve sinned, when you and I sin, we create a barrier between us and God (Isa. 59:1-2); we put ourselves on a collision course with the wrath of God – notice verse 9.
In fact, consider how Paul identifies us – before we were washed by the blood of Christ – from God’s perspective:
We were “helpless” (ver. 6)
We were “ungodly” (ver. 7)
We were “sinners” (ver. 8)
We were “enemies” (ver. 10)
WE EXULT IN TRIBULATIONS – 5:3-5:
This life is specifically designed to help us be conformed into the image of God’s Son. This life is designed by God to teach us and disciple us into loving God supremely and serving our fellowman sacrificially.
How do we know that God loves us? Notice that verses 6 & 7 both begin with the word “for.” How do we know that God loves us?
CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY – 5:6-10:
Christ died for us when we were weak, impotent to do anything for ourselves, and when we were still sinners before God.
“But wait, there’s more!” Once we have been justified, which Paul had stated back in 4:25; here he states we are “justified” by the blood of His Son, we can now be saved from the wrath of God through Jesus Christ. God’s wrath is coming. God’s wrath is coming against sin and all those who are still engulfed in sin and refuse to believe in God and obey the gospel of His Son. But there is deliverance; there is an escape – through the blood of His Son.
WE HAVE RECEIVED RECONCILIATION THROUGH JESUS – 5:11:
We are no longer God’s enemies, destined to experience the wrath of God, if we are washed by the blood of Christ and are God’s children adopted by Him in Christ. That’s the topic of chapter 6 and the subject of baptism, which we’ll study next month.
Christ reconciles us to God so that we can have peace with God. Be reconciled to God and exult in tribulations because Christ is preparing us to live with Him forever.
Paul Holland
