In this episode, we dive deep into the teachings of Romans 5, an exhilarating scripture that guides us through the reconciliation of the world to God. Discover how God’s judgment is transformed into a profound act of love through His Son, Jesus Christ. We explore how Christ’s death was not just for believers, but for the entire world, demonstrating God’s unwavering love and ultimate plan for redemption. Join us as we break down these verses and uncover the universal significance of Christ’s sacrifice.
So Romans 5 is about the reconciliation of the world to God. God has made a judgment, and that judgment is in his Son, that his Son is the righteousness for the world, and the Son’s death is on behalf of humanity, so that Jesus has taken that judgment. And so God’s judgment against sin has been taken by himself. That’s why the Bible speaks of Jesus being the propitiation, that is, appeasing God’s judgment, appeasing God’s wrath against sin, so that you and I are brought back into the Father’s fold. That’s what this section that we’ve been reading or studying together is all about, Romans chapter 5, verses 6 to 11. And I want to emphasize it again today. Even though we’ve gone through it, it is so big, so expansive, that we need to hear it again and again in order to grasp it. For it says here, in chapter 5, verses 6, 8, and 10, Here they are, these verses, for when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. And verse 8, but God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And verse 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. Now, I pointed out last time that verses 6 and 8 and 10 are parallel. They’re parallel thoughts or parallel ideas that are expressed in different ways. First of all, notice that Jesus is referred to as dying for us in verse 6. And in verse 8, Christ died for us. So there’s a parallel. Christ’s death was for sinners, for the ungodly, for the people without strength, for sinners. And the parallel in verse 10 of Christ died in verse 6 and verse 8 is that Christ reconciled us to God through the death of his Son. That is stupendous, because what it’s telling us is that Christ’s death is not simply, as I mentioned last time, provisional. That is, he provided his death, provided you do your part, which is to believe and to repent and obey. That’s not what these verses are saying. It is saying that while we were still enemies, We were reconciled to God through the death of his Son. So the death of his Son is not provisional. It is absolute. God has reconciled the world through the death of his Son. Now, that doesn’t mean to say there are not judgments that come upon us and disciplines and punishments, but all in the context of salvation. If there’s judgment coming upon the world, it is not that the world is going to be lost, but those judgments are the process of God drawing the world to himself, because Christ has died for us, and Christ’s death means that God has reconciled himself to the world. Now, I mentioned something just now that expands on the picture. I started talking about the world. Paul talks about us here. When we were still without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Verse 8. But God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And verse 10. And if 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. So what Christians tend to do with these verses is to think of them, and quite rightly so, in a personal way. This is Jesus going to the cross on our behalf in a very intimate and personal way. But one thing that Christians, generally speaking, throughout the centuries have failed to realize is that Paul is not only speaking about Jesus dying for us in a personal way, he’s talking about Jesus dying for us for the whole world, which is also personal, of course, but it includes everybody. Well, how do I know that? Well, first of all, who are ungodly? All the world. Who are without strength towards God? All the world. Who are sinners? All the world. And verse 10, who are enemies? All the world. And so these verses are talking about what God is doing and has done for all the world. So he has died for all the world, verse 6. He has died for all the world, verse 8, and he has reconciled to God through the death of his Son all the world, verse 10. Now you say, well, that’s a bit iffy, Colin, are you sure about that? Well, we’re going to come, although I don’t want to start it now, we’re going to come to the latter part of verse, of chapter 5 of Romans, where Paul does speak of all the world. Therefore, as through one man’s offense, that’s Adam’s, judgment came to all men resulting in condemnation, Even so, through one man’s righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. That’s 5 verse 18 of Romans. And so Paul is definitely moving the whole argument towards God’s redemption of all the world. Now look, I know this is a very questionable teaching among many Christians. Some consider it total heresy. But if you take the Scriptures all together and not just parse them and separate them and put a group of texts over here and another group of texts over here and say, well, I accept this group of texts and not that group of texts. If you begin to integrate them, you will see that the teaching of Scripture is that God has sent his Son into the world to be the propitiation, for believers, and not only for believers, but for all the world. And he is going to, Jesus is, going to redeem the world recapture it for the sake of his Father, and return the kingdom, according to 1 Corinthians 15, back to the Father. This is why God the Father says, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him. So, we need to get a totally new look at our God, don’t we? to realize that God is not some vicious, cruel tyrant who’s going to burn people in hell endlessly, the majority of the world, because they did not accept him. Rather, Jesus said, I, when I am lifted up from the earth, that is, when I am crucified and lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. That’s John 12. 32, I think it is. God has sent his Son to redeem his creation. His creation is groaning. It is under a tremendously heavy load of sin and death. People have got so used to this situation that they think it’s normal. that death is normal, and then, oh, well, we go to heaven, and that will be the nice ending to the story. No, that’s not it. Yes, heaven exists. Yes, men and women will go to heaven, but the kingdom of God, according to the book of Revelation, is going to be brought down to earth again, and God will make all things new. There will be no more death, no more sorrow, no more tears or crying, no more evil and sin. Everything will be wiped away. The lamb shall dwell with the lion. The lion shall dwell with the lamb. Actually, we say the lion dwells with the lamb, but it’s actually the wolf shall dwell with the lamb. The lion comes in a bit later. That’s Isaiah 11, I think, verse 26 says, But the point is, God has a plan to love his creation that he made and bring it all back to him. You see, this implies that we can trust God fully. There is, among many, many Christians, a sneaky suspicion of God. We don’t like to talk about it, but it’s there because we’re thinking, well, I could never throw people into hell and have them burn forever. How come God can do that? And I have to tell you, that is a heresy doctrine. It never is in the Scripture. The word hell does not occur when Jesus speaks about it. He’s talking about Gehenna, which is that discipline that the Israelites went through, described in the book of Ezekiel. When those people who had done evil and burned their children in the fire and sacrificed to pagan gods, the Molech, and Baal, God says, I will remove them and I will throw them into that very place that they had burned children in. But is it to destroy them forever? No, it is not. Did you know that the book of Ezekiel talks about the restoration of Sodom and Gomorrah? That they will be brought back and given to Israel as daughters, and Israel will be called upon by God to take care of them. and he’s referring to the Sodom and Gomorrah in Abraham’s day, not some nice, sweet, righteous people later on inhabiting those cities. No, it is precisely the people in Abraham’s day, because God is going to use them as an example to humble Israel, who thought that they were better than everybody else, No, they are going to have to take care of the children of Sodom and Gomorrah, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah whom they despised. It’s right there. It’s right there in Ezekiel chapter 16. Read it for yourself. What we learn from this then, and other passages of course, is that Sodom and Gomorrah, that fire and brimstone are a symbol or a figure of speech for teaching, for all the world to be faced with the revelation of God. What happens is that God’s glory will be seen and his face will be seen, it says in Ezekiel, and in that moment the world will throw away its idols. In that moment the world will see its enormous sinful condition, and it will bow before the Lord God. Remember Isaiah 45? Before me, says the Lord, before me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that he is God. And that verse is repeated in the book of Philippians as describing every knee bowing to Jesus Christ himself. What a wonderful thing is going to happen. So lift up your heart. God is reconciling his enemies. And if you feel an enemy today, just come before God and say, Oh God, even though I feel and me in my heart, I thank you that you have taken away my judgment. Thanks. I’ll see you next time. Cheerio and God bless.
