Unrivaled Love - Romans 5:6-11 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] [Applause] [Music] David Roper wrote a little poem that goes like this Paul's girl is rich and haughty my girl is porous clay Paul's girl is young and happy my girl looks like a bale of hay Paul's girl is smart and clever my girl is dumb but good but would I trade my girl for Paul's your bet your life I would well that's hardly true love and it's what people want it's what people look for in life to be loved and to be able to give love so in preparation for this message on unrivaled love the love of God I went to Google and I typed in true love and Google responded with two billion six hundred and forty million results first page was largely advertisements on how we're going to help you find true love then the next page was hit songs that talk about true love articles about how you can ensure that you'll discover it and then explanations as to what true love is all about but my mind goes back to that great theological movie called The Princess Bride and you may remember when the hero of the story named Wesley is in a comatose nearly dead almost dead perhaps dead and they bring him to miracle max and miracle max takes this set of bellows and starts pumping air into his lungs and then a miracle max played by Billy Crystal says hello in there hey what's so important what she got worth living for and then he pushes on Wesley's chest and out come the words his friend in Diego Montoya standing next to Wesley says true love you heard what he said there can be no more noble cause than that and miracle max says Sonny true love is the greatest thing except maybe for a MLT mutton lettuce and tomato sandwich where the mutton is thinly sliced they're perky I like it true love is the topic that has been discussed it has been pondered it has been argued it has been debated for centuries so much so that some people are cynical and believe that nobody can really truly find a true love that it's simply the result of chemicals in the brain you think it's there but it's just a physiological response others are hopeless romantics they think they'll find a soulmate that will be compatible and absolutely every possible way and they'll have an endless romance as the Sun sets with the white picket fence around the truth is we live in a fallen world our world is filled with broken and imperfect people and because of that any relationship of love can at some point fail because when broken imperfect people love other broken imperfect people their love will be perhaps broken and imperfect yet when we talk about God's love we are in a different category altogether it is what I'm calling unrivaled love in the book of first John as John is writing it's like he comes to a point where he stops and in chapter 3 he says behold what manner of love the father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God in other words kind of love is this what foreign kind of love is this well we're in Romans chapter five and last week we looked at the first five verses which talk about the benefits that we have of justification remember once again the very last word in chapter 4 is the word justification the very first word or not the very first word but in the very first verse it says therefore being justified by faith and he lists the benefits so if you remember to be justified means to be declared righteous God makes a declaration that you are now right with him simply because you believe in what Jesus did for you he declares you right and then he treats you that way that's justification the benefits are listed in verses 1 through 5 we have peace with God that's not a subjective tranquil feeling of peace it's a fact it's the state you're in you are right with God the channels are open the way is clear so that's benefit number one you have peace with God followed by access to God you can go anytime boldly before the throne of grace because you live in that environment of grace a third you have hope in the glory of the future the glory to come you'll be in a glorified body one day won't that be wonderful and you'll see the glory of God and then forth between now and then all of the trials and hardships you and I go through are there for a purpose to create character within us so chapter 5 verse 5 closes with this thought you have your Bible in front of you you can check it out he talks about the hope that we have and he says the love of God has been poured out in our hearts that's God's love for you the love of God has been poured out in our hearts that's noteworthy because the very first time the word love is used in the book of Romans is in verse 5 he's been speaking about the wrath of God and then the grace of God but here he introduces the idea of God's love so that's the very first introductory thought in other words when you come to Christ when you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior you are saved and you enter into a lifelong love relationship with God that lasts forever now the second use of the word love is found in verse 8 I'm going to skip ahead a little bit and you'll notice what God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us so he introduces love and then he points to the cross as the greatest example an act of love ever so the overwhelming truth of the gospel is that God loves broken imperfect people you might say God loves the rebel I'm glad for that because I grew up as one Dwight L Moody used to say no truth in the whole Bible ought to affect us as the love of God now love is an essential part of God's character you may recall first John chapter 4 verse 8 where we are told God is love not that God has some celestial grandfather sitting on a cloud with a dopey detached smile on his face is sort of winking at everybody and not that God doesn't hate because the Bible tells us God does hate there's a whole list of things God hates in proverbs chapter 6 he hates lying evil a proud look pride itself but God's essential nature is love and here's Paul discussing justification by faith and now he gives us the motive God's motive for it at all and that is the motive of love so we're gonna look at three facets of God's unrivaled love and so look at chapter five verse six for when we were still without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly not a flattering description of us all for scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us much more then having now been justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him 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 and not only that but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received the reconciliation we have in these verses the proof of God's love the provision of God's love and the product of God's love we're going to take each of those three one at a time now the proof of love is always in the gift what is love willing to give so this gift was sacrificial I want you to notice twice once in verse six and once in verse eight that Christ died notice in verse six when we were still without strength in due time Christ died that is he gave his life verse 8 God demonstrated his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us most famous verse in all the Bible John 3:16 for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son another verse that goes along with it that may not be as famous but we should all know it is Galatians chapter 2 20 Paul says I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live but it's not I who lives it's Christ who lives in me and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me God gave his son his son gave His life love is willing to give it is willing to sacrifice steven covey who wrote that famous book seven Habits of Highly Effective People came up with the little line love is a verb love is a verb and in the context of that he was having a discussion with a married guy who was talking about the problems he and his wife were having and he doesn't quite have the same feelings for his wife as he had at the beginning and Stephen Covey said hey man love is a verb whether you feel like it or not love is willing to make a sacrifice it's never passive it's never silent it is always active and it is willing to act and one of the reasons that many marriages deteriorate is because couples stop giving to one another giving their interest giving their time giving their energy giving their care and so the relationship deteriorates into a kind of a legal formal relationship where those feelings go because giving stops so for God love was a verb God gave his very best his only son for Jesus love was a verb he gave his life he said nobody takes my life from me I lay it down of myself I have the power to lay it down I have the power to take it again I don't know if you've seen the latest a Lion King movie but I took my grandkids too it was awesome and in the new Lion King movie there are some lines in it that weren't in the original so one of the lines is by mu you have to think of James Earl Jones in that beautiful voice of his saying some search only for what they can take but a true king searches for what he can give Jesus was a true king searching for what he could give he said the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many so the proof of God's love is that the gift given was a sacrificial gift notice also the gift was unconditional because it says in verse 6 for when we were still what it says without strength verse 6 when we were still without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly what does that mean without strength it means hopeless powerless we had no ability to improve our condition we had no capability to help ourselves why because we were spiritually dead Ephesians 2 you were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once also walked according to the course of this world it's a strange analogy you were dead but you were walking around you were the Walking Dead you were insensate to spiritual things so while you were without strength note this in due time or in the nick of time at the right time I love Galatians 4 verse 4 in the fullness of time God sent forth his son born of a virgin born under the law there's a great story and it's a true story about a man in Australia named James Harrison also known as the man with the Golden Arm he is called that because he has donated blood so men time's come to find out that his blood has an unusual plasma composition that contains the cure for a disease called rhesus disease that affects children in the womb and then once they're born they come to find out that back in the 60s there was this huge inundation of that disease especially in Australia so James Harrison has donated his blood over 1,000 times once a week for 60 years James Harrison donated blood and in so doing saved the lives of 2.4 million babies by donating his blood so we should be excited for that kind of sacrificial unconditional love but in an infinite level in greater level in the nick of time just like at the right time James Harrison saved those who were without strength our God at the right time sent his son to save those who were in a helpless hopeless powerless condition and this is the style of God's love God loves the prodigal when they run away and they wallow in the muck and the mire of their sin Jesus loves the prostitute who is turning over a new trick night after night Jesus loves the drug seller and the drug user and the businessman who cheats at his income tax or her income tax and squanders the company's money make no mistake god hates what they're doing but God loves the person I love the story of the rich young ruler in the New Testament who meets up with Jesus and it says Jesus looking at him loved him powerful verse he knew all about him in the condition he was in and his unwillingness to change Jesus looking at him loved him so his gift the proof of his love was both sacrificial and unconditional and it was incomparable look at verse 6 I'm sorry look at verse 7 for scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us in these two verses the Apostle Paul is comparing a divine love to human love to show you the vast difference between the way people love one another and the way God loves us so human love is almost always based on the attractiveness of the object that it loves and if the object is more attractive there's more love if the object is less attractive there's less love that's human love it is object oriented it is based upon the value the worth the status the beauty of the object and we are inclined to love people who love us big deal anybody can do that right that's the point Jesus made in the Sermon on the Mount he said if you love those who love you big deal he didn't say big deal but that's my paraphrase of it he said don't even the tax collectors do the same anybody can love that way now here's the mistake we make we often take human love the way we love and we attribute that to God so we think that God must love the ones who love him or that his love depends on how good we are and the more we love him the more he will love us that's a huge mistake as theologian Charles Hodge wrote if God loved us because we love him he would love us only as long as we love him and on that condition and then our salvation would depend on the constancy of our treacherous hearts so here's the deal God's love is not like human love God's love is not object-oriented it is subject oriented it is part of his nature his character completely independent of the beauty attractiveness and value of the object completely dependent on the quality of the subject giving the love and that's Paul's point his point here in these two verses is that it's unusual to love and to sacrifice for a scoundrel a rascal a villain a cheat a thief but God is so inclined jesus said I have not come to call the righteous but I have called come to call sinners to repentance there's a great story about a a guy in Plano Texas his name was Haydn Carlo and he is driving down a highway at night in Plano and he goes over the speed limit a police season pulls out follows him pulls him over and when a police pulls you over he asked for two things what are they license and registration he looks at a license checks out the registration however has expired the police officer brings that to the driver's attention registration is expired I'm going to have to give you a citation the driver says please I just lost my job recently and it was true I recently lost my job I had to make a decision with the money resources that I have to either feed my children or re-register to the car I opted to feed my children I didn't have enough to do both what should the police officer do at that point what he should do is write him a ticket you know what he did he wrote him a ticket he wrote him a citation which devastated the driver because he knew that's $100 fine but then the officer got his car drove away the man opened up the citation and in it was a $100 bill that the beliefs a police officer put in the ticket to pay for the fine so think of it this way at the cross Jesus wrote us a ticket and then he paid for the fine himself infinitely greater than a police officer giving $100 so that was a wonderful thing don't expect that to happen to you so that's the proof of God's love in the sacrifice given by our Savior let's continue with the provision of God's love look at verse 9 and 10 and I love how Paul does this this is one of his favorite phrases much more than get used to that phrase he's gonna use it a lot in the book of Romans much more than he's branding it up he's gonna go to a greater example having now been justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him 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 what did God's love provide two things Jesus death saved us from God's wrath Jesus life saves us from our ruin now follow it here he mentions wrath in verse 9 having been justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him to what wrath is he talking about God's wrath it's the wrath we've been dealing with for the first three chapters of the book beginning in chapter 1 verse 18 where it introduces for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men where they suppress the truth in their ungodliness so he's sort of unleashes for three chapters describing the wrath of God the condition that Humanity is in that's the wrath were saved from for us for you and I who believe in Jesus God's wrath is not an issue you never have to worry you never have to cringe you never have to think am I gonna am I gonna get God's wrath in the end no you won't Jesus in John 5:24 said most assuredly I say to you he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life not will have you have it now has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment that's wrath but has passed from death into life so for you and I who trust in Jesus Christ simply authentically wholeheartedly God's wrath will never be an issue now that's not true for everybody in John 3:36 we are told he who believes in the son has everlasting life he who does not believe the son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him so understand that the Bible divides all of humanity into two camps those who believe in Jesus those who do not believe in Jesus those who have escaped God's wrath versus those who will one day encounter God's wrath for you and I who believe wrath is not an issue Paul writes in 1st Thessalonians 1 verse 10 we wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath that is to come so you never have to fret or sweat that we have been the wrath has been removed why because he took the brunt of it he took the shock of it all of the wrath of God was allowed to be poured into and on the body of Jesus so that when he died for you and for me God's wrath was satisfied in that sacrifice a true story back in 2004 in the little town of who cybo Iraq a Marine corporal by the name of Jason Dunham and his squad were checking out a convoy of vehicles they were stopping cars on the road looking in each one making sure there's not bombs there's not devices there's not guns terrorists etc well they approached one white Toyota Landcruiser they noticed in the backseat they could even see from afar a whole slew of ak-47s and ammunition they told the driver to get out the driver got out of the car started fighting some of the Marines and then took off the Marine corporal chased him apprehended him subdued him but in the fight the driver the terrorists had a grenade pulled the pin threw it on the ground instinctively corporal Dunham jumped on top of the grenade with his body put his helmet on top of the grenade put his body over the helmet the blast killed him but saved his squad and saved the life of the terrorists effectively Jesus absorbed the blast of God's wrath after you and I pulled the pin so having absorbed the blast of the wrath of God the wrath of God is no longer an issue for those of us who believe in him so Jesus death saved us from God's wrath so that's part of the provision of his love but there's the second provision not only does his death save us from God's wrath his life saves us from our ruin look at 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 this is one of the strongest promises in the New Testament that we will be kept by God the keeping power of God and Paul here argues from greater to lesser he starts with the greater if that happened and that caused this then so he argues from greater to lesser and his words are both logical and theological let me frame it for you if the dying Savior reconciled us to God then surely a living Savior will keep us reconciled to God if God can bring a sinner to heaven then surely God can keep a saint while on the earth if our sin couldn't keep him from his love before we were saved can anything keep us from his love now that we're saved if our sin was not a barrier to the beginning of our salvation then how can our sin ever be a barrier at the completion of our salvation if our past and our future salvation is secured by God how can you and I ever be insecure about our status as children of God I'll boil it down to an irreducible minimum God always finishes what God starts he is the author and the finisher of our faith in Philippians Paul said he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ our safety depends on God's nature not ours just like your salvation didn't depend on your character in nature but God's and his love doesn't depend on you but on him now that's what Jesus prayed for in John 17 jesus said father I do not pray that you should take them out of this world but that you should keep them from the evil one so here's what it means Jesus not only pardoned you he preserves you he not only heals your soul he can keep your soul Paul said in second Timothy 1 I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day so that's the proof and the provision of God's love we end now at what it brings us what is all this love of God do in us look at verse 11 here's the product of it and not only that don't you love how Paul always does that he talks about the greatest things in the world it goes and not just that there's more than that not only that but we also joy or rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received the reconciliation this is the result of experiencing that love authentic joy joy is what the world is missing and joy is what the gospel produces I've noticed everybody wants to I've never met a person who doesn't want to be happy every person I've ever met what do you want I want to be happy I just don't want the pain and suffering in life I want to be joyful and you know but there's there's whole industries around that that are built around joy you you want joy by our hand cream you want joy sleep on our mattress you enjoy by our pillow you on joy drive our automobile and all of the commercials always have the image of a joy-filled person and they're filled with joy because they bought the product and it even gets down to the ridiculous even preparation-h the commercial begins with a guy just in distress forlorn hopeless and then at the end he's just smiling so big he's got so much joy given to him by preparation age Thomas Aquinas even noted no man can live without joy that is why one who is deprived of spiritual joy goes over to carnal pleasures whenever you see somebody trying to fill up their life through just sensual carnal worldly pleasures it's because they haven't found what they're looking for and that is a true sense of spiritual joy now one of the first signs that a person gets right with God is joy I've noticed it time and time again I notice that in the baptism testimonies I noticed it in my own life that afternoon when I gave my life to Christ I did not hear a voice I did not see a vision I did not see a bright light I felt unburdened I felt lighter I had a sense of joy that I never experienced before and no wonder that's what the angel over Bethlehem promised when he said do not be afraid behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people it's one of the first telltale signs that somebody has been touched by the love of God joy real joy abiding joy when the gospel first went to the ancient city of Antioch we are told when the Gentiles heard this they were glad and all who were appointed to eternal life believed and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit when the gospel went to Samaria when Philip preached to the Samaritans and they believed the gospel it says so there was great joy in that city and the joy that God offers is not the joy that the car dealership promises or that the pillow manufacturers promise or that preparation-h will give you sorry again for that analogy God is not interested in just putting a little temporary smile on your face he wants to deposit real joy hope love in your heart so the effect the result of is true joy and Jesus is the author of both true love true joy speaking of true love there was one young girl who just wasn't having a great experience in her dating relationships they weren't working out so she turned to a computer dating service in hopes that they would pick the right one mr. perfect she was very very specific about what she wanted in her date and she told the computer she wanted someone who liked people was small preferred formal attire and enjoyed watersports watersports so the computer put all of her wishes together and sent her a penguin oops not quite what she had in mind for mr. perfect God knows exactly what you need and sent you a savior somebody who demonstrated his love for you in his sacrifice and loved you when you were at your worst so that he could take you at your worst and turn you into his best that's love true love is when you discover that that God in heaven your creator who did all this thought you were worth it when you realize that God thought you were worth all of this you experienced true love like you've never experienced it before you never find it on a human level it might be good it might come close but not not like this God's great love sacrificial unconditional incomparable providing salvation from wrath and salvation from you forever father we want to thank you that you turn us into the best versions of ourselves redeemed men and women people who are the object of your love but your love is not based on us as the object but on you as the subject it is your nature it is your character you are loved you created us you know the worst about us you've seen it all when we're at our best when we're at our worst but because of what our great Savior did in taking the blast and taking the blow you save us from future wrath and you save us from present ruin you keep us on earth all the way to heaven thank you Lord that you knew exactly what we need and thank you that you provided everything we do need and that you give us what true love really is and with that love a sense of joy Lord we have celebrated your love in so many different songs even in songs today I think of that great hymn of the church the love of God is greater far than ink or pen could ever tell it reaches to the furthest star it reaches to the lowest hell and some of us today Lord find ourselves doing pretty well others find us find ourselves in a pit of despair needing your strength needing your courage needing your love needing your hope needing salvation if you're with us today and you've never said yes to the Savior and I mean that on a personal level not on a formal religious level not on I go to church I've always believed in God level but on a personal level where you have said Lord I know I'm a sinner save me then right where you're seated would you say to him lord I admit it I got nothing to hide I'm a sinner I have fallen short forgive me I believe in Jesus I place my trust in him I believe he came to this earth I believe he died on a cross I believe he shed his blood for my sin and I believe you rose from the dead I turned from my sin I turned from my past and I turned to Jesus as my savior I pray that you will forgive me and I am ready to receive and enjoy your great love and the joy that that love produces in Jesus name Amen we hope you enjoyed this message from skip Heitzig of Calvary Church how will you put the truths that you learned into action in your life let us know email us at my story at Calvary nm Church and just a reminder you can support this ministry with a financial gift at Calvary nm Church slash give thank you for joining us for this teaching from Calvary Church [Music] you

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 10,091

Rating: 4.7862597 out of 5

Keywords: God's love, Bible Study, Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Jesus, Romans, Sermon, Gospel, the love of God, believe, character, incomparable, joy, love, nature, sacrificial, salvation, true, unconditional, wrath

Id: uT1KvrvjpeM

Length: 41min 48sec (2508 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 08 2019