Can we be friends again? The reality is that sometimes relationships in this life can be so completely damaged that they can’t be fixed. How does God restore relationships? Every sin that we commit doesn’t just hurt the people around us. Our sin first is an offense against our holy God. This Sunday we ask, “Lord, Increase our faith!” We will see how God works reconciliation. You and God can be friends again.
The topic of a vacation is a familiar one, so let’s run with it for a while. There are many details that go into planning a vacation. Will you fly or drive? When will you go? Where will you go? How long will you stay? These questions apply to going on a relatively little vacation. What about if you’re planning a much longer trip for a much longer stay? How do we get to heaven? Unless Jesus comes back first, it will involve death. But there’s more to it than just dying. Jesus says, If you want to enter life, obey the commandments. There is only one way – perfect obedience. The Bible says none of us can follow that way. If it was up to us, we wouldn’t get to heaven.
We covered some tough questions when it comes to planning a vacation, but this one is easier. Who will go on your family vacation? Your family, right? If you think that is ridiculous, listen to what God did in the first few verses of our text. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God didn’t just give up a few hundred dollars for a plane ticket or hotel reservation. He paid our way by living that perfect life we could not. He didn’t die for a family member – yes, now God calls you his dear child, but remember it was when you were a sinner that God died for you. I don’t exclude myself, either. Even the Apostle Paul lumps himself in with us. We’re called UNgodly – we’re the opposite of what God is looking for. In God’s eyes we ranked right up there with thieves, pedophiles, murders, even a tax collector. He still made us his own. This is the clearest expression of God’s love for us.
Want to hear more including how you can work to restore damaged relationships? Watch this week’s message taken from Romans 5: Friends Again.
Book(s): Romans
Series: Increase Our Faith
Tag(s): Pride
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg