June 21, 2010
Romans 5
Pastor JoAn Blackmon
Peace. Access. Grace. Joy. Hope. People spend fortunes and entire lifetimes hoping to secure any one of these treasures, but the Apostle Paul reminds us that they are gifts granted to each of us who place faith in Jesus Christ.
We have peace because we have been “made right” with God. No more brokenness and separation. No more hostility and chaos from the sin in our life. When we say “yes” to Jesus, we come into the river flow of God’s purpose and delight for us. We become positioned for who we were created to be; we stand in Christ, the Prince of Peace.
We have access to God because the work of Christ brings relationship. We are adopted as children into this spiritual family whose Father is defined by one word: love. And He has given us that same love: “…God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit…” (Romans 5:5) We are sons and daughters who are filled with our Father’s love and have the privilege of taking His name, sitting at His table, representing Him in our business, and inheriting the fortune!
We receive the abundance of God’s grace through Jesus Christ because there is no other way for us to come to Him. Sin reigned in our life. Sin abounds in our world. “But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more”(verse 20). Grace is God’s way. Grace is God going the distance saying “I know, and I still love you.”
Joy comes because of our hope in God. We live joyfully because we have the peace of God within us. We have joy in our sufferings because it builds in us the very character of God within us. We rejoice because of our new family and the amazingly easy access to a holy and wonderful God. And we are filled with an almost uncontainable joy because this one death of one Man, Jesus, has secured eternal life for everyone who believes!
Give thanks for these five indescribable treasures that we have because of the work of Christ—peace, access to God, grace, joy and hope! And then get out there and share it with somebody!
Did you know? For Pastor JoAn, an ideal vacation would be to take her family on a Scandinavian cruise to see the beautiful Norwegian fiords & coastline, visiting the countries of Norway and Sweden that were home to her ancestors.
