Happy Aloha Friday! Today is a big day for me as it’ll be my first road trip with the new job. I’m grabbing my rental car this morning and driving over to Fayetteville, Arkansas to the University of Arkansas for their first workshop of the Fall semester. I’m so excited for the opportunity to work with the students first hand, what a promise these bright international university students hold for the world today! I’m blessed to be able to invest in the lives of others.
Today we are in Romans chapter 5. Paul has been walking us through the progression of salvation in the first few chapters. After all the talk of ‘sin nature’ and our ‘lack of righteousness before God’ I was so thankful to hear of the beautiful plan of Salvation that was created through Jesus in chapter 3. Praise God for the saving grace of Jesus Christ! But it does bring up an interesting question. One which Paul addresses here in Romans 5. So we are promised a home in heaven but what about the here and now? Aren’t there some benefits to being a child of God as we live here on this planet? Yes, yes and yes. And I’m so glad you asked.
Paul is going to show us that there are certain benefits that belong to a believer right here on Earth, when we’ve been justified by our faith and redeemed by Christ. In fact, the 8 benefits Paul will discuss are in tremendous demand in the world today. The world today chases after these things and spends great deals of money to try and secure these. But alas, they are truly fleeting to the world unless they are gifted in their purest form…from our relationship with Jesus Christ. Let’s take a look at 8 beautiful gifts we can experience today and every day that we walk with Christ.
1) Peace. Romans 5:1, “therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is not just some external sense of peace that you might experience walking through a meadow or looking at a rainbow, this is a peace that surpasses all understanding. (Phil. 4:7) This is the peace that comes to the very soul of one who has trusted Christ as their Savior and knows that God no longer has any charge against him, that he is no longer guilty. This is perfect peace in knowing that Jesus has saved our souls permanently and eternally. My friends, that is a peace that the world longs to know.
2) Access. Romans 5:2a, “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.” This grand and glorious access means that all believers in Christ have access to God in prayer. Today we as children of God have access to our Heavenly Father who will listen to all of our cares, hurts, concerns and trials. The God of the universe and creator of everything grants you access to Him.
3) Hope. Romans 5:2b, “and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” The child of God has hope, a hope and a future. You know without hope life can quickly lose its sense of meaning. Your relationship with Jesus gives you hope. Oh, how the world longs for hope.
4) Triumph over your troubles. Romans 5:3-4, “Not only that but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that sufferings produces endurance, and endurance produces character and character produces hope.” We have joy in our troubles and tribulations in this world. Why? Because God uses them to produce patience and endurance and these bring hope. These characteristics don’t just come automatically, they have to be learned and God knows how to teach them to us. In other words, it takes trouble to bring out the best in a believers life. The only way God gets the best fruit out of a believers life is to prune the branches.
5) Love of God. Romans 5:5a, “and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts.” This is specifically God’s love for us. It is poured into our hearts. What an astonishingly beautiful image, to have God pour out His love into the very center of our souls! But read on to see HOW he pours out His love….
6) The Holy Spirit. Romans 5:5b, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” This is the first time the Holy Spirit is mentioned in Romans, but Paul will mention Him over 20 times in Romans chapter 8. The Holy Spirit makes the love of God ‘real’ to us. What a gift the Holy Spirit is!
7) Deliverance from wrath. Romans 5:9, “since therefore we have been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” The wrath spoken of here is the great tribulation that is coming at the return of Jesus. The great tribulation is described in detail in the book of Revelation and it's not going to be pretty. By placing your trust in Jesus Christ as your savior you will be leaving this Earth before it takes place. You will be spared the ‘wrath of God.’
8) Joy. Romans 5:11, “More than that, we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” We can have joy in God! What a promise this is! No matter what you are experiencing right now, whether it be mourning, trials, hurt, or obstacles you can simply stop and take joy and rejoice in God! You can rejoice in that He pours His love into your heart. You can take joy that He gifted you the Holy Spirit. You can have joy in that you have access to him through prayer. And you can definitely have great joy in that through Jesus Christ you have great hope in this life.
What an encouraging message we have as believers in Christ this morning! These 8 wonderful benefits of salvation should definitely culminate with your heart singing in joy. As a believer you should be a light to the world, letting this joy from God show to all that come into your path today. I’ve encountered some Christians in my walk that have this continual sour look on their face. What a horrible example this is to the world. I don’t know where they’re at in their walk with Christ, but this morning we’re told of 8 reasons that we should not just have joy in the Lord but have it to the extreme!
Peace, prayer, hope, triumph, God’s Love, the Holy Spirit, freedom from wrath and joy. My friends as a child of God we are blessed beyond measure by these.
Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice! Phillipians 4:4
Have a joyful day in the Lord and let your light shine brightly to all that you meet!
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