Priceless Gift; Worthless Recipients

 Romans 5:6-8, 10

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us... For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" (NIV)

One of the means by which we can show our affections for the ones we love is by the gifts we give or by the things we do for them. For example,  the gifts children give to their parents on a father's day or a mother's day. Parents in turn make sacrifices just for the future of their kids, perhaps withholding from their selves some pleasures in life just for the kids' tuition fees. An employee who is free to go home after 5 may extend his labor for an extra hour without pay when the need arises out of love for his employer. The employer in turn may give benefits beyond what is required by the law to his employees out of love for them.

Sometimes, its hard to place value on a gift for more than monetary considerations are involved. Let's suppose that on your wedding day, you received two lechons from two different individuals. The pigs are of the same size so you may say that both givers love you equally. Yet Don Rodrigo gave you a roasted pig out of his multi-hectare piggery, while Mang Kulas roasted the only pig in his backyard. Of course Don Rodrigo's gift has some value on it, but Mang Kulas' gift stands out because it was sacrificial giving. (See the same principle in Luke 21:1-4)

The value of a sacrifice is measured by the cost it takes out of the giver, as in David's case:  “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (2 Sam.24:24).

On this ground, we base our first point:

1.God showed the greatness of his by the cost of the gift he gave—the life of his one and only Son.

Isn't that the message of this song?


We are the reason that He gave his life
We are the reason that He suffered and died
 To a world that was lost He gave all He could give...

Just think about the worth of the person sacrificed: The 2nd person of the Trinity, The One who was eternally with the Father, the Creator of Heaven and earth, the One who sustains of life, the exact representation of the Father, the One who is the object of worship among the angels, the One who even in his humbled state remained sinless. Yet even with this loftiness, he gave his life for us.

His life is of infinite value, more precious than all the soldiers combined. His life is infinitely more precious than the lives of all kings and presidents combined. Yet God gave his Son anyway for your ransom.

Perhaps there is a thought in our hearts that since Jesus is God, and he has the power to take back his life anyway, dying on the cross was so easy for him and it did not cost him much. But to put the weight of the sacrifice in perspective, let us go to Luke 22:42-44. This was his prayer a few hours before he was arrested. It is here revealed that the torture and death he has to go though caused much anguish in the incarnate Son of God. It was too heavy for him who knew no sin eternally to bear sin on the cross. He who enjoyed the love and fellowship of the Father from eternity past must be forsaken for a while-- and the fury of God's wrath must be poured out on him. That caused much agony in his soul a few hours before it took place and surely it caused maximum agony and pain on him while enduring it. Christ death is a true  sacrifice; it was not a sacrifice that cost him nothing. It is a sacrifice of infinite worth.

2.God showed the greatness of his love by giving the gift to unworthy recipients

The truncated quote that appears on the 500 peso bill fails to convey in fullness Sen. Ninoy Aquino's message. Here's the full quote from a speech he delivered before the Asia Society in New York (1980):

“I have asked myself many times: Is the Filipino worth suffering, or even dying, for? Is he not a coward who would readily yield to any colonizer, be he foreign or homegrown? Is a Filipino more comfortable under an authoritarian leader because he does not want to be burdened with the freedom of choice? Is he unprepared, or worse, ill-suited for presidential or parliamentary democracy?

I have carefully weighed the virtues and the faults of the Filipino and I have come to the conclusion that he is worth dying for because he is the nation’s greatest untapped resource.”

So in the full quote we can see that Ninoy was weighing the virtues vs. the faults of the Filipino people. He saw some flaws in them. Well noted is the cowardice of the Filipino in fighting for democracy. Yet in the end, he concluded that the Filipino is worth dying for BECAUSE he is the greatest untapped resource of the nation. The virtues still outweigh the faults. .. And the rest is history. Ninoy is now counted among the heroes of the nation.

But God's love is infinitely greater than the love of any national hero for Jesus died for us who are not worth dying for. The point of the passage is that God's love is unparalleled. For we will not die for bad persons though for good persons, there are rare cases of martyrdom. Yet God's love surpasses all we could do by giving the life of his Son for us who are bad, Bad, BAD! Paul makes this point clear by using a variety of words to describe the recipients of God's love (I used a Greek lexicon for this task)

a. weak, powerless (v.6)-- it talks about our inability to rescue ourselves from the condition we are in  (Rom.8:7, John 6:44)

b. ungodly (v.6)-- it refers to persons who have no regard for God and his standards.(2 Pet.2:5-6-- flood/Sodom)

c sinners (v.8)- we are not occasional sinners; we customarily sin. Sinning is our lifestyle

d. enemy- well, we don't have to consult the lexicon on this one. Just think about the Diaz siblings: Romy and Paquito; or Max Alvarado or Bella Flores.

On the human level, no man will sacrifice his life for villains. Perhaps Clark Kent can sacrifice his life for Lana Lang or Lois Lane, but he would not die for Lex Luthor. Yet Christ died for villains namely you and me.

For the application part, we have already looked into in when we started. Heb. 12:4-13, do not ever think God is against you when you are going through discipline or life's hardships. Look into what he has done for you at the cross. The tragedies and calamities of life pales into comparison to what God has done for you to be saved from his wrath.

There is a second application: That is We must love God in return. We have to respond to God's love with our own love for God.

If you may observe, the text points to a past condition of the recipients that has been changed already. The powerless were given the ability to draw near to God, and the sinners and the ungodly have been transformed into saints. The enemies are now friends of God. It sounds like the text is saying that the recipients of this love have been turn from God-haters into God-lovers. If your sense of smell is sharp enough, you can smell the 4th petal of TULIP here namely irresistible grace.

Tom Schreiner sees it that way too.

“I don't think this text is simply saying that God showed us his love and demonstrated his love. I mean certainly that's true. But isn't the text saying something more than that when you put it all together? Isn't this text also saying that he won us with his love? In other words God has captured us as believers with his love. He's wooed us and reconciled us and brought us to himself with his love.

We see this on the human level sometimes. A guy likes a girl and she doesn't like him. He wants to marry her and he wins her! It may take a long time. At first she didn't like him... at first there's nothing there but the guy wins the girl and he brings her over finally and they end up getting married.”

(from a sermon titled Trinitarian Love of God

Clifton Baptist Church, 2010-09-12)

The text implies that the recipients of this gift are now lovers of God. The bible doesn't give assurance to God-haters (1 Cor. 16:22)

Now that we understand God's love for us, let us passionately love him and seek to increase our love for him. The reason why we have so little love for God is because we don't understand the magnitude of our offense against him (Luke 7:40-43). We don't understand that we were powerless, sinners, ungodly, enemies of God. We think that our sins deserve only five pesos of penalty, that's why we love him so little.

Again, that song goes:

I've finally found the reason for living

It's in giving every part of my heart to Him

In all that I do, every word that I say

I'll be giving my heart just for Him

There is a biblical support for that--

2 Corinthians 5:15 “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again”

INDEX: Some Fruits of Justification Series (Romans 5:1-4)

• part 1: Peace with God 
• part 2: Access to and Standing in God's Sphere of Grace
• part 3: Rejoicing in the Hope of Future Glory
• part 4: Rejoicing in Present Hardships and Sufferings

Rejoicing in Present Hardships and Sufferings

Part 4 of 4: Some Fruits of Justification Series

Gleaned from Romans 5:1-4

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." (NIV)

Because we have been justified, we could rejoice even in the most difficult times of our lives.

Of course rejoicing here is not denying our pains. It's not moving around the street shouting “Hallelujah!, my only son has cancer!" Christians still mourn over the pain they are going through. For how could we call it suffering if it is pleasant? Heb. 12:11 “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful..."

Rejoicing in present hardships means finding comfort in the fact that God is doing something and what he is doing is beneficial to us.

" Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Heb.12:11)

When we suffer, we can rest in confidence that God is for us not against us, and he is using our sufferings to make us better.

It says here that our sufferings produce perseverance. Hebrews 12:1 presents the Christian life as a race. And it seems to me that this is a long distance run. This is not a sprint. If this is a hundred meter dash, the emphasis would have to be speed. But the quality emphasized here that the runners need is endurance.

Heb.12:12-13 reveals that sometimes we become to weary and weak too finish the race. Here in Rom.5, it is shown that the means by which God builds endurance among the weaklings is by subjecting them to suffering.

Verse 4 of our text says that after endurance is built, then comes character development. Suffering weans us away from sin. We see more and more of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal.5:22-23). We see more and more of love for God, the brethren and the rest of humanity (1 Cor.13).

Enduring hardships is also a test of the genuineness of our faith:

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:6-7).

You are not as Christlike as you are today without those pains you experienced in the past. Do you have a model Christian in mind? Why don't you try interviewing him or her for the post-justification sufferings he or she has to go through.

When perseverance is built up and character honed, the last link will be hope. It will only build your hope for the future. Your faith will be strengthened. His faithfulness to us amidst our present sufferings is just a preview of his faithfulness to fulfill promised future blessings.

Rejoicing in the Hope of Future Glory

Part 3 of 4: Some Fruits of Justification Series

Gleaned from Romans 5:1-4

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." (NIV)

The word “hope” here is not how we usually use it. Hindi ito yung walang katiyakang "SANA" lang. Hindi ito tulad nang kanta ni Ariel Rivera:

“Sana kahit minsan ay mapansin ako..."

There is certainty in Christian hope. For instance, the return of Jesus has been called the blessed hope in Titus 2:13. there is nothing uncertain about the Lord's return. It will surely come to pass. And so here “hope of the glory of God” is certain that's why it is worth rejoicing in. When Jesus came, his followers saw his glory, full of grace and truth (John 1:14), but the fullness of his glory is yet to be revealed. That is the hope we are rejoicing in.

Not only that, when he finally reveals the fulness of his glory, we will be given the privilege of sharing in that glory. I am not saying we will be gods, leave that doctrine to Mormonism. But Scripture reveals that we will never be the same again when God finally grants us glorified bodies

1 John 3:2-- "...  But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."

Col.3:4-- "When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

By then, we will no longer be subject to pain and sickness, and death. We will face death and taunt him: “O death where is your victory, O death where is your sting” (1 Cor. 15:55)

Access to and Standing in God's Sphere of Grace

Part 2 of 4: Some Fruits of Justification Series

Gleaned from Romans 5:1-4

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." (NIV)

This could be treated in two separate points; one point for our access to God's grace and another point to our standing in God's grace. But because the two verbs are both used in relation to grace, I'll put them together.

Photo Credit: Virtual Math Museum

By using the phrase “sphere of Grace”, I see grace here as an area. We have entered into this area of grace, we are standing in this area of grace where we receive nothing but grace. An area where we receive all God's blessings that john calls grace upon grace.

What do you mean by access into God's grace?

When the government has finally solved the Oakwood Mutiny, with Antonio Trillanes and the rest of his cohorts already in jail, the authorities pursued Sen. Gringo Honasan  for his alleged participation in the mutiny, yet they could not find him. GMA-7 was able to track him down. Reporter Sandra Aguinaldo asked why was he hiding. The Senator replied, “I am not hiding, I am just inaccessible”.

Well, whether he was hiding or not, my point is it is possible for a person to be not hiding but inaccessible. You may see the the city mayor daily. He is not hiding from you. But you have no access to him. You cannot pour out your complaints heart to heart. You have no means to make your personal requests known. He is so near yet so far.

Eph.2:11-13- "Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ."

What does in mean to stand in the grace of God?

“...It is a state in which a believer lives. God's free giving to us does not stop when we become Christians. It continues to be poured out on us so much that we can be said to live in a constant state of grace.” (Douglas Moo, NIVAC)

Hindi paminsang-minsan lamang ang pagtangap natin ng pagpapala; ito ay walang patid, tuloy-tuloy tila agos ng batis na kailanman ay hindi natutuyuan.

After justification, we live in this place where God's blessing is being poured out on us unceasingly--- totally opposite of our condition before justification: the state of condemnation.

Peace with God

Part 1 of 4: Some Fruits of Justification Series

Gleaned from Romans 5:1-4

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." (NIV)

Photo Credit: http://media.2news.tv/images/stock_woman_peace_symbol1.jpg

One of the things I realized with the recent Maguindanao Massacre is that in some places, warlords still reign. Imagine your self having to live in a province where all the powers belong to one family. And let's suppose further that they are wrathful towards you. Your life is in danger don't you think? Perhaps its time to migrate.

Unlike evil men, God is gracious towards his creatures. He gives them things to enjoy like life, breath and food. He is all-righteous and all holy. The bad news is God is righteously wrathful towards sinners who continually rebel against him. (Rom.1:18). Psalm 7:11-- “God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath everyday”

If the warlords in the province are furious against you, you can seek asylum in a faraway province. But how could you flee from the fury of God? Where will you go? You can go as far as the Netherlands and be with Jose Maria Sison, and still you cannot flee from the wrath of God. Even if you fly to another galaxy, you cannot hide from him.

Jeremiah 23:24
“Can anyone hide in secret places
    so that I cannot see him?"
        declares the LORD.
    "Do not I fill heaven and earth?"

     
But look at our text, it says we have peace with God as a result of this justification.

The Christian concept of peace (Eirene in Greek) is very much influenced by the Hebrew equivalent “Shalom”. In English, we say we are at peace with your neighbor simply for the reason that there is no hostility between the two of you. Even if you don't talk to each other or even greet one another, we say its peace as long as we don't quarrel. I'll mind my own business, you mind yours. That is peace-- absence of conflict. But the Hebrew Shalom which is carried over in Christianity is more than the absence of hostility. . There must be a harmonious relationship for it to be called Shalom.

This is the concept here. We have peace with God not just because of the absence of war between us and God but because we live in harmony and intimacy with our God. This is the first fruit of justification we have gleaned from our text.

Praise God for the Penal System

When Cain murdered his brother Abel, he forfeited his farming vocation. No matter how much hard work he will invest in tilling the soil, it will yield nothing. He was banished from his land and from the presence of the Lord. He will no longer be farmer but a homeless wanderer.

Cain realizes the gravity of the punishment. He said that the punishment is too hard for him to endure. He expresses his fear that all who will see him as a wandering fugitive shall try to kill him.

God replies, “Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." (Gen.4:15 NIV). He then put a mark on Cain to warn everyone.

I derive two points from this:

1st, God is merciful. Though his justice demands punishment for Cain’s sin, he also displayed his grace by providing protection for Cain from potential attackers.

2nd, In the very first case of murder in human history, Scripture points out that punishing wrongdoers helps in reducing crime rate. Cain’s mark warned everyone that a more severe penalty awaits them if they would harm the wandering fugitive.  The penal system is thus a deterrent to crime. Have you ever thought before that we can praise God for the penal code?

“he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” (Rom. 13:4)

Mr. Masculado & Mr. Lampayatot

Kararating lang ni misis mula sa tindahan. Iniwanan niya ang tangke ng LPG sa labas upang humingi ng tulong sa kanyang asawa. Pagpasok niya sa bahay ay nakita niya si Mr. Masculado na may hawak na dumbbells sa magkabilang kamay. Gamit ang kanyang malambing na tinig ay kanyang hiniling, “Sweetheart, paki-buhat naman yung tangke ng LPG papasok dito sa bahay para makapagsaing na ako”

Pasigaw ang sagot ni Mr. Masculado, “ANO !!!??? HINDI MO BA NAKIKITA NA NAGWO-WORKOUT AKO !!!??? IKAW NA LANG ANG MAG-BUHAT !!! ISTORBO !!!

Ober da bakod, kararating rin ng isa pang misis. Pagod man siya sinisikap niyang ipasok ang tangke ng LPG sa bahay. Paano naman kasi, nakaratay nanaman sa higaan ng karamdaman ang kanyang asawa na si Mr. Lampayatot. Nang maramdaman ni Mr. Lampayatot ang ginagawa ng kanyang asawa, pinilit niyang bumangon inaapoy man siya ng lagnat. Sinalubong niya ang kanyang asawa at kanyang sinabi, “Honey, magpahinga ka na. Ako na ang bahala diyan”. Tinangka niyang buhatin ang tangke subalit hindi talaga kaya.

Ang problema kay Mr. Masculado, bagamat meron siyang kakayahan na buhatin ang tangke, wala naman siyang pagnanais na gawin ito.

Ang problema kay Mr. Lampayatot, bagamat nais niyang buhatin ang tangke, wala naman siyang kakayahan upang gawin ito.

Bago tayo makakilala sa Panginoon at kilusan ng Banal na Espiritu, ang problema kay Mr. Masculado at ang problema kay Mr. Lampayatot at parehong nasa atin.

Tulad ni Mr. Masculado, wala tayong pagnanais na sundin ang kalooban ng Diyos.

Romans 8:7 "the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so." (NIV)

Tulad ni Mr. Lampayatot, wala tayong kakayahan upang gawin ang kalooban ng Diyos.

Romans 8:7 "the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so." (NIV)

Subalit ngayon na nasa atin na ang Espiritu Santo:

1. Nagkaroon tayo ng pagnanais na tuparin ang kalooban ng Diyos
2. Nagkaroon tayo ng kakayahan na gawin ito.

Phil. 2:13 "For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him." (NLT)