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Psalm 116:1–2, 12–19 • Genesis 18:1–15, (21:1–7) • Romans 5:1–8 • Matthew 9:35–10:8, (9–23)

Today’s theme is God proves his love for us. Our call to worship psalm is a response of abundant gratitude to the Lord who hears our cries and rescues us from trouble. The Old Testament reading from Genesis presents the promise given to Abraham and Sarah of having a child in their old age, a promise so outlandish that Sarah laughs; however, the Lord is faithful in keeping his promise. The epistolary reading from Romans highlights God’s love poured out through Christ, who died for us not when we were strong or righteous, but precisely when we were weak and unworthy. The Gospel text in Matthew shows Jesus’ compassion for the crowds and his sending of the disciples to proclaim good news, heal, and restore, revealing a God who entrusts ordinary people with extraordinary work.

Reminder: This introductory paragraph is intended to show how the four RCL selections for this week are connected and to assist the preacher prepare the sermon. It is not intended to be included in the sermon.

How to use this sermon resource.

God Proves His Love for Us

Romans 5:1–8 NRSVUE

Last Sunday, we heard the good news that God keeps his promises by giving us right relationship with himself. We do not earn or achieve a right-relationship with God but we receive it as a gift. Our relationship with God is grounded firmly on grace, as a gift; it is not something we earn. Grace is God’s generous love that gives forgiveness, new life, and strength — before we deserve it and apart from our performance. And grace is grounded in what Jesus has already done for us in his life, death, and resurrection. We saw that we are drawn into trusting the God who brings life out of death, as the Father fulfills his promise in the Son and makes it real in us by the Spirit.

God has already shown himself to be trustworthy — and you can trust him today.

Today’s passage will describe what this life in grace looks like. And we will see how God proves his love for us.

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. ³ And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

⁶ For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. ⁸ But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5:1–8 NRSVUE

There are three things you already have in Christ — three things or realities that “we have” on account of Jesus Christ. It is important to note that the three things are not presented as three things we must achieve or acquire on our own merit. Rather, they are three statements of reality that believers already have.

The first thing we already have is “justification.” “… we have been justified by faith …” You have already been made right with God. It may be hard to grasp the reality of the words “we have been.” This means that we have already been made righteous. How can this be in light of the fact that we so often fall again into sin or do not choose right relationship with God or others?

Sin is not merely the bad things we do that cause harm; it is the deep, twisted condition that bends us away from God and from one another. During our daily lives, we become painfully aware of our great need as sinners to be made righteous. We may conclude that we are not yet righteous and our justification, our being made right, still lies in the future. We are easily convinced that righteousness is a goal to pursue rather than a present reality to receive.

But this is not merely a potential or a possible, future justification. It is a justification that is already accomplished and real. And we have been justified “by faith.” That’s important. It does not mean, though, that our faith is what justifies us or saves us.

Rather, faith is trusting in Jesus for our salvation. It is only in him that we have justification. The righteousness we have is the very righteousness of Christ that he gives to us through the work of the Spirit. Christ Jesus has perfect right relationship with the Father. And because of our union with Christ, he shares his righteousness, his right relationship with us, by the Spirit.

In this way, faith is a means of receiving, not a means of achieving. We do not work up our own faith in order to accomplish something towards our own justification. Rather, in trusting Jesus, we receive what he has already accomplished on our behalf. And even faith is a gift that is strengthened the more we come to know who God is in Jesus Christ. There is nothing we do that makes ourselves righteous.

So, knowing that God has provided our justification produces faith. God proves his love for us, so we can trust in him.

Today we are reminded and encouraged to once again live in the faith of Jesus Christ who is ever faithful to us. We are reminded and encouraged to turn once again from other competing objects of our faith. We do not put our trust in any other person, thing, or ideology to justify us. It is only in Christ who is faithful to give us his righteousness that we can place our whole trust and allegiance.

The second thing we have as a gift of this justification is peace with God. Again, we “have peace with God,” not that we must attain it on our own. Although we seek and pursue peace ( Psalm 34:14), our efforts will not achieve reconciliation with God. But the God of grace revealed in Jesus Christ takes our sin and guilt and overcomes it. He overrides its consequences of death and alienation from God in order to bring us into a right relationship with himself. This is all done “through our Lord Jesus Christ” our High Priest, the one who mediates our peace with God by cleansing us of our sins and clothing us with his righteousness.

Again, this is a reality to receive by faith, not works. We do not have to work ourselves into the Father’s good favor. How might this change how we go about our day? We are not called to cower in fear of a god who is angry at us and seeking to catch us in some sin in order to blast us on the spot. We have peace with the Father. His thoughts towards us are only for our good.

Peace, biblically understood, is an active peace. It seeks the good of others. It is not merely a cease fire or the absence or end of conflict. It is a dynamic, intentional, and active relationship aimed at the good of the other. This will mean that the Father will not ignore our sins and shortcomings. On the contrary — that would not be a loving Father who has our best interest in mind. That would be a god who is disinterested in us or does not care if we destroy ourselves.

No, the Father is intimately concerned with our life choices. Why? Is it because if we are not “good,” God will not love us? Our choices can either cause harm or love, bring peace or conflict. We belong to one another and our choices have an effect on those around us. We already have right relationship with God and with others — live in that reality. Trust it.

Our choices reflect what we are putting our trust in. God is continually calling us to trust him. He is not a God of neglect. God proves his love for us.

Let’s move to verse 2 to see the third thing we “have” by faith:

… through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. Romans 5:2 NRSVUE

Not only does Jesus bring us into a life of peace with the Father but he also brings the Father’s life of grace to us. And again, this is a life that we already have. In addition, “we have also obtained” grace in such a fashion that it can be said that we “stand” in it — we are established in it, we live in it. Our “standing” with the Father is secured by his grace.

Like God’s peace, his grace is also active toward our good. God’s grace is not some exception or pass, but rather a committed and determined will to bring us fully into the righteous life he has for us. That’s why Paul can go on to say, “and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (ESV). God’s glory is our destination.

Hope is a fruit God produces in us. And this is not the type of hope a child may have of getting dessert. He may or he may not, hope has nothing to do with it. The hope we have in Christ is a sure hope, a guaranteed reality that we know is here now and is coming fully in the future. Living in this kind of hope grounds all our thoughts and actions on the sure foundation of who God is and what he has done to bring us into “the glory of God.” That’s where we are going, and we have absolute assurance he will get us there.

We read on:

And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, Romans 5:3–4 NRSVUE

This sounds strange at first. Why would anyone boast or celebrate afflictions or suffering? This is not saying suffering is good. It is not saying God sends or causes our suffering. But because God is so very loving and faithful, he can produce something meaningful and beneficial even out of suffering. So, suffering does not have the final word. God is at work even there.

For Christians, we know that all our suffering is gathered up in Christ’s sufferings. In fact, what we see on the cross is Jesus entering into our very sufferings. He has made them his own. He suffered for us to transform suffering. And because we are united with Jesus, when we suffer, he is with us, in us.

Because of what Christ has done on the cross, even our sufferings now serve the good purpose of bringing us into the life of glory the Father intends for us. As Paul puts it, our sufferings now “produce” something. They add up to “endurance” which is a patient waiting upon the Lord. We can endure with confidence because we know Jesus is faithful to us, despite the fact that our circumstances may scream otherwise.

Through this dynamic our sufferings produce character which in turn adds up to more hope. In this way hope becomes the way the believer orients their life regardless of what they are experiencing in this life. All the while, God proves his love for us by conforming us to his image.

Let’s read more about hope:

… and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:5 NRSVUE

This hope is a resurrection hope that “does not put us to shame.” We will not be shamed or embarrassed or disappointed for putting our hope in Jesus. Jesus was vindicated through his resurrection; we will not be left hanging by the Father either. Suffering will end in glory.

And we have assurance of this because of another reality that has already happened. Namely, that the Holy Spirit has already come to us and poured God’s love into our hearts. The Holy Spirit is a sign and seal that what he is presently giving us is what we will eternally be receiving in the future.

Love is also a fruit that God produces in us. As we come to know more and more who God is for us, we will be receiving his love more and more, enabling us to love others with the same love we receive. We do not need to manufacture our own love to the world. The Father’s love is not kept at a distance for us to try and copy. It is given to us through the Holy Spirit to participate in with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Now we turn our attention to the cross for a fuller revelation of God’s love.

⁶ For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. ⁸ But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5:6–8 NRSVUE

In these verses, we see the extreme radical nature of God’s love. This is not a love that comes to the strong or perfect. Rather it has come and continues to come to weak ungodly sinners.

These verses confront us with two realities. First, we cannot earn God’s love. Our pride may resist the stark reality of our sinfulness that is captured with the words “weak,” “ungodly,” and “sinners.” Not only are we ungodly sinners but we are too weak to do anything about it. There is no room to justify ourselves or better our situation.

To turn to the Lord, one must realize there is something to turn from. There is no life gained by holding onto our miserable state. Remember we said that sin is the deep, twisted condition that bends us toward ways that bring death and destruction.

God’s love is demonstrated in the very thick of that bent condition. Jesus is the very coming of God’s love to us, even in our sinfulness.

God proves his love for us. God initiates the first steps toward his beloved children while we are weak, bent toward harm, and unable to fix ourselves. We are given in Christ a revelation of God who is love all the way down. He loves us because that is who he is.

And it may be important to mention God does not love our sin. His love moves to remove our sins and not leave us in our weak, godless, and sinful state. His love aims to perfect us and bring us into his glory. The Bible is proclaiming God’s love when it warns against the many sins that stand against us. Our loving Father knows we are not created for sin. He acts to remove everything that harms us.

It all rests on grace. This is a grace we can trust to never let us down or sell us short. It is a grace that springs from God’s faithfulness to us. From our perspective, it is tempting to resist God’s grace on account of sounding too good to be true. But the Lord is no liar. He has truly come to give us an abundant life, the very life he shares with his Father in the Spirit. It’s a life we will not be disappointed in. In the end, we will not be ashamed of our choice to trust and follow Jesus.

So, today, we are encouraged to receive all the Lord has for us. We are reminded that we stand in the grace God gives us. Live in the faith, peace, and hope that flows from God’s life in us. The Lord is still calling you to himself. He is continually seeking by the Spirit to reveal himself to you. He wants you to know that his Father is the One who is surprisingly faithful with a love that will never leave you ashamed, disappointed, or unsatisfied.

God proves his love for us.

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