TEXT: Romans 5:10

SUBJECT: The Passion of Christ #22: Reconciled to God

There once was a man in Israel whose name was Rabbi Hillel. One day a Gentile came to the learned man with a challenge. He would become a Jew if Hillel could explain the Law to him--while he was standing on one foot! Without batting an eye, the rabbi said, ‘Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you. The rest is commentary.’ The man put his foot down and became a Jew.

If an unbeliever dared you to explain the Gospel while he stood on one foot, would you take the dare? And, if you did, what would you say?

The question is more serious than you think it is. Under the influence of television, the internet, and cell-phones, most people today have short attention spans. They ought to read long books, listen to long sermons, and memorize long catechisms, but let’s face it—they won’t!

As Christians, we can respond to the Ritalin Generation in one of two ways: scornfully or creatively. We can sneer at them for multi-tasking while they should be throwing their whole selves into seeking the Lord.

Or we can find ways to present the Gospel so that people with Attention Deficit Disorder can follow it. Personally, I like the first way better! For me, all good books are too short, and I’d rather carry a hand grenade around with me than a cell phone!

But this is not the Lord’s way. God did not bring men to heaven, He brought heaven to men. In Christ He went to where the people were and spoke to them in a way they could understand. And so, while the Pharisees picked at His methods, the common people heard Him gladly.

Back to the challenge. An unbeliever dares you to explain the Gospel while he stands on one foot. What do you say? Here’s my suggestion,

This is also the title to chapter 21 in Dr. John Piper’s short book, The Passion of Jesus Christ.

The first sentence explains the whole chapter,

‘Reconciliation’—you know—means getting back together. Think of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. A man has two sons; the younger wants his inheritance now, the father gives it to him, and he runs off to a distant land and loses everything. After time feeding the pigs, he comes home, and there his father greets him with great joy and welcomes him back into the family. The father and the runaway are reconciled.

But there’s a second part to that story—a part not as well known. The man has an older son, too, and though he never left home or done anything bad, he too has fallen out with his father—but secretly, in his heart. When the welcome home party is well under way, the father notices the older boy isn’t there. He goes out to fetch him, only to be met by a proud and sneering attitude. If you were the father, what would you do? Slap him? Yell at him? Disinherit him? Leave him be? I’m be tempted to do all of the above. But this father didn’t. He loved his older son as much as the younger. And, if he would come in, it would be his party too! The father was as welcoming to him as he was to the prodigal.

Everybody is one of these two brothers. Some of us are public sinners, others are private sinners. But we’re all sinners, and being sinners means we are away from our father, and out of fellowship with Him. We need to get back together. In other words, to quote Piper,

If you’re not a Christian, you are not reconciled to God. Even if you’re a very fine person, generous, self-controlled, religious. If this sounds boastful, it isn’t meant to. If being a Christian was an achievement, it would be, but it isn’t an achievement; it’s a gift, given to people who don’t deserve it. We didn’t, in the first place, and still don’t. Christians are not reconciled to God because we’re nicer than other people but because of what Christ has done for us. And will do for you too.

This reconciliation—Piper says—

Sinners need to be reconciled to God. And, God needs to be reconciled to sinners. The first part we know very well, and hear it every Sunday. But what about the other part? It seems confusing, at least, and maybe, worse than confusing.

About 500 years ago, there was an Italian Reformer named Socinius. Like the others, he knew sinners had to be reconciled to God, but unlike them, he said reconciliation was all one way. In other words the death of Christ did nothing for God.

But Piper knows better.

If the death of Jesus Christ gives me repentance and faith, it also gives God something: the opportunity to show mercy. What? Was God not merciful before the Lord died? Of course He was. But His mercy does not contradict His justice. If He saved us without satisfying His justice, we wouldn’t be saved by grace, but by something like extreme leniency or laxity or even moral weakness.

Super-lenient parents make us wince and fear for the future of their children. But God isn’t super-lenient. By the death of His Son, He satisfied His justice, and now He can save us by grace alone, without becoming a Big Softy!

How many of you have read The Chronicles of Narnia? In that series of children’s books, C.S. Lewis has God incarnate in a Lion (instead of a man). Of course a lion is a big and scary animal. When someone asks, Is he…nice? The answer comes back, No, but he is good! One of the major themes is He is not a tame lion. Good? Yes. Kind? Yes. Loving, tender, merciful? Yes. But he’s nobody’s house cat. The Lion is also the King!

Don’t you ever think God chuckles at your sins. Or turns a blind eye to them. If you want to know how He feels about them, look at an Innocent Man taking them upon Himself, and crying,

The death of Christ, therefore, affects God as much as it affects us. But in a different way. It changes us, but the Lord does not change. For He always planned to be reconciled to sinners by the death of His Son. When Christ died, He could pour out His love on us without setting aside His wrath against sin.

When did He do this? When did the Lord, you might say, ‘make up’ with us? Was it after we repented or before? Our text makes that plain,

About the verse (Romans 5:10), Piper says,

Like the Prodigal Son’s father, God loved us, even when we were in rebellion against Him. When we were wasting our substance on riotous living, even then, the Father’s eye was on us and His heart was churning to bring us home.

But, unlike the father in that story, God did not wait for us to come home—He couldn’t wait for that; if He had we’d still be slopping the pigs. So, He went and got us. By sending His Son to the cross.

While we were enemies (Romans 5:10); While we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8); When we were yet without strength (Romans 5:6).

To show the greatness of sending our Lord to the cross—while we were God’s enemies—Piper uses a comparison. It’s taken from the Sermon on the Mount,

First, let’s get straight what our Lord said about making up with brothers and offering gifts to God. He says the former is more important than the latter. In fact, we cannot offer our services to God until we make up with people. Whenever people fall out with each other, at least one of them is in the wrong. If he knows it, it is the offender’s duty to apologize to the one offended, and not leave it there—with an apology. He is to ask for forgiveness, and not offer his gift to the Lord until he has gotten it. In some cases, forgiveness will be given right then and there. But not every time. If he has cheated his friend out of money, for example, the friend may promise pardon on the condition he pays him back. This is quite reasonable, and the cheater is bound to do it. When the money is paid back, the judgment is lifted, and the offender is free to offer his gift to the Lord.

We are in the same place as the offender in this story. We are commanded to worship and serve God, but we can’t because He has something against us. It is, therefore, our duty to set things right. But we can’t. So, instead of waiting for us to apologize, God sends His Son to the cross to wipe out our offense. Which He did.

This means, nothing stands between the sinner and a Loving God, but the sinner’s stubbornness. When we turn to God in faith, we will have His love, not drops on it sprinkled on us, but all His love, shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given for us.

Let us, therefore thank God for taking the initiative! Let us thank Christ for offering Himself up to God for His enemies. And let us be eager to overlook the sins of others, and forgive them on the same easy terms.