April 14, 2013 - Sunday Worship Service Message - Valenzuela

Romans 5: 1 – 9; Key verse: Romans 5:3-4

• Justification (Ro 5:1-2)

The word justified in this passage is repeated twice, first in v. 1, “since we have been justified through faith” (italics added), and the last in v. 9, “Since we have now been justified by his blood” (italics added). Justification is a wonderful thing for us believers in Christ, for we know that through faith and through the blood of our Lord, that we (filthy sinners as we are) have been made right in the eyes of our God. Our sin with which our Lord and Savior gladly took from us by sacrificing himself on the cross so that we can enter His kingdom.

• Rejoicing in Suffering (Ro 5:3)

A common misconception of non-believers and believers alike is that when you become a Christian, every aspect in your life would be a bed of roses. But we digress. Plainly in verse 3 it says, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings…” As such, we will always experience sufferings. It is a gift as well from our Lord.  And yet, as Christians, as believers, we have been given this unique ability to “rejoice” in our sufferings, an inner immunity to be able to cope up with the struggles and trials we are facing so that we will not break to the point that we cannot be fixed. Job is a man whose life is a life of tragedy. He lost his business, he lost his children (and was left with a wife who told him, “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9b),  even his body failed him, and yet Job did not sin against God by blaming Him for what was happening (Job 1:22).  Can you say the same for yourself?

• Perseverance and Character (Ro 5:3-4)

And where does our suffering lead us? Perseverance. This is a characteristic that we need to be able to get through the hardships that we face in this fallen world. As the writer of Hebrews says, “let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us”. The Holy Spirit continually works in those in which it dwells in to give us endurance that helps us cope and conquer our 

• Hope (Rom 5:4-5)

“And hope does not put us to shame….” There are many things we put our hope into in this world. And yet the hope that we have in Christ is a hope that does not shame us. Our trials and sufferings reveal where our hope lies. Is it in your family, career, achievements, relationships, money, or something else? This kind of hope leads us into despair and destruction for it does not look to God, it looks to you.

• Prayer: Accepting and Asking 

Prayer, for many people has always been about, asking and receiving. And Jesus, in his prayer in Gethsemane, and when he taught the disciples to pray, we realize that it’s about accepting firs, before asking. God always answers our prayers. But sometimes, we think he doesn’t, only because we can’t accept His answer. As a Christian, it’s mainly about God, not about us. But as sinful as we are, we make it about ourselves, and not Him. We throw tantrums when we don’t get what we want, and we blame and ignore Him when the bad times come. And yet is it not a given that there is no one good but God? So it then should follow that His wisdom and His being is far superior from us. He will always work for the good of those who love Him and that also means having to say NO to our prayers if it means it is the only way that He can protect us from our sinful selves.
Did not Jesus say, “…yet not my will, but yours be done.” Lk 22:42 and yet he also said in Matthew 7:7 to ask, seek, and knock? As such, we need to accept His will for us but we can ask our Father the desires of our hearts but in concordance with His will and not ours. It’s a difficult dilemma but in time, you would come to understand that our Father will want nothing more than to shower with His goodness even if His ways may not be what we expect it to be.

In conclusion, there is a story in the book of Daniels about his three friends: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Having broken the law that the King of Babylon decreed, their punishment was to be thrown out into the furnace to be burned to death. However, even though the soldiers who threw them into the furnace got killed because of its blazing heat, the three friends were unharmed. To his shock, the King saw a fourth man described as “like a son of the gods.” The three were taken from the furnace, but this man remained. Our life will always be full of sufferings and pain. Like gold that has to be placed under tremendous heat and pressure so that it could be made pure, our sufferings and pain are our furnace that refines us and makes us men and women that uphold His name. It is a will that we cannot easily fathom and yet let us pray that we accept it and ask for His grace to be able to overcome it. Our Lord has allowed himself to be subjected in the fiery heat of that furnace, as was when he was tortured, mocked, and crucified on that cross all for his love for his Father and for us. Let not His sacrifice be in vain.