Today, we continue our study of Romans 5 where the Apostle Paul has been highlighting the basis and the benefits of our justification in Christ. Having considered these, today, we continue to consider the background events that led to us coming to the place that we believed on the Lord Jesus as our savior.
In v.6 of today's passage we read, "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly."
Suffering is looked upon much differently by those who have been born of God's Spirit. Suffering, in and of itself, does not produce the qualities of heaven in us automatically. The key is in seeing our suffering as
evidence of God's love, and not His rejection. When this happens, the Holy Spirit deposits into our hearts an experience of the love of God. But, if we see our suffering as evidence of God's rejection, we will be frustrated, angry, resentful, miserable, and defined by self.
Most people, when pain comes into their lives, blame God. We do this because we instinctively know that He is the only one who can do something about our circumstance. And, if our understanding of His sovereignty is limited, we will feel rejected and unloved by the Lord. This will especially be the case if we view the unwanted suffering in a negative light. Due to our poor understanding of what love truly is, it is almost impossible for us to think we are being loved when we are hurting. This is why we must understand the argument that the Apostle is presenting in today's passage.
Most people, when pain comes into their lives, blame God. We do this because we instinctively know that He is the only one who can do something about our circumstance. And, if our understanding of His sovereignty is limited, we will feel rejected and unloved by the Lord. This will especially be the case if we view the unwanted suffering in a negative light. Due to our poor understanding of what love truly is, it is almost impossible for us to think we are being loved when we are hurting. This is why we must understand the argument that the Apostle is presenting in today's passage.
The words, "At just the right time," provides great comfort to those struggling to trust this God whom we can not see with our eyes. God's sovereign timing is always perfect. We find it very difficult to see this when we are going through the dark moments of life, but, it is none the less true, God's timing is always perfect. This is why patience is such a huge commodity in this process. When we are patient and give God the time that He needs to bring all the pieces together, our lives end up being a beautiful tapestry of His love and grace.
Notice the last half of v.6, "When we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly."
One of our biggest maladies is we have blinders on our ability to see broadly. Once we begin to garner the ability to see more broadly, we will begin to see how dependent we are upon God for everything in our lives. This type of vision enables us to see that when we were hopeless and powerless to do anything about our lost estate, when we had no ability to improve our condition, when we had no capability to help ourselves, Christ died for us. Nothing performs the overhaul that is needed in our hearts better than His sovereign choice of us even when we were His enemies.
In the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ we see ourselves as the helpless sinners that we are. When we look at Him as He hung on that cross, we see how ungodly we are. That which nailed Him to that cross is ugly, selfish and scary. As a result, we all arrived on the scene as the enemies of God. This is what caused the Lord Jesus
to come and to break through all of our sin and the resulting despair, shame, and sorrow. He came to demonstrate the love of God for all of mankind who are trapped in this state of blindness at the hands of the prince of darkness.
Since God loved us when we didn't deserve it, we can conclude that this suffering is not the result of God's rejection of us. In fact, our suffering is the direct result of our rejection of God. And, since suffering is evidence of our fallen reality, God uses it to make it possible for us to come to know Him. As we grow in His wisdom, we recognize more and more that suffering has become the unique tool of God's sovereignty to accomplish our sanctification.
Our faith enables our hearts to see God. It is in the darkest moments that we see His heart best. Darkness creates a platform for the light. It is at our most darkest moments, that we are most blessed because it is the darkness that makes more obvious to us the father heart of God.
In v.7-8 of today's passage we read, "7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
The apostle Paul provides a contrast between divine love and human love to show us the vast difference between the way man loves and the way God loves us. Human love is almost always based on the attractiveness of the object that it loves. And if the object is more attractive, there's more love. If the object is less attractive, there's less love. That's human love. It is object-oriented. It is based upon the value, worth, status, and beauty of the object.
God's love is not like human love. God's love is not object-oriented it is subject-oriented. It is part of His nature, His character, completely independent of the beauty, attractiveness, and value of the object. His love is completely dependent on the quality of the subject giving the love. It is unusual to love and to sacrifice for a scoundrel, a villain, a cheat, a thief, but God is so inclined.
Understanding God's love enables us to conclude that God is never going to stop loving us. The greatest gift that we have is our confidence in the permanence of our salvation through Christ's perfection alone. Since God loved us when we were unable to earn His love, He will continue to love us now that we are His children. This is where the security of the believer in Christ is accentuated. And, when we face hardships, we must not conclude that God has turned His back on us. No, we must conclude that these hardships are evidence that He loves us. This is why we read in Hebrews 12:6, "God disciplines those whom He loves."
