Well, good morning and welcome again to Digital Church.
Glad you're able to tune in so that we can worship together.
Let's hear our call to worship, which comes from Psalm 123.
Reminds us of the attitude we are to bring as we come to God.
I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven.
As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God till he shows us mercy.
We look to our great God who is good, who is loving, and we will ask him to show us mercy.
And we'll recenter our hearts and our minds on him as we worship.
Let's sing together.
There, first of all, Behold Our God, and then two sections of Psalm 103, and Kellan will lead us in this.
Who has held the oceans in his hands?
Who has numbered every grain of salt?
Kings and nations tremble at his voice.
O creation rises to rejoice.
Behold our God, seated on his throne.
Come, let us adore him.
Behold our King, nothing can compare.
Come, let us adore him.
Who has given counsel to the Lord?
Who can question any of his words?
Who can teach the one who knows all things?
Who can follow all his wondrous deeds?
Behold our God, seated on his throne.
Come, let us adore him.
Behold our King, nothing can compare.
Come, let us adore him.
God, let us adore him.
Who has felt the nails upon his hands,
bearing all the guilt of sin for me.
God eternal, humble to the grave,
Jesus, Savior, risen now to reign.
Behold our God, seated on his throne,
come let us adore him.
Behold our King, nothing can compare,
come let us adore him.
Amen.
Praise God, my soul, with all my heart.
Let me exalt his holy name.
Forget not all his benefits.
His praise, my soul, in song proclaim.
The Lord forgives you all your sins,
and heals your sickness and distress.
Your life he rescues from the grave,
and crowns you in his tenderness.
And crowns you in his tenderness.
Amen.
The Lord is merciful and kind,
to anger slow and full of grace.
He will not constantly reprove,
or in his anger hide his face.
He does not punish our misdeeds,
or give our sins their just reward.
How brave his love, as high as heaven,
towards all those who fear the Lord.
Towards all those who fear the Lord.
Now, let's continue to worship as we pray.
Lord, we began with a psalm that encouraged us
to look to you with humble dependence,
that you might show us mercy.
We ask that you'd help us to look to Jesus,
to see him as our Lord,
to see him as our King,
to see him as our only Saviour,
to recognise him as that friend
who sticks closer than any brother,
that good shepherd who laid down his life for us,
who wants to lead and guide and protect us.
And that we would look to you
to show mercy to us,
and to our nation and to our world
in this time of trouble that we find ourselves in.
Lord, we place ourselves into your care,
recognising our own limitations and inabilities,
and trusting that you are all sufficient,
that you have power for us.
You have wisdom where we lack it.
We need your love,
and you are ready to show that to us.
Lord, we pray for those who need special help.
We pray for any who are feeling particularly lonely or isolated.
We pray for those who are suffering through the virus,
and we pray that you might spare them.
We think of our NHS workers who are on the front line.
We pray for them in difficult conditions,
with their own anxiety,
with families that care for them.
We thank you for the way they are willing to love,
and to serve, and to care.
And we ask that you would protect them.
Lord, we pray for mercy that the virus would slow,
that it would be contained.
And we also pray for mercy that this would be a time of us reassessing what we live for,
that it might be a chance for us to slow down and to think about you,
maybe for the first time in our lives.
Lord, we thank you that we're coming up to Easter,
at the time when we remember that in your great love,
you sent Jesus into the world to live a perfect life of obedience that we all fail to live,
then to die as a sacrifice for sin,
so that by trusting in him,
we might be forgiven and we might have the gift of eternal life.
We thank you that we remember that he didn't stay dead,
but that he rose in victory,
that you, Lord God, were satisfied
with the sacrifice that he offered on behalf of his people.
And so we ask that you'd help us to prepare
our hearts and our minds for Easter.
And we pray that our world that so badly needs hope
would come to find real hope in Jesus during Easter.
Amen.
Now, let's read together.
Let's hear the word of God again.
We're back in Romans chapter 3.
And we're going to concentrate on verses 22 to 24 today.
But let's hear verses 21 to 26 again.
Through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus,
God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement
through faith in his blood.
He did this to demonstrate his justice
because in his forbearance,
he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.
He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time
so as to be just
and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Now, let's think about those words that we find
in verses 22 to 24
as we continue to think about how the cross is good news.
Our question for today is this one.
How can I find a future-proof hope?
Perhaps like the commentators,
you're beginning to ask the question,
what will life be like post-COVID-19?
What will the economic impact be nationally, globally
and in your own family finances?
What jobs and industries will make it
and which will fold?
And what will the implications be for your own work?
What about social gatherings?
Those simple pleasures we used to enjoy,
will they be the same or will they be different?
When we think about all the impact this pandemic is having,
it is fair to say it comes to us as a destructive enemy.
It is interrupting normal life.
It is isolating us from one another
and the everyday things we used to take for granted.
It is relentless in pursuing us in every corner of life.
We wake up and we check the news
and we hear it in conversation
and we see it in government restrictions
when we go shopping or go for a walk.
And it leads us to ask the question,
will I get through this okay?
What will the impact be?
What will the final outcome of it all be in my life?
And here's why I want to say today
that the cross stands as good news
and good news we all need today.
The cross gives hope against this enemy that we face
and against the even greater enemy of death
that lurks in the background.
It helps us to answer the question,
our passage will help us answer the question,
how can Jesus' death equip me
to deal with these setbacks and suffering?
How can I find a hope that is future-proof?
So we're going to look at that section of Romans 3
to see what we can discover.
First of all, just as we saw last week,
it begins with bad news.
It begins with the bad news
of falling short of God's glory.
Notice we're all included in this.
Verse 22, there is no difference
for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God.
Now, in recent years,
there has been the rise
of the superhero origin stories
and you may or may not be interested in that,
but they all have a backstory
or they're filling in a backstory to explain
how did our character get here
and how did he get to be like this?
Where do we find the origin story for humanity?
It is found in Genesis 1-3.
How did we get here?
Well, we were created by God
in his image
to display his glory
and to worship and to enjoy him.
Two pictures that might help us.
Think of your life as a mirror.
We were made to reflect God's glory
in God's world.
Not to take glory for ourselves,
but to reflect it out the way.
Or think about a small statue.
In the ancient Near East,
when Moses was writing Genesis,
kings would place these little statues
around their kingdom to say,
I reign here,
to remind those in the kingdom,
this is the king who's in charge of us.
The Bible says we are God's living icons.
And we live in this world
for his glory to say,
our king, our God reigns.
So when we read Genesis 1-2,
we find a picture of absolute perfection,
perfect relationships,
perfect love,
enjoying life that is flourishing and good.
So we need to ask ourselves the question,
how did the world get to be like this?
Like it is today
with all its brokenness,
with all its sadness and pain.
And that's why we need Genesis chapter 3.
Genesis chapter 3 explains
the reality of all falling short
of the glory of God.
And it begins with Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve's sin,
where they listened to the voice
of the snake,
the devil,
and they were deceived
to pursue their own glory,
to seek to be like God themselves
and to stop listening to God
and his word.
And with that came curse.
So all the brokenness,
all the fall,
all the pain that we experience
is a direct result
of what happened there in the garden,
Adam and Eve's sin.
It led them to lose
their perfect standing,
their righteousness before God.
They are driven out of the garden,
God's perfect place
where he lived with them.
And they're told that ultimately
they would die.
And since then,
as people,
we are mirrors,
we are reflecting
the image of God,
but we are cracked
and broken mirrors.
We fail to truly reflect
the glory of God.
We, to use the language
of Romans 3,
we fall short
of the glory of God
in our lives.
So we can see that
in various ways.
Three ways we see it.
We miss the glory of God
like a target
that we aim for,
but we miss.
Let me speak to families
just for a moment.
I wonder if you are finding
that you're playing
lots of different games
at this time
to pass some of the time.
When you read the rules
for certain games,
and hopefully you do
read the rules,
they can be helpful,
classic games
like Monopoly
and Uno,
you will notice now
they deliberately advise
against playing
by house rules,
those sort of made-up
family rules.
Their basic point is
we are the game designers,
we know the best way
to play,
and perhaps you've had
that experience
that house rules
can lead to chaos
and carnage
and all kinds of confusion.
Well, here's the point
for us in our life.
God is our grand designer.
And when we ignore
his rule,
and when we ignore
his rules for our life,
we will miss
what is best,
we will miss
his glory
and the enjoyment
of it.
And even when we try
to live by the rules,
we realise that we
miss the mark
so often,
we break those rules,
so again,
we miss that standard
of God's glory.
So we miss,
we fall short
of the glory of God.
We also fall short
because we swap,
we exchange
the glory of God
and we give glory
to other things.
We talk about
idolatry
and in our culture
and society,
we talk about
idolatry,
things that are
idols in our hearts
and in our lives.
What does that mean?
What does that look like?
Well, it's when we
treasure something,
anything,
more than Jesus.
That might be another person,
it might be an object,
it might be a career,
it might be financial security,
it might be our beauty
or intelligence.
When we place anything
as the most important thing
in our life,
that's an idol for us.
When we find our value
or significance
in anything else,
that's an idol to us.
And one of the things
that this coronavirus pandemic
is showing to us,
I think,
is that so many
of the idols
that we live for,
so much that we place
our hope in,
we're now discovering
those things can be lost
and they can be taken
from us,
whether that's our health,
whether that's our finance,
whether that's our job security,
whether that's our relationships.
And we discover
that these things
are too small,
we need something bigger
to place our hope in.
So we swap
a treasuring God
for something else.
We also deliberately
sometimes rob God
of glory.
So remember,
according to the Bible,
we're made as living icons.
We are to represent,
to reflect,
and to worship God
because of his glory.
But we take that glory
that belongs to God,
we take it to ourselves
so often.
It's like we take
a can of spray paint
and all over God's creation
we graffiti,
I rule,
okay.
Not God rules,
I rule.
God is forgotten.
We live for number one
so we fall short
of the glory of God
when we rob God
of what he deserves.
And the result is
we do not have
a right standing with God.
We remain separated
from God
by our sin.
we face a verdict
of condemned
at the end of our lives
and without Jesus,
all of us,
we're in the same crisis.
So whether morally
or religiously
or spiritually,
you feel like you're
in the gutter,
in the lowest kind of place,
or whether you feel
like you're on the mountaintop
and you're doing really well
as a good person,
none of us
can reach the stars.
not one of us
can reach God's
perfect standard.
So if we trust
in ourselves,
we will not have
future hope.
We will not have
God's positive verdict
which is the one
verdict to live for.
So that's the bad news.
But there is good news,
there is great news
here in our passage
that we are justified
and we are redeemed
by Jesus.
There are three
words and ideas
full of good news.
Let's just remind ourselves
of verse 24.
We are justified freely
by his grace
through the redemption
that came by Christ Jesus.
Justified,
redemption
and free grace.
Let's look at each of these.
Let's think about justify.
This takes us
into a law court
and in God's law court
there are two verdicts
that can be passed
on a person.
We can either be condemned
or we can be justified.
Now according to the Bible,
according to Romans 3,
what do we deserve?
We deserve condemnation
because we've fallen short
of God's glory.
We have broken his law
and we've been guilty
of spiritual treason
where we've sought
to take him off the throne
to place ourselves there.
So then it stands
as good news
that by faith in Jesus
we are actually
given the verdict
of justified.
That means that
our sins are pardoned,
our wrongdoing
is covered over
and that's wonderful,
isn't it?
And also,
God declares of us
there is no basis
for any charges
against that person.
You and I,
by faith in Jesus,
we can be considered
moral,
good citizens,
perfect law keepers.
Now how can that be?
You know your heart,
I know mine.
How can this be?
Well this is why
the cross is such good news
because there at the cross
a great exchange
takes place.
Jesus takes my sin
and my guilt
and he faces
the punishment for that
there on the cross
and in exchange
I am forgiven
and I am pardoned.
Jesus lives and dies
in perfect loving obedience
to his Father
and he gives that to us,
to his people,
so that we can be reckoned
to be in right standing
with God
while he takes our sin
and our guilt.
Here is the love of God.
Jesus is willing
to take your guilty verdict
and to give you
his righteous record
if you will simply
believe in him.
This is why we call
Good Friday good.
What's happening there
on the cross
as Jesus dies,
he is going under
the curse of God
for the law
that is broken
and he's doing that
for his people
so that by faith
we can receive
God's blessing.
Jesus faces death
on the cross
so that by trusting in him
he can grant to us
eternal life.
Jesus there on the cross
is being punished
so that when we
believe that he is
our saviour,
that he died for us,
we are pardoned.
And then on Easter Sunday
Jesus is raised to life
and his people
share in that new life,
in that new victory,
in that great future hope
that Jesus won
by defeating our enemies
of Satan
and sin and death.
So in Jesus
we are justified
and that is good,
good news.
then there is also
the word redemption
and I guess maybe
we are familiar
with the word redemption.
We talk about redemption codes
for online shopping
and we think about
sporting redemption
where failure
becomes success.
Well for Paul's readers,
so Paul wrote
the book of Romans
and according to the Bible
we need to think
what does redemption mean?
Well for first century
people living in Rome
who would get Paul's letter
first of all,
they would go to the marketplace
and they would think
redemption price
was the price
to release a slave
from the slave market.
When somebody
who knew their Bibles
read this
they would think
of the story
of the Exodus
of the time
when the nation
of Israel
was slaves
to Pharaoh
in Egypt
and God acted
in power
to release them,
to redeem them.
or they might think
of the image
of the figure
in the Old Testament
of the kinsman redeemer.
So when a person
an Old Testament Israelite
got themselves
into financial difficulties
they could
sell some land
or they could
sell themselves
into slavery
and a kinsman redeemer
could then pay
a price
to buy back
that land
or buy back
that person
from their debt.
So there is
a price paid,
there is a redeemer
and the outcome
is freedom.
So how is the cross
of Jesus?
Good news.
Well the Bible
makes clear
and our own conscience
I think testifies
to us
that we are
slaves to sin.
Unable
to live
for God's glory
as we should.
Unwilling
to live
for God's glory
because we want
glory for ourselves.
So we have this debt
hanging over us
that's a growing debt.
We owe God
perfect love
and perfect obedience
in all of our life
all of our days
and that is a debt
that we can never
and could never pay.
And so
Jesus
is good news
to us
because he
pays
for us.
He is the one
who pays
the ransom.
The ransom price
is his blood.
Peter,
a friend of Jesus
said we weren't
redeemed by silver
and gold
we're redeemed
by the precious
blood of Jesus.
through him
spilling his blood
shedding his blood
there is forgiveness
for our sin
and his perfect life
of absolute obedience
and always giving glory
to his father
meets that standard
that we fail
to keep.
So redemption
is found
in Jesus
and again
here is the love
of God.
Jesus has come
to set you free.
Free
from a guilty
verdict on your life
so that you can say
now there is no
condemnation for me
because I'm trusting
in Jesus.
All that shame
and that guilt
that we feel
in our lives
Jesus wants to set
us free
by paying that price
and covering
our sin
and our shame
and Jesus wants
to set you free
from fear of death
and judgment
because he wants
to give you
the hope of eternal
life and security
and knowing
there is joy
to come after
and that only happens
because God
loves
because God
in Jesus
stoops down
and enters in
because God
through Jesus
takes the initiative
to rescue us
and that takes us
to our last word
the idea of
free grace
we are justified
freely
by his grace
through the redemption
that comes from Jesus
so you might be asking
at this point
well this sounds wonderful
what do I need to do
and that's our instinct
isn't it
but the answer is
there is nothing
we need to do
Jesus has paid it all
when Jesus said
on the cross
it is finished
he meant his work
of salvation
was complete
so what's left
for us to do
is to say sorry
for us
and to turn away
from it
and to accept
the free gift
by faith
that free gift
of a right standing
with God
of peace
with God
of being redeemed
we are to believe
on Jesus
to go with empty hands
to our generous Father
and ask him
to fill us
with his love
and with his peace
and when we do that
he will
so the Bible says
to us
that Jesus alone
can give
a future proof hope
a hope beyond
any and all
the enemies
that we face
COVID-19
and others
this virus
is a powerful
and indeed
a painful reminder
to us
that some things
can
and some things
will
be taken from us
but God
God's love
for us
in Jesus
it can never
be lost
it can never
be taken from us
Jesus has come
to where we are
he has entered
into our broken world
so that one day
he will take us
to be where he is
a perfect world
of hope
and peace
of enjoying
his glory
forever
in a world
without sickness
and pain
and death
so when your life
is full of fear
when you are
full of uncertainty
Jesus
gives hope
by faith
in Jesus
the final
verdict
on your life
is brought
forward
so that you
can know
today
in an uncertain
world
here is one
thing I am
sure of
I am sure
that I am
loved by God
that I am
accepted by God
that beyond death
there is life
and joy
for me
how do we
know that
where do we
look to find
that security
we look to
Jesus death
on the cross
we see him
paying the price
to redeem us
so that by
grace
you and I
might be
justified
now let's
sing
together
a hymn
that will help
us to
remember
that great
truth
the hymn
is Christ
the sure
and steady
anchor
Christ the
sure
and steady
anchor
in the
fury
of the
storm
when the
winds of
doubt
blow through
me
and my
sails
have all
been torn
in the
suffering
in the
sorrow
when my
sinking
hopes
are few
I will
hold fast
to the
anchor
it shall
never
be revealed
Christ the
sure
and steady
anchor
while the
tempest
rages on
when temptation
claims the
battle
and it
seems
the
night
has
won
deeper
still
then
goes
the
anchor
though
I
justly
stand
accused
I
will
hold
fast
to
the
anchor
it
shall
never
be
removed
Christ the
sure
and steady
anchor
through the
floods
of
unbelief
hopeless
somehow
oh my
soul
now
lift
your
eyes
to
calvary
this
my
ballast
of
assurance
see
his
love
forever
proved
I
will
hold
fast
to
the
anchor
it
shall
never
be
removed
Christ the
sure
friend
steady
anchor
as we
face
the wave
of death
when these
trials
give way
to glory
and we
draw
our
final
breath
we
will
cross
that
great
horizon
clouds
behind
and
life
secured
and the
cup
will
be
the
better
for
the
storms
that
we
endure
rise
the
shore
of
our
salvation
ever
faithful
ever
true
we
will
hold
fast
to
the
anchor
it
shall
never
be
moved
and
now
let's
pray
together
using
the
words
at the
end
of
Romans
chapter
8
a
wonderful
chapter
of
hope
of
future
glory
of
being
more
than
conquerors
through
Jesus
so here's
how it
finishes
I am
convinced
that neither
death nor
life
neither
angels nor
demons
neither the
present nor
the future
nor any
powers
neither
height nor
depth
nor anything
else in all
creation
will be able
to separate
us from
the love
of God
that is in
Christ Jesus
our Lord
may each
one of us
know
that love
of God
may each
one of you
have that
security
of knowing
that nothing
can separate
you from
God's love
if you are
in Christ
Jesus
may you
know that
today
and every
day
amen
and now
before you
go
a couple
of things
first of
all
to say
that
on
Good
Friday
which is
this coming
Friday
we will
have
I'm not
sure of
the details
yet but
check
YouTube
check our
website
check Facebook
we will
have
some form
of
Good
Friday
service
that will
certainly
include
readings
and
reflections
and hopefully
we can have
some
songs to
sing as
well
so
join us
then
you'll
keep your
eye out for
the details
and then
this week
digital tea
and coffee
we'd love
to do
something a
little bit
different
and we'd
love to
see a
bit of
a group
mix-up
to see
new people
having the
chance to
join in
so normally
it tends
to be
community
groups
sticking
together
but what
we thought
would be
a good
idea
since I
guess
it's going
to be
a little
while
before
we're
together
again
and to
remind
ourselves
that we're
all part
of one
big
families
that we'd
have a
chance
to join
with
different
people
and have
a chat
so at
12pm
there will
be different
digital hosts
waiting to
welcome you
share a
time of
friendship
bring your
own cup
of tea
and coffee
bring a
cake
or a
biscuit
and enjoy
that
if you
don't have
the details
check your
emails
or check
Elvanto
and you can
find how
you can
join in
with that
so be
brave
embrace
the
technology
and enjoy
a time of
friendship
together