And Kim is going to read that. Thanks Kim.
Thanks very much, Kim.
Well, please keep your Bibles open in that passage there.
You'll need your Bibles this morning because we're going to be doing a little bit of flicking backwards and forwards in the first few chapters of Romans.
You need to be wide awake this morning.
It's going to take a little bit of hard work, so keep with me on this.
But this is exciting news. The title we have given it is the greatest news ever.
What the Gospel provides.
As I say, it comes at a conclusion of a lot of bad news.
And eventually we come to some great news.
Well, let's talk to God as we pray and ask for His help in this together.
Our Father, we thank You for Your Word.
Help us to be people who take seriously what Your Word says.
Father, please burn within our hearts the wonder of Your salvation.
What is familiar and what is known to us.
May it become fresh and like news that we have heard for the first time.
May it penetrate deep into our own lives.
Giving us a greater joy.
A greater love for You.
And a greater desire to share this love with a world that is in desperate need.
So please help us all this morning.
Pour out Your Spirit generously upon us all.
We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, if I say to you the name Thierry Henry, what comes to mind?
Handball?
Cheat!
Unfair!
Unjust!
The infamous handball that sent Ireland out of the World Cup qualifiers.
It was one of the greatest injustices in the world of sport.
And we all love our sport so much that if a referee gets it wrong, we demand that justice is done.
On a more serious note, I read this week about Naomi Campbell.
I'm sure you've heard about her.
She's a supermodel that's earned millions and millions of dollars.
Well, a number of years ago, she received two uncut diamonds from the president of Liberia.
She kept it a secret for all of these years.
And what's so terrible about that is, these diamonds have been mined by children as young as six and seven.
Often captured and taken away.
Many of them often die.
The sale of those diamonds, what have become blood diamonds, have been used to fund the Civil War.
Which has seen countless thousands murdered and the rape of many women and children.
Of course, she says, I didn't know anything about that sort of thing.
Now, how do you feel when you hear news like that?
I think we all feel a sense of anger and outrage.
Because the world wants justice.
We want the guilty punished.
And we want the innocent set free.
We all long for fairness.
We want all wrongs put to right.
In fact, we demand that justice be done.
Now, as we read through the book of Romans, we discover that God not only loves justice,
He demands that justice is done.
So, look at chapter 2.
And in verse 2.
Here, it's speaking about God's anger at all the wickedness and all the evil that there is in the world.
And we read in chapter 2, verse 2.
Now, we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
Verse 6.
For God will give to each person according to what he has done.
Verse 11.
For God does not show favoritism.
You see, God is not like some corrupt judge.
He doesn't turn a blind eye or accept bribes.
All He does is fair.
Everything He does is just because it's based on truth.
And when we get to Romans, chapter 3, verse 21, the section that was just read to us,
this whole theme of justice is picked up again.
It's telling us how God works out and satisfies His justice in this world.
Just as an aside, the little phrase that we have in verse 21,
this righteousness, and again in verse 22,
can be translated as the justice of God.
So in verse 26, we read that He is keen to demonstrate His justice.
Now that's all good news for us because we want a judge who is fair,
a judge who is going to put all wrongs to right,
and who's going to correct all the injustices that we have in our own lives
and in the world around us.
So this is exciting news.
We're introduced to a God who demands that justice is done.
But there's a problem.
You see, the big argument of Romans 1-3, as we've been looking at over the last few weeks,
is that we are all under God's judgment.
Back in chapter 2, verse 5, it describes the world like this.
Because of our stubbornness and our unrepentant hearts,
we are storing up wrath against ourselves for the day of God's wrath,
when His righteous judgment will be revealed.
And in case we think we are somehow different from those kind of people,
because we're in church this morning and we're reading our Bibles
and we're very good people,
His conclusion is terrifying.
Chapter 3, the end of verse 22.
He says,
There is no difference.
For all have sinned.
Whether you go to church or read your Bibles or not,
we all fall short of the glory of God.
And this is the big message,
that we are all guilty.
We may never have murdered
or had a terrorist activity
or plotted a bomb or anything like that,
but we've all gossiped
and disobeyed.
And as far as God is concerned,
He treats us all the same.
We're all deserving of His judgment.
But that's not the only message of Romans 1-3.
There was a good news aspect to it as well.
Back in chapter 1, verse 16 and 17,
we were introduced to the gospel,
which is described in verse 16 as the power of God
for the salvation of everyone who believes.
Verse 17,
For in this gospel,
a righteousness from God is revealed.
It's telling us that there is a way
that guilty people like you and me
can be right with God,
we can escape His judgment,
we can receive forgiveness,
and we can have the wonderful blessing
of being His children.
So even though we are guilty,
the good news is we can be forgiven.
Now that creates tension for us,
doesn't it?
On the one hand,
can we see this?
That God demands justice,
which is bad news for us
because we're all guilty.
But on the other hand,
we have God's offer of forgiveness,
which is good news for us
because we all need it.
But let's think about this.
If God is fair in His judgment,
how can He forgive people
if we're guilty?
If God is supposed to be just
and righteous in all He does,
how can He remove the punishment
that we justly deserve?
If God were to forgive us,
it would be like turning a blind eye
to our wickedness and sin.
God would be seen as nothing more
than a corrupt judge
who is open to bribes
and who cares very little for justice.
So how can God be both just
and forgiving at the same time?
How can God be gracious
and compassionate
while being righteous and fair?
Well, this is the tension
that is being built up
through the first few chapters.
It's a little bit like a tug of war.
If we could imagine God
on the one side
being the anchorman
for justice,
but then on the other side,
God is also the anchorman
for the side of forgiveness.
And we have this tension.
One is pulling against the other.
Justice on this side,
forgiveness on the other side.
And it's like we're stuck in the middle,
being ripped apart.
Our life is in the balance.
Of course, if justice wins,
then what about God's desire to forgive?
And if forgiveness wins,
what about God's promise to be just?
How can God express simultaneously
his justice and his forgiveness?
Well, in an age
when we all want justice,
but we don't want to be judged,
the gospel provides
the solution.
First, we have God's faithful intervention.
In chapter 3, verse 21,
it comes out with this great,
big, enormous statement,
but now,
something has happened.
He's introducing us
to the good news of the gospel.
The tension is finally broken
so that we can be forgiven,
while at the same time,
God's justice can be satisfied.
And it's all possible because,
look at verse 21,
a righteousness from God,
apart from law,
has been made known.
As we've been saying,
the uncomfortable truth all along
is that we can never be good enough
for God.
Look at chapter 3, verse 10.
It says there that there is
no one righteous.
Not even one.
The end of verse 12,
there is no one who does good.
Not even one.
Our own performance,
our own goodness,
our own life,
whether we go to church
and read our Bibles and pray,
whatever we do,
it's never going to make us acceptable.
To come to God the way we are
is just going to leave us condemned.
There is no one righteous,
but now,
verse 21,
a righteousness from God
has come.
There is a performance record
that will make us acceptable to God.
God has made it known to us.
And this is God's faithful intervention
into a helpless world.
His righteousness is a perfect record.
It is nothing less than God's own record.
It is His life
because it comes from God
and it is now offered to you
and to me.
He said,
you can now have this performance.
So it means that our whole struggle
to be accepted,
our desire to be right with God
is now over.
The fear of facing God's judgment
is gone
because God has made His righteousness,
His record,
His perfect performance
available to us.
He's offering it to us.
So that we can stand before God,
accepted and welcomed,
seen as perfect and blameless
in His sight.
He has done something about it.
The second,
this intervention from God
results in a wonderful declaration.
Verse 24.
It tells us there
that we have been justified freely
by His grace
through the redemption
that came by Christ Jesus.
This word justified
relates to the righteousness
from God in verse 21.
But justified has a double action.
On the one hand,
it deals with our deserved punishment,
but on the other hand,
it provides our desired forgiveness.
On the one hand,
it means that we are no longer
treated as guilty rebels.
Romans 1 to 3 is telling us
that we are guilty,
that we are people outside of God.
But now,
because of Christ,
our deserved punishment
has been dealt with.
And we'll get to that
in just a minute.
So we're no longer
treated as a guilty person.
But that's only one side
of the good news.
The other side of the good news
is that we are now
treasured as a forgiven child.
We can receive forgiveness,
and we are now welcomed
and accepted into God's family.
And we are now treasured
like a son or a daughter.
He looks upon us
and he treats us
like he does
his very own son.
And if we pull this
into our lives,
if we experience this
through our faith in Christ,
our whole life is transformed.
God's love is transformed.
But it brings us back
to the same question
that we're having
the whole way through this.
How can God do that?
What about his justice?
How could God treat somebody
who is guilty
as innocent?
That's completely unfair
and unjust.
How could God do that?
How would you feel like it
if somebody had robbed
your house
and smashed up the place
while you were out?
And you come back
and you see the mess
all over the place.
But the guards arrive
to tell you that
the robber has been caught.
They've been sentenced
and, well, you read
in the newspaper
the next week
that the judge
just felt very kind
that week
and he's just let them off
and said,
that's okay, you can go.
Don't worry about it.
Wouldn't you feel
a little angry
and a little annoyed?
Well, that's exactly
what God is doing to us.
How can he treat somebody
who is guilty
like us as innocent?
That's unfair.
How can he do it?
Well, this gets
to the very heart
of the gospel
in verse 24.
Let's read
verse 24 again.
We are justified
freely by his grace
through the redemption
that came by Christ Jesus.
God presented him,
that's Jesus,
as a sacrifice
of atonement.
The death of Jesus Christ
on the cross
is how God deals
with our deserved judgment
and our desired forgiveness.
And when we understand
the cross,
we see how the tension
between God's justice
and God's forgiveness
is settled
so that at the same time
God remains fair
and just.
And the key phrase
in this passage
is in verse 25
where it says,
God presented him
as a sacrifice
of atonement.
Whenever we come across
the word atonement
in the Bible,
it's always in relation
to God's wrath
or anger.
Atonement simply means
turning aside
or turning away
God's anger.
You may have a little note
at the bottom of your Bible
to tell you that.
Now, to help us understand
this a little bit more,
I'd like us to turn back
to Numbers
in the Old Testament,
chapter 16.
Now, I haven't got
a page number
so whoever's there first
can call it out.
Numbers chapter 16.
Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers.
Pardon?
I didn't get that.
I'm sorry.
1-5-3.
Okay.
1-5-3, Numbers,
chapter 16.
And we're going to look
at verse 46.
Now, as you're turning
to that,
let me just give you
a little context
for this in Numbers.
The people,
God's people,
have continually rebelled
against God.
They have grumbled
against Him.
They've disobeyed Him.
They've continually
pushed the boundaries.
And because of their sin,
God is angry.
He's rightly angry
at their behaviour.
And He sends a plague
amongst the people.
A plague that has
serious consequences
because people
are dying.
So the big question
that's being asked
at this stage is,
what are we going to do
about God's anger?
How can we turn it aside?
How can we stop it?
Well, look at verse 46.
Moses, who was the leader
of the people,
said to Aaron,
his assistant,
take your censer
and put incense in it
along with fire
from the altar
and hurry to the assembly
to make atonement
for the people.
Wrath, or anger,
has come out
from the Lord.
The plague has started.
started.
So Aaron did
as Moses said
and he ran
into the midst
of the assembly.
The plague
had already started
among the people
but Aaron offered
the incense
and he made
atonement
for them.
He stood
between the living
and the dead
and the plague
stopped.
Through that sacrifice,
through that work,
atonement was made.
The wrath of God
stopped.
Now in Romans
chapter 1
verse 18
we read that
God's anger
is presently
being revealed,
is presently
being poured out
against the wickedness
and the godlessness
of men
in this world.
And we've got to ask
exactly the same question.
How are we going
to deal
with his anger?
Answer,
we need
atonement.
We need
someone
who is going
to turn aside
God's anger.
And how does
he do that?
Well,
in chapter 3
verse 25
it says,
God presented
Jesus
as a sacrifice
of atonement.
Jesus
becomes
the anger
absorber
for us.
The wrath
of God
was deflected
from us
onto Christ.
Jesus
bore the punishment
that we
justly deserve.
Now we
struggle
with all
this kind
of talk
because we
don't like
to think
of God
who gets
angry with
us.
We like
to think
of a God
who's a bit
of a grandfather
figure who sits
in a nice
comfortable chair
and hands out
sweeties and
lets us do
what we like.
We're troubled
with a God
who is angry.
You see,
when we get
angry,
it's uncontrolled
and it's temper-like.
we start
throwing things
and we get
into a fit
of rage.
But with God,
his anger
is always
controlled
and it's
reasoned.
It's never
temper.
It is his
personal
hostility
to evil
and his
acts of
involvement
to punish
sin.
But you
say,
okay,
I can
kind of
get that.
But couldn't
we say
that God
hates sin
but he
loves the
sinner?
How about
that?
Well,
I've said
that before
but I
think it's
a little
bit unhelpful
because the
Bible makes
it very
clear that
God does
hate sin
and we
the sinners,
the people
who do
all these
wrong things,
we must
be punished.
And the
most uncomfortable
truth is
we too
are under
God's
wrath.
Because our
sin is
always first
and foremost
an offence
to God.
So you
can never
separate the
sin from
the sinner.
The two
of them
are together.
So if God
is angry
at sin,
God is
also angry
at me.
And he's
angry at
you.
Now
because God
is just
and he
can't ignore
sin and
pretend it
was not
there.
He must
deal with
it.
But it's
also true
that he
must be
forgiving,
he must
be kind,
he must
be compassionate.
So when
we come
to the
cross,
what we
see is
God's
wrath or
his anger
being dealt
with and
at the same
time we
see his
compassion as
our sins
are forgiven.
remember we
talked about
the tug
of war.
On the
one side
we have
God,
the
anchorman
for justice
and pulling
in this
direction.
And then on
the other
side we
have God,
the anchorman
for forgiveness
pulling the
other.
And both
are attributes
of God
that can
never give
way.
And we
have this
tension
and our
life is
held in
the very
balance.
And what
happens is
God in
Christ,
he steps
into the
middle.
And as
he dies
on the
cross with
his arms
outstretched,
he spans
the tension
that exists.
And on
the one
hand,
as he's
nailed to
the cross,
he's holding
justice in
one hand.
And as
his hand
has been
nailed,
he's holding
forgiveness
in the
other.
And it's
like he
pulls them
together in
his death.
So that
simultaneously
our
deserved
wrath is
dealt
with and
our
desired
forgiveness
is
provided.
All of
this happens
on the
cross where
God
satisfies
his
justice.
God
is
not
going to
do it.
Now before we move on, we must make something else very clear.
Sometimes people talk about that God is angry.
The God of the Old Testament is just a big angry head.
He goes around slaughtering people and killing people.
Whereas when we come to the New Testament, it's all full of flowers and Jesus loves everybody.
God is just a big angry head.
He is just a big angry head.
He holds the two together.
God is both full of wrath and full of love.
He is just and forgiving. He holds the two together.
God is just a big angry head.
And then, have a flick back to Exodus chapter 34.
This is a very well-known passage.
Exodus 34.
Verse 6.
And here we see the full character of God.
Let's read from verse 6.
It says,
The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger.
Remember, this is the God of the Old Testament.
Slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, forgiving wickedness,
rebellion and sin.
Yet, he does not leave the guilty unpunished, abounding in love.
But he doesn't leave the guilty unpunished.
How can he do that?
Well, this is what Christ has done.
As Jesus dies on the cross, it is God in Christ.
It is God who dies.
It is God who comes down in the person of Jesus Christ.
It is God himself who hangs on the cross.
And it is God who absorbs the anger himself instead of us.
So that he remains just and forgiving.
Compassionate and gracious.
But yet he never leaves the guilty unpunished.
For Christ was punished for us.
Isn't that amazing?
It all means that God's justice has been satisfied.
Verse 25.
The middle of verse 25 of Romans chapter 3.
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.
He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time.
So as to be just.
Now when we say God is satisfied, it's not like he's rubbing his hands together with excitement and thinks,
Oh, I've had an opportunity to dish out my anger.
No, he's satisfied in that he has been forgiving, but never at any cost to his justice.
Even though the guilty are now treated as treasured children of God,
it has never been to the expense of his justice.
In fact, the whole death of Jesus proves how fair and how kind he is.
See what it says in the second part of verse 25.
He did it to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance, he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.
Throughout the history of the world, as we read through the Old Testament,
people died.
People died because of their sin.
It was part of God's judgment.
But it was never the ultimate judgment.
There was an ultimate judgment to come.
But now because of the cross, when Jesus dies, he takes all the sins, the sins of the past, the sins of the present, and the sins of the future,
and he takes them all on himself.
And all of that punishment, all of that judgment, falls on Christ.
The cross is the ultimate place of justice.
This is where all sin, once and for all, is dealt with.
This is where your sin was dealt with.
This is where your future sin is dealt with.
It's where my sin is dealt with.
That's why Jesus cried on the cross.
It is finished.
It's over.
It's complete.
God is satisfied with what he has done.
The work is done.
We are set free.
We're liberated.
We can go as his children rejoicing,
filled with joy because we are his children.
The end of verse 26 summarizes it all.
He did it to demonstrate his justice,
so as to be just,
and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
In this once and for all event,
God takes action both to punish and to forgive.
Simultaneously, we see his love and anger.
We sang earlier,
where wrath and mercy meets.
In a minute,
we're going to sing another song
as we think about the wrath of God
that is poured out on Christ,
absorbed and taken by him,
that we, the guilty,
might be declared righteous,
blameless,
in his sight.
It's the greatest news ever,
and it deals
with the greatest problem,
our sin.
Let's pray together.
Amen.