Dave preached last night from Romans 5:1-8, looking at the peace with God we now have through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans can be a difficult book to understand at times, but there are some wonderful truths in it. We are encouraged by the fact that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) and that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37). Most of all, though, we are encouraged by the fact that while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6).
We were all separated from God because of sin and as a result of this, man has a fundamental need for peace with God. Isaiah 57 says:
“But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” ” (Is 57:20-21)
The sea is always moving and restless; moving because of the forces of the moon and the gravity pulling it this way and that. In the same way, people dimly recognise the original purpose for which they were made, aware through conscience that God has made us for great things, yet also aware of the pull of sin. Man is never satisfied, always seeking escape from the restlessness within. Peace is the need of all men – both those who are near and those who are far away (Eph 2:17) That peace is available through Jesus – who came into the world, as Paul reminds us in 1 Timothy 1:15, to save sinners.
Christ alone has opened the way to the Father. He bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Pet 2:24) and gives us His peace (John 14:27). This peace passes all understanding and guards our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7)