From Sin and Suffering to Peace, Hope, and Love

“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Romans 5:1

It should come as no surprise that God is totally against sin…and none of us are free from sin (that’s the bad news.  But now, through the work on the cross by Christ, we are put right with God (that’s  the good news). I can almost hear an audible sigh of relief, both in heaven and here on earth: Peace at last!  This peace comes as a fulfillment of God’s promises, a ringing-in of the peace of the Kingdom of God. 

“Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God” Rom. 5:2

This idea of access to grace can be understood as being granted an audience with the King.  And then to our surprise, we are told that we are going to be made members of the royal family!  As members of the family, we share in the riches of God’s glory…an incomplete sharing in this present age with the hope of the fulfillment of Gods kingdom.   A hope filled with joyful expectation; a hope that something glorious awaits us, yet even now we can begin to partake in it.

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,” Rom. 5:3-4

Like links in a chain, Paul shows us  a wonderful progression from suffering to this new type of hope.  But how can we rejoice in our suffering?   We don’t rejoice in pain, we wallow, we complain , and we commiserate!  “Rejoicing in our sufferings” could come across as arrogant or flip – or flat out denial.  But Paul tells us that even though we are suffering, we know what is to come. He wants his readers to follow this chain of thought and see where it leads.  We rejoice because we see that even our suffering cannot keep us from God. 

Paul later reinforces this in Rom 8:38-39 when he tells us that “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  

Our present suffering, whatever that may be, cannot separate us from the hope we have in God. As suffering develops endurance, God refines and defines our character.  As this character emerges, we find hope. 

“ … and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.”  Rom. 5:5

The hope we are talking about is two sided.  On one hand, it’s the hope that comes from seeing how God is working in our lives.  The evidence is in the changes that He accomplishes through His grace.  The other side of this is our expectant hope of knowing that this is just the beginning. 

As God in His love continues to work in us we come closer and closer to the full glory of God.  It’s not based on our merit, but on His love for us….and our love for God.  And so our confidence in this hope is born out of God’s love for us, and our love for Him.  Not either/or, but both “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” 

Thanks be to God!

Blessings,

Matthew+

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP p. 219)