Lessons From The Tent
SECTION 3 In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. LESSON 40 The uniqueness of the kingdom – Being a peacemaker (part 3) Bible References: * Romans 4:25-5:11 NLT (1) * Hebrews 11:6 (2) * Romans 8:1 (3) Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. I would like to start today’s lesson by reading a passage of the Bible that is very important in our look at being a peacemaker. This passage brings out everything we have been taking about in terms of what it means to be a peacemaker. The Apostle Paul wrote this, and it is one of the great examples from the Bible describing how to have peace with God. Here is what this passage says. He (Jesus) was handed over to die because of our sins, and He was raised to life to make us right with God. Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing the truth of God. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. (1) The first thing to notice is the role of Jesus as a peacemaker. Everything about having peace with God is the result of the life of Jesus and what He accomplished on the cross and this stands out vividly in this passage. Jesus was the ultimate peacemaker. It says that “He was handed over to die because of our sins, and He was raised to life to make us right with God. Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” It can’t get any clearer than that. But I do want to draw attention to the concept of faith for as we have learned already, because “without faith it is impossible to please God.” (2) And as this passage says, “we have been made right in God’s sight by faith.” The sacrifice of Christ for all the sins ever committed by us humans is a fact of life. Therefore, sin is not keeping anyone out of the kingdom. What separates someone from experiencing “peace with God” is a person’s lack of faith in all Christ did. We also learn what peace with God is in practical terms, it says we now have become friends with God. And friendship with God is not like friendship with anyone else because as we have already learned, “there is never any condemnation to anyone who has peace with God.” (3) We also learn here that what we have received from Christ is far more than any of us deserve just as it says, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege. What a great way to describe how fortunate it is to be rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. It is an undeserved privilege. As this passage also says, Jesus didn’t die for us because we were anything special. He died for us when we were still great sinners, yet because of God’s love for us, He sent Christ to restore us to this beautiful friendship with God that we were first created to have. We also see that when God gives us the Holy Spirit, it fills us with His love. So many people want the world to be filled with love and yet here in this passage we learn exactly how this can occur. Be filled with the Spirit and you will be filled with love. Jesus said we are to preach the gospel of the kingdom as a testimony and this passage from Romans 5 is a must to not only know but to personally experience. Without applying faith and believing to everything said in this passage there can be no “testimony.” And if you see that you haven’t experienced all this then ask yourself – what’s holding you back? What a privilege it is to be a disciple of the Great King Jesus. And if you are then what a tremendous opportunity it is to be His disciple and learn from the Holy Spirit so you can help take the good news of the kingdom to the world you live in. Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – being a peacemaker is so important to God that if you are you, are called His son. ------- Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved * For great coffee order Cole's coffee here: https://colescoffeeco.com/ [https://colescoffeeco.com/] ------- Produced by Dereck Bradley Contact us at mike@lessonsfromthetent.com [mike@lessonsfromthetent.com]
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