Well, how many of you believe that we need some
good news in our bad news world? Yeah? There's
a lot of bad news. And what if that good news
that we're in need of was more than just like
a feeling, like a fleeting pick -me -up kind
of feeling that we might get from an interest
piece in a magazine? What if that good news could
be good news that isn't just out there, but is
good news that is in here? working itself out
there through us. The gospel actually means good
news. That's what the word means. So when you
hear someone say gospel, gospel, they're saying
good news, the good news of Jesus Christ. Nate,
can we go ahead and get the mic down a little
bit? I can feel it in the room. If I can feel
it, you can hear it. Considerably, thank you.
I was feeling myself. I was bouncing off the
walls. The gospel means good news. And at Village,
we're all about receiving that good news, the
good news of Jesus Christ, and letting that good
news change who we are, heart, soul, mind, and
body. And we call that here at Village, we call
that bringing the gospel to life. Bringing the
gospel to life is allowing that gospel in. And
we're going to do a little bit of discovery in
regard to that gospel this morning as we look
at Romans chapter 5, verses 6 through 11. For
while we were still helpless at the right time,
Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will
someone die for a just person, though for a good
person perhaps someone might even dare to die.
But God proves his own love for us in that while
we were still sinners, Christ died for us. How
much more then, since we have now been justified
by his blood, will we be saved through him from
wrath? For if while we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God through the death of his son,
then how much more, having been reconciled, will
we be saved by his life? And not only that, but
we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom, we have now received this reconciliation.
This is God's word. Have you ever needed something
or someone to show up at just the right time?
Maybe your car broke down on the side of the
road in the middle of nowhere. No cell service.
And you start praying, someone will come by.
Someone will stop. I mean, it's like the only
time in the world when you're hoping a CHP notices
you, right? Like every other time, it's a vague
duck cover, right? But now it's like, hey, I'm
right here, help. And of course, are they there?
Sometimes. Or maybe money was tight and a bill
needed to get paid. And you were down to the
wire and money came in at just the right time.
We moved to our house. a couple years ago, and
in our first year, I've told this story before,
but in our first year, we were noobs, newbies
up in the mountains, and we didn't know the lay
of the land, and so we didn't have four -wheel
drive, we didn't have a whole house generator,
we didn't have any provisions whatsoever made,
and it just so happened that during that first
year, we also had what was called Snowmageddon,
one of the largest snowstorms in the mountains.
It dumped snow, and it just so happened that
when it started dumping snow, my mother -in -law
was also with us up at the house visiting, and
the snow dumped, and we couldn't get out. Power
went out. We couldn't get out of the house. We
were socked in, feet of snow, no way to get out
of the place. We couldn't get to the things that
we needed, so Joe needed to get home. My mother
-in -law needed to get home. We needed to fill
medication. We needed to get groceries. We couldn't
do any of it because we were trapped in the dark.
at home. My wife went on one of the Facebook
groups and just kind of put out a word for like,
help, we're trapped down this private road and
we can't get out and we don't have four wheel
drive. And unless someone clears the road, which,
you know, it's private road. So, you know, the
county's not going to do it unless someone, the
goodness of their heart clears this road, we're
stuck. And I remember kind of, it was a fleeting
request. We weren't sure if it would be answered,
but I remember it was the evening one night.
And we were sitting, it was a Wednesday, the
infamous Wednesday, when we were sitting in the
living room and we start to hear a rumble outside.
When it snows and there's no power, it's really
quiet. I mean, it's eerie quiet. So we could
hear it from a while, well, ways away, but we
started to hear a rumble. The ground was moving
and then a big bar of, you know, a light bar
on top of this thing started shining and the
whole area around our house was illuminated.
We're thinking like, angel has come to save us,
right? Or Jesus is back or something, right?
But I mean, second to that, this was the best
thing. It happened to be a guy who saw the post,
got in his skid steer and came down and cleared
a path all the way to our driveway. Now, praise
God for him. Unfortunately, there were two houses
down the road from us, and he just created a
big hill in the middle of the road. So even their
four -wheel drive was now ineffective, but we
could get out of there clear. It was awesome.
Free and clear. Just in the nick of time, we
needed to get some things and get on our way.
It just so happened also in that storm, we were
down on supplies, and one of our neighbors, whose
husband worked in Folsom, picked up a target
order for us, brought it home to their house,
which was a little ways away, and her and the
kids loaded it on a sled and made their way all
the way to our house to deliver Target to us,
just in the nick of time. Well, Romans chapter
5, verse 6 says that while we were still helpless,
at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
Well, what does that mean? Well, here's one truth.
You can't save yourself. You can't save yourself.
You oftentimes think you can. You oftentimes
act as if you can, but you can't. You can't save
yourself. You can do a whole lot of good. You
can do a whole lot of harm in this world, but
you are powerless to change what is in here.
Earlier, Last week, we had a men's event, and
we talked about act like men. We read an article
and had a little discussion about act like men.
And one of the gentlemen who wasn't actually
at that time, later in the week, sent me a video
just randomly. I actually didn't have his number
saved in my phone, so I'm like, some weirdo just
sent me a video here. I don't know if I should
click on it, but it was Brad. Who is a weirdo,
but just a different kind of weirdo. He sends
me this video, and I get the courage up to click
it, and I'm like, I can lose my phone if it's
a hacker or something, who cares. And I watch
it, and I just start cracking up. Because maybe,
this is to the men in the audience, maybe some
of you men have felt this way, or maybe if you
haven't expressed it like this guy, you have,
at least it's been the inner dialogue, it's been
the whisper inside of your heart. Go ahead and
play that video really quick. I'm feeling the
effects of masculinity right now. I feel the
testosterone. I want to go to war! I want a lightsaber!
I'm a man! War! Get this seatbelt off of me!
I love the lightsaber part. I mean, everything
else was good, but then he was like, give me
a lightsaber! we've felt that way. For us men,
it's like, it's time to rise, kill, and eat.
Or, point me to the dragon. I want to slay a
dragon today. Or, give me a lightsaber now. I
want to act the man. There's been a few times
where I have gone, we're at home on a day off,
just kind of meandering about, and then I'll
just get that feeling, that internal like, urgh!
Give me a lightsaber feeling, right? We'll call
it that. And I'll disappear to the back and I'll
get my work boots on and I'll get my work pants
on and my shirt. And my wife will be out, you
know, working away on her computer or something.
And I'll walk out into the living room and I'll
just kind of go to the window and look out the
window. And she'll be like, what are you doing?
And I'll be like. I think I'm going to go weed
eat or something. I'm going to eat some weeds.
Some of you guys are like, yeah, you probably
should eat some weeds. You'd be healthier. No,
but we have that feeling sometimes. We're like,
hey, I want to go and I want to conquer and I
want to triumph and I want to rule. But man,
I'll talk to you right now. There's something
else you probably come to realize. That dragon
that is within you. is almost impossible to reach
and even more impossible to kill. All that energy,
all that drive, some use it to build a road or
to build a house or to dig a well or to extract
some mineral from the ground. I'm talking about
jobs that are predominantly men right now, right?
There's 90 % men who do those jobs. And this
is good for society and it's good for improving
the lives of millions of people. But all that
energy and all that drive is useless when it
comes to dealing with the darkness and evil and
sin within you. It's something like this. I can
build a bridge with all the strength that I have
and the brains that I have, but I can't seem
to hold my tongue with my wife. And our marriage
is on the rocks because of it. Or I can construct
elaborate digital systems and troubleshoot and
overcome hundreds of bugs and errors, but I can't
seem to debug my addiction to pornography. Maybe
guys, maybe girls here. I watch hundreds of hours
of YouTube and Netflix. And I can tell you everything
you want to know about the lives of some travel
vlogger. Or how to convert a van to a sleeper.
Or how to can food at home. Or how to homestead.
Or how to raise farm fresh anything. But I'm
still empty inside. I can't. none of that information
reaches to the deepest and changes who I am.
Because Paul says in regard to this, we're hopeless,
helpless, weak, spiritually drowning. That we
are slaves to sin. We are ungodly is the term
he uses. As one man once said, the human race
has improved everything except the human race.
But the hungry need food. The sick need a doctor.
And the spiritually helpless need a savior. And
all that, that's kind of the bad news. That's
the reality. That's the default state of humanity.
We are all in a bad way. But let me tell you
some good news this morning. Let me tell you
some gospel. Christ died for the ungodly. Christ
died for the ungodly. Like, who would you die
for? And I'm not talking about like being caught
up in the moment, right? Adrenaline is pumping
and you jump in front of a bullet. You take one
for the team, right? Not that kind of dying.
I think there's probably a few guys in here who
would run to the fight, not away, and jump in
front before they had a chance to think about
it and probably put on selective hearing as their
wife is screaming at them to run the other way,
right? But I'm not talking about that adrenaline
caught up moment, jump in front of a bullet kind
of situation. I'm talking about the sober minded
after much consideration. volunteering your life
to take the place of another person. Who would
you die for? Because I'm pretty sure that would
reduce the candidates. Christ died for the ungodly
is such a wild and wonderful claim that Paul
is even like, let me tell you how crazy this
is. Rarely will someone die for a just person.
Though for a good person, perhaps someone might
even dare to die. But God proves his own love
for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ
died for us. Christ died for us while we were
still sinners. Not, hey, clean yourself up and
make yourself new and then I'll receive you.
Not, hey, who's the best candidates, the primo
specimen of all the people that I could die for,
and I'm only going to die for you. While we were
still sinners, while we were still ungodly, Christ
died for us. This is wonderful news. This is
extraordinary news. Sure, maybe someone would
die for a good person, but a bad person? An ungodly
person? A sinner? That's craziness. And just
so we're clear, because culture has shifted a
little bit and it's not always clear that we
all understand the terms that we use in church
a lot. And the last thing I want is you to be
kind of like behind the curve not understanding
what we're talking about. So let's talk just
for a moment about sin. What is sin? Well, sin...
comes from an old archery term, which means to
miss the mark. And you can imagine the mark being
the bullseye. And so sin would be missing the
mark, missing the bullseye. Well, what's the
bullseye? Well, the bullseye is God's holy character.
The bullseye is who God is. The bullseye is God's
revealed moral law. You might think the Ten Commandments.
And the commandment to love God with all your
heart, soul, mind, and strength. And to love
your neighbor as yourself. As God's creation
who are made in his image, we are made to display
the beauty of his worth. That's the bullseye.
The bullseye is every thought, motive, word,
and deed perfectly aligned with God's nature,
his commands, and purposes. And boy, do we miss
the bullseye. And you might go, that's a really
all -encompassing definition there. Like, I think
you just included everyone in the room. Bingo!
Come get your prize. That's it. The Bible says,
all have sinned, all have missed the bullseye,
and fallen short of the glory of God. All have
sinned and fallen short. all have sinned, all
have sinned, all have fallen short of every thought,
motive, word, and deed perfectly aligned with
God's nature, his commands and purposes. All
of us have. You're not in a room of quote -unquote
perfect saints. You are in a room with sinners.
Amen? Missed the mark. But why is missing the
mark so bad? Why is falling short so bad? Well,
it goes back to who God is. God cannot be both
just and then shrug his shoulders at evil. You
can't have a just God who then looks at evil
and goes, eh, I'll let it pass. He either is
just or not. And because he is good and because
he is just, he must judge all that abuses, corrupts,
or destroys his good creation. He must. Imagine,
as horrible as this is, imagine something terrible
is done to your child. Kidnapped, abused, murdered.
And the one who does this appears before a judge
and says that he was just having a bad day. How
many of you guys have ever used that as an excuse
for your sin? Anyone ever said I was just having
a bad day? Yeah. There are two righteous people
in this room. And everyone else just proved yourself
a sinner. No, we've talked about this before
here at Village. We all have sinned. But we also
continue to sin when we call our sins pet names.
Like, oh, my mouth got a little out of hand.
Probably shouldn't have said that. Whoopsie.
But did you hear? No. Right? I don't know if
I should share this, but if I share it as a prayer
request, sanctified. Imagine that that one who
had done all those things to your child appears
before the judge, says, bad day. And the judge
looks and shrugs and goes, We all have them.
It happens. Get on out there. Do better. I'm
pretty sure there'd be a riot. We'd be pulling
that guy off the bench. His job would be done.
We want justice. We want justice. Something wrong
was done. We understand the concept, and as bad
as that scenario is in our own heart and mind,
the gravity and weight of God's holiness, who
he is, is infinitely greater than even our love
for our child. Which means to sin against God
is a greater offense than even the worst offense
we could imagine a human committing against another
human. Which is also sinning against God. You
can't escape it. To sin against God and his infinite
holiness. If God is just, requires justice. We
want the judge to judge. We want the good judge
to judge rightly. And if we have sinned against
the good judge, who is perfect in his holiness,
he is not good or just if he does not judge us.
And so we fall under his judgment. Our sin causes
us to fall under his judgment. But sin is so
much more than that. It's a betrayal of covenantal
love that we're made to commune with God. This
is who we are. It's in our blueprint. But sin
says, I prefer anything but you, God. And God
allows us to reject him. But our rejection comes
with consequences. In the same way that any relationship
you had, if you were rejected, would come with
consequences. It's usually something like estrangement.
We're estranged from God from the only fountain
of life and joy because we have chosen our sin
and said it's better than you. But what's the
good news? Well, human sin must be answered by
a true human. We can't punish someone who cannot
represent humanity. And yet, the debt against
humanity is infinite because it's against an
infinite God. And because the sin is against
the infinite God, only God could ever pay an
infinite debt, right? So a human must pay the
debt, but they cannot because, I mean, you can
only pay for your sins. You can only... Be judged
and die for your sins. You can't be judged and
die for all the sins of everyone else. A human
must pay the cost, but cannot, because the debt
is infinite and only God can do that. And that
leads us to the cross, which we commemorated
on Good Friday. The cross shows us just how costly
sin is. that the Son of God must die to deal
with it. It is a debt that is beyond any mere
human's ability to pay. Only a God -man, Jesus,
could represent humanity and at the same time
pay that infinite debt. And you might be thinking,
oh, well, you just said I could pay my own debt.
No, you can be judged for your own debt, but
the wages of sin, what you get paid for your
sin, Is death. And so if you would choose to
be judged for your own sin. Then what you must
pay. Is death. And so the son of God must die
to pay for it. Because he is both God and man.
And as both God and man. He can represent humanity
perfectly. And at the same time pay the infinite
debt. And here's the great news. He did just
that. He did just that. Yeah, clap over that.
He did just that. God proves his own love for
this. He died for us while we were still enemies
of God, still in sin. God was not content to
lose his good creation to sin, so he mounted
this cosmic rescue mission. God's love for humanity
moved him to act, not with some mere distant
decree, but with himself taking on. the flesh
of humanity, stepping down from his exalted place
in heaven and coming to our place and willingly
giving himself for you and me because of his
own love for us. This is a gift. How precious
in God's sight are we that he would secure salvation
for us from sin at an infinite cost. This is
the glory of man. The glory of man is not in
the highest building we have built or the most
amazing infrastructure that we have come up with
or constructed or in the beauty of some art piece.
The glory of man is that God would so love us.
That he would elevate sinful humanity and all
the cosmos to a place of honor and give himself
from love for them, for their sake. That he might
purchase back what was lost. That he might redeem
and save a lost humanity. That's the glory of
man. What God has done for us. Not our human
accomplishments. How great is the love of God?
How great is the love of the Father that he would
call us sons and daughters. See, a judge, even
a just judge, can pronounce a sentence on an
evildoer. And he might even, if you stood before
a just judge, he might say to you, hey, guilty
or acquitted, right? But you know what that judge
is not doing? He's not going home and having
dinner with you. And he sure as heck ain't welcome
you into his family. He's going to make his judgment
and move on. But we have a judge who is just.
And instead of saying arbitrarily, hey, I acquit
you even though you did it. He says, I'll take
the penalty and punishment. And then I want you
to join my family. I want to welcome you into
my family. I want to welcome you into my kingdom.
I want you to be co -heirs with Christ. I want
you to receive the life of God so that you can
walk in that life. I want you to receive all
the benefits and privileges of being a child
of God. I want that for you. I'll take your place.
I'll pay your debt. But we can't just leave it
at his death because it gets better. All of that
is good and true. But if that were it, it would
leave us with nothing more than sentimentality,
right? A story where the hero dies for his people
is moving, but it's kind of powerless to do anything.
Makes a great story. A noble martyr we can admire.
But where is the divine receipt that proves that
our debt is actually paid? A symbol of sacrificial
love is beautiful, but the grave keeps winning
if the one who made the sacrifice is still in
the grave. The grave is not yet defeated. And
Eden's curse and corruption and all of creation
isn't being remade if Jesus is still in the ground.
Jesus' death for our sins, it would be inspiring.
It inspires us to try harder to be like him.
But again, we'd be powerless to do it. However,
if Jesus were raised from the dead, if he were
a resurrected king, well, that changes everything.
It vindicates the cross. It provides a receipt
of services provided. It's a resounding amen
that God accepted his sacrifice for our sins.
It proves that death will not have the final
say, but that death, even death, can be overcome.
It launches the reality of a new creation coming,
that God would take an old, sin -scarred world
and make it new again, like new growth from the
ground after a spring rain. It means that in
Christ, the power of his resurrection is also
working in us who are in Christ. And that that
power is effective at raising us up from our
death, raising us up from our powerless state,
not to try harder, but as Jesus says, because
I live, you too will live. Because I live, you
too will live. And that's the profound truth
behind what we started our service with, which
is he is risen. Jesus is risen so nothing is
impossible. Jesus is risen so our sin debt is
paid. Jesus is risen so death is defeated. You
know, I love that scripture in the Bible where
that taunt is, right, to death. Oh, death, where
is your sting? Oh, death, where is your sting?
Well, Christ has defeated you once for all. Jesus
is risen, so he is the first fruits of the new
creation. Jesus is risen, and he is our resurrection
in life. I believe that at just the right time,
you walked into these doors. And I believe at
just the right time, you heard the message of
the gospel of Jesus Christ. God's love is fierce
and resolute. He wants you. He wants you. He
wants to save you from your sin. He wants to
empower you to live the life you were made to
live. He wants to give you new life. He wants...
you to live a godly life. And if you know that
you needed rescuing, if you know that you're
here today and you need rescuing, God's love
is reaching out to you today. Are you done with
life as you have been living it? Are you ready
to jump into the new life that is in Christ Jesus?
And I want to remind you, to refuse this gift
leaves you to bear the full weight of your sin
yourself. And I know, as for me, that I have
put my hope and faith and trust in Jesus Christ,
and I know with confidence that I will stand
before the throne, and when God says, why? Why
should I welcome you into the kingdom of God?
I say, in and of myself, you shouldn't. But for
Christ. Christ covered my dad. I would hate to
have anyone in this room arrive on that day and
have to say, I'm going to cover my own. Because
the weight of the infinite offense against God
means an eternity of payment away from the presence
of God. To refuse this gift leaves you to bear
the full weight of your sins yourself. But that
weight can be removed once for all if you would
but surrender to Jesus this morning. Will you
join me in praying? How great your love is, Lord,
that Jesus is risen and therefore we are redeemed.
Jesus is risen and nothing is impossible. Death
defeated, sin debt paid, new creation come, resurrection
and life. Thank you, Jesus.