I invite you tonight to turn with me once again to Romans chapter 5. Last week in connection with Lord's Day 3, we considered verses 12 through 21. And tonight I'd like to back up with you a little bit in connection with Lord's Day 4 as we read together verses 1 through 11, with our focus being on verses 6 through 8 of Romans chapter 5. And when you have found Romans chapter 5, please turn in the back of this altar hymnal to page 11. Page 11. And there we find Lord's Day 4, questions and answers 9, 10, and 11, as we give expression to what we believe with these answers. Question 9 asks, But doesn't God do man an injustice by requiring in his law what man is unable to do? No. God created man with the ability to keep the law. Man, however, tempted by the devil, in reckless disobedience, robbed himself and his descendants of these gifts. Will God permit such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished? Certainly not. He is terribly angry about the sin we are born with, as well as the sins we personally commit. As a just judge, he punishes them now and in eternity. He has declared, Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them. But isn't God also merciful? God is certainly merciful, but He is also just. His justice demands that sin committed against His supreme majesty be punished with the supreme penalty, eternal punishment of body and soul. Romans chapter 5, beginning at verse 1. Hear now, beloved, the word of our God. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. and hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him? For if when we were God's enemies we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life? Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. May God add His blessing to the reading and the preaching of His Word tonight. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, the angel said to Joseph, Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son. And you are to give Him the name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins. Now that's an amazing statement. Because He will save His people from their sins. But sometimes I think that statement is treated as if it's just tacked on. It's not really heard. And especially sometimes I think that statement, that truth gets lost in the merriment of celebrating the baby Jesus. There's something so wonderful about the birth of a newborn child and that takes center focus, you see, and not what the angel said. And it's especially true with regard to our society which completely ignores what the angel said and turns it into something completely different. He will save His people from their sins. And that means, boys and girls, that we cannot separate the manger from the cross. The cross, as it were, stands in the shadow of the manger. And that means, beloved, that we cannot celebrate Christmas without a view, without looking forward to Good Friday and Easter and the Ascension, because the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, we know, means absolutely nothing apart from those redemptive events. But it means too that we cannot celebrate the mercy and the love of our God without the backdrop of man's sin, our sin included, without the backdrop of the justice of God. We cannot simply understand how great is the mercy and love of God apart from the backdrop of our sin and God's justice. And there are some, of course, who try to play God's mercy and love off against His justice as if to say, well, God can't love and punish at the same time, can He? And of course, as we introduced this part of the Catechism last week, you recall that in a sense, the questions are written in such a way to break down man's pride. And that very question is asked here, as we'll notice in a moment. You see, beloved, we like to hear about what Jesus did for us. We love to hear about what we have because of His work. We love to hear, therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We love to hear that truth. But unless we understand the character of that work, and unless we understand the nature of those for whom that work is done, again, we cannot really understand how great is the mercy and love of God. And that's what Paul places before us in these verses, in this parenthesis, if you will. It's almost as if Paul gets to verse 6 and says, oh, by the way, as an aside. Because he stops here to tell us why we don't deserve that peace with God that he says we have. And along with that, he tells us of the amazing reason that we do have that peace with God. In this parenthesis, if you will, Paul is describing the character of Christ's sacrifice for sin. And beloved, Paul teaches here that Christ's sacrifice for sin satisfies God's justice and it demonstrates God's love. First of all, it satisfies God's justice. That justice of God which had been terribly offended. Again, Paul ends our text with the last part of verse 8. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were sinners. Now, we need to let that sink in for a moment. While we were sinners. You see, the only reason Jesus came and died is because of sin. Because of our sin. That sin which violated a just and a holy God. A violation which took place by those who were made able to obey. Notice again question 9. But doesn't God do man an injustice by requiring in His law what man is unable to do? If we were to rephrase that question, you could say, isn't God being unfair? Because after all, we can't help it. We can't do what He commands. So isn't God being unfair? And the answer again, no. God created man with the ability to keep the law. Man, however, tempted by the devil in reckless disobedience, robbed himself and his descendants of these gifts. God created man with the ability to keep the law. It's not God's fault. God gave man everything He needed, as answer 6 says, to truly know God His Creator, to love Him with all His heart, and to live with Him in eternal happiness for His praise and glory. God is not unjust. But the fact is, He has not been given what He gave man able to give back to God. He has not been given what His holiness demanded and deserved. And because man did not give that to Him, that resulted in God's anger. And the next question says, well, will God permit such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished? I don't know if you really understand the gist of that question. But in essence, how we are to understand that is this way, to rephrase it again, well, is there any chance that God will just forget about it? Is there any possibility that He will just, as we do, turn his head and not carry out what he said he would carry out? Certainly not. He is terribly angry about the sin we are born with as well as the sins we personally commit. As a just judge, he punishes them now and in eternity. He has declared, Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them. You see, beloved, we often wink at sin. We often treat sin, whether it be ours or our children's or whomever's, we often treat sin as no big deal. It's just a mistake. Just a little problem. We often let sin go among us with little or no consequence. But you see, sin angers God. Because it is completely opposite of His holiness, righteousness, and purity. You see, our sin that we commit or sins that are committed against us are are not completely opposite of our nature. And I suppose that's why it doesn't really bother us all the time as much as it should. But it is completely opposite of God's holy character. It is an attack against His very divine being. And it then demands punishment. Question 11, but isn't God also merciful? You see, here's that merciful trump card. But isn't God also merciful? You notice that the individual is being broken down now. Little by little, isn't God also merciful? God is certainly merciful, but He is also just. His justice demands that sin committed against His supreme majesty be punished with the supreme penalty, eternal punishment of body and soul. You see, beloved, if God treats sin as we do, if He just turns His back on it and doesn't do anything about it, if He lets it go, His Word would be no good. He wouldn't be God. And we could never ever depend on any of His promises. You see, either sin reigns or God reigns. It can only be one, and it is our God who reigns. And Christ's sacrifice, beloved, satisfies God's justice that had been terribly violated. And it satisfies God's justice against those who deserved punishment. And notice Paul's description of those for whom Jesus died. It's not very flattering. Powerless. Ungodly. Sinners. And then it jumped ahead to verse 10. Enemies. And we know that that describes all of mankind to be sure, but we also need to remember and understand that it includes His people. It includes you and me. It includes all of His elect, all believers. And it certainly is no compliment. Powerless. And the idea there is being completely unable with absolutely no possibility of doing any good that is pleasing to God. It means being completely unable with no possibility of doing anything to earn or achieve our salvation or even begin to satisfy God's anger. Not even a little bit. It means being completely unable and again with absolutely no possibility of doing anything fit or worthy to help rescue myself from the effects of sin. From that supreme punishment of body and soul. Powerless. It means to not be able to understand spiritual things. To not be able to seek God. To not be able to see the kingdom of God. And that's because by nature we are spiritually dead like a corpse that is completely unresponsive to any sort of stimulation. I know that's a hard example. We don't like to think about dead bodies, do we? It's a hard example. But the simple fact is, that's the example that the Bible uses. That's what God says we are, dead in our trespasses and sins. Boys and girls, if you've seen a person no longer living in a casket, You know that you can stare as close as them as you're able to and you will not see any movement, not even a twitch. Lifeless. Nothing. Powerless. Because they're dead. Completely unresponsive to even a touch. And that's because they're ungodly. Ungodly here describes a class of men, the class of men for whom Jesus died. And the short story is, there is no other class of men, and all of mankind belongs to this class, ungodly. And when Paul calls us ungodly, he's not saying that very simply, while there are some that just don't believe in God, they just have nothing to do with Him and that's it. No, ungodly means to be utterly and completely hostile toward God, to be without Him, to be anti-God in their thinking and lives. Paul speaks in Romans 1 verse 18 of the godlessness and the wickedness of men that suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Ungodly means to be in fierce opposition to God. They don't want Him to rule over them. They want to be free from Him. They oppose His holiness and His omniscience. They can't stand the fact that God knows everything about them, every thought before they think them. Every word before it's spoken. They do not accept His righteousness. They do not want their sinfulness called into question. Very simply, those who are in ungodly hate absolutely everything about God. They are sinners, as Paul says. Those who miss the mark that God has set. Those who fall short of God's standards. those who have broken every single detail of God's law. And again, jumping ahead to verse 10, Paul calls them enemies. And enemies there summarizes, really, it summarizes powerless, ungodly sinners. But it even goes beyond that. You see, not only are we unable to save ourselves, not only are we unlike and opposed to God, not only are we lawbreakers, but also we would attack Him, we would destroy Him if we could. We would do completely away with Him if we were able to. And beloved, that describes us. That describes us. That describes those for whom Jesus died. And it includes us. You see, so often we tend to think that we're not so bad, but really, how untrue. Paul wants to make that clear. How undeserving we are of that peace with God that we claim to have through Jesus Christ. And you know, we also make Christmas. We make Christmas about our kindness and our generosity and about being naughty and nice. But really, Christmas is about our sinfulness. It's about our horrible nature and what Jesus Christ came to do about it. You see, beloved, this is the kind of world that our Lord entered. He entered a world of enemies. Those who wanted to do away with Him. And He entered that world willingly. We deserve God's just wrath to be poured out against us, but instead His justice has been satisfied by the one so undeserving. He says Christ died. Christ died. Who is innocent. The Bible says He knew no sin. The Bible says that He was without sin. You see, He earned no punishment. He only ever pleased God, yet He was punished for sin. In Isaiah 53, verse 6, we read, The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. And in essence, Paul teaches here that that act of the Lord laying on Him the iniquity of us all, Christ's sacrifice for sin, not only satisfied God's wrath, and it did, as Paul makes clear, in 2 Corinthians 5.21 when he says, God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. And that was only possible if Christ satisfied God's justice. Only then could we become the righteousness of God. And therefore Christ's sacrifice for sin satisfied God's wrath but also is a demonstration of God's love in the second place. And, beloved, that sacrifice demonstrates God's love in a way foreign to man. Paul says in verse 7, Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. You see, the unique character of God's love is seen in the comparison between Christ's willingness to die and man's willingness. And I believe that what Paul is teaching us here is that man's sacrifice, man's sacrifice has to be worthwhile. man's sacrifice has to be for a worthy substitute someone who sort of deserves it he speaks of a righteous man and he's talking about one very simply who does what he ought to one who does what is right one who does what the law and justice requires one who gives others their due he is right and fair in all of his actions and Paul says for this one very rarely, very rarely will one die for a righteous man. And what Paul is saying there when he says very rarely is that an actual example is rare. It's hard to find. He says this, in essence, he is saying, I can't think of anybody who's done that. Very rarely. An example like that is hard to find. It's hard to give this serious consideration because this is so hard to find. The possibility of it, in essence, is slim and none. But then he climbs up the totem pole a little bit and he says, a good man. And the idea there is one who is not only a righteous man, but one who is also kind and generous and is outward focused, is morally good, but as well promotes the well-being of others, he is honorable. And in that way, he attracts others to himself. And Paul says, for this one, one might possibly dare to die. of course the situation has to be right and if I'm going to give my life for a good man then I certainly would want my name memorialized on some sort of a plaque somewhere we've all heard stories beloved of noble sacrifices for which we are grateful whether it be in a time of war when one soldier throws himself on a live grenade to protect his comrades or whether it be someone who gives their life in order to rescue a child or in some sort of a disaster, maybe a natural disaster, when someone gives their life so others might live. We've all heard stories of noble sacrifices, but Paul's point here is that we would not do it for an enemy. That's unthinkable. It's out of the question. If one is not a friend, or if one is not someone who has never hurt us or done us harm, Forget about it. Never for an enemy. And you see, beloved, that is the complete contrast of Christ's sacrifice. That's what's so beautiful, so glorious about what our Lord Jesus Christ did. While we were still powerless, ungodly sinners and enemies, Christ died for us. And that means that none were His friends. Not one. Only enemies. Who wanted to hurt Him, kill Him, get rid of Him. In the very act, as it were, of opposing and despising Him at complete odds with Him. Those who were totally unworthy. Those who were, humanly speaking, we would say, not a worthwhile investment. Those about whom we would give no thought, for example, well, if we give them a little help, well, they might be able to make something of themselves. No, not at all. Instead, to put it in our human language, it is those for whom Jesus died were those whom we would think it's no big deal if they disappear from the face of the earth. And that's talking about ourselves. But Jesus died for those who were bad. Bad, bad, rotten to the core. And just as Isaiah 53 says that there was no beauty in Him to attract us to Him, there was no good in us to attract Him to us. There was no redeeming value in us as it were. Nothing that we could give Him to benefit Him if He should save us. But instead, beloved, this is a powerful demonstration of God's love. A demonstration of God's love not motivated by love on our part, but by Christ's sacrifice. The Bible says we know what true love is. In 1 John 3, verse 16, it says, This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. You want to see true love? Look to the cross. Look to the cross where God's justice and mercy came together on our Lord Jesus Christ. And it's there we see, beloved, that God's love exceeds the utmost limit of human love. God's love is unprecedented. There was no precedent, no example of love for God to follow. And there was no merit or accomplishment from our side to warrant it? And God's love is unparalleled. Unparalleled. No one, nothing can match the condescending, pardoning grace of God. And beloved, Christ did not earn God's love for us by His death. He did not earn God's love for us by His death. He did not say, oh, well, since Jesus did that, I better now love them. No, but Christ's death was an act of God's great love. An act of God's great love by accepting the payment of another. Paul says Christ died for us. And now we didn't read it together, but we can drift over to Lord's Day 5, question and answer 12 there. The first question and answer to do with deliverance. According to God's righteous judgment, we deserve punishment both in this world and forever after. How then can we escape this punishment and return to God's favor? in other words there again to rephrase it we deserve punishment we are humbled we deserve punishment is there any way to escape it God requires that his justice be satisfied therefore the claims of his justice must be paid in full either by ourselves and then the hope or by another when Jesus Christ died for us while we were enemies our God accepted the payment of another. And that's the clear testimony of Scripture. It's amazing, beloved, as you read through the New Testament that you will find how often it says something to the effect, Christ died for us. Christ gave Himself for us. He shed His blood for us. For us. For us. For the sake of, on behalf of, instead of. In John 11, verse 50, Caiaphas the high priest says, you do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation, Paris Caiaphas, had no idea about the truth of what he was saying. And Paul says in Galatians 2, verse 20, the life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. And what we are to understand here when it says that He gave Himself for us, that He died for us, is substitution. An actual transfer took place. Again, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, 21, He was made to be sin for us. In Galatians 3, verse 13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. He took our penalty upon Himself away from us. He took our death and all of God's wrath and punishment that was involved, He took it in place of us who would believe so that we don't have to. And again, beloved, That is a love so foreign to man, we cannot even begin to comprehend it. But we must understand that this is us. It's us. We are the unworthy ones. We were His enemies. We deserve that the eternal wrath of God fall on us with all of its weight and fury. And therefore, beloved, how can we even begin to be a little bit conceited? You see, so often, we like to think, well, we're not so bad. We tend to consider our faith and our attempt at obedience and our profession of faith and our periodic demonstration of love for others and our church membership and all kinds of things. And we are tempted to find a little bit of comfort in these things, thinking that these things make us a little bit worthy in the sight of God. But these things do not contribute one bit to our satisfaction before God. All of those things are the blessed result of the work of the Holy Spirit through new birth, having reconciled us to God. The Christ sacrifice, beloved, that came long before is the ground of that new life. Christ died for us while still His enemies, while we were still His enemies in order to give us new birth. And only when we are truly humbled by the truth of ourselves, that we were His enemies, that we wanted to do away with Him forever, only when we are humbled by the truth of that will we then be in awe by the grace of God of His amazing love. And only then will we also desire it for others. Beloved, God looks with favor on us. And He speaks tenderly to us only because of the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ. Only because of Christ's work. Otherwise, apart from Christ's work, as someone said in Bible study the other night, apart from the work of Christ, we wouldn't like to hear what God has to say to us. Apart from all that He has done for us, we wouldn't like to hear what God has to say to us. But in Christ Jesus, we can hear the blessed voice of our God calling us My Son, My Daughter. We can hear the words of Paul since we have now been justified by His blood. How much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him? We are saved forevermore. But for those who reject Him, They are still His enemies. They are still in danger of the fire of hell. They are still subject of God's wrath and just demands. But there is still hope. Because God still demonstrates His love through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When Paul says God demonstrates His love, he's speaking in the present tense. And that was some years after the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, still today, every time the gospel message is spoken, every time someone hears, even for the first time, about the work of Jesus Christ dying on the cross, still, today, God demonstrates His love. Because the death of Christ is still the most amazing and striking demonstration of God's love. And therefore, what we sing is true, that His mercies are new every morning for those who look to Him in repentance and faith. That's God's amazing love. And beloved, that's the very same love from which nothing, Paul says, will be able to separate us. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, beloved, may we recognize that He to whom belongs all glory in the highest, that He reached down to rescue we who were the lowest of the low to bring us into His eternal glory. And what a reason to rejoice in the Son of God who came. Again, we make Christmas about gifts. Gifts given, gifts received. But praise God, we know that there is no greater gift given than the one given by God and received by faith alone. Beloved, there is no greater gift than this, that Christ died for us. And there is no greater reason, there is no other reason to celebrate Christmas than the coming of Christ. What a reason to rejoice, give thanks, and sing. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, once again we bow. We bow in humility. We bow in humility, Lord, being reminded of why Jesus Christ came. Because of our sin. Because we were enemies. Because we wanted nothing to do with You. But Father, with humble hearts, we also rejoice because He came. In spite of us, He came to give His life a ransom for many that indeed we might be saved. We praise You, O Heavenly Father, that since Jesus Christ died for us while we were enemies, that we will be saved from the wrath of God to come upon this sinful world. That our eternal future is secure. And Father, may we indeed look forward to that day. May we rejoice in that day even as we live on this earth. May we rejoice to see the day when Jesus Christ comes again in all of His glory. And until then, indeed, O Lord, may we rejoice, give thanks, and sing because of Your great love for us. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.