02/03/W – Reconciled through Death, Saved by Life

NT: “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.” (‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:6-11‬ ‭CSB)

People often ask the question, “If God is so good, why does He allow bad things to happen?” By asking that question, they fail to see the good that God has done to remedy the bad. The truth of the matter is that bad things were allowed by mankind – and God has generously provided a solution to all the bad that mankind’s failure unleashed into the world. As Paul mentioned in this passage, God did not wait for us (mankind) to become good before He solved our predicament. While we were still helplessly enslaved to sin and unable to even respond to God, He sent His Son (Jesus Christ) into the world to die for us. It is rare enough that someone would give their life for the life of someone “deserving” of that gesture – but we were far from deserving. If we deserved anything, we deserved death – yet God, in His absolute goodness, sent His Son to die for us, His enemies, who were guilty as charged and living on a spiritual death row. God didn’t have to do that. He did it out of His goodness and love for us. Through Christ’s death, we who believe in Christ are reconciled to God. For several years, I worked in the accounting department of an insurance company. One of my jobs was to reconcile the company’s bank accounts. Each month, we would receive bank statements in the mail, and I had to reconcile our books to the bank statements. Any differences between our books and the statements had to be corrected on our end. Through Christ’s death, we were reconciled to God! Any deficits and discrepancies in us were made right through our faith in Christ. As Paul said, if we were reconciled to God through Christ’s death, how much more, now that we are reconciled, will we be saved from sin and death through Christ’s resurrection life. Is there bad in the world? Yes, there is. Do bad things happen in this life to good people? Yes, they do. But God in His goodness sent His Son to die for us and rise to new life so that we could be reconciled to God and saved from this life for a glorious life to come.

Psalms: “Protect me, God, for I take refuge in you. I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have nothing good besides you.”” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭16:1-2‬ ‭CSB)

God is good and He is the source of all and anything good. The Apostle James wrote, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, Who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). Evil came into the world when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They came to know evil because they ate from the forbidden tree. Before that, all was good. The fact that we experience any good in this life is a testament to God’s mercy and goodness toward us. God is good, merciful and loving, and He is worthy of our trust. David knew that all the good he had experienced came from God – and apart from God, he would be completely subject to evil… so David took his refuge in God. Though faith in Christ, we are not only allowed refuge – we are reconciled and saved.