Romans 5:8 - "While We Were Still Sinners"

After going on a mission trip over spring break to minister to prison inmates, a friend of mine remarked that the song "I Am a Friend of God," which had previously seemed boring or simplistic to him, took on a whole new meaning and depth when he sung it with convicts in prison.

Most of us believe that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but it takes a glimpse of the outward manifestation of that sin in human lives and events in order for us to realize how corrupted and depraved we really are. Most of us agree mentally that God loves humans and is a very powerful being, but it takes experiences of sin and redemption to show us what it means to be embraced and loved by God - to show us how far God's love and power reaches.

We are all criminals against God. You and I have turned our backs on God and scorned his honor just as much as the worst serial killer. "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside" (Romans 3:10-12). "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). "For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Therefore, in order to understand ourselves better, let us not elevate ourselves above "sinners" and criminals, as the Pharisees did, but let us rather see our own sinfulness in the wretchedness of humanity. Let us be humble enough to admit that, were we to live in different places or times or circumstances, we may have been criminals or terrorists.

The more we see ourselves for who we really are, the more we will be filled with awe and wonder at the fact that God, who is holy and beautiful and perfect and glorious and without any defect at all, loves us, even us. God's love would still have been high and deep and wide if we had been beautiful creatures who knew him and embraced him in return, but that he loved us when we rejected him and turned our backs on him, when we threw ourselves into the pit of sin and became ugly and repulsive - how great must his love be! Like Hosea pursuing his faithless wife, like the father running to his prodigal son, so is God's love towards those who turned away from him.

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:6-8

While we were sinners! While we were sinners God loved us and pursued us as his treasured possession, and not only that - he gave himself for us, he endured shame and humiliation and great suffering for us. He died for us. And all this for wretched, ruined criminals! In Paul's words, "for a good person" I can perhaps see myself dying. But for a convict? For one who had insulted me and grieved me and caused me great pain? Or could I love those who murdered my only child, while they were still murderers, unrepentant? I don’t think I could. God's ways are too high and beautiful for me to grasp - this, even this, is what he has done! God the Father allowed his Son, with whom he is one, to be murdered for the salvation of the murderers, to be slain to redeem the killers!* It was to save the very ones who spit in his face and thrust the crown of thorns upon his head and mocked him saying, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross" - it was for these very ones that Christ came! It was for them that he set his face like flint (Isaiah 50:7, Luke 9:51) and went to Calvary. For you, for me.
*The human analogy is imperfect; Christ was not a helpless victim, but submitted freely to his own murder.

There is no greater love than this, no love so high and deep and wide and strong as the love of God for us, and nothing can separate us from him (Romans 8:38-39). Not any evil power. They were defeated at the cross. Not even our sin. It was nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14-15), and we are forgiven. Over the highest-security prison with the worst killers, over corrupt governments in Sudan and North Korea, over the death camps in Nazi Germany, even over America, even over your home and mine, the cross of Christ stands as a light in the darkness. Even here Christ has come "to seek and save the lost."

And it is the same power of God seen in the cross and the resurrection (Philippians 3:10) that is at work in our lives to redeem us, to transform us from criminals to radiant sons and daughters of God. Even those with the hardest hearts are being broken and made new. The other day I saw a video of a white man who, by the grace of God, came to Christ and sought out a black man whom he had beaten publicly in the 1960s, in order to ask for forgiveness. Be encouraged and keep praying - there is no one who has fallen so far that they are beyond the reach of the cross. God is mighty to save. And stand in awe of his power and love to seek and accomplish the redemption of sinners - even you, even me.

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The Victory of God: The Cross and the Resurrection as an Answer to the Problem of Evil

Here is a list of links to the each post in this series of posts I've been doing on "The Victory of God":

The Problem of Evil
Evil Points to God
A Greater Redemptive Purpose
An Unbalanced Duality
The Problem of Good
The Eucatastrophe
Made in the Author’s Image
Tolkien on Stories and Sub-creation
The Great Rider
A Strange Way to Triumph
The Suffering of God
The Weight of Sin
The Justice and Love of God
Atonement
The Paradoxical Riches of the Gospel
The Paradoxical Riches of the Gospel, con’t
Solving the Problem of Sin
The Forsaken Son of God
Forsaken, But Still One with the Father
From Humiliation to Glory
The Cross as Revelation of God
Satan Opposed the Cross
A Mind in Darkness
The Ruin of Satan
A Deeper Wisdom
Death Defeated
Resurrection
The Passion of the Christ
God’s Eucatastrophe
Jonathan Edwards on the Two “Wills” of God
The Cross Predestined
Sin and Free Will
The Free Will Defense
A Greater Revelation of God’s Perfections
A Deeper Knowledge of God’s Love
A Higher Joy
Quotes from Tolkien, Lewis, Dostoevsky, and Jesus
A More Glorious Reality
The Accomplishing of God’s Purpose for Creation
Conclusion: The Best of All Possible Stories
The Victory of God: Summary, part 1
The Victory of God: Summary, part 2
The Victory of God: Summary, part 3
The Son Rises on Reality
Is God That Great?
The Victorious God
The Triumph of Christ
Heaven and Earth Redeemed
Hope and Strength from the Cross
Some Great Books by C. S. Lewis, John Stott, John Piper, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Jonathan Edwards

A couple additional posts on this subject:

• Summary of The Cross of Christ by John Stott

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Some Great Books

If you are interested, here are some excellent books that I found pertinent when writing this series of posts on the problem of evil, the cross, and God's victory over evil

• The Cross of Christ by John Stott – “‘I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross…In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?’ With compelling honesty John Stott confronts this generation with the centrality of the cross in God’s redemption of the world.”
• “The Grand Miracle,” chapter 14 of Miracles by C. S. Lewis – on the death and resurrection of Christ
• Perelandra by C. S. Lewis – a beautiful portrayal of the glory of redemption and God’s victory over evil, and a fascinating perspective on free will and the Fall
• The last several pages of On Fairy-stories by J. R. R. Tolkien - it is here that he describes "eucatastrophe."
• The End For Which God Created the World by Jonathan Edwards – argues that God’s ultimate purpose for creation is both the glory of God and the joy of his people, and that these two ends are one.”

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Hope and Strength from the Cross

Why did I write all this? In part, to give a defense for the hope I have (1 Peter 3:15) by describing the purpose for which I believe God allowed and purposed evil and arguing that evil ultimately serves the purpose of revealing God all the more. I wanted to share what is most important to me and what is at the center of my faith. In my mind, this is the most important piece of writing I have posted or will post on this blog. Of all the arguments for God or ideas about the nature of God or about how God acts in the world, what I have described in “The Victory of God” shines most brightly and clearly on my heart and mind, and I wanted to share it. It is my hope that “the riches of the glory of this mystery” (Colossians 1:27) will fill you with a real and deeply rooted hope that strengthens you even here and now in the struggles of life. If God can take his own death and turn it into something glorious, then nothing is too terrible for him, no evil is so great that he cannot defeat it.

May the cross of Christ be for you a beacon of undying hope and “a light in dark places when all other lights go out.” May you live on even in death, and rejoice even in sorrow (2 Corinthians 6:9-10). May you press on, seeing more clearly the joy God has prepared for us just as Christ endured the cross for the joy set before him (Hebrews 12:2). May your sufferings strengthen and deepen your joy in God (Romans 8:17, 2 Corinthians 1:5, Colossians 1:24, 1 Peter 4:13), who has so beautifully made all things “perfect through suffering” (Hebrews 2:10). May these truths “have a profoundly practical effect in making you strong in the face of breath-stopping sorrows and making you bold for Christ in the face of dangerous opposition – Christ exalting strength in calamity and Christ-exalting courage in conflict” (Piper, Spectacular Sins 97).

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Heaven and Earth Redeemed

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more…I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’
…And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day – and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”
– Revelation 21:1-5, 21:22-22:5

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The Triumph of Christ

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!...To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” – Revelation 5:12-13

“…wisdom sat upon his brow, and strength and healing were in his hands, and a light was about him” – Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“…power was in his hand. Between wonder, joy, and fear, they found no words to say.” – Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” – Daniel 7:13-14

“I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” – Revelation 1:12-18

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The King of Ages

King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Savior, Redeemer, Deliverer, Liberator – he is mighty to save. He is victorious. He is the great Healer, the One with the power to redeem a broken and fallen world, and the wisdom to turn evil on its head to achieve the redemption, to bring a higher beauty out of ugliness. He is the Lord of all, the King of Ages, the King of the universe, and of all people, and yet he is also our Father, and we are his treasured possession, his sons and daughters. He is the Giver of life and being, the one who knit together our very consciousnesses, the Creator and Designer who brings majestic things into being and upholds their existence, the Orderer who gives symmetry and beauty to all things, the grand Weaver in whom all the diverse threads of the tapestry of reality hold together, the Composer of the Great Music and the Great Themes, the Author of the Great Story, the Perfecter of the fallen and of all reality. He is our Captain and our Banner, our Great Rider who is with us and goes before us in battle. To him belongs all beauty, majesty, wisdom, knowledge, strength, power, honor, and glory. He is worthy. Surely here is one whom we can serve and honor and love, one for whom we can live and die, one in whose ranks and in whose power we can stand our ground against the rulers and authorities and powers of this dark world. The battle between good and evil is real and terrible, but God has triumphed over death and made a Way. There is a way to God.

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Is God That Great?

One might object that there is simply too much evil, and suffering too horrible, that it could possibly be used for good. You might ask me if I know that I would keep my faith in suffering. Do I know that if I saw fully the horror of evil, my pathetic delusion of God would not have died quickly? No, I cannot be certain. But what I have seen is too beautiful – too compelling for me not to place my hope in it. I have seen too much of the goodness of God to seriously doubt that good will defeat evil. It is a power and wisdom that no evil could conquer, a light that no darkness could put out. Can you believe that God is great enough to do this? This world has fallen far, so far that it may seem beyond redemption. But with God, the Maker of the Universe, all things possible. Can you believe in a God that is great enough to save this world?

Can you believe that the Creator of the universe has the power and wisdom to bring out of this dead world a glory and a goodness even greater than the worst of evils in human history? Paul wrote that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). Might it be, then, that the enormity of pain and sorrow in this world actually provides a glimpse of how incomprehensibly beautiful and glorious and joyful heaven must be? Yes, this world is filled with horrors, but is it possible that God might be found even in the darkest places?

We live in a fallen world, a beauty marred. It is full of evil and suffering, yet not without hope and love and joy. The darkness is great, but it is doomed because of the primary, victorious nature of good (see “An Unbalanced Duality”). Our hope comes from God, whose wisdom is deeper than the deepest hidden place, higher than the heavens, and at the far edges and the foundations of reality. There is a light in the darkness that cannot be overcome (John 1:5). “Hope and memory shall live still in some hidden valley where the grass is green” (Tolkien, The Return of the King 26). Truly the Enemy cannot conquer forever.

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