Jesus loves you. - Romans 5:6-11

Is there someone in your life that you love?  I am sure you have people in your life that you enjoy, people in your life that you appreciate, people in your life that you admire, people in your life you depend on, people in your life you like, but are there people in your life you love?

You might say, ‘yes!  I love my mother and father.’  If I were to ask you why you love your mother and father you might say, ‘I love them because they raised me and have always been there for me.  They have always supported me and still today are my biggest cheerleaders.  Plus, in a pinch, I know I could dump the grandkids off on them if I needed.’  Fair enough.  Sounds like you have plenty of reasons to love your parents.  Someone else might say, ‘I love my spouse.  They are fun to be around and make me laugh.  They listen to me and understand me.  They provide for me and take care of me.  Plus, well... you know.’  Yes.  It sounds like you have plenty of reasons to love your spouse.  Still, someone else might say, ‘I love my children.  When they were little, they cuddled with me.  When they grew a little older, I enjoyed watching them play and perform.  When they grew a little older still, they filled me with pride as they achieved and accomplished.  Plus, when I get old and irritable, I totally plan on moving in with them and making them take care of me.’  Those seem like good reasons to love your children.

Over the years Jesus has had people in His life that He loves, though I can’t say that I understand the reasons for His love.  In the Garden of Eden there was a man and a woman He loved, but it is unclear why.  That man and woman despised the blessings He had given them and disobeyed the one commandment He gave to them.  Neither one of those things sound like very good reasons to love someone.  At Mount Sinai there was a group of people that Jesus loved, but again I have no earthly idea why He would love them.  They preferred to worship a god they forged out of gold rather than the God who had set them free from slavery and delivered them from death.  Again, that doesn’t seem like a good reason to love someone.  On Mount Calvary there was a mob of people that Jesus loved, but this time for the life of me I can’t tell you why.  Those people beat Him bloody and spit in His face.  They drove nails into His hands and His feet.  And as He suffered for their sins, they mocked Him and ridiculed Him.  I don’t know anyone who would say that is a good reason to love someone. 

Jesus loves all the people in this room.  But honestly, I can’t think of a reason that He should.  It is not as though we are any more loveable than Adam and Eve, or Aaron and the children of Israel, or the Sanhedrin and soldiers.  In Romans chapter five verses six and eight, saint Paul describes us as “powerless”, “ungodly” “sinners”.  We have been described like elsewhere in Scripture.  In Ephesians 2:1-2 we were compared to a corpse to illustrate just how powerless we truly were.  There we read, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”  In Genesis 6:5 we get an idea of just how ungodly we were.  There we read, “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.”  Later in his letter to the Romans Paul describes how our sinful condition is outwardly evil.  In Romans 8:7 we read, “the sinful mind is hostile to God.  It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”  By nature, the people in this room were “powerless”, “ungodly” “sinners”.  There is no reason anyone should love us and yet for reasons I can’t explain Jesus loves us.

I think most of us, if not all of us, have people in our lives that we love.  But how much do you love them?  Would you be willing to have fewer possessions for them?  Would you be willing to endure suffering for them?  Would you be willing, and this is going to sound a bit dark, but would you be willing to die for them?  In his letter to the Romans saint Paul wrote, “7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.”   There are a few people I love so much that I might possibly dare to die for them… but there aren’t many.  I can understand why someone might possibly dare to die for their mom or dad.  I can understand why someone might possibly dare to die for their husband or wife.  I can understand why someone might possibly dare to die for their son or daughter.  But, for the life of me, I don’t understand why Jesus would actually die for “powerless”, “ungodly” “sinners” like you and me.  That Jesus would die for Adam and Eve, or Aaron and the children of Israel, or the Sanhedrin and soldiers or you and me seems unreasonable.

But in verses 6 and 8 we learn just how much Jesus loves us.   In verse 6 saint Paul writes, “6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”  In verse 8 he writes, “8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  When we were; while we were “powerless”, “ungodly” “sinners”, “Christ died for us”.  Why would He do that?  What reason did have for loving us that much?  You and I have plenty of reason to love the people we love. But what reason does Jesus have to love “powerless”, “ungodly” “sinners”, like you and me?!?  Can you think of a reason He should die for you?  I can’t think of a reason He should die for me.  But He did.  He died for you.  He died for me.  It is unreasonable, but Jesus loves us that much.

I can’t explain the reasoning behind Jesus’ love for you, but I can tell you the result of His love for you.   In verse 9 Paul says, “we have now been justified by His blood.”  In verse 10 Paul says, “when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son.”  The result of Jesus’ death is justification and reconciliation.  By the blood of Jesus, you have been justified; your debt of sin has been paid in full.  By the death of Jesus, you have been reconciled; your relationship with your God has been restored.  To put it simply, because Jesus loved you enough to shed His blood for you and give up His life for you, you have now become loveable. 

Jesus loved you even when He had no reason to love you.  Obviously, He is going to continue to love you now that He has made you loveable.  Jesus loves you, even when it doesn’t feel like it.  Some time ago a young husband called to tell me his young wife was having an affair.  The husband spoke with intensely measured words, but I could still hear the rage that seethed beneath the surface.  Those of you who have ever faced a similar betrayal know how easy it can be to question God’s love.   A few months ago, a young woman came into my office to tell me about her friend who had been diagnosed with cancer.  The young woman tried to be upbeat and positive as she described her friend’s treatment but as she talked tears streamed down her face.  Those of you who have watched a loved one suffer through a disease like cancer know how easy it can be to question God’s love.  A few weeks ago, an older woman arrived at church with grief on her face.  Her last sibling had just died, and she was filled with sadness.  Those of you who have lost a loved one know how easy it can be to question God’s love.  A few days ago, I talked with a father whose son’s death was under investigation. The father had not spoken to his son in months, and he was anxious to learn whether the death was intentional or accidental.   I could hear the pain in the father’s voice as we talked about his son’s soul.  Those of you who have ever worried about someone’s salvation know how easy it can be to question God’s love. 

This world is full of all sorts of sorrows that tempt us to question God’s love.  But how can we question His love for us?  Jesus loved us when He had no reason to love us.  Jesus loved us so much that even when we were; while we were “powerless”, “ungodly” “sinners”, He died for us.  Because of the love of Jesus, we are justified and reconciled; because of the love of Jesus, we are now loveable.  Now that we are lovable, “How much more” Paul ask in verse 9 and again in verse 10.  “How much more shall we be saved”,? Paul is pointing to the paradise that our loving Savior is preparing for us, but he is also pointing to our loving Savior who sustains us in our sorrows until we get to that paradise.  That is why in verse 11 Paul writes, “11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”  Paul says in the love of Jesus we rejoice.  We rejoice in our future salvation, and we rejoice in our present sorrows because we are confident that Jesus loves us.  Your own sin didn’t stop Jesus from loving you, what sorrow could cause you to question His love?

I think most of us, if not all of us, have people in our lives who, for various reasons, we love.  But I know, each and every one of you has someone in your life who loves you beyond reason, loves you enough to die for you, loves you even when you don’t feel loved.  Rejoice, my friends!  Jesus loves you.  Amen