His Cross Brings God and Sinners Together

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

July 6, 2014

Romans 5

His Cross Brings God and Sinners Together

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I.

The Mississippi is dirty. When a famous comedian came to Davenport a few years ago, he donned a red, white, and blue wetsuit and dove into the water to catch cans of beer, all I could think about was the filthy water.

The Mississippi is flooding again. Its dirty water is overflowing onto our land and into our lives.

It's not too hard to picture ourselves as the mighty dirty Mississippi. Some days we're able to keep our filth to ourselves, but much more often, like the mighty Miss, we overflow our banks and splash others with our unholy water. And we . . .

disobey our parents.

act childish around our children.

hold hate in our hearts.

breathe out murder against others.

lust after anything that moves.

dress immodestly.

steal by not eating the food our parents provide.

steal by living beyond our means.

steal by being stingy with our church offerings.

refuse to tell our friends or family about Jesus' suffering and death on the cross because we don't want to hurt our own reputation.

We are dirty. More than any river can be polluted, we are thoroughly toxic. We are the ungodly.

II.

But here's the good news. Jesus came and died only for the ungodly.

For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly.

Romans 5:6

Our ungodliness is not just running away from Jesus. We turn and fight against Jesus. We are His enemies. We actively fight Him. Our will is bound to disobey Him. We aren't simply mindlessly flowing along like the Mississippi, dirty and bad, but we are like a fire hydrant of filthy sludge shooting up into the sky.

We are His enemies. And He died for only for His enemies.

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!

Romans 5:10

III.

Jesus laid down His life for His enemies to bring us back together with His Father, Himself, and His Spirit―the one true God. This is what it took to reconcile God's enemies with Him: a cross of wood and flesh and blood where the King of all nations was crucified.

We are messy floods of filth. But through His cross that comes to us by the pouring of water, He declares us clean. We now are reconciled with the Water of Life—God and man are brought together by the water and blood of our Savior Jesus Christ.

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.