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Delivered for Our Sins, Raised for Our Justification

Text: Romans 4:25

Introduction

If what this verse says is true, is true, then the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just something we should be celebrating once a year, but every day. We are justified—declared guiltless before the perfect, holy God—because Jesus did not stay in the tomb but “was raised again.”

Jesus’ resurrection is best-case scenario for the world we live in; and so the good news of the Christian gospel is that the best-case scenario for this world has actually come true.

I. Jesus Was Delivered for Our Offenses

  1. Your initial response to that statement might be: “Offenses? What offenses? I’m a pretty good person who lives a pretty good life.”
    1. And you’re probably right! You haven’t killed anybody ever, you haven’t stolen from anybody lately, and you haven’t lied to anybody…today.
      1. You and I are pretty good people. But that’s just the problem. We are pretty good people living in a world that was created by a perfectly good God!
      2. I describe the Christian gospel as ‘good news/bad news…good news’
    2. And before we get back to the good news, we need to pause and think about what it means to have this infinite gap between our flawed record and God’s perfect standard.
      1. As Paul explains in Romans 3: No one is truly righteous, not even one person.
      2. The Bible, including the Ten Commandments, is not primarily calling you to be a good person, but to trust in the grace of God to make you good enough for heaven.
  2. And so now the good news: God has made a way of salvation! And the grace of God is entirely wrapped up in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
    1. Jesus was delivered for our offenses. Jesus was betrayed into the hands of hateful people, not by accident, but according to God’s purpose to deliver Jesus for our sins.
    2. So our only hope for standing before the perfectly good God who created this world is Jesus Christ.
      1. And not only because Jesus died on the cross, but also because of his resurrection

II. Jesus Was Raised Again for Our Justification

  1. It is not an exaggeration to say that the truths of substitution, propitiation, and reconciliation all hinge, not only on the cross of Christ, but on the empty tomb. 1 Co 15:17
    1. It is not only because Jesus took our sins on the cross that we are declared guiltless before the judgment seat of God, but because Jesus defeated our sins/completed our death sentence and therefore rose again from the dead.
      1. Jesus springing out of the grave is like the bars of a prison swinging open for a prisoner: it is a sign that his sentence has been served, the punishment has been met, and therefore he is now free to go.
    2. We are now declared to be righteous in the courtroom of the all-seeing God because Jesus has manifestly paid the penalty for our sins. We are justified/guiltless!
  2. This is not merely one more theological point: this has incredibly deep and daily ramifications for our lives! Ro 5:18. This is a new life, a new way of living!
    1. We can now truly live! We can live free from the impossible burden of trying to undo past mistakes, or of trying to earn God’s favor thru our own goodness.
    2. In verses preceding our text in Romans 4, Paul has been describing how Abraham was himself justified by faith in promises of God.
      1. Not thru his works or worthiness, but through faith in God’s promises Abraham was justified. And as he trusted in God—in spite of his own failings and failures and personal inadequacies. v.22.
      2. But this is not merely a historical truth concerning Abraham. Romans 4:23-25.

Conclusion

  1. The best-case-scenario for this world is that all the corruption will be cleaned up, all the wrongs will be righted, and that somehow even we—who have gone wrong in so many ways—will be made right with the good God who made us.
    1. And in Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have every assurance that the best-case scenario for this world is actually coming true! Jesus was delivered for our sins/in our place, and Jesus was raised again for our justification.
  2. Those who believe on Jesus are declared righteous/guiltless before God, and are assured that they will be immortal until their work here is done, will enter unscathed through the door of death, and then will be raised up in the last day.
  3. Are you trusting Jesus with your life, with your death, with your guilt, for your justification?