Cultivate joy by receiving the sacrifice of Jesus as grace. March 24 Palm Sunday Grace – Romans 5:6, 8, 20 NLT
Intro – Today is “Palm Sunday” on the historic Christian calendar.
“Save us!” shouts greeting Jesus’ triumphant entrance to Jerusalem. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” – Psalm 118:1 the psalm pilgrims always sang on the way to Jerusalem. The cry Hosanna!, translates “give salvation now”, and had come to be a term of praise. Every Jew knew of its occurrence in Psalm 118:25, which is part of Hallel, sung each morning by the temple choir during the Feast of Tabernacles but also associated at this period with the Feast of Dedication and with Passover. The connection was so strong that many Jews referred to their palm branches as hosannas.
“Blessings, one who comes in the name of the Lord.” – Matthew 21:9 Mark 11:9 Luke 19:38 John 12:13 In reference to “Please, Lord, save us. Bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord.” Psalm 118:25-26
Why are they celebrating on Palm Sunday? Let’s grow in our understanding of this Good News. In this way we can cultivate joy by receiving the sacrifice of Jesus as grace.
“When we were unable to help ourselves, at the right time, Christ died for us, although we were living against God.” – Romans 5:6 NCV
“God shows his great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners.” – Romans 5:8 NCV
“God does not love us because Christ died for us; Christ died for us because God loved us.” – John Stott
“God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 5:20-21 NLT
“The law came to make sin worse. But when sin grew worse, God’s grace increased. Sin once used death to rule us, but God gave people more of his grace so that grace could rule by making people right with him. And this brings life forever through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 5:20-21 NCV
When we confess our wrongs to God, and turn away from them, we should understand that the undeserved gracious forgiving love of God covers and extends beyond our sins.
“God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.” – Romans 5:20 NLT
Grace – undeserved favorable kindness, gift given with delight and a generous spirit,
Grace is one of the essential ingredients of God’s characteristics. God describes his own attribute in Exodus 34:6 and people often used this to describe God. Isaiah predicted that God would show grace to his people, by delivering them and all creation from death and ruin, in Isaiah 30:18-19. Jesus is described as God’s glorious grace sent into a world of people trapped in darkness and death. Jesus is a generous gift of life that is more powerful than death. God graciously sent us Jesus Christ who defeated sin and death.
“Grace” God’s graciousness from Bible Project
Story of Good News – Timothy Keller question and answer conversational pathway
Chapter 1: Where did we come from? From God: the One and the relational
Chapter 2: Why did things go so wrong? Because of sin: bondage and condemnation
Chapter 3: What will put things right? Christ: incarnation, substitution, restoration
Chapter 4: How can I be put right? Through faith: grace and trust
Chapter 3 and 4 Q + A are a focus of Romans. We read Romans 1-8 as helpful in understanding salvation.
God loves us by graciously giving us the opportunity to believe and receive Jesus Christ as Savior King. In this way, we receive his gracious freedom from his punishment of our sins and his gracious freedom from a life of repeating our sins. So we can cultivate joy by receiving the sacrifice of Jesus as grace.
How? Access grace daily. Relate to God through grace. Receive and respond to spiritual freedom. Live to please God!
What do we learn?
1. God has shown us love by sending Jesus as Savior.
2. God offers gracious freedom from sin.
3. A life-giving and life-changing relationship with God produces joy.
4. We can all cultivate joy by receiving God’s gracious freedom from sin and choosing to live in it.
What should we do?
1. Ask yourself if you are receiving the sacrifice of Jesus as grace.
2. Ask God for help in understanding Romans 5, as you read it.
3. Grow in understanding by writing your questions and answers.
4. Consider what “Jesus brings joy.” means to you.
5. Consider how you can cultivate joy.