For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [we] are justified by grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. - Romans 3:22b-25a
What does it mean to redeem something? It means to pay a price to buy it back. That’s what God has done. He has paid the ultimate price to buy back his world. Whatever cataclysm occurs, it will be no match for God’s divine universal purpose. The unrighteousness of all humanity is no match for the righteousness of God
Think now about yourself. You may not be thinking about global issues right now. You are thinking about the problem you have with your children, or your elderly parents. You are concerned about some of your relationships. Or you are asking yourself if you are really making it in your job. Maybe you have a problem with drinking, or eating, or bad stuff on the Internet. Maybe your bills are too high and your credit is not what it was. You may wonder if you are just a cog in a machine, or if you can really make a difference. If you are reflective, you sometimes ask yourself what your life adds up to.
The good news of God in Jesus Christ is not just a declaration of innocence for the guilty. That would involve God in a cheat. It would be overlooking evil and denying the horrific suffering of many millions. The letter to the Romans declares a gospel far more comprehensive than that. The righteousness of God, which is really the theme of Romans, does not mean that God sits off in heaven being righteous and expressing anger from time to time because we are not righteous. You get that idea from preachers sometimes, but it isn’t the gospel. The righteousness of God means that God calls servants for himself whom he then makes righteous. The righteousness of God means that God has given a new law written on the heart, a law that does not condemn but saves.
The righteousness of God means that God takes action. It means that the Red Sea parts and the sun stands still over Gibeon and the Spirit breathes on the dry bones and the trumpet sounds and the dead are raised. It means that God will call into existence the things that do not exist (Rom. 4:17) - which means that there will be peace where there was war, and love where there was hate, and truth where there were lies, and righteousness where there was only unrighteousness, for God did not come to congratulate the worthy but to save sinners, meaning you and me. And that means that there is nothing in the universe, and especially not the wrath of God, that can condemn us, because in the cross of Christ, God himself - the Father and the Son acting together - has found the way to absorb, neutralize, and satisfy his own wrath, for now “the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.”
From Fleming Rutledge, Means of Grace
Prayer
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
