How and Where to ‘Stand’ with God

Larry Siegle
01/21/24 - Sun AM

Link to sermon video: How and Where to 'Stand' with God - L Siegle

How and Where to ‘Stand’ with God

(Romans 5:1-11)

Thesis:  God has provided by faith, peace, and access into grace where believers now stand in our relationship with God.

INTRODUCTION

1.   The title of this message is, “How and Where to ‘Stand’ with God”

2.  Anyone who writes, produces, and records a song that sells more than 2.5

      million copies…is certified “triple platinum” and most certainly considered a success.

      a.  The recording artist, from Greenville, TX (about an hour away from Tyler

            where I went to high school, is not a large city, not that different from the

            landscape of where we live here in Northeast Ohio.

      b.  He grew up with an abusive father, told him “he was not good enough” and that he would 

“never amount to anything”—his mother left when the boy

            was about ten years…but he continued to pursue his dream…

3.  In our daily lives it is far too easy to take our eyes off what is really important

      (Isa. 65:1-5, 8)…The apostle Paul alludes to those very words in describing

      what God has done through the gospel and the power of the cross (I Cor. 2:9,

      10).

      a.  What is God doing in our lives to accomplish His purpose in touching the

            lives of others around us who need to hear “good news” today?

WHERE HAVE WE COME TO ‘STAND’ WITH GOD?

1.   The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, with the canvas of inspiration of

      the Holy Spirit, paints for us, the portrait of God’s goodness, unveiled

      throughout redemptive history.

2.  “Therefore” (we should always stop to examine what the therefore is there

      for (Rom. 5:1, 2).

      a.  “having been” (past-tense reality) “declared righteous” (just like Abraham

            was “by faith” in the previous chapter)…trusting in God’s goodness and in

            the truth of His Word.

      b.  “We have” (present-tense) “peace with God” (not because of anything we

            have done to somehow “earn” or “deserve” this peace from above.

      c.  “through our Lord Jesus Christ” – He is our all and our everything, He is the One through

           whom we are “declared righteous” (justified).  We are “saved” (delivered) by HIS life (Rom. 5:10).

      d.  By faith and obedience to the gospel we are “clothed” (enduo?)—“to sink into, cover 

          completely”—we are “in Him” (Gal. 3:26, 27).

      e.  “through Him…access by faith into this grace”—We enter into Christ where

            His “grace” is found and operates (Eph. 2:8, 9).

      f.   It is in this realm of “grace” whereby believers now “stand” (made to

            stand), given a ‘standing’ before Him).

      g.  There is no ‘standing’ outside of what it means to be “in Christ” to have

            entered into covenant relationship with God and to have experienced the

            power of this ‘stance’

      h.  The apostle John saw in his prophetic vision what it means to have the

            victory of living in this ‘stance’ with God on the basis of what Christ has

            done on our behalf. (Rev. 7:9-17).

            1)  The first part of this vision sees 144,000 (firstfruit Jewish believers or

                  “remnant according to the election of grace” (Rev. 7:1-8)

            2)  The “great multitude” (Gentile believers “from every nation, tribe,

                  people and tongue”)—together both have a ‘stance’ with God and this is

                  our ‘stance’ with God on the basis of what God has done.

3.  The people around us, the world, the economy, the politics, social media,

      what is on the news—tries to steal or distract us from what God has provided.

      a.  All around the world today, more than 360 million people who ‘profess’

            faith in God and Christ suffer at the hands of those who scoff at what the

            Bible teaches.

      b.  God is calling all of us to keep our eyes on Christ (Heb. 12:2).

THE MEANING OF OUR ‘STANCE’ WITH GOD

1.   The person referred to earlier in the message, his name is Bart Millard, and 

      when his hateful father who had abused him growing was diagnosed with

      pancreatic cancer, something happened.

      a.  The heart of the father began to soften and his final days saw a

            transformation and a restoration of relationship with his son.

      b.  It was after his father passed away that Bart sat down and wrote a song,

            probably one that most of us have heard somewhere on the radio, the guy

            could have thought “he would never amount to anything” wrote these

            words about God:

I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk by Your side
I can only imagine
What my eyes would see
When Your face is before me
I can only imagine
Yeah

Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for You Jesus
Or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in Your presence
Or to my knees, will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah?
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine
When that day comes
And I find myself
Standing in the Son
I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever, forever worship You
I can only imagine, yeah
I can only imagine

2.  We may not always “see” with our physical vision all that God has done for us,

      we can have the assurance to know that it is more awesome and amazing than

      anything we can begin to “imagine”

CONCLUSION

1.   The “how” of our ‘stance’ with God is JESUS the price that was paid in the

      shedding of His precious blood on our behalf.

2.  The “where” of our ‘stance’ with God is through obedient faith we have 

      “access” into the realm where “grace” and “forgiveness” operate.

3.  While it sounds fickle to say “we have it ALL in Jesus” the truth is not as

      difficult as people tend to make it out to be.