Title: BANKRUPT NO MORE!

Focus: By his death, Jesus paid for our sins; by his resurrection Jesus restores our credit before God through faith.

Function: To move the people to embrace by faith the works of Jesus, so that we may enjoy the new standing before God: bankrupt no more!

Text: Romans 4:13-25; Gen. 17:1-8

 

INTRODUCTION

            Let’s play a game: You are the bank. I am your customer. I have $ 10.00 in the bank. That’s all I have or possess. I owe the bank $ 5.00. My net worth is $ 5.00. I am fine. Let’s play again: You are the bank; I am your customer. I have $ 10.00 in the bank. That’s all I have or posses. I owe the bank $ 15.00. Since I have only $ 10.00 in the bank, I now am bankrupt! I am in debt—a debt I cannot pay. And that’s not a good feeling, nor is it a good position to be in.

 

            Now let’s face real life: We are creatures made in the image of God; God is our Creator. Together with Adam and Eve, our first parents, we stand in a wonderful relationship with God. Everything is fine. Life is good!

But then sin entered the world. Sin corrupted Adam—and also us, the offspring of Adam and Eve. Because of sin, we are no longer in a wonderful relationship with God. We have become debtors. We owe God.

 

Why? Because the wages of sin is death. We must pay for Adam’s—and our own—sins. But we cannot pay, because no matter what we do, no matter how hard we work, no matter how obediently we try to live—we cannot pay this debt with our lives. For when we give our lives to pay for our sins, we remain in death. We cannot overcome the power of death in our own strength. Therefore, we are spiritually bankrupt.

 

But here’s the good news: on this second Sunday in Lent, the scriptures remind us that by his death, Jesus paid for our sins; and by his resurrection Jesus restores our credit before God through faith. Because of Christ Jesus, and in him, we are bankrupt no more!

 

THE GOOD NEWS IN OVERVIEW

            It will help us greatly if we hear today’s scripture in the context of the larger story of God making all things new. When you think of the Bible as a paintbrush, you will notice that the paintbrush works with four different strokes: the stroke of creation; the stroke of our fall into sin; the stroke of redemption; and the stroke of restoration.

 

            The stroke of creation shows us a picture of harmony with God. Adam and Eve are created in the image of God; they have fellowship with God; and they experience life to the fullest. And the universe itself enjoys harmony and God’s blessings through Adam and Eve as stewards of all creation.

 

            The brush stroke of our fall into sin spoils this beautiful picture of creation. Sin entered the world, and like yeast, sin began to cause misery in the lives of Adam’s offspring, and in the creation itself. And with sin there came death. For death is the wages of our sin. All of humanity lives under the shroud of death, and all of creation yearns to be delivered from that bondage to decay and from the turning to dust.

 

            Thank God for the brush stroke of redemption. All throughout history God has made moves to get us out of debt. These moves come to us in the stories of Noah, of Babel, of Abraham, of Moses, of the Israelites, and most of all, in the story of Jesus Christ. He is our Redeemer. By his death, Jesus paid for our sins; by his resurrection Jesus restores our credit before God through faith.

 

            The brush stroke of restoration reveals to us pictures of forgiveness of sins, of being at peace with God, of serving God and advancing his influence in the world, and of resurrection and eternal life on the new heavens and earth. These four brush strokes in the Bible—creation, fall, redemption, and restoration—give us the big picture that helps us to understand today’s Bible reading.

 

REDEMPTION—ABRAHAM/JESUS

For example, the story of God making a covenant promise to Abraham is part of the brush stroke of God’s redemption. So is Paul’s teaching in his letter to the Romans, as he writes about the work of Jesus.

 

Here’s what we may observe from this redemption story in Genesis and Romans:

• First of all, God promises offspring to Abraham; God tells Abraham that he will become the father of many nations. God made that promise when Abraham and Sarah were childless and in their nineties. To any rational, human being such a promise did not make sense. But Abraham believed. And God credited Abraham’s faith with a gift—the gift of righteousness, the gift of being in a relationship of shalom and forgiveness with God. Abraham is bankrupt no more!
• Secondly, God promises Abraham land. The promise of land goes together with God’s promise of children and descendants for Abraham. God holds before Abraham the land of Canaan as a priceless possession to inherit in due time. But it turns out that the land of Canaan is a shadow of something far bigger. Abraham and his offspring will inherit the earth, the entire world. And that will happen through the work of God’s Son, the Lord Jesus. By his death and resurrection all believers—all Abraham’s true children—will receive the gift of righteousness. And that gift is eternal life on the renewed creation, with God in our midst.

 

Listen to these text: (Rom. 4:13) “It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.” This text ties in with Jesus’ blessing that the “meek shall inherit the earth.” And it ties in with the apostle Peter’s call to believers to live “holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming….” For, says Peter, “…in keeping with (God’s) promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” (II Peter 3).

 

• Thirdly, God credits Abraham—and us—with righteousness. And we receive that credit through faith in God’s promise. The credit of righteousness is the standing we have before God through faith in Christ Jesus: bankrupt no more!

            The Scriptures tell us that God makes us right—not by our works of obedience, such as trying to keep the law of God perfectly, or by trying to live a good or decent life. Rather, it is God who removes our spiritual bankruptcy, by sending his Son, the Lord Jesus. It is God who says: “There is no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Bankrupt no more!

 

How can that be? Through faith in Jesus Christ! As Abraham believed God’s promise—and in that way was justified or made right with God--so through faith in Christ Jesus, who fulfills God’s promise, are believers in Christ justified with God. Listen to the text: (vs.22-25) “This is why ‘it was credited to Abraham as righteousness.’ The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for Abraham alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us, who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”

 

            A few things stand out clearly in this text: For example,

 

• God’s gift to Abraham of restoring Abraham as an heir of eternal life on the renewed creation points to God’s gift to all believers. Whoever receives by faith the work of Jesus, receives forgiveness and eternal life. Such a person is no longer spiritually bankrupt. And this is only possible because of Jesus’ work on the cross and in the tomb. Here’s another thing that stands out in the text:

 

• Since the wages of sin is death, and since we can’t pay the price of sin, Jesus has taken our place and he did pay the price. He is the eternal Son of God who took on our human nature; and though without sin himself, Jesus willingly offered himself up to die in our place. So they nailed him on a cross, and he died “for our sins.” The text says that Jesus “was delivered over to death.” Paul makes clear that Jesus’ death was by God’s design. The “God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were,” is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is God—in Jesus Christ--who makes the brush stroke of redemption. As Abraham gave up his son, Isaac, to be sacrificed on Mount Moriah, so God gave up his one and only Son, that you and I may have life. Jesus died, so that we may live. Bankrupt no more! Clearly,

 

·        Being no longer spiritually bankrupt is possible because God has raised Jesus from the dead. And Jesus’ resurrection opens up a new relationship with God, whereby all believers may stand in a right relationship with God the Father. In Jesus Christ, we are made right, justified.

 

            How then shall we live today? Against all hope, we shall live in hope—like Abraham, the father of all believers. There was no human hope for Abraham and Sarah to ever conceive and have a child. People in their nineties do not give birth to children. Yet, against all human, natural odds, Abraham believed God’s promise and he lived in hope that God would keep his promise. So must we today live by faith.

 

            Reasonable people will tell us that miracles do not happen; everything has a rational, scientific explanation, so they say. But we live in hope. For Jesus died and rose again from the dead. And we believe that he will raise us, too, someday from the dust of the grave unto a new life. In Christ, we are bankrupt no more!

            Therefore, we do not despair when things go against us, when sickness threatens our lives, when hospital and funeral home visits are to be made, and when we stand by the grave of a loved one: we shall not despair. For against all human hope, believers in Christ live in hope.

 

            My friends, do you know this Jesus? Do you believe in him? Do you embrace his work on the cross, in the tomb, and in heaven and on earth today as the only work that makes you right with God? Do you realize your lost estate, your spiritual bankruptcy? And do you welcome Jesus’ gift of salvation, his justification, as God’s gift to you today?

 

If you do, then live in hope. But if you have not as yet placed your trust or faith in Jesus, I plead with you: do it today! For now is the day of salvation. By his death, Jesus paid for our sins; by his resurrection Jesus restores our credit before God through faith. Bankrupt no more!

 

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.