Peace with God: The Ultimate Gift
Romans 5:1-2
I was almost "done"... almost.
I did my part. I waited impatiently at the red light for my turn to cross the intersection onto a very busy midday Veterans parkway. The light turned green and I pressed the accelerator. Fortunately, I didn't floor it. A big white truck decided to run their red light at over 60 miles an hour. Had I gone just a few feet further, nothing would have been the same for me.
I give God all the praise and I thank Him for His promised angels guarding me...
but it sure got me to thinking about "stuff" - about what truly matters in this life.
Ed Mylett asks a profound question: "What If This Was the Last Time?"
"Have you ever stopped to think, What if this was the last time I got to do this? Not the first time. The last time. That thought has been hitting me hard lately—and I believe it's one of the most powerful mindset shifts you can make to live a deeper, richer life."
Too often, we rush through our days on autopilot—scrolling, working, hustling—without realizing we're living what will one day be our "good old days."
We treat moments with our kids, our friends, and our loved ones like they'll happen forever... until one day, they don't.
The Stoic principle "Memento mori," which translates to "remember you will die," reminds us of our mortality to encourage a more meaningful and purposeful life. As
Seneca said, "Let us prepare our minds as if we'd come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life's books each day... The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time."
But there's a deeper problem beyond our mortality.
We were separated from God because of our sinful nature. The fall of man took us out of the garden and into this dysfunctional world.
We all need Peace with God - we want to have a real, living relationship with our Creator, but we first must recognize our own desperate need for a savior.
We can't fix this on our own.
When we live without peace with God, we might still somehow be driven—but are we driven by the right things?
If not, it's just OCD—obsessive behavior without purpose.
Even if people don't recognize it because their mind is cluttered by the cares of this world, Peace with God is what we all want. What we all need most.
1 Cori 1:18 tells us: "The message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God's power to us who are being saved."
Without this peace, we remain distant from GOD, "living in the shadows of evil thoughts and actions," as Colossians describes.
We remain separated from our Creator, unable to experience the relationship we were designed for.
But God...
As the familiar verse says, "God so loved the world..."
Romans 5:1-2 declares: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand."
TPT: "Our faith in Jesus transfers God's righteousness to us and he now declares us flawless in his eyes. This means we can now enjoy true and lasting peace with God, all because of what our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, has done for us."
Spurgeon so eloquently put it: "My entire theology can be condensed into four words: 'Jesus died for me.'"
This is the Message of the Cross.
As 1 Cor 1:23 states: "We preach Christ crucified."
God sent a savior because we needed to be saved.
When we receive this gift of salvation through faith, look at what happens:
Col 1:18-19, 21-22: "For God is satisfied to have all his fullness dwelling in Christ. And by the blood of his cross, everything in heaven and earth is brought back to himself—back to its original intent, restored to innocence again! Even though you were once distant from him, living in the shadows of your evil thoughts and actions, he reconnected you back to himself. He released his supernatural peace to you through the sacrifice of his own body as the sin-payment on your behalf so that you would dwell in his presence. And now there is nothing between you and Father God, for he sees you as holy, flawless, and restored."
The Amplified Bible expands (our KEY verses) Romans 5:1-2: "Therefore, since we have been justified [that is, acquitted of sin, declared blameless before God] by faith, let us grasp the fact that we have peace with God and the joy of reconciliation with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we also have access by faith into this remarkable state of grace in which we firmly and safely and securely stand. Let us rejoice in our hope and the confident assurance of experiencing and enjoying the glory of our great God—the manifestation of His excellence and power."
This Peace with God brings us:
Justification and righteousness - Reconciliation with our Creator
Access to God's presence - Security in His grace
The love of God poured into our hearts - Confidence to approach God

I had a deep conversation with a good friend last week about whether it is proper for us to ask God to bless us. I hadn’t realized this can be a real concern.
This conversation was my initial inspiration for this message today.
Our salvation is our biggest gift - our biggest blessing from GOD.
So as the scripture says, how will He not also give us all things?
Matthew 7:11 reminds us: "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"
We assume people know things that just haven't always been properly taught to them. It is crucial we understand the truth that makes us free.
Free to receive the Father's love and care.
We can be confident of His love for us because of Jesus.

The Wesleyan Tradition emphasizes:
Justification by Faith: Wesley believed that justification, the act of being declared righteous in God's sight, is received through faith in Jesus Christ.
Peace with God: A key consequence of justification is that believers experience peace with God. This peace is a result of being reconciled to God through faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice.
Access to God: Justification also grants believers access to God. This means they can approach God with confidence and boldness, knowing they are accepted and loved by Him.
Love of God Shed Abroad: Wesley also highlights that the love of God is "shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost" (Romans 5:5), indicating a personal experience of God's love accompanying justification.
Aligning our thoughts and words is only possible as we properly renew our minds to Truth - truth that is found in God's Word about who we are in Christ.
The New Testament emphasizes that God's love is the driving force behind the plan of salvation, which includes our justification.
justification refers to God's act of declaring a sinner righteous and acceptable in His sight, based on the merits of Jesus Christ's sacrifice and through faith in Him.
Justification, as understood through faith in Jesus Christ, reveals the depth of God's love for humanity.
Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us: "For by grace you have been saved by faith. Nothing you did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the love gift from God that brought us to Christ! So no one will ever be able to boast, for salvation is never a reward for good works or human striving."

ALL that GOD wants for you - all that He has for you - is yours (“yes” and “amen”) if you can receive it by faith today.
Jesus stands at the door of your heart, and He is ready to come in to your heart today.
Romans 5:5: "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Today’s KEY Verse: Romans 5:1: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

> What would I want to share with the people God has given me to share with,
if I only had one last chance? <
This message of Peace with God - because it's what matters most.

Today, if you hear His voice, don't harden your heart.
Receive His peace, His love, His salvation.
It's the gift that truly matters in light of eternity.
Jesus says, “Come”
Jesus says, “All who are thirsty, come and drink”

John 7:37,38: Jesus stood and shouted out to the crowds—
“All you thirsty ones, come to me! Come to me and drink! Believe in me so that rivers of living water will burst out from within you, flowing from your innermost being, just like the Scripture says!”