Like Water from a Rock

Exodus 17: 1-7
Romans 5: 1-11

The topic I want to discuss with all of you today is not easily explained. If I’m being honest, I’ll admit that it took me several years at seminary to start to understand exactly what Paul is talking about in Romans. Romans is the book that is chock full of wonderful information for Christians, but because it is so full of information, it can be intimidating. Romans 5 deals with the idea of justification. Paul tells us that we are justified by Christ’s blood and because we are justified we are also reconciled to God through the death of his Son.

Maybe it is just me, but when I read those words it takes me several times of rereading and a lot of thought to start to decipher exactly what Paul is trying to tell us. These are not just everyday words that we use and the meaning can be a little unclear, however every word is extremely important. And today, we are going to decipher those sentences.

To be justified means to be made righteous, to make one right and pure in the eyes of God. We receive justification through faith in Jesus Christ and it is given to all who believe. There is no difference between believers for all have fallen short; all have sinned in God’s eyes. There is no sin that is greater or lesser than another therefore there is no man, woman or child that is greater or lesser in God’s eyes. If we believe in Jesus Christ, if we accept him, we become justified. This justification comes at the moment of our salvation. Justification does not make us righteous people (we don’t all of sudden receive a halo), but rather pronounces us as sinless.

This comes from placing our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice covers our sin, allowing God to see us as perfect and unblemished. Because as believers in Christ, God sees Christ's own righteousness when He looks at us. This meets God's demands for perfection; thus, He declares us righteous—He justifies us.

I’m going to break that down by giving you an example of justification. There was a man in England who put his Rolls-Royce on a boat and went across to the continent to go on a holiday. While he was driving around Europe, something happened to the motor of his car. He cabled the Rolls-Royce people back in England and asked, "I'm having trouble with my car; what do you suggest I do?" Well, the Rolls-Royce people flew a mechanic over! The mechanic repaired the car and flew back to England and left the man to continue his holiday. As you can imagine, the fellow was wondering, "How much is this going to cost me?" So when he got back to England, he wrote the people a letter and asked how much he owed them. He received a letter from the office that read: "Dear Sir: There is no record anywhere in our files that anything ever went wrong with a Rolls-Royce." That is justification.

That is what God sees when he looks at us – Jesus has covered our sins and they disappear as if they never were. God looks at us and says, “Betty, I don’t remember you ever sinning. John, there is no record anywhere that you sinned. Cleo, what are you talking about? You’re perfect.”

This means God chooses to regard and treat those sinners who believe in Jesus Christ as if they had not sinned, on the ground of the merits of the Savior. It is not mere pardon. Pardon is a free forgiveness of past offenses. It has reference to those sins as forgiven and blotted out. For example, when Christmas time comes around, it is common for the President to pass out pardons to criminals. They are given a free pass, saying that their debt is paid in full to society and they may go on their way. But when God justifies us, when we go back into society, no one knows that we are forgiven sinners because that sin disappears as if it never was. That’s powerful!

Think about that. God chooses to treat us as righteous people – as if we had never sinned. He does this because of his Son Jesus, because of his goodness and faithfulness and the blood he shed for us. Lent is the time to remember that we have been given more than a free pass; we have been given a whole new life. The past is gone forever! When we flog ourselves for past mistakes and sins, we have forgotten what Jesus has done for us. If God can forget your sins, why can’t you?

Why do you beat yourself up for the pain you’ve caused yourself and others? God doesn’t blame you any longer. God has forgotten all about your sins. And yet, I know many of you have worried or still worry about things that are long past. My grandmother is a wonderful woman and a good mom. But if you ask her what her biggest regret is she will immediately respond and say, “I feel like I should have been there more for my kids, but I worked all the time. And when I was there, I made them clean every Saturday morning and rarely let them relax and watch cartoons.” This plagues her. She can’t let it go.

Even though her family loves her, her children think the world of her – it sticks in her mind. God has forgotten this, her family has forgotten it, but she still uses this as a way to beat herself up. And we all do it. We all look back and talk about regrets, “If only.. if only”. You see, this is why Romans is so important because maybe if we all understand justification a little bit better, we can have some peace of mind. It doesn’t excuse our sins and the way we still behave, but it gives us a fresh start. More than a fresh start, it gives us a totally new beginning.

It is because of justification that the peace of God can rule in our lives. It is because of justification that believers can have assurance of salvation. It is the fact of justification that enables God to begin the process of sanctification—the process by which God makes us holy and sets us apart. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Jesus has taken our place and died in our stead; He has met the descending stroke of justice, which would have fallen on our own heads. He took the blame, he took the punishment and now it is like we never sinned at all. And because we become blameless, just as Jesus Christ is blameless, we are assured of our salvation.

I know these are big words. I know they can hurt your head when you read Romans, because they often hurt my head. However, they are important because they answer the question our OT scripture asks, “Is God with us or not?” This is a question that has been asked since the beginning of time because we’re scared. We’re scared we are out there all alone in the universe and that all we have is our past and present, that we have no future.

The Israelites were scared too. They were scared of dying in the desert. They actually felt as if being slaves might be better than being free there with Moses. Moses was frustrated and perhaps a little scared that all these people are about to turn on him and so he pleads to God, help me. And because God is God, he told Moses that if he strikes his staff against a rock, water will come out. Only God would have the courage to tell a frustrated and beleaguered man that hitting a rock with a stick will produce enough water for hundreds of people.

And on top of that, he tells Moses to go do this in front of everyone there. Imagine if it was you. You’d probably feel a little stupid, a little embarrassed as you walk out in front of everyone. They are glaring at you, muttering curses as you walk past because they think you have taken them on a fool’s journey in the middle of an unforgiving desert. They are getting scared thinking they are going to die and it is your entire fault. But God told you to walk up there, and you’ve been obedient so far so why not continue.

He tells you to strike the rock and the water will flow. He adds one more thing though. He says that he will be there with you. There’s the key, there’s the answer to that age old question we all ask. God tells Moses, I am there with you. If you believe in me, I will believe in you. What does Paul tell us about Jesus Christ? If you believe in Him, he will be with you. You will be justified, before God himself and you will have eternal life. And what happens next in Moses’ story? He strikes the rock with his staff, in the midst of God and the Israelites, and water flows from the rock. What happens in our own story as we take up our staff and follow Jesus – The Holy Spirit flows into us like water from a rock. The impossible made possible – our sins are wiped away as if they never were and we are assured that we have salvation because of Jesus Christ.

Nothing is impossible with God. Forgive yourself because God has forgiven you from the moment you believed in his Son. This is the Lenten journey we take. We remember Jesus’ sacrifice and what it means for all of us sitting here. We are forgiven. We are saved. Praise be to God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Amen.