The Shepherd’s Voice



The Shepherd’s Voice

“Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers…” 1 Peter 5:2

The Shepherd’s Voice is a periodic newsletter dedicated to keeping God’s people informed about relevant issues that may affect their lives. In addition to current events and concerns, we feature sound Theological and Doctrinal teachings in an effort to help equip believers here at Faith In Christ Fellowship Church. (J. Kelly)

The Atonement of Our Lord Jesus Christ –

Explained – In Romans 5:8-11 here is what we read concerning the Atonement…But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Here Paul the Apostle explains how God’s love was demonstrated for us…while we were still the enemies of God He reconciled us to Himself through the death of His Son.

Paul had said just prior to this that…Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man (that is—approved by God), though for a good man (that is—loved by men) someone might possibly dare to die (Rom 5:7). In other words, dying for another is not just something someone would do ordinarily. Yet God did. That’s the Atonement.

The word Atonement actually means “reconciliation.” And reconciliation means to settle or resolve hostilities between two parties. That’s what the Lord Jesus Christ did on the Cross. Man had been alienated from God by sin as Paul described in Romans 1:18-32. Man did not want to acknowledge God nor give thanks for His goodness. In fact, men suppressed the truth by their wickedness.

But in spite of this, God sent Jesus to die for just these types of people. And in another place (1 Cor 6:11) Paul the Apostle reminds us that we were among the wicked before we were washed and Sanctified and Justified in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

So, in the Atonement of Christ we see exhibited the…

Grace and Mercy of God – Heb 2:9…But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

The Love of God – 1 John 4:9-10…This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice (or propitiation) for our sins.

The Love of Christ – Gal 2:20…I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Christ gave Himself for us and because of His great sacrifice we who have trusted in Him by faith have been Justified in the sight of God. There are at least seven blessings that come as a result of our justification:

1. First, we have peace with God. In Isa 48:22 we read… "There is no peace," says the LORD, "for the wicked." But for the child of God Paul says. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1) Justification means that God declares us righteous, which is a declaration of peace, made possible by Christ’s death on the cross.

2. Next, we have access to God. Rom 5:2… …through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. Notice we “stand in grace.” Justification has to do with our standing before God, while Sanctification has to do with our state. The word access in Rom 5:2 means “entrance to the king through the favor of another.”

3. Third, we have a glorious hope. Rom 5:2b says, And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. This means, of course, that one day we will be with Christ in glory. Before we were saved we had no hope. Now our hope is eternal and since the Lord Jesus has promised to take us “to be with Him.” And the Apostle Peter tells us that we should…Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that [we have] (1 Pet 3:15).

4. The fourth blessing is Christian Character. For Paul says, we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope (Rom 5:3-4). The sequence is: tribulation—patience—character—hope. One commentator observes: “Our English word “tribulation” comes from a Latin word tribulum. In Paul’s day, a tribulum was a heavy piece of timber with spikes in it, used for threshing the grain. The tribulum was drawn over the grain and it separated the wheat from the chaff. As we go through tribulations, and depend on God’s grace, the trials only purify us and help to get rid of the chaff.”[1]

5. The fifth blessing is the Love of God within us. Romans 5:5b says, God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. In contrast to this we read in Prov 13:12 that…Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Hope and love go together and it is only through the Holy Spirit that is poured out in our hearts that we enjoy both. Thus our hearts can rejoice as we trust in God’s unfailing love.

6. Another blessing is our Salvation from God’s Wrath. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! (Rom 5:9) The Bible makes it clear that the wrath of God is coming (1 Thess 1:10). But the child of God need not fear, because our transgressions are forgiven and our sins are covered (Rom 4:7).

7. And the final blessing we see here in Romans 5, is found in verse 11, which brings us back where we began with reconciliation…we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. And this was all made possible because of the Substitutionary Atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise His Name!

Future Church Family Events

There will be a Sunrise Service followed by a full breakfast on Easter Sunday, April 24th.

The regular Easter Sunday Service will be held at our usual time of 10:00 am

Our Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday May 1st, immediately following the morning Service.

Our first Vacation Bible School will be held on July 20, 21, & 22. Our Church Picnic will follow VBS on Saturday July 24th.

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[1] Warren Wiersbe on Romans

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