Romans 5:1-5
Through Faith, We Have Peace with God (v. 1)
- Justified by faith
- Reconciled through Christ
Through Peace, We Have Access to God (v. 2)
- Standing in grace
- Rejoicing in hope
Through Access, We Have Hope in God (vv. 3-4)
- Tribulation
- Perseverence
- Character
- Hope
Through Hope, We Have Fullness from God (v. 5)
- Filled with the love of God – our confidence
- Filled with the Spirit of God – our comfort (John 16:5-11)
More to Consider
"God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on
Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way …. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there."
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Chippie the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over.
The problems began when Chippie's owner decided to clean Chippie's cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She'd barely said "hello" when "ssssopp!" Chippie got sucked in.
The bird owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippie -- still alive, but stunned.
Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held Chippie under the running water. Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do . . . she reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air.
Poor Chippie never knew what hit him.
A few days after the trauma, the reporter who'd initially written about the event contacted Chippie's owner to see how the bird was recovering. "Well," she replied, "Chippie doesn't sing much anymore -- he just sits and stares."
It's hard not to see why. Sucked in, washed up, and blown over . . . That's enough to steal the song from the stoutest heart.
Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm, Word Publishing, 1991, p. 11.
