The Just Justifier

The message was brought by Rev. Eddie Foster on January 26, 2025.

Romans 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Let’s go to Calvary. From a biblical standpoint, Calvary is the center of the world. The hub of why we’re here. The center of all things.  Review the words of songs like “At Calvary” or “There is a Fountain” and see its importance. Thank God for Calvary. I’m thankful Jesus was willing to come to give us salvation’s plan.  Calvary:  a man died there. So what?  Many died there. A cross was a common means of death at that time.  But one day it was different.  Let’s look at it.

Why did God make man even though he knew man would sin?  God wanted someone to fellowship with. I believe he was lonely for fellowship. We are fearfully and wonderfully made–the Bible tells us that. We weren’t made to sin but to fellowship with God. That was the divine purpose of our creation.

Why did God let man sin?  Could he have stopped it?  Sure, he could. He chose to make us as he did. In turn, we choose to sin or choose to love God. He wanted us to choose him. My wife chose to love me, and I’m glad she did. That’s what God wants.  How happy he must have been to have fellowship in the Garden with Adam and Eve. One day it was different. They gave their heart to someone else. They followed Satan.  Wait a minute, preacher.  No.  Look. There is no in between.  You can’t serve God and the devil. They chose the devil that day when they disobeyed what God said. It broke the heart of God.

Why did God not just forget it? God is just. He’ll always do what’s right. He killed an animal to cover Adam and Eve.  Something died.  Being a just God, he must punish sin. He’ll forgive us, but we must ask. Get serious about your sin.

Why not let man just go to hell?  Again, he would have been just in doing so. As a teenager, did your dad ever bail you out of a bad situation? My dad was very strict. In those days it wasn’t common to hear “I love you” from parents. But saying “I love you” all day long won’t matter if it’s not shown. One day I did something pretty bad, but dad came to my rescue. I knew he loved me that day. God could have condemned us all to hell, but he doesn’t want anyone to go there. He wants all to be saved. He gave us a plan–Jesus so that we don’t have to go there. Calvary is the plan.

What did God do to keep us out of hell?  Hell is a place of constant pain. The story of the rich man in hell tells us that he had some sort of body there and it felt pain. He said he was tormented in the flames.  It’s hard to deal with pain. Calvary relieved the pain. By God’s grace, we don’t have to go to hell. It’s also a place of memory. The rich man had memory. Anyone who goes to hell will remember the opportunities they had to escape but didn’t take. To go to hell from the Bible Belt would be a horrible thing.  The rich man also showed us that hell is a place of thirst. In the flames he desired a drop of water to cool his tongue. It’s also a place of eternal separation from loved ones who chose God and were saved. You’ll never see loved ones who were saved. On the cross Jesus cried out asking God why he had forsaken him. What did that mean? At that point God turned his back while his son suffered hell for us.

Sin has to be paid for. By you or someone else. A priest can’t do it. A preacher can’t do it. The Church can’t do it. People aren’t sinless substitutes. That was the requirement. Only Jesus was perfect and sinless–spotless. We can be right with God because of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. He bore our sins. You can try to bear your own sins or let Jesus take them. I asked him to bear mine and he put them under the blood of Jesus that was shed on Calvary. Because of our sin we are separated from God. Jesus allowed himself to be separated from the Father. He suffered our hell.  He did all this so we don’t have to be separated, so we don’t have to go to hell. He willingly took our hell for us. He did it because he saw our need for forgiveness. Now we can escape hell because Jesus has already gone there for us.  He is the just justifier.

Your sin debt is paid in full.  Jesus paid it at Calvary. Trust him now or suffer in hell because you rejected his offer of salvation.  I’m glad I allowed Jesus Christ to save me.  You can do that too!