One of the most anticipated moments in a teenager’s life is
when they get their driver’s license. They count down the months and days,
excited to pass the exam and get their card. Why? You remember, right? It’s one
of the biggest steps toward adulthood, and it carries with it a sense of
freedom!
Once obtained, they can drive themselves to school, to
practice, to work, to youth group and to their friend’s house. As they prove
themselves responsible, parents give more and more freedom to their young
drivers.
I remember when my parents let me go to Canada with two of my
friends from church. Our plan was to drive up to the Canadian side of Niagara
Falls, stay the night, and come back home. We listened to Five Iron Frenzy’s “O
Canada” song on repeat the majority of the trip!
Freedom and friendship, those are the values that make a
road trip amazing. Getting that license, the keys and the car open up so many
possibilities. Having a friend with you makes it even better. (Of course, we
aren’t talking about speed limits, gas prices, and insurance in this story.)
As we conclude our Road Trip through the Romans Road to
Salvation, I want you to notice that we are not going to end at our final
destination. But before we get into far, let’s review.
The Bible tells the story of the Gospel, the Good News of
who God is, what He has done, and what He promises to do. Paul says this about
the Gospel,
“16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it
is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is
revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by
faith.” Romans 1:16–17
We are on the Gospel Road Trip, and the first sign we see is
Righteousness.
The Gospel is so powerful that it can transform any enemy
who will believe in Jesus, into a friend of Jesus’. It’s an open invitation to
all who will believe. The Gospel also reveals the righteousness of the Creator
God.
Revealing who God is does two things: shows His holiness and
shines a light on our depravity. The Gospel does this. The clearer picture of
God we see, the more we will see our own sinfulness. In reality, before the
good news gets good, it starts with the bad. Don’t you like to get the bad news
first? Then the good news can make up for it.
Bad News: We are all sinners (Romans 3:23) and the penalty
for our sin is death (Romans 6:23). The even worse news is that we cannot do
anything about it. We are stuck.
The second road sign we see is Redemption.
The Righteous God is also a loving and merciful God. He saw
our desperate position and moved toward us in His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus came
into the world, lived a perfect, sinless life in complete fulfillment of the
Law. Then He showed His love for us in the most extravagant way: “but God shows
his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”
(Romans 5:8).
Jesus took our place on the cross and offers us a free gift
of eternal life (Romans 6:23).
Then we arrived at a Fork
in the Road.
At this point, you are forced to choose which way you will
go. The options are to reject the first two signs and keep doing what you are
doing and travel the wide way that leads to death. The second choice is to
believe that Jesus rose from the dead and confess Him as Lord (Romans 10:9-10)
and you will be on the road of life with Jesus.
The choice is yours. It comes down to this, do you believe
that Jesus is who He says He is, that He has done what He said He would do, and
that He will do what He promises to do? Will you follow Jesus on the road of
life?
Freedom Road
Hearing the Gospel is like getting the keys (Romans 10:17).
When you hear about the Righteousness of God and the Redemption He has to
offer, and you believe it and confess it, you are on Freedom Road that leads to
life. You are on the road following after Jesus. And tonight we are going to
look at a few of the promises from God’s Word about what that means.
So, what makes a good road trip? Freedom and friendship!
Listen to this,
“Therefore, since we
have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ.” Romans 5:1
What back to week 1, we learned that we are sinners and that
means we are enemies with God. We learned that sin results in death. Here we
see the Good News that when we have faith in Jesus we now have peace with God!
You catch that? You, who were once an enemy of Jesus, having
placed your faith in Jesus, are now friends with Jesus!
Freedom and friendship! On this Road Trip of life, you can
be on Freedom Road with Jesus by your side! But wait, there is more…
“There is therefore
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1
What does it mean to stand condemned before God? It means
judgment and shame. But in Christ Jesus, there is no more condemnation. No more
shame. Listen, the Gospel means freedom, the Gospel means Jesus carried your
burden, the Gospel means you don’t have to prove yourself. Jesus finished it.
He paid it. He has set you free!
When you begin your faith journey with Jesus, you are made
friends with Christ and you are set free from condemnation and the bondage to
sin. Jesus promises to be with you along the road (Hebrews 13:5).
It’s important to know that Jesus never promises that the
Road to Life on the Freedom Road will always be easy. As a matter of fact, He
tells us there will be hard times of suffering and even persecution. But He won’t
leave us alone, and we need to remember that He has already traveled the road
before us.
“For I consider that
the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that
is to be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18
The confidence that we have is this, that no matter how hard
this life gets it can never compare to what God has in store for us upon
arriving at our final destination. Right now, we are travelers on the Road of
Life heading home, but one day we will be with Jesus in Heaven.
As we travel, the road will seem dark and difficult at
times. At times, we will hit some bumps, get some bruises, and even forget what
road we are on. These are the doubts we will struggle with, the heartaches we
will face, the dry times we will go through. The temptations will come, but we
must keep our eyes on the promises of Jesus:
“37No, in
all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For
I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things
present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37–39
Now that you are on a Road Trip with Jesus on the Road to Life,
you are safe and secure, for He will never leave you, and He will not let
anything separate you from Him. Since He has traveled the road ahead of you, He
knows what it takes to make it, He knows how to lead you to your greatest joy.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they
may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10
If you find that you are stuck at the Fork in the Road,
choose Jesus, He has provided the way to Life and He will lead you home.
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