Romans 5:8-11

8.But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9.Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
10.For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
11.And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

This passage amazes me. Romans 5:8 has got to be the most incredible statement I have ever read. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were yet sinners- enemies of God, going our own disgusting way, with no thought of love for God. But while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We had not done anything minutely worthy of His compassion, but God loved us so much that God in Christ died for us. “God demonstrates” communicates such a depth of meaning to me. God did not just feel or say, He acted out His love in the most passionate manner possible. He died for us.

This passage builds on the fact that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. By shedding His blood, He justified us. He took on our sin, and clothed us in His righteousness. Now then, because He justified us, we no longer have to fear the wrath of God. I think of an estranged father and child. The father has been angry with the child, but they become reconciled and their loving relationship is restored. Christ reconciled us to God. If God was passionate enough to reconcile us to Himself by His death while we were still sinners, we can have confidence that He will save us by His life. If God died for us while seeing our filthiness, we can be even more confident that He will save us now that He sees us as righteous!

And above all, now that we have been reconciled to God, we can have the joy of celebrating and adoring God through our Lord Jesus Christ because of this amazing work He has done for us.