At-One-Ment
The sermon emphasizes that the problem of evil can only be solved by God's power and love, and that the cross is the only way to salvation.
Selwyn Hughes emphasizes the significance of atonement through faith in Jesus' blood, highlighting that the core of religion is achieving at-one-ment with God. He stresses that Christianity uniquely addresses the problem of being out of sync with God by offering Jesus Christ as the solution, bridging the gap between sinners and a forgiving God. Hughes underscores that salvation is a divine task that only God could accomplish, as the presence of evil in the world necessitated a solution of God's caliber, culminating in the sacrifice of the cross.
Text
"God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood." (v. 25)
For reading & meditation:
Romans 3:21-31
Herbert Spencer, whom we quoted earlier, wrote: "The task of religion is at-one-ment: atonement. If it fails to do this it fails at the vital point." Its ritual may be beautiful, its sanctions may be ancient, its precepts may be good, but if it fails to bring men and women into correspondence with God it fails vitally and irretrievably. All else is useless, for if the problem of evil is ignored or passed over, we are like the person who dreams about and plans next year's happiness while an incurable disease is eating at his vitals. The wonderful distinctive of Christianity is this - Jesus Christ has done something about the problem of being out of correspondence with God. He puts the hand of a penitent sinner into the hand of a pardoning God. Because of the nature of the problem - the problem of evil - no other solution is possible. Salvation is a task which only God could engineer. As one theologian puts it: "It is a task worthy of God." The ancient Greek playwrights used to warn their students that when writing a tragedy they should not bring a god onto the stage unless there was an entanglement worthy of a god. The presence of evil in this world, I suggest, presents an entanglement worthy of God. But it is no mere stage affair. It is a tragic fact. To deliver men and women from evil was a problem that challenged God's power and made the deepest claim upon His love. The cross is the answer. If we don't take God's way of salvation, then nothing else will do.
Father, I rejoice that You have brought me to Your way -t he only way. Help the millions who strive to earn their salvation see that the penalty for sin has been fully paid. And all they have to do is humbly receive. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
Sermon Outline
- The Problem of Evil
- The Solution of God
- The Cross as the Answer
- The cross is the solution to the problem of evil
- The cross is the only way to salvation
Key Quotes
“The task of religion is at-one-ment: atonement. If it fails to do this it fails at the vital point.” — Selwyn Hughes
“The wonderful distinctive of Christianity is this - Jesus Christ has done something about the problem of being out of correspondence with God.” — Selwyn Hughes
“It is a task worthy of God.” — Selwyn Hughes
Application Points
- We must recognize that the problem of evil is a universal issue that no human solution can solve.
- We must humbly receive God's gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
- We must acknowledge that God's way is the only way to earn salvation.