“For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17)
The news these days is filled with stories of people filled with despair. Some try to cope with this feeling by engaging in violence against other people, inflicting suffering and grief on thousands of people just going about their daily lives. Many others lash out at the system with protests, bitter rhetoric, lawsuits, and media campaigns. Many engage in debauchery and substance abuse. Others seek to change their identity, sometimes using drastic means. These all eventually discover that their coping mechanisms will not alleviate their despair. Sadly, many in despair eventually opt for suicide.
Those in despair have turned their back on the Lord Jesus Christ. Many of them feel that God is angry with them. When people think God is angry at them, that He has condemned and abandoned them, they have fallen for the lie of Satan that says God is deceitful, that God does not love them.
Christians have the means to battle against despair, weapons which are also effective in battling temptation and sin. God Himself arms us with faith and His Word. In Romans 5, the Apostle Paul assures us that God’s love reaches out to us to enable us to trust and hope in Him. He tells us that the essence of God’s grace is that Christ died to justify us, to make us righteous so that we may be saved from His just wrath against sin. We do not deserve His grace because we were His enemies, alienated from and hostile to Him. Even so, God sent Jesus to die for us. There was nothing worthy or desirable in us, yet He loved us so much that He showered His grace on us and reconciled us to Himself.
This is the news we must tell others in despair, the news that God loves them. We are called to share God’s grace and pour it out upon others as the Lord has poured it out on us. This is so that all may know the truth and come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who has bought us reconciliation with His own blood.