Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we[ rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

My truck received hail damage to the extent it needed to go to the shop for a few weeks in 2023 for repairs, which totaled $12K. Fortunately, our cars are covered with insurance and the hassle of trying to get it in for repairs is minimized by the plan we have. The truck is now as good as new.

"Flowing from the Cross: Six Facets of Forgiveness" looks at forgiveness as the cornerstone of our faith. It's the "diamond" in the ring between God and us. God's saving grace flows from the cross to us, so we are "covered" in grace. Our sinful nature still exists, so life will have its moments as Paul notes. We are to expect suffering in life, from the toll that sin takes on us even in a forgiven state, until we eventually die. Paul, though, speaks about viewing our lives from a different perspective based on the faith we now have.

As Pastor Lincon Guerra noted yesterday in his sermon, we are now at peace with God because of the suffering poured out by His Son, which ultimately led to His death. He was raised from the dead and that victory over death is now something we enjoy being in faith. Paul notes this peace enables us to endure suffering which produces endurance, and that produces character which produces hope. Our hope given to us by our faith, a gift from the Spirit, does not disappoint us.

We are cleansed from the stain of our sin, and we are covered by Christ's suffering, death and resurrection. Our suffering eventually produces hope for us through faith in Christ.

Pray with me: Gracious Father, we thank you for the gift of faith produced in us by your Spirit. We pray that we grow that faith and share that life-saving faith with others, so they, too, may be covered by the grace we enjoy.