Everyone loves a good love story. And all good stories, and especially all good love stories, have a moment of tension or uncertainty when all could be lost. We love stories of people being pursued and loved against all odds. Or stories of an epic hero or champion fighting to protect those they love. An orphan girl finding out who her real father is after a lifetime of feeling abandoned. A last minute rush to the airport as the girl is about to fly away forever. The guy seeming to end up with the wrong girl all the way up to the altar. Every good love story has a moment where it seems like it all could fall apart. Last week, in the first verses of Romans 5, we got a picture of one of the greatest acts of love of all time: “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The bride in this love story was not beautiful, but marred and scarred by a lifetime of sin. In fact, she was living as an enemy of the one who loved her: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.” The Champion in this story comes to save His enemy. And this morning in the verses that follow, the author of Romans takes us back to how that love story began. When all was held in the balance, and when all appeared lost.
