"If God is for Us" (2)

[Romans 8:31-34]

Let’s look at Romans 8:32: "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"  Here, "His own Son" refers to God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. God the Father sent His only Son to this earth, and the only Son, Jesus, came in obedience to the will of His Father. In the eight visions that the prophet Zechariah saw, the first vision was of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, coming into the human world (Zechariah 1:8). The vision Zechariah saw was of the only Son of God, Jesus Christ, standing [this image of the Son standing is mentioned three times in verses 8, 10, 11].  Usually, the Bible describes Jesus Christ as sitting at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19; Luke 22:69; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; 10:12; 12:2), but Stephen, before his martyrdom, saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55). Jesus stood up because His beloved Stephen was going through difficulties, and He stood to help him. Even now, Jesus continues to help His saints who are suffering. Therefore, since God is for us, Satan and his minions must fail.

In the first part of Romans 8:32, it says, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all..." In the Bible, we see instances where God the Father gave up someone who was not His own Son (if it were not my own child, I would not feel the same sense of loss in giving them up). Let’s look at Isaiah 43:3: "For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place" (Modern Bible version: "I am your God, the Lord, and the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. To set you free, I gave Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba as your ransom").  In this case, the Holy God gave Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba as a ransom for Israel, meaning He sacrificed these nations to save the people of Israel. "Ransom" here means something given in exchange for the life of someone who is to be saved. God saved the Israelites, who were about to perish in the Red Sea, by drowning the Egyptians in the sea (destroying them completely) to save the Israelites.

Let’s also look at Isaiah 43:4: "Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you; therefore, I will give men for you, and people for your life" (Modern Bible version: "I consider you precious and valuable, and I love you, so I will sacrifice other nations to save your life").  God saved the lives of the Israelites by giving people in their place (the Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Sebans), because the Israelites were precious and beloved in God’s eyes. However, despite the Father’s great love for His only Son, He gave Him up to die on the cross for us in order to save us.

How can we know just how much God the Father loved and cherished His Son, Jesus Christ? We can see it in the words the Father spoke to the Son, words He never spoke to anyone else: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17); "While He was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!'" (Matthew 17:5).  God the Father expressed His deep love and affection for His only Son, Jesus Christ, calling Him "My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Yet in Romans 8:32, the Bible says that God the Father did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for all of us. How could the Father, who loved and delighted in His beloved Son, not spare Him?

The phrase "did not spare" means "to give," "to deliver," or "to let go." This means that God the Father delivered His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross, without hesitation or delay. The Father, who loved and cherished His only Son, freely gave Him up to die for our salvation.

Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, was forsaken by the Father (forsaken by God), so that we might be forgiven by God (forgiven by God).

In the Old Testament, in Genesis 22, we find the scene where God tests Abraham.
God’s test was this: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you” (Genesis 22:1-2). At that time, Abraham did not hesitate or delay; he immediately got up early in the morning and obeyed the word of God (verses 3-10).
Had Abraham hesitated or discussed the matter with his wife Sarah, he would not have immediately obeyed God’s command. Abraham actually went to the place that God had told him about, built an altar there, arranged the wood, bound his son Isaac, and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. He then reached out his hand, took the knife, and was about to sacrifice his son (verses 9-10). At that moment, the angel of God called from heaven and stopped him from sacrificing Isaac (verse 11).
The angel said: “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son” (verse 12). Abraham knew that his son Isaac was the child of the promise of God (the seed of the promise) (Romans 9:8), and that through Isaac, God had promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky, saying, “So shall your descendants be” (Genesis 15:5). Even in what seemed like an impossible situation, Abraham believed that promise (Romans 4:18, modern version). Yet, despite all this, Abraham obeyed God’s command (Genesis 22:2), did not withhold his son (verse 12), and extended his hand to take the knife, intending to sacrifice his son (verse 10).
God the Father loved us so much that He did not withhold His only Son, Jesus Christ, but gave Him to die on the cross for our salvation.

However, the enemies tried to prevent Jesus from being crucified. Among these enemies were the Jewish leaders. Let’s look at Mark 14:1-2: “After two days it will be the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death. But they said, ‘Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people.’” The Jewish religious leaders, the chief priests and the scribes, delayed arresting and killing Jesus during the Passover feast, fearing that a riot might break out. The reason for this was that they were “afraid of the people” (Luke 22:1-2).
Let’s look at Luke 22:3-5: “Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.” Satan entered Judas and used him to go to the religious leaders and agree to betray Jesus for money. In the end, they had Jesus crucified during the Passover.

Another group of enemies were the Jewish people themselves. When Jesus entered Jerusalem to suffer and die on the cross, the Jews shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! The King of Israel!” (John 12:13). At that time, they did not want to crucify Jesus.
Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, was also an enemy. However, he did not want to kill Jesus; he actually tried to release Him. The reason for this was that Pilate could find no fault in Jesus after questioning Him three times (Luke 23:22). Furthermore, Pilate knew that the chief priests had handed Jesus over out of envy (Mark 15:10), and he tried to set Jesus free. Pilate used the custom of releasing one prisoner during the feast (Luke 23:16), hoping that the crowd would ask for Jesus to be released. However, the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask for Barabbas instead (Mark 15:11). To please the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas and handed Jesus over to be scourged and crucified (Mark 15:15).
Let’s look at Luke 23:23: “But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of the people prevailed.”

Pilate’s wife also did not want Jesus to be crucified. Let’s look at Matthew 27:19: “While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, ‘Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.’”

Satan used his followers to kill Jesus under God's permission.
Satan could never have killed Jesus without God's permission. Look at John 10:17-18: “The Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” Jesus has the authority to lay down His life and to take it again, so how could Satan kill Jesus? It was absolutely impossible. No matter how much power Satan used to attack, he could not kill Jesus. It was only allowed within the sovereignty of God and could only happen within God's limits. These limits are found in Genesis 3:15 (the protoevangelium): "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." The only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, would bruise Satan's head, and Satan would bruise the heel of Jesus Christ. The limit given to Satan was to bruise the heel of the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. The result of this attack from Satan is found in John 19:30: "So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, 'It is finished!' And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit." Jesus Christ, the Son of God, fulfilled the will of God the Father as it is written in Genesis 3:15. In other words, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, completed the work of salvation by bruising Satan’s head.
Since God is so committed to our salvation, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31).
Even the attacks of our enemies ultimately became instruments used to fulfill God's purpose of salvation. Look at Acts 2:23: “Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death” [(Modern Bible Translation) “This Jesus was delivered according to the plan of God that He knew beforehand, and you crucified Him by the hands of wicked men.”]
According to the determined will and foreknowledge of God, the only-begotten Son, Jesus, was delivered to die on the cross. Thus, for our salvation, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son, was delivered as a ransom to die on the cross for our sins, those of us who were dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).

Therefore, our salvation is certain.
We must have the assurance of our salvation. Therefore, we should be thankful to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, and always abound in His work, knowing that our labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:57-58).
Thus, when we all stand before the Lord, we hope to hear from Him, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things; enter into the joy of your lord" (Matthew 25:21).