“If God is for us” (2)
[Romans 8:31-34]
Look at Romans 8:32 – “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Here, “His own son” refers to God the Son, the only begotten Son of God. The Father God sent His only begotten Son to this earth, and Jesus, the only begotten Son, came to this earth in obedience to the will of the Father God. Among the eight visions that the prophet Zechariah saw, the first was the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to the human world (Zech. 1:8). The vision he saw was of the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, standing [the word that the only begotten was standing three times (vv. 8, 10, 11)]. The Bible mainly depicts Jesus Christ sitting at the right hand of God (Mk. 16:19; Lk. 22:69; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3; 10:12; 12:2). But Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God before he was martyred (Acts 7:55). Jesus stood and helped his beloved Stephen because he was in trouble. Even now, Jesus helps the saints who are in trouble. Therefore, because God is for us like this, Satan and his minions who oppose us are bound to fail.
Romans 8:32 first half says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, ….” If we look at the Bible, we see that the Father God gave up someone other than His own son (it would not be a waste to give up someone else's child, not my own). Look at Isaiah 43:3 – “For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.” In saving Israel, the Holy God gave Egypt, Cush (Ethiopia), and Sheba (referring to the same region as Cush in a broad sense) as Israel's ransom. Here, “ransom” refers to something like a reward given in exchange for the life of the person being saved. God saved the Israelites by burying them in the Red Sea instead of the Egyptians (by destroying them) in saving the Israelites who had to die in the Red Sea. Look at Isaiah 43:4 – “Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.” The reason God saved the lives of the people of Israel by giving them up (by sacrificing them) (the Egyptians, the Cushians, and the Shebas) instead of the Israelites was because in God's eyes, the Israelites were precious and they were honored, and that God loved them. However, although God the Father spared his only begotten Son, He loved us and gave us to die on the cross for us to save us. We can know how the Father God loved and cared for the Son Jesus by looking at what the Father God said to His only begotten Son, Jesus, which He did not say to anyone: “and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased’” (Mt. 3:17); “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!’” (17:5) The Father God loves and cares for His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, so much that He said to his Son Jesus, “My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.” But in today's text, Romans 8:32, the Bible says that the Father God did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all. How is it that God the Father, who loves and delights in His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, is saying that He did not spare His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ? The meaning of the word “did not spare” here is “to give,” “to hand over,” “to give up,” and it means that God the Father gave the Son Jesus Christ to death on the cross. Because God the Father is for us (v. 31), for our salvation, He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, whom He loved and delighted in, to die on the cross, without delay, without any hesitation. Because His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, was forsaken by God the Father, we are forgiven by God.
In Genesis 22, we see a scene where God was testing Abraham. The test of God was, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you” (Gen. 22:1-2). At that time, Abraham did not hesitate and immediately got up early in the morning and obeyed God's word (vv. 3-10). Had Abraham hesitated at that time, or had he consulted with his wife Sarah, he would not have immediately obeyed God's word. When Abraham actually arrived at the place God had told him, he built an altar there, laid the wood, and bound his son Isaac, laid it on the wood on the altar, and reached out his hand, took the sword, and tried to seize the son (vv. 9-10). Then an angel of God called Abraham from heaven and stopped the slaughtering of Isaac (v. 11). and said this: “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (v. 12). Although Abraham knew that his only son Isaac was God's promised child (the seed of promise) (Rom. 9:8), and believed God’s promise through his son Isaac, “So shall your descendants be like the countless stars in heaven” (4:18) even in impossible circumstances, he obeyed God’s word (Gen. 22:2) and did not spare his son Isaac (v. 12) and reached out and took the sword to seize Isaac (v. 10). God the Father loves us so much that He did not spare His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to save us.
But the adversaries did not want to crucify Jesus. Among those adversaries were Jewish leaders. Look at Mark 14:1-2: “Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him; for they were saying, ‘Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people.’” The Jewish religious leaders, the chief priests and scribes, put it off, saying that they should not arrest and kill Jesus during the Passover feast for fear of causing a revolt. The reason was because they were afraid of the people (Lk. 22:1-2). Look at Luke 22:3-5: “And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them. They were glad and agreed to give him money.” But Satan sent Judas Iscariot to go to the religious leaders and give Jesus money. So, in the end, Jesus was crucified and put to death on the Passover. Another adversary was the Jews. When Jesus suffered and entered Jerusalem to die on the cross, the Jews exclaimed, “’Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest!’” (Mt. 21:9) They didn't want to crucify Jesus back then. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, was also an adversary. He didn't even try to kill Jesus, but rather let him go. The reason is because Pilate personally interrogated Jesus, but did not find the mortal sin in Jesus three times (Lk. 23:22). Also, Pilate, knowing that the high priests had betrayed Jesus because of jealousy (Mk. 15:10), tried to release the innocent Jesus. He tried to release Jesus by using the custom (v. 6) of releasing a prisoner as the people demanded of him at the Feast (even if he tried to release him by human compassion), but the high priests persuaded the crowd to release Barabbas (v. 11) and whip Jesus and handed him over to be crucified in order to satisfy the crowd (v. 15). Look at Luke 23:23 – “But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail.” Even the wife of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, did not want Jesus to be crucified. Look at Matthew 27:19 – “While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: ‘Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.’”
Satan used his minions to kill Jesus with God's permission. Satan could never have killed Jesus without God's permission. Look at John 10:17-18: “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. ‘No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again This commandment I received from My Father.’” Jesus has the power to lay down his life and the power to take it back, so how could Satan have killed him? Never! No matter how much Satan tried to attack Him, he could not kill Jesus. It was permitted only in the sovereignty of God, and it was possible only within the limits of God. The limit of that God is Genesis 3:15 (original gospel): “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” The Bible said that the only begotten Son Jesus Christ will bruise Satan in the head and Satan will bruise the heel of Jesus Christ. The result of this Satan's attack is John 19:30 – “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” Jesus Christ, who is God the Son, fulfilled the will of God the Father, Genesis 3:15. In other words, the Son, Jesus Christ, has completed the work of salvation by crushing Satan's head. God is so for us in this way and so in the work of our salvation, who can be against us (Rom. 8:31). Even the attack of the adversary was eventually used as a tool to accomplish God's will of salvation. Look at Acts 2:23 – “this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.” According to the will and foreknowledge of God, His only-begotten Son, Jesus, was given up to die on the cross. Thus, for our salvation, who were dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1), His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, was sacrificed on the cross as a ransom.
Therefore, our salvation is certain. Therefore, we have no choice but to have the assurance of salvation. Therefore, we should be fruitful, unwavering, and always striving for the Lord's work, giving thanks to God for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:57-58). Therefore, when we stand before the Lord, I hope and pray that the Lord will praise us, saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master” (Mt. 25:21).