Atonement

The Boomerang of Justice

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Have you ever been wronged?

A question like this opens a floodgate of memories and emotions for many of us. Scars ache as we unravel the mental note that lists our offenders. We see their faces, hear their names, and remember how they made us feel in those dark times. Sadness turns to anger. Anger to contempt.

We all share this experience. We have all been wronged, and usually, it’s not hard to recite those instances because of the deep wounds they leave behind.

But the wounds we sustain are often felt more than the wounds we inflict.

Everyone who has been wronged has also done wrong. This is common ground we aren’t as quick to discuss.

Most of us would feel a bit awkward if asked about a time we wronged someone. If we’re honest, we struggle with that notion. Many will remember somebody being hurt by something they did or said, but this recognition is handcuffed to a caveat or justification of why it was an overreaction. Perhaps we see the conceit in claiming perfect innocence, so we try and come up with something “respectable” to show that we are self-aware but far from the criminal on the news.

The fact that we are wrongdoers doesn’t invalidate or silence the call for justice for what we have suffered. The wrongs we have done do, however, issue their own cry for justice.

Thus, we are not simply plaintiffs in this life with a pile of cases against our offenders. We are also defendants for whom there is a line of people out the courthouse doors ready to make their case against us.

This realization ought to be a wake-up call. The retribution price we rightly desire from others is a boomerang that comes right back for us.

That’s not the worst of it, though. We know that there are right and wrong present in this world only because of the One who has given us a conscience to detect them. So, our crimes are not only against the created but much more so against their Creator.

It is here where the impossibly dense weight of the cost we each owe is felt. A sinner sinning against a sinner is one thing. But one sinning against the sinless creator God? Surely, there is no payment they can make to adequately level the scales of justice. What they need is atonement.

Atonement is a strong word. It washes away the cosmetic deceit from the hideous face of sin. Biblical atonement demands death. Only death and torment, of the physical body and the eternal soul, atone for something so opposed to God and His holiness as sin. These cover what true justice says is lacking when any crime against the Almighty and His creation is committed.

Atonement means somebody dies because of sin – but not the sinner. Justice will be served – but not by the guilty.

Leviticus 16 describes a process God put in place in ancient Israel to provide grace and justice simultaneously. As Aaron, the first priest, approached God in the Holy of Holies to make atonement each year, he deserved to die for his sin. The people whom he represented deserved to die for their sins. Yet, it was the blood of an unblemished bull that Aaron presented for himself and the blood of an unblemished goat that he presented for the people of Israel that satisfied God’s wrath.

In His grace, God instructed Aaron and all the other priests after him to sprinkle the blood of these spotless animals on what He called the mercy seat. But one priest was different. He needed no bull blood. He had no sin of his own to atone. It was His righteous blood that the bulls and goats pointed towards. They were merely a placeholder until He arrived.

Jesus, the great high priest, shed His spotless blood for the sins of the world. That includes both the wrongs done to you and the wrongs that you have done.

God presents Him to be received by faith, as a gift.

He offers not only a better way to live, or an example to follow. He offers Himself. And in Himself, everlasting life, the forgiveness of sins.

Your sin means you deserve death and hell. But Jesus, in His death and resurrection, delivers your atonement. Your living hope, the anchor for your soul.

Have you received Him?

Check out the texts below for more!

Leviticus 16

Hebrews 9:11-28

Romans 3

Voices

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We live in a noisy world.

Billions of voices fill it.

The volume of worldviews and ideologies we encounter each day hums in our minds like voices in a packed stadium.

To hear the friend seated next to us at a game, we must stick our ears as close to their mouths as possible. Especially if you’re in Philadelphia! The same holds true when attempting to discern truth in a world filled with alternative voices.

Its easy to grow weary and become bogged down with complex questions. I’ve been there. Does the quantity of perspectives and beliefs mean there can’t be one correct one? Is it being arrogant to assert your belief as true? Is it the loudness or popularity of a voice that makes it accurate?

As the noise level rises, it doesn’t necessarily matter how disciplined your mind is or how dialed in your ears. The noise of this world will confuse, destroy, and intimidate those who call it home.

Everyone has beliefs. A belief, by definition, is something one holds to be true. It seems asserting your beliefs only becomes arrogant when someone else’s belief disagrees. Not everyone will literally come out and say this, but when we have a belief we long to convince others to accept, we say in our hearts:

“Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

Ironically, the same can be said of the belief that holds there is no absolute truth because everything is equally true. That belief is self-defeating because it relies upon the very thing it says doesn’t exist to survive and be accepted. Centuries of history show how popular opinion shifts and something held as true for centuries, such as the a geocentric view of the universe, can be proven false by a quiet minority.

So why is it when Jesus of Nazareth says,

“Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

we respond like Pilate, who asked,

“What is truth?”

In one breath we fight for truth and hold unswervingly to our definition of what is true. In another, we ignore the highly veracious accounts of Jesus’ life and join Pilate in asking,

“What is truth?”

In the book of John, Jesus describes Himself as the “good shepherd” who cares for His sheep. He does so by tending to their needs, even to the point of laying His life down for them. Despite such beautiful statements of His love for sinners, another central focus of the text is seen through repeated mentions of the shepherd’s voice. The sheep hear the shepherd’s voice and follow it because they know His voice. Others come and try to speak to the sheep but they don’t know those voices, so they don’t follow them.

In our noisy world, the voice of Jesus should be the one we lean in to hear like we do with our friends at an Eagles game. The one who claims doing so would be arrogant or narrow-minded should evaluate their treatment of what they believe.

We often long for the audible voice of God to come thunder to us and eliminate all need for faith; the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. God’s voice has graced human ears before as recorded by the Apostle Peter:

“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.”

2 Peter 1:16-18

God the Father only speaks audibly to humans three times in the accounts of Jesus’ life. Two of the three times, He tells man that Jesus is his Son as Peter describes above. Jesus, as the Son, came to die in your place for the offenses stemming from your heart and committed against God. It’s this heart condition that alienates us from God and it’s faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus alone that brings us near and into the Good Shepherd’s fold.

You’ll hear many voices that say otherwise. The deceitfulness of that rebellion will sound enticing. Unbelief might sound more practical. Rejection might sound liberating.

However, if you take the time to open His word and listen to His voice, you just might find yourself to be “of the truth.”

Everyone is listening to someone.

Who better to then the King of the universe?

Scripture References:

John 10 – I am the Good Shepherd

John 18:37-38 – Jesus and Pilate’s exchange about truth

Matthew 3:17 & Matthew 17:5 – God speaks about Jesus

1 Corinthians 15:3 – Christ came to die for your sins

Matthew 15:18-20 – Sin comes from a mans heart and separates us from God

Ephesians 2:13 – Faith in Christ’s blood atonement brings you near to God

The Empty Cup

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There stands a cup

Brimming with wrath

A bitter, foaming wine

Fills the glass

A concoction so strong

One sip is deadly

Yet down to the dregs

Will the wicked drink this medley

We pour the cup

Swirling it under our noses

When we worship ourselves

And reject the God of Moses

“Wake up! Wake up!”

God’s servant Isaiah cried

“This drunkenness is not of wine

But judgement of the Divine”

“Hear the Word of the LORD,”

Jeremiah wept

“To drink is not a choice

It is your very debt”

These warnings to Israel

Extend to all mankind

For there are none righteous

All must drink this wine

Yahweh Almighty,

Perfect, holy, and true

No sin will He leave unpunished

All receive rebuke

He is the God of justice

alone defining its terms

All who reject Him

He will also spurn

This is the cup of staggering

Of fire, sulfur, and wind

No man can drink and live

Unless He be without sin

This leaves only one

Jesus, the Son of Man

Who lived a blameless life

And became our spotless lamb

The Father handed Him the cup

The one that stood before each of us

The weight of the world’s sin

Upon Messiah thrust

In agony he prayed

That the cup be taken from Him

Yet surrendered to His Father’s will

As He was beaten limb from limb

The one who raised the dead

The one who healed the blind

The one who freed the possessed

Was mocked and criminally maligned

He heard every word

And read every thought

Still, He pleaded their case

“Forgive them! What they do, they know not”

Each sip brought more misery

God’s just punishment of iniquity

And with one big swig

Cried “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

His lips trembled

As they released from the cup

He said “It is finished”

Every last drop

Darkness covered the land

Rocks split and crumbled

The temple curtain tore in two

As the city rumbled

His lifeless body hung

From the bloody splintered wood

Those watching beat their chests

And departed from where they stood

Some followers buried His corpse

And tightly wrapped it in linen

But then after three days

Heard reports that He had risen

The Marys and Salome

Visited the tomb

And the words of an angel

Made joy out of their gloom

“Why do you look for the living

The living among the dead?

For your LORD has risen

He’s risen just as He said!”

Christ appeared to many

Even those who doubted

“See my hands, touch my side”

He mercifully propounded

He explained the cup of wrath

Had been consumed once for all

When He died and rose again

And answered His Father’s call

Now a cup of blessing replaces

That which brought condemnation

For those who believe in Him

And come to Jesus for salvation

For their new cup is His blood

His body, their bread

Christ is now the very life

Of those who believe what He’s said

Judgement replaced with blessing

Guilt replaced with peace

Grace instead of wrath

Alive instead of deceased

Come to Jesus Christ

Who drank the cup for you

Repent and receive

The one who makes you new

Your heart is His prize

The soul He Himself made

The price of His blood

Was one for you He paid

Rebel from your rebellion

Lift your cross, take it up

Come and worship the one

Who emptied your cup

Scripture References:

Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.” Jeremiah 25:15

“And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink!” Jeremiah 25:28

For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs. Psalm 75:8

Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. Psalm 11:6


Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering. Isaiah 51:17

Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people: “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more; and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to pass over.” Isaiah 51:22-23

For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations shall drink continually; they shall drink and swallow, and shall be as though they had never been. Obadiah 16

Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” Matthew 20:22-23

And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:39

Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Matthew 26:42

Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” Mark 10:38-40

And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Mark 14:36

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Mark 14:23-25

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Luke 22:42-44

So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” John 18:11

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” 1 Corinthians 10:16

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 1 Corinthians 10:21

Flow

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As clouds drift through the sky
So the river of God flows
Waters of peace
Satiate once parched souls

From Eden’s garden
To the Lamb on the throne
His living water springs
In those fully known

Why go to the dry riverbeds?
Why fill your pail with dust?
When the Almighty God calls
It’s His well or bust

Draw from the reservoir of Jesus
Believe, trust, obey
The suffering servant who ascended
After the third day

It’s his blood that flowed
For the blood guilt we carry
Judgement passes over my door
To Christ I am married

Dive in and swim
To the One who is faithful
Bring your questions, bring your skepticism
He is more than capable

Leave your pride at the bank
And with it your “righteousness”
Those will sink you
And keep you from his Highness

Come to Him now
While the river flows
Judgement is real
Don’t be lulled into comatose

Aphthartos, Amiantos, Amarantos

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What do you truly have?

It’s a question concerned with possession or affiliation. We frequently use the word “have” to describe our relationship to something. There are a variety of subjects in which we kick off our discourse with the words “I have.” Family. Employment. Romantic relationships. Material possessions. Wealth. The list goes on.

But do you truly have any of these things? This is a question that’s been heavily on my mind of late. I am not questioning the basic fact of relation or possession. I am more concerned with the longevity of that relationship. The things we comfortably say are ours – will they always be?

Shockingly, the answer is no for everything listed above. Think about it. A tree limb may fall on your car and total it in a matter of seconds. Your 401k account could be depleted in a single day of trading. You can lose your job at any time. Most tragically, those you love the most could perish in the blink of an eye. Every one of these things in a literal sense, are perishable.

Consider your very life. You can and will “lose” your possession of it.

This certainly isn’t a pleasant thought. Just the idea of losing these things breed our most paralyzing fears. This can drive us to several different places. To remedy the thought of losing something near and dear to us we may hold on to it so tightly so that it can’t conceivably be taken from us. Or maybe to save ourselves from any hurt, we don’t get attached to things and keep our distance. I think many of us fall somewhere in the middle, however. We try to “live life to the fullest” and go with the flow. But, if we’re honest, the fact that all things are temporary is a source of agony deep within our hearts.

It is here that we can begin to see the majesty of God’s promises in Jesus Christ. Through some simple comparing and contrasting, we see that there is something different about God’s promise of salvation and restoration in Jesus. I find the words of Peter in his first letter particularly encouraging:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” – 1 Peter 1: 3-5

Peter uses three adjectives to describe the “inheritance” a believer in Jesus is given through His death and resurrection. The first is imperishable or aphthartos in Greek. This word is often used to describe something that is not liable to decay or corruption. The next is undefiled or amiantos which often speaks to being free from natural deformation or the impairment of power. The last is unfading or amarantos. The main idea is something that is not simply long lasting but a thing that can’t cease to exist in any capacity. This word is also used to describe a certain type of flower that blooms every year. We know them as perennials!

The hope believers in Jesus have is alive as Peter states because it is in the one who rose from the dead after offering Himself as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. He lives and so does our hope. We have this hope not because we toiled long and hard to take possession of it. Rather, we have this because it has been given to us. A gift from God. It anchors the soul of the born-again believer.

Woefully, the hope those who reject Jesus have is dead and false. It is in things that perish. While they may be visible, they are not eternal. They are not sworn on by the Most High as He has His promised salvation through Christ’s blood. We were made to need the true, living, everlasting God. Anything that falls short of Him is no possession at all.

Imperishable, undefiled, unfading. Is there anything we know that can be described in such ways? To the praise of God alone, the only one thing I have to my name qualifies. That is the promise of salvation through Jesus Christ, my living hope. This promise is for you too. Come to Him.

Scripture References:

1 Peter 1: 3-5 – Imperishable, undefiled, unfading

1 Peter 1:18-19 – Redemption with the imperishable & precious blood of Christ

Hebrews 6:13-20 – The highest oath, an anchor for our souls.

Matthew 24:35 – God’s words will never pass away

Romans 8:35,38-39 – What shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Thirsty

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In northern Chile rests a place so dry, that it has been used by NASA to test instruments for future Mars missions. Mars on earth is the Atacama Desert, also known as the driest place on earth. A small number of organisms can live within its expanse, but certain parts are completely uninhabitable.

It almost never rains in the Atacama. Some researchers believe that there was not any “significant” rainfall between 1570 to 1971. In other words, if you thought your hands were dry after all that hand washing to prevent COVID-19, this desert puts the definition of dry into perspective.

Here in Pennsylvania, we live in what is classified as a humid continental climate with hot humid summers and cold winters. Seldom is our soil arid. In fact, I think we here in Southeastern PA must have received about ten times the amount of rainfall this past week than the Atacama has in decades!

This area is one with streams of fresh, natural spring water travelling through blossoming, early-spring banks. Fishing is one of my favorite springtime activities and while I love the thrill of getting a hit on my line, it’s a great excuse to spend an afternoon outside soaking in the beauty of creation.

When streams run dry, however, life itself is not far behind. Those living near the Atacama know this well. It will only be a matter of days till the living beings that once depended on the water source shrivel up just like the cracked soil where life giving water once flowed.

During certain seasons of our lives, a similar dehydration takes place deep within us. Where vigorous life once dwelled now sits a dusty pile of bones. The things we once looked to for significance and pleasure disappear.

In this time of uncertain quarantine, most of our lives have drastically changed. We’re scared. We’re frustrated. We’re bored! In all of it, there is an overwhelming sense of drought. People are literally dying around us. Jobs are being lost. The greenery of our lives is being replaced with brown decay. It’s starting to feel like we’re in the middle of the Atacama.

But it’s in the driest times that we can sometimes see the clearest. We see what really matters and what our real needs are when the things we once thought we needed no longer exist. As things evaporate, our thirst intensifies, and along with it, the search to quench our parched soul.

King David of ancient Israel knew this quest well.

 “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1

On multiple occasions in scripture including this specific verse, David writes of a cotton-mouth soul. The focus of his searching does not change amidst the shifting circumstances of his writing. He thirsts for God and that thirst leads him to seek God “earnestly.” Just like a dehydrated person seeking water.

But why? Why did David seek God in this way? Undoubtedly, David experienced equal to, if not more than the amount of grief and “dehydration” that every human being throughout history has faced. What made Him seek God and why does it matter for us?

David’s description of God here contains a truth that is easy to overlook but too profound to ignore. Hundreds of years later, this truth would be shared with a large group of Israelites, Samaritans and other people groups who in hearing it were polarized.

“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.’” John 7:37

Jesus Christ, a carpenter from Galilee, was not offering the people at the feast free Dixie cups of water on a hot day. He spoke in the same metaphoric vein as David. Yet here, Jesus proclaimed to be the God David thirsted for all those years ago. By equating himself with water, Jesus said that apart from knowing Him, all men were dead and as dry as a desert.

Sandwiched between these numerous statements (see references below!) were miracles that also fulfilled prophecies about the one God would send to make an atonement for sins. Jesus matched the description during every stage of His life. Yet tragically, as Jesus tells the crowd in John 6:36 “But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.”

Was it just Jesus’ miracles that made Him water to those who believe in Him?

No.

What makes Jesus indispensable is that He is the only one who can pay the penalty for our sins. We can’t right our wrongs before God. We can’t ignore Him and make the price for our sins go away saying He doesn’t exist. Each one of us needs Jesus more than we need our next glass of water.

When we recognize that we are indeed a sinner deserving hell for our rebellion against God, then we can truly begin to understand why Jesus is like water to us. It was His death that satisfied God’s required payment for our sin.

“For our sake He (God the Father) made Him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin (Jesus), so that in him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

In every calamity, many are brought to a place of deep despair. Blind hope that things will soon get back to normal offers fake refreshment that we can see through. Real security is knowing that whether the worst case scenario happens or not, my soul’s needs are covered.

So, whether you’re feeling like your world is the Atacama or a luscious green meadow right now, I pray that you’ll drink deeply of the water only Jesus provides through His death and resurrection. It’s virus proof. It’s war proof. It’s even death proof.

 

Scripture References:

Isaiah 55:1 – “Come everyone who thirsts…”

John 7:37 – “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink…”

John 6:35 – “Whoever believes in me shall never thirst…”

Psalm 42:2 – “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God…”

Psalm 63:1 – “My soul thirsts for you…”

Psalm 143:6 – “My soul thirst for you like a parched land…”

John 4:13 – “Whoever drinks of the water I give will never thirst again…”

Revelation 21:6 – “To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment…”

Revelation 22:16 – “Let the one who is thirsty come…”

Because I Said So

/ brianhilton9 / 1 Comment

No child enjoys hearing these four words. They form a sentence that sends the son or daughter spiraling into a flurry of frustration, no matter the situation.

“Because I said so.”

I remember hearing these words and hating them. They made it impossible to get what I wanted. My plans didn’t prevail because a higher authority said otherwise. If I went ahead and ignored those four powerful words, I knew I could expect some sort of painful discipline.

It’s no mystery that when we’re told we can’t do something, that becomes the thing we want to do the most. But to be told we can’t do something because a certain someone said so? That’s where things get ugly.

We don’t like that because it shifts our perceived authority over our lives to someone else. It makes us feel enslaved and oppressed. We rebel and throw tantrums to try and take back some semblance of control, no matter how self-destructive.

At 25 years old, I seldom hear those words anymore but am still tempted to throw those same tantrums. It seems our world has a great way of mutely cutting us off with a wagging finger saying, “Because I said so.” How we long for the day when we can freely declare “Because I said so” and go about our business with no outside interference. Some believe that they have a self-governing life where all their decisions are made with those four simple words.

It shouldn’t take long, however, to see that we are not in control. One untimely diagnosis, one stolen credit card, one little spark catching your house on fire can all derail life as we know it. The reality of our powerlessness really tends to sneak up on us in the catastrophes. It shouldn’t have to, though.

Consider the fact that you must pay taxes. If you don’t, you’ll be thrown in prison. Does anyone really want to pay taxes? Or, take your emotions for example. Can you control how you feel? Look at something as simple as breathing. Is there a fresh air supply for your every moment because you said there would be?

What we say often doesn’t go. Even if it did, I’m not so sure we’d love the destination. I find that my way is often a way to more losses than wins.

This is why I’ve been becoming more and more okay with the truth that virtually nothing is “because I, Brian Hilton, said so.” Of course, I’m not saying that we have no ability to make decisions, but I am saying that there is one who can say those four words with no room for anyone’s rebuttal.

A lot of people don’t like that idea, which is what turns people off to God. Many have an understanding of God that is similar to their view of tyrannical dictatorships. He’s restrictive, harsh and doesn’t serve our best interests.

But if I may ask respectfully, what is the source of that understanding? Because when I open up the Bible, I see that God saves me from myself. When I look at my life, I see that I have no good thing apart from Him. When I look at my heart, I see that the only reason I can have any hope or joy at all in this life is because He says so.

Consider Romans 8:31-32 which says,

“…If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will he not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”

When we know God and walk with Him, we can’t lose. It is that fear of loss or being kept from something good that fuels our rebellion of His authority. But shown here, God’s absolute authority over all things is our best-case scenario.

However, it’s clarified that this is true “if God is for us.” This naturally begs the question – how do we get God to be for us? The answer to that is found in verse 32 as the author, Paul the Apostle, notes that God did not “spare his own Son but gave Him up for us all.” Why and how would God give up His Son?

The “why” is found many places throughout scripture, but pretty profoundly in the oft-quoted John 3:16 which reads,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His One and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

It’s because God loved the world that he gave His only Son. A decision prompted by love for us and the desire for our ultimate good, not some sort of power trip.

The “how” of God’s giving up of His son is well described earlier in Romans. Consider Romans 3:25-26:

“God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice because in His forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

So, God’s love for the world motivated him to offer His son, Jesus, as a “sacrifice of atonement” which in turn “justifies…through faith,” sinners. Every one of us falls in this “sinner” category. Evidence of sin can be found in our natural position against God. Again, we want to be the ones to say, “because I said so.”

Thankfully, we are not in authority. God is. We deserve to be judged for our sins, but through faith in Jesus Christ, we have an atonement because God said and did so. We simply must believe in Jesus and turn away from our plans, to His.

This is where I’ve found a new love for this phrase. No longer does it matter what others say about us, or even what we say about ourselves. Remember, if God is for us, who can be against us? What He says about us is what goes – and He says I’m forgiven in Jesus through faith. He says I’m His child. He says I have all that I need in Him.

While our feelings might not always grasp this due to the inevitable hardships we will still face in this life, I’m thankful for the firm foundation that what God says goes. This brings freedom, security, and true comfort that isn’t shaken by circumstance.

There’s nothing that can rival the joy I partake in considering a clamoring voice listing all my inadequacies, flaws, past, present and future sins questioning God on how I could be saved. In a calm yet firm voice, God says through Jesus –

“Because I said so.”

 

Scripture References:

Isaiah 50:8-9 – “…Behold the LORD God helps me; who will declare me guilty”

Romans 8:31-39 – “…if God is for us, who can be against us?”

1 Corinthians 4:3-4 – “…I don’t even judge myself…it is the LORD who judges me…”

Daniel 3:6 – “…we have no need to answer you in this matter…”

1 John 4:4 – “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world…”

Romans 8:28 – “…all things work together for good for those who are called…”

Psalm 118:6 – “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Revelation 12:10-11 – “…the accuser of the brethren has been thrown down…”