Romans 8.32
The Bible is filled with promises from God. Your Father wants you to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He loves you. So, time after time after time He inserts a promise in His Word. Our text is one of those promises. Paul points to the Father and assures us that we will be cared for. That's the promise, that we will be cared for. Boil down just about any promise and that's what it will say. The Father promises to take care of us. But it's the details that drive any promise home. It's the details that convince us. So, we're going to take this promise apart to see the details. We'll be doing the kind of things that we have been doing in the adult Sunday school, taking apart the verse, looking at the details, being challenged and encouraged by what we find.
The first thing that I want you to notice is that our text isn't a statement. To hearken back to your dim elementary school past, this is not a declarative sentence. You'd expect one of those for a promise. But, Paul frames it differently. '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?' It's a question, an interrogative sentence. You see, for Paul, the point is obvious. 'Of course the Father will care for us! How can He not?' The question drives that home. Do you feel it? A declarative sentence wouldn't have the same punch. Paul wants to make sure that you feel what he has to say. So, he phrases it as a question. '... how shall He not...?'
We are sure about the promise, though, not because of Paul's strong personality or his literary ability. Paul gives us a reason to believe that our Father will care for us. Listen again. '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?' Did you hear it? Did you hear the reason? Paul is pointing back to the time when Abraham was ready to sacrifice Isaac. '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 of which I shall tell you'. Abraham did not spare his son. The knife was lifted and about to come down. But the Father stopped him. Now, when it's the Father who is ready to sacrifice His Son, His only Son, Jesus, whom He loved, the story doesn't end in the same way . There was no one to stop Him. No. Rather, 'He did not spare His Son, but delivered Him up for us all.' He handed Jesus over to be killed. Whenever you hear that kind of language you need to fill in what it means. You need to fill in the beating and the torture. You need to fill in the nails piercing flesh and bone. You need to fill in enduring an eternity of punishment for sin. 'He delivered Him up for us all.' I came upon two words that try to capture what happened. The first is 'damned'. Jesus was damned by the Father, condemned, declared guilty and sentenced to death, the death of hell. He was damned even though He never sinned. The other word is 'abandoned'. 'My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?' I have never, ever experienced even a little neglect – let alone abandonment - by the Father. Even in my darkest days, I never felt abandoned. The nearness of my God was my hope, my refuge, my rock. So, I cannot imagine what Jesus experienced. Abandoned. I found a quote that fits here: 'Who delivered up Jesus to die? Not Judas for money; not Pilate for fear; not the Jews for envy -- but the Father for love.'
Do you see why Paul puts this as a question? '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?' Will the Father care for us? Well, of course He will! Just look at the Cross. The reason for Paul's bold confidence is the Cross. At the heart of the Gospel is the Cross. Jesus, the beloved Son of God, was sent to the Cross for sinners, for us. And that is why we can be sure about this promise. '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?'
We've looked at the first half of the text, the foundation for the promise. Now, let's look at the second half, the promise itself. The point is clear. The Father will freely give us all things. But you need to notice this 'with Him'. '...how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?' Paul is not content with his statement about the Cross in the first half of the verse. So, he says it again. The Father has already given you Jesus. That's the gift of the Gospel. You get Jesus. So, with this little phrase, 'with Him', Paul is saying, 'If the Father has already given you the greatest gift, won't He also give you all the other, lesser gifts? '...how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?' This is Paul's way of driving home the beauty and power and the certainty of this promise.
Now, I also want you to notice what Paul didn't write. He didn't write '...give us what we need'. No. He will give us 'all things'. Words are funny. There's what they say out loud, and then, there's what they whisper. What's the difference between 'give us what we need' and 'give us all things'? Doesn't the first sound smaller? Doesn't it sound like, 'the Father will give you enough so that you'll make out, you know, enough so you won't die.' But to write, 'give us all things', that's a picture of Thanksgiving dinner. At one end of the table is this huge turkey, then there are three kinds of potatoes, four different vegetables, a green salad and a fluff salad, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce. And that's not counting the four kinds of pie waiting in the kitchen – one, of course, being pecan pie - with your choice of whipped cream or ice cream and all topped off with a good, strong cup of coffee. 'ALL THINGS!!' Do you get the picture? Our Father is no miser. He isn't stingy with His blessings. He doesn't give us just enough. He overwhelms us with all sorts of good things so that we will flourish!
So, does this mean that we should expect to see a brand new Lexus in our driveways sometime soon? Or for the younger crowd, a new PlayStation 3 – with a complete set of your favorite games? Listen. If having a new car or a new computer game thingy would make you flourish, then one would be provided. Really. But what most people need more than some new toy is a sense of being loved, being at peace with themselves and their situation, the ability to laugh even when life is hard, enjoying a hopefulness that is rooted in truth and that just won't quit. If I have those things (and I do), then I'll be quite happy with a ten year old Mazda in my driveway (and I am). But, whatever it is that you need to flourish, your Father will give it to you. That's the promise.
Here it is, one more time: '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?' Do you see the parts? The Cross as the foundation of the promise. The certainty of receiving not just enough, but all things so that we would flourish. Do you see it?
Now, a question. What do we need to do with this promise? And the answer is simple. Believe it. Remember that true faith begins with how you think, but it ends with how you act. So, think about the promise. Accept it as true. Then consider how it might show itself in your situation.
Moses has just led an enormous number of people out of Egypt. The Egyptian soldiers lie dead on the shores of the Red Sea. The praise and worship band has just finished leading the people in a song of praise to the God who has brought about such tremendous things. And then, up pops a question. 'So, what's for breakfast? What are we going to eat out here - in the desert?' And the Father makes a promise. 'I will provide your food. Tomorrow, when you get up in the morning, there will be plenty. All you have to do is bring a basket that's big enough. There will be plenty.' Next day - What do you know? - there it is. Manna. This is where that word 'freely' shows up. '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?' What did Israel have to do so that the Father would provide the manna? Was there some special prayer? Some ritual? Did they have to be nice or be sure to say 'please'? No. The manna was freely given to Israel. All that they would have to do is wake up, walk outside their tent and - voilà - manna. The Father's promise is to give all things freely, without strings. They didn't have to do anything for the Father to provide. And it was a good thing that there were no strings attached. You'll remember that when Israel was in the desert they were not, to put it mildly, especially obedient. And yet, every morning they would wake up, walk out of their tent and the manna would be there. All they needed to do was believe the Father's promise.
But Israel had to learn how to do even that. Do you remember what happened? They gathered the manna, but some of the people kept some for the next day - you know, leftovers to put in the back of the fridge. But God had said, 'Gather however much as you want. Take plenty. But no leftovers. I will provide for each day.' But, as I said, some kept the leftovers for the next day. And the next morning instead of waking up, walking out of their tent and gathering the manna for the day, they went for that basket with the leftovers in the back of the fridge and - voilà - stinking worms! But understand their thinking. They adopted the 'Plan B' mentality that goes something like this. 'Yes, but what if...? Well, just in case Plan A doesn't work, we need a Plan B, a backup plan. I mean, you never know, you know?' Well, let's finish that first sentence. But what if - what? 'But what if the Father doesn't keep His promise?' I'm pretty sure that none of the people of Israel said it like that. But that's what lay behind their desire for a Plan B. How insulting! And how faithless. Let's face it. If the Father doesn't keep His promises, we'll have bigger problems than what's for tomorrow's breakfast. Faith, believing the promise, means no Plan B. There is no backup, no 'just in case', no 'But what if?' It means taking everything you've got and betting it all on Jesus. I'll grant that that's pretty risky. But the alternative is worse than stinky worms.
One last thought. We will have to wait for some of the 'all things' that the Father has promised. How long? It might be a relatively short wait. But then again, we know that for some things we'll have to wait a lifetime. Right now, Mario would really like a new body. The one that he has now isn't working all that well. I am sure that if he were to get a new body he would really flourish. Now, is a new body included in the 'all things'? Absolutely! Because of Jesus, the Father has promised Mario a new body, one that works perfectly. One that will never break down. That means no more pills, no doctor visits, no oxygen tanks, no wobbliness, no aches and pains, no struggling. The Father promises Mario a new body. He's going to have to wait for it, but he's going get it. There are other items included in the 'all things' that the saints of God will have to wait for. There are those who have never enjoyed a mother's love. Others who are now limited in what they can do because they were denied a good education, things like reading, writing and 'rithmetic. And then, there are those who have longed for, but have never experienced, the happiness of family. That Thanksgiving dinner that I described earlier is only a picture for them, never a reality. It's just a fact that we all will have to deal with wounds and sorrows, gaps in our experience of love and other such things. It's just a part of this life. We live in a fallen world. But whatever we are missing here, will be enjoyed to the full there. One day we'll wake up in a completely different place, walk out of our tent and find much more than manna. The Father has promised. '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?'
Out of all that I've said, I'm hoping for two things. The first is devotion to Jesus. He is the reason why this promise is yours. No Jesus, no promise. But Jesus has come, and so we get the promise. In one sense, we owe Him nothing all of this for this. It is freely given. And yet, in another sense, we owe Him everything. 'Whom have I in heaven but You? And beside You I desire nothing on the earth.' Devotion to Jesus. The second thing I'm hoping for is boldness for Jesus. Because of this promise, we can be bold out there in the world. We can take risks for Jesus. After all, what can happen to us? What can they do to us? The Father has promised. And even if we do something stupid, the promise is still true. So, one last time. '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?'
The Bible is filled with promises from God. Your Father wants you to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He loves you. So, time after time after time He inserts a promise in His Word. Our text is one of those promises. Paul points to the Father and assures us that we will be cared for. That's the promise, that we will be cared for. Boil down just about any promise and that's what it will say. The Father promises to take care of us. But it's the details that drive any promise home. It's the details that convince us. So, we're going to take this promise apart to see the details. We'll be doing the kind of things that we have been doing in the adult Sunday school, taking apart the verse, looking at the details, being challenged and encouraged by what we find.
The first thing that I want you to notice is that our text isn't a statement. To hearken back to your dim elementary school past, this is not a declarative sentence. You'd expect one of those for a promise. But, Paul frames it differently. '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?' It's a question, an interrogative sentence. You see, for Paul, the point is obvious. 'Of course the Father will care for us! How can He not?' The question drives that home. Do you feel it? A declarative sentence wouldn't have the same punch. Paul wants to make sure that you feel what he has to say. So, he phrases it as a question. '... how shall He not...?'
We are sure about the promise, though, not because of Paul's strong personality or his literary ability. Paul gives us a reason to believe that our Father will care for us. Listen again. '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?' Did you hear it? Did you hear the reason? Paul is pointing back to the time when Abraham was ready to sacrifice Isaac. '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 of which I shall tell you'. Abraham did not spare his son. The knife was lifted and about to come down. But the Father stopped him. Now, when it's the Father who is ready to sacrifice His Son, His only Son, Jesus, whom He loved, the story doesn't end in the same way . There was no one to stop Him. No. Rather, 'He did not spare His Son, but delivered Him up for us all.' He handed Jesus over to be killed. Whenever you hear that kind of language you need to fill in what it means. You need to fill in the beating and the torture. You need to fill in the nails piercing flesh and bone. You need to fill in enduring an eternity of punishment for sin. 'He delivered Him up for us all.' I came upon two words that try to capture what happened. The first is 'damned'. Jesus was damned by the Father, condemned, declared guilty and sentenced to death, the death of hell. He was damned even though He never sinned. The other word is 'abandoned'. 'My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?' I have never, ever experienced even a little neglect – let alone abandonment - by the Father. Even in my darkest days, I never felt abandoned. The nearness of my God was my hope, my refuge, my rock. So, I cannot imagine what Jesus experienced. Abandoned. I found a quote that fits here: 'Who delivered up Jesus to die? Not Judas for money; not Pilate for fear; not the Jews for envy -- but the Father for love.'
Do you see why Paul puts this as a question? '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?' Will the Father care for us? Well, of course He will! Just look at the Cross. The reason for Paul's bold confidence is the Cross. At the heart of the Gospel is the Cross. Jesus, the beloved Son of God, was sent to the Cross for sinners, for us. And that is why we can be sure about this promise. '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?'
We've looked at the first half of the text, the foundation for the promise. Now, let's look at the second half, the promise itself. The point is clear. The Father will freely give us all things. But you need to notice this 'with Him'. '...how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?' Paul is not content with his statement about the Cross in the first half of the verse. So, he says it again. The Father has already given you Jesus. That's the gift of the Gospel. You get Jesus. So, with this little phrase, 'with Him', Paul is saying, 'If the Father has already given you the greatest gift, won't He also give you all the other, lesser gifts? '...how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?' This is Paul's way of driving home the beauty and power and the certainty of this promise.
Now, I also want you to notice what Paul didn't write. He didn't write '...give us what we need'. No. He will give us 'all things'. Words are funny. There's what they say out loud, and then, there's what they whisper. What's the difference between 'give us what we need' and 'give us all things'? Doesn't the first sound smaller? Doesn't it sound like, 'the Father will give you enough so that you'll make out, you know, enough so you won't die.' But to write, 'give us all things', that's a picture of Thanksgiving dinner. At one end of the table is this huge turkey, then there are three kinds of potatoes, four different vegetables, a green salad and a fluff salad, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce. And that's not counting the four kinds of pie waiting in the kitchen – one, of course, being pecan pie - with your choice of whipped cream or ice cream and all topped off with a good, strong cup of coffee. 'ALL THINGS!!' Do you get the picture? Our Father is no miser. He isn't stingy with His blessings. He doesn't give us just enough. He overwhelms us with all sorts of good things so that we will flourish!
So, does this mean that we should expect to see a brand new Lexus in our driveways sometime soon? Or for the younger crowd, a new PlayStation 3 – with a complete set of your favorite games? Listen. If having a new car or a new computer game thingy would make you flourish, then one would be provided. Really. But what most people need more than some new toy is a sense of being loved, being at peace with themselves and their situation, the ability to laugh even when life is hard, enjoying a hopefulness that is rooted in truth and that just won't quit. If I have those things (and I do), then I'll be quite happy with a ten year old Mazda in my driveway (and I am). But, whatever it is that you need to flourish, your Father will give it to you. That's the promise.
Here it is, one more time: '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?' Do you see the parts? The Cross as the foundation of the promise. The certainty of receiving not just enough, but all things so that we would flourish. Do you see it?
Now, a question. What do we need to do with this promise? And the answer is simple. Believe it. Remember that true faith begins with how you think, but it ends with how you act. So, think about the promise. Accept it as true. Then consider how it might show itself in your situation.
Moses has just led an enormous number of people out of Egypt. The Egyptian soldiers lie dead on the shores of the Red Sea. The praise and worship band has just finished leading the people in a song of praise to the God who has brought about such tremendous things. And then, up pops a question. 'So, what's for breakfast? What are we going to eat out here - in the desert?' And the Father makes a promise. 'I will provide your food. Tomorrow, when you get up in the morning, there will be plenty. All you have to do is bring a basket that's big enough. There will be plenty.' Next day - What do you know? - there it is. Manna. This is where that word 'freely' shows up. '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?' What did Israel have to do so that the Father would provide the manna? Was there some special prayer? Some ritual? Did they have to be nice or be sure to say 'please'? No. The manna was freely given to Israel. All that they would have to do is wake up, walk outside their tent and - voilà - manna. The Father's promise is to give all things freely, without strings. They didn't have to do anything for the Father to provide. And it was a good thing that there were no strings attached. You'll remember that when Israel was in the desert they were not, to put it mildly, especially obedient. And yet, every morning they would wake up, walk out of their tent and the manna would be there. All they needed to do was believe the Father's promise.
But Israel had to learn how to do even that. Do you remember what happened? They gathered the manna, but some of the people kept some for the next day - you know, leftovers to put in the back of the fridge. But God had said, 'Gather however much as you want. Take plenty. But no leftovers. I will provide for each day.' But, as I said, some kept the leftovers for the next day. And the next morning instead of waking up, walking out of their tent and gathering the manna for the day, they went for that basket with the leftovers in the back of the fridge and - voilà - stinking worms! But understand their thinking. They adopted the 'Plan B' mentality that goes something like this. 'Yes, but what if...? Well, just in case Plan A doesn't work, we need a Plan B, a backup plan. I mean, you never know, you know?' Well, let's finish that first sentence. But what if - what? 'But what if the Father doesn't keep His promise?' I'm pretty sure that none of the people of Israel said it like that. But that's what lay behind their desire for a Plan B. How insulting! And how faithless. Let's face it. If the Father doesn't keep His promises, we'll have bigger problems than what's for tomorrow's breakfast. Faith, believing the promise, means no Plan B. There is no backup, no 'just in case', no 'But what if?' It means taking everything you've got and betting it all on Jesus. I'll grant that that's pretty risky. But the alternative is worse than stinky worms.
One last thought. We will have to wait for some of the 'all things' that the Father has promised. How long? It might be a relatively short wait. But then again, we know that for some things we'll have to wait a lifetime. Right now, Mario would really like a new body. The one that he has now isn't working all that well. I am sure that if he were to get a new body he would really flourish. Now, is a new body included in the 'all things'? Absolutely! Because of Jesus, the Father has promised Mario a new body, one that works perfectly. One that will never break down. That means no more pills, no doctor visits, no oxygen tanks, no wobbliness, no aches and pains, no struggling. The Father promises Mario a new body. He's going to have to wait for it, but he's going get it. There are other items included in the 'all things' that the saints of God will have to wait for. There are those who have never enjoyed a mother's love. Others who are now limited in what they can do because they were denied a good education, things like reading, writing and 'rithmetic. And then, there are those who have longed for, but have never experienced, the happiness of family. That Thanksgiving dinner that I described earlier is only a picture for them, never a reality. It's just a fact that we all will have to deal with wounds and sorrows, gaps in our experience of love and other such things. It's just a part of this life. We live in a fallen world. But whatever we are missing here, will be enjoyed to the full there. One day we'll wake up in a completely different place, walk out of our tent and find much more than manna. The Father has promised. '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?'
Out of all that I've said, I'm hoping for two things. The first is devotion to Jesus. He is the reason why this promise is yours. No Jesus, no promise. But Jesus has come, and so we get the promise. In one sense, we owe Him nothing all of this for this. It is freely given. And yet, in another sense, we owe Him everything. 'Whom have I in heaven but You? And beside You I desire nothing on the earth.' Devotion to Jesus. The second thing I'm hoping for is boldness for Jesus. Because of this promise, we can be bold out there in the world. We can take risks for Jesus. After all, what can happen to us? What can they do to us? The Father has promised. And even if we do something stupid, the promise is still true. So, one last time. '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?'
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