THE DETERMINED OBJECTIVE OF SALVATION -- Tomorrow:
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 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? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us." (Romans 8:28-34, NKJV)
Devotion 28 of 33
GOD DID NOT SPARE HIS OWN SON
"He who did not spare His own Son . . . "
Jesus once cried out to be spared: "O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me" (Matt 26:39). Of this occasion it says, "Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared" (Heb 5:7). The Father did not deliver Jesus in the sense of not allowing Him to die. Instead, He delivered Him from being swallowed up by death. In other words, He raised Him from the dead. However, He did not spare Him from death.
Who was more worthy to be spared than Jesus? He had not sinned, and there was no guile in His mouth. He had spoken all the Father had given Him to say, and did only what He saw the Father doing. He had went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil. Who was more fitting to be spared? But God "did not spare His OWN SON."
GOD DELIVERED JESUS UP
Peter declared Jesus was "delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23). Paul goes even further, declaring it was God Himself who delivered Him up. It was the Father who delivered Him "for our offenses" (Rom 4:25). The Savior was not victimized by the powers of darkness. God delivered His Son over to them. As Jesus Himself said to those arresting Him, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness" (Lk 22:52-53, NKJV).
Jesus was "the Lamb of God," and God Himself offered Him! He "delivered Him up for us all!" Never forget, we are not saved by what men did to Jesus! It is not the opposition of Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod that saved us! It was God's opposition to the Son, when He laid on Him the stripes by which we are healed! The wrath of God thrashed Jesus on the cross in order that we might go free. In the deepest and fullest sense of the word, Jesus "tasted death for every man" (Heb 2:9).
GOD FREELY GIVES US ALL THINGS
The Spirit is confirming to our hearts that God is "for us," and nothing can be effectively "against us." If God did not spare His Son, delivering Him over to death in order that we might be reconciled, what will He do for us now that Jesus is raised and we are justified? If He extended Himself for us when we were enemies, what will He do for us now that we are reconciled. If we received grace when we were sinners, what will we receive now that we are righteous? Here is the same line of reasoning stated earlier in Romans. "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. MUCH MORE then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, MUCH MORE, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (5:8-10).
Now that we have received the Spirit of adoption, God will "freely," or graciously and abundantly, give is "all things." These are "all things that pertain unto life and godliness" (2 Pet 1:3). They are everything required to safely negotiate through the straits of suffering and opposition, weakness and trouble, to the other side!
If God did not withhold His Son when we were "dead in trespasses and sins," will He refuse to give us what we need to resist the devil, go on to perfection, and endure suffering? Indeed, He will not! If, when we are "without money," we can "come," "buy," and "eat" at the Masters table, now that we are "in Christ Jesus," "no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly" (Psa 84:11). Child of God, you can count on that! You can receive precisely what you need, when you need it! It remains for you to believe that with your heart.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for not withholding Your Son for me. I know that with Him, I can do nothing.