In the last post, I looked at that encouraging thought that "God is for me." Regardless of any of life situation you, as a christian, may be dealing with, just think, God is for you. To emphasize this point, consider the reason that follows. The reason that I know that God is for me begins with the fact that He did not spare His Son. That word"spare" is most interesting. It occurs in the Greek text of the Old Testament in reference to the story of Abraham and Isaac. You remember the trip to Mount Moriah. Isaac was spared in response to the angel stopping the hand of Abraham. But at Calvary, there was no one who could stay the hand of God when His Son was being made the sacrifice for sin. He spared not His own Son! In Genesis, Abraham tells Isaac,"God will provide for Himself the lamb". At Calvary, God provided for Himself THE LAMB and did not spare Him.
This is a most precious comment by John Gill,"that he should not spare "his own Son", his proper Son, of the same nature with him, and equal to him, the Son of his love, and who never sinned against him, is very amazing: he spares many of the sons of men in a providential way, and in a way of grace, but he did not spare his own Son, or abate him anything in any respect, what was agreed upon between them, with regard to the salvation of his people; as appears by his assuming human nature, with all its weaknesses and infirmities; by his having laid on him all the iniquities of his people, and all the punishment due unto them he inflicted on him, without the least abatement; and by his sufferings not being deferred at all, beyond the appointed time; when full satisfaction for all their sins were demanded, the whole payment of their debts to the uttermost farthing insisted on, and all done according to the utmost strictness of divine justice: and which was not out of any disaffection to him; nor because he himself deserved such treatment; but because of the counsel, purpose, and promise of God, that his law and justice might be fully satisfied, and his people completely saved.
The verse also says, He delivered Him up for us all. Those two words,"us all", pose a problem when we try to understand who is referred to here. It can only be one of two options, either all men without distinction or all men without exception. "Us" in verse 31 and "us all" in verse 32 have to be the same. John Gill explains it clearly," God the Father delivered him, according to his determinate counsel and foreknowledge, into the hands of wicked men; into the hands of justice, and to death itself; not for all men, for to all men he does not give Christ, and all things freely with him, nor are all delivered from condemnation and death by him; wherefore if he was delivered up for all men, he must be delivered up in vain for some; but for "us all", or "all us", whom he foreknew, predestinated, called, justified, and glorified; and not merely as a martyr, or by way of example only, and for their good, but as their surety and substitute, in their room and stead. Thus it is all men without distinction, Jew or Gentile.
Considering this marvelous truth that Christ was delivered up by the Father to be sin for us, He who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him will make any day a new day when you live in the light of it. The World and Satan will do everything possible to distract from these great truths but the focus of the christian on them will make every day a new day.
Yours for another new day,
SWORDMAN
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