He Didn't Spare His Son

[Read Romans 8:31-34]

What was going through the disciples’ minds on this night? They had followed Jesus for years. They had walked with him and talked with him. They had watched him do miraculous works. They loved him and trusted him. Now, they watched him hauled away by an angry mob. They watched him mocked and beaten. They watched him be falsely accused, falsely tried, and falsely sentenced to death. They watched him carry his cross to Golgotha. They watched the soldiers pound the nails in his hands and in his feet. They watched the soldiers lift the cross and place it in the ground. They watched people mock and jeer at Jesus as he hung there. They watched as the life slowly faded from his body. They watched as he said, “It is finished!” 

Can you imagine what was going on in their minds throughout all of this? The man they had devoted their lives to was dead. The man they trusted with their lives was gone. What was going to happen to them now? What were they going to do? How would they go on? How would their needs be met? What was God doing? Why would God allow the Messiah to be crucified?

Have you ever asked those questions before? I’m sure you have. What am I going to do now? How can I keep going on? How will my needs be met? What is God doing? Why would God allow something like this to happen? We are natural worriers.

On the surface, we naturally worry about how God will provide for us. Will God help us find a new job? Will God help us pay the bills? Will God help us put food on the table? Will God provide healing to my body—or to my child? Will God protect me in this pandemic? Will God protect us as we travel? Will God…? Will God…? Will God…? Every question asking the basic question, “Will God provide?” 

Yet, the question goes much deeper than that. “Will God provide?” is just a surface level question. The deeper question—the one bubbling up from our soul—is “Is God for me?” Isn’t that the question? Is God working for me or against me? Is God looking favorably toward me or not? If we keep digging deeper than our surface questions—our surface worries—we will find this question at the root. This is the question that causes our anxiety and worry. 

That question is answered on Good Friday. That question is answered on the cross. Our passage tonight reminds us of this powerful truth, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all…” (Romans 8:32, ESV). The God of the universe—the God who created everything—gave his own Son for us all. He didn’t spare him. He didn’t hold him back, but gave him for us. That’s the answer to our deepest question. Is God for us? Well, he didn’t hold back his son, but gave him up for us. Is God for us? Well, he didn’t withhold the greatest treasure from us, but gave him up for us. So, yeah, God is for us.

If you ever find yourself wondering if God is for you, look to the cross and be reminded of that truth. God is for you so much that he was willing to give up his own Son for you.  That’s how much he is for you. 

That brings us to another powerful truth: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31, ESV). The answer is: No one and No thing. Because we can look at the cross and have complete confidence that God is for us, we can also have confidence that nothing and no one can stand against us. Satan can’t stand against you because God is for you. The World can’t stand against you because God is for you. Your own inability and weakness and sinfulness can’t stand against you because God is for you. We can have this level of confidence because we have seen Jesus Christ on the cross and have embraced him as our Savior and Lord. We are now convinced that he is for us and nothing can stand against us. 

The cross brings this to another level. The fact that God is for us and nothing can stand against us doesn’t mean nothing bad will ever happen to us. Just look at the cross. That was the most wicked and evil act that has happened in the history of creation. However, we need to keep looking at the cross. We need to see beyond the evil and wickedness of that moment to the other side. God took what was meant for evil and used it for good. God took the evil and wickedness of that moment and turned it into a beautiful salvation.

The cross reminds us that the scheming and devising of the world cannot stand against us because it couldn’t stand against Jesus. God took all their scheming and devising and turned it into blessing because He is for Jesus. He will do the same for us because he is for us. An early church father named Chrysostom said this, “Yet those that be against us, so far are they from thwarting us at all, that even without their will they become to us the causes of crowns, and procurers of countless blessings, so that God’s wisdom turneth their plots unto our salvation and glory. See how really no one is against us!” 

When we understand that deeper truth, it overflows onto every area of our life. That’s why we read, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32, ESV). God is for us and has given us the greatest treasure in the world, why would we ever doubt that he would provide these smaller things? Why would we live in constant fear and worry when we know we have a Father who is for us and has already provided us with the greatest gift?

This is a reminder for us to keep our eyes on the cross. The cross is where God provided for our deepest needs. The cross is where God brought us an eternal salvation. The cross is where God proved that he is for us and will provide us with everything we need. 

So, when we begin wondering if God is on our side—if God is for us—we need to look to the cross and be reminded: God is for us. When we feel worry and anxiety welling up inside us, we need to look to the cross and be reminded: God will provide. When we are overwhelmed by the trials and difficulties of this life, we need to look to the cross and be reminded: Since God is for us, nothing can stand against us. 

And, when we feel overwhelmed with sin and guilt and shame, we need to look to the cross and be reminded: Jesus Christ hung there to free you from your sin and guilt and shame. When you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, your sin and guilt and shame can’t even stand against you. They’ve been defeated. That’s why Jesus cried out, “It is finished!”