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All Things
Freely Given Romans 8:32 Listen
to this blessed word from God. —"He that spared not his own
Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely
give us all things?" ÒHe that spared not his own Son!Ó — We
are told that the Lord God spared not the angels that sinned. He spared not
the old world, which was full of wickedness. God spared not Sodom and
Gomorrah, whose homosexual perversity called forth fire and brimstone from
heaven. He spared not the Egyptians and their firstborn, because Pharaoh
refused to let his people go. Indeed, he spared not the nation of Israel,
when they transgressed his laws, but cast them off. We are told plainly that
God will not spare hardened, impenitent sinners in the day of his wrath. None
of those things surprise me. I am not at all astonished that the holy Lord
God punishes sin. But this is astonishing: — God spared not his own Son! He spared not his darling
Son, that One who is of the same nature with him, and equal to him, the Son
of his love, who never sinned against him. This is amazing! He spares the
sons of men in providence, and spares many in grace. But he did not spare his
own Son, or abate him anything in any respect. All that was agreed upon in
the covenant of grace with regard to the salvation of his people God demanded
of his dear Son. The Lord Jesus Christ was required to assume our human
nature, with all its weaknesses and infirmities. The Father laid upon his Son
all the iniquities of all his people. God poured out upon him all the
punishment due unto us. He inflicted on him all the fulness of his infinite,
inflexible wrath, without the least abatement. God the Father demanded from
his Son a full satisfaction for all our sins. He required the whole payment
of our debt to the uttermost. All that was done at Calvary was done according
to the utmost strictness of divine justice. Why did God pour out such wrath
on his Son? He did so that his law and justice might be fully satisfied, and
that his people might thereby be completely saved. ÒBut delivered him up for us all!Ó — God the Father delivered Christ, according to
his determinate counsel and foreknowledge, into the hands of wicked men; into
the hands of justice, and to death itself. This he did for us all, —
all his elect, — all who are loved, chosen in Christ, and predestined
to eternal salvation in Christ. He delivered him up for us all, — all
whom he foreknew, predestinated, called, justified, and glorified in his
eternal purpose of grace. God the Father delivered up his darling Son to die
in our place as our Surety and Substitute. It is in the light of this that Paul asked, ÒHow
shall he not with him freely give
us all things?Ó — Christ
is God's free gift to his
elect. He is given for a covenant to his people, to be our Head, our Savior,
and as the Bread of Life for us to live upon. He is freely given. God could
never have been compelled to give him. Christ could never have been merited
by us. Nothing we could give or do could have laid the almighty God under
obligation to bestow on us the gift of his darling Son. Indeed, such were the
persons, and such their characters, for whom he delivered him up, that he
might have justly stirred up all his wrath against us. Yet, such was his
grace that he gave his own Son for us and to us! Not only that, but he gave us "all things" with him: all things temporal and all things spiritual
for our everlasting benefit. — ÒI will cry unto God most high that
performeth all things for me!Ó He gave
us all the spiritual blessings of his free grace in Christ, as one with
Christ, before the world began! Justifying righteousness, the pardon of sin,
sanctifying grace, adoption, and eternal life, all are the free gifts of God
to all his elect in Christ Jesus! All this he has done "freely," sovereignly, according to his own good will and
pleasure, without any obligation or compulsion; not grudgingly nor niggardly,
but cheerfully and bountifully, absolutely, and without any conditions or
qualifications of any kind. In the light of all these things, listen to Romans 8:32
again. — "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered
him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all
things?" If this is not
a promise in form, it is in fact. Indeed, it is more than one promise; it is
a conglomeration of promises. It is a mass of precious jewels, of rubies, and
emeralds, and diamonds, with a nugget of gold for their setting. The inspired
Apostle raised a question, which can never be answered so as to cause any
anxiety of heart in the believing soul. What can the Lord deny us after
giving us his own dear Son? If we need all things in heaven and earth, he
will grant them to us. If there could be a limit anywhere, surely he would
have kept back his own Son! What do I want today? I have only to ask for it. I may
seek earnestly; but I do not have to use pressure and twist GodÕs arm, as it
were, to extort an unwilling gift from his hand. He will give me all things
freely. Of his own will, he gave us his own dear Son. Certainly no one would
have proposed such a gift to him. No one would have ventured to ask for it.
It would have been too presumptuous. He freely gave his only-begotten Son. O
my soul, can you not trust your heavenly Father to give you anything and
everything you need? Child of God, your poor prayers and mine would have no
power with Omnipotence if force were needed to compel our God to give; but
his love, like an artesian well, rises of itself, and overflows for the
supply of all our needs. Take
this word from God with you through the day. Squeeze every drop of wine from
this rich cluster of grapes for the joy of your soul. — "He
that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he
not with him also freely give us all things?" Don Fortner Listen to sermons
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