God is for us!
Smoking comments
Scripture memory
Romans 8:31–39 (ESV) — 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 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? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Prayer: please join me in prayer…
Sermon introduction: listen to this story- “Two great men stood side by side in the early (Protestant) Reformation movement. One was, of course, Martin Luther, the activist. The other was Phillip Melanchthon, the scholar. Luther once said of their relationship: I am rough, boisterous, stormy, and altogether warlike, fighting against innumerable monsters and devils. I am born for the removing of stumps and stones, cutting away thistles and thorns, and clearing the wild forests; but master Phillip comes along softly and gently, sowing and watering with joy, according to the gifts which God has abundantly bestowed upon him.”
Melanchthon was pure genius. “Melanchthon was also a gifted preacher. At the age of twenty-one he became a professor at the university of Wittenberg, where Luthertaught… and his Sunday sermons (in Latin) drew crowds of 1500 to 2000.”
“Where did Melanchthon get his strength? What made this gentle, retiring man stand with Luther against the world? The heart of the text we will now consider, verse 31, give the answer: if God is for us, who can be against us?” In his lectures and correspondence that verse is quoted more than any other Scripture. It still hangs on his study wall in Wittenberg where visitors can see it.
As he lay dying a pastor read him Romans 8:31, “Melanchthon exclaimed, ‘Read those words again!’ The pastor read, ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ Melanchthon murmured in a kind of ecstasy, ‘that’s it! That’s it!’ This text had always been the greatest comfort to him. In the darkest hours of his life when destruction threatened, he comforted himself again by reciting, ‘If God is for us, who can be against us”” (Kent Hughes)
If God is for us, who can be against us! If you’re a Christian I want you to insert your name in this verse. If God is for (David Samuel Farley), who can be against him? This is the main point of this morning’s glorious passage.
This is the crescendo, the high water mark, and the climax of Romans 8.
Yes people may be against you but nothing can ultimately thwart God’s plan for your life! Yes evil may prevail for a season, severe adversity may strike, but it will not destroy you because the maker of the universe is for you.
So how do we know that God is for us? Paul mentions three things that will be the three points of this sermon-
How do we know that God is for us? God will give us all things
How else do we know that God is for us? God will justify us
How else do we know that God is for us? God will let nothing separate us from his love
First, How do we know that God is for us? He will give us all things!
Look with me at verse 31-32. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 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?”
Paul makes a simple argument from the greater to the lesser- If God the father gave you his own son surely he will give you everything you need. This is an astonishing statement.
God the Father gave us his own son. We have a major problem with this verse. The problem is not with the verse the problem is with us! We have heard so many times that God sent us his son that we have grown far too familiar with its breathtaking significance. Imagine for a moment that you knew nothing about Christianity. Now listen to this verse for the first time-
“He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all,”
Paul is saying- God the father sent his son to die for us all. I have four sons. I love my sons more than you can imagine. But not as much as God loved his son! I would never send my sons to a Roman cross on your behalf. No offence but I just wouldn’t do it. I love my sons more than you. God the Father loved us so much that he sent his son to suffer and die for us.
Paul goes on to say that if God gave us his son what good would he withhold from us. After all, his son is the most valuable thing in the universe. Some of you may be thinking “I know Jesus is valuable but honestly there are other things I treasure more (money, sex, power, a quick rush, things, companionship, etc)”. Let me try to convince you that Jesus is the most valuable thing in the universe.
Here are just a few things the Bible says about Jesus-
He is the almighty God (Rev 1:8, Isa 9:6)
He is the author of life (Acts 3:15)
He is the alpha and the Omega (Rev 22:13)
He is the bread of life (John 6:35)
He is the chief shepherd (1 Peter 5:4)
He is the Deliver (Rom 11:26)
He is the great Physician (Matt 9:12)
He is Eternal life (1 John 5:20)
He is the Friend of sinners (matt 11:19)
He is the heir of all things (Heb 1:2)
He is our high Priest (heb 2:17)
He is the king of kings (1 Tim 6:15)
He is the Lamb of God (John 1:29)
He is the light of the world (John 1,8,9)
He is the Lord of Glory (1 cor 2:8)
He is the mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5)
He is the Messiah (John 4:25)
He is peace (Eph 2:14-15)
He is the perfector of our Faith (Heb 12:2)
He is the radiance of God’s glory (Heb 1:3)
He is our redemption (1 Cor 1:30)
He is our resurrection life (John 11:25)
He is the righteous Judge (Acts 10:42)
He is the savior of the world (2 Tim 1:10)
He is sovereign over all things (Jude 4)
He is the sustainer of the universe (Col 1, Heb 1)
He is the wonderful counselor (Isa 9:6)
He is the source of all wisdom and knowledge (col 2)
He is the only way to God (john 14:6)
God the Father gave you this being! He did just give him to you he sent him to be sacrificed for you. His name is Jesus and if he gave you something as valuable as Jesus what good thing will he withhold from you? Nothing!
Illustration: Imagine this scenario. After church a wealthy person walks up to you in the fellowship and hall and explains that he and his wife have decided to give you a gift. The gift is an 8,000 square foot house, with a tennis court, pool, golf course, 10 car garage (full of cars), sand volleyball court, indoor pool, indoor bowling alley, indoor movie theatre, on 1000 acres over looking Priest Lake.
Once you get to the estate you realize that they forgot to give you one of the garage door openers. Do you think they are going to refuse to give you the garage door opener? Of course not. They just gave you the mansion.
Paul is saying that God has given you Jesus do you think he will withhold anything you need? Of course not.
Application:
Here is the catch. What we think we need and what God knows we need are often two very different things. Ultimately if we have Jesus we have all we need.
D.A. Carson- “If God had perceived that our greatest need was economic, he would have sent an economist. If he had perceived that our greatest need was entertainment, he would have sent us a comedian or an artist. If God had perceived that our greatest need was political stability, he would have sent us a politician. If he had perceived that our greatest need was health, he would have sent us a doctor.
But he perceived that our greatest need involved our sin, our alienation from him, our profound rebellion, our death; and he sent us aSavior.”
God knows what you need.
If God thinks you need a new job he will give it to you.
If God thinks you need a bigger house he will give it to you.
If God thinks you need more grace to get through a trial he will give it to you.
If God thinks you need better health he will give it to you.
If God thinks you need a boyfriend or girlfriend or a spouse he will give it to you.
If God thinks you need children he will give them to you.
If God thinks you need a new ipad he will give it to you.
God is not stingy, he gave you his son, and he will give you ever thing you need. And if you don’t have it, it is because God in his benevolence knows you don’t need it.
How do we know that God is for us? He will give us all things.
Second, Howdo we know that God is for us? He will justify us!
Look with me at verses 33-34. “33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
When God justifies us he declares us legally righteous. We discuss this often at GCF because Paul discusses this often. Furthermore, we agree with John Calvin that this doctrine is the doctrine on which the church stands or falls.
This passage declares that it is God who declares us legally righteous, not because of anything that we do. We are declared legally righteous only because of the work of Christ on our behalf. He died, he rose, and he is now praying for us.
Justification is a legal term and verses 33-34 imagine that we are in a court of law where charges are being brought against us.
The first witness that comes to the stand to bring charges against us is our conscience. Our conscience knows it all. I can describe for us all the things we know we are guilty of in detail; sloth, deceit, drunkenness, pride, anxiety, idolatry, that thing you did five years ago that non one else knows about, and craving the praise of men. Our conscience knows all the details and explains them carefully to the judge.
The next witness that comes to the stand is the Devil. He loves to charge us. You call yourself a Christian? Look what you did this week. Look what you said this week. Look what you thought this week. Rev 12:10 calls him the accuser of the brethren
He usually gets specific- I can’t believe you got angry with your kids again, you yelled at them 7 times this week, 8 times last week, and 6 times the week before that. You better shape up or God will not forgive you, in fact I doubt he forgives you now, you are a horrible parent and your kids are going to be in jail by the time they are 17.
What right do you have to go to God in prayer? You may as well throw in the towel because you are never going to change.
Or he works like this- go on and sin, it is not a big deal, it will feel good and God will forgive you. There is grace for you. And as soon as you give into the temptation to sin he changes his tactic and says you are a worthless sinner, you are not a Christian, God does not love you, no one loves you, good luck getting forgiven for that sin!!!
He tempts us to play with a sludge hammer and then once we touch it he beats us with it!
The final witnesses that come to the stand are other people. They may not charge you with guilt but you are afraid they will charge you with something else. And if we are honest sadly many of us are more concerned about what our friends think than what God thinks-
Some may think you are not cool (our greatest fear)
Some may think you are ungodly
Some may think you are bigoted
Some may think you area religious zealot
Some may think you are un-athletic
Some may think you are stupid
Some may think you are too fat or too skinny
Some may think you are wrong family or part of town
Some may think you are bad at your job
Some may think you are unfashionable
Some may think you are bad parents
Some may stop respecting you!
The reality is that we spend far too much time worried about what other people think about us. When the reality is this they don’t think about us that much. And even if they did it does not matter what any one thinks about us because there is only one judge that matters and his name YWHW and because of his son Jesus he promises to give us the verdict of justified. He will not condemn us!
“34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
Illustration: pastor’s college experience! Craving respect and approval and not getting it.
How do we know that God is for us? He will give us all things
How else do we know that God is for us? He will justify us
Third, How do we know that God is for us? He will let nothing separate us from his love!
Look with me at verses 35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” (ps 44:22- suffering has always been the lot of Christians)37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors (literally- super conquerors) through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure (perfect tense- I have become sure and remain sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Paul makes it abundantly clear in these verses that nothing will separate us from Christ’s love! Nothing!!!
But Paul what about unemployment, financial ruin, wayward children, chronic pain, death of a loved one, divorce, broken marriages, difficult bosses, loss of freedom, etc…
Lets go back through his list again. Nearly all these items are biographical for Paul and are listed in 2 Cor 11:26-27 and 12:10
Tribulation and Distress
Persecution (Paul experienced this first hand- stoned, beaten, whipped, jeered)
Famine (It sure seems like it would be hard to experience Christ’s love while dying of hunger)
Nakedness (so poor that you can’t even buy the appropriate attire)
Danger and Sword (this means fear of death and death itself)
Death nor life
Angles nor rulers (most likely a reference to good angels and bad angels or demons)
Things present or things to come (we can often worry about what is to come)
Powers
Nor height nor depth
Nor anything else in all creation (just to be sure we get the point that nothing can separate us from Christ’s love Paul ends by saying that nothing in all of creation can separate us from Christ’s love)
But Paul, it sure seems like it would be very hard to experience Christ’s love in the midst of these things??? Paul is not saying that our lives will be easy, but he is saying in the midst of all these things we can know that God loves us because he sent Christ to die for us. And even though we may not always feel the love Christ loves us and he is working all things for our good.
All the bad things that Paul mentions are being used to make us more like Jesus and being more like Jesus is a good thing.
Allot of things can be taken from us (health, food, clothes, friends, etc…) but nothing can take away the love of Christ. Even in one’s darkest hour we still have Jesus.
Illustration: Chrysostom is considered one of the churches greatest preachers. He live in the 2nd half of the 4th century. “When Chrysostomwas brought before the Roman Emperor, the Emperor threatened him with banishment if he remained a Christian.