Subscription Lists
Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
The word if isn’t always conditional; sometimes it affirms a rule. For instance, I might say, if we heat the water to 212 degrees Fahrenheit, it will start boiling. In this sentence and in the past tense, it has the same meaning as the word since. Since we heated the water to 212Fahrenheit, it started boiling. There is no maybe about it; the rule is preceded by the word if and it forms a positive affirmation of fact.
Paul was beyond the questioning stage when he wrote these lines: “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? (Romans 8.31-32). We could as well substitute the statement: “Since God is for us, who can be against us?” The phrase, as stated is rhetorical? It is obvious in its context that when God is for us, no one can be against us. This statement is anticipatory of results. When God is for us, the result is absolutely certain regardless of who is against us. There may be foes (in fact, there will be foes!), but their power is as nothing when compared to the power of God! This affirmation is the basis of our confidence – past, present, and future.
Break it down. “Since God is for us…” is about as comforting a statement as one could ever make. The reality of His being “for us” is born out by the immediate context of the statement. After all, He did give His Son to die in our place; how could someone NOT realize that God is for us. Listen to the psalmist express this same concept and note the confidence that it engenders. “When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me. In God (I will praise His word), In the LORD (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God; I will render praises to You, For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, That I may walk before God In the light of the living?” (Psalm 56.9-13).
The concept of God being for us is not unique to the New Testament (as the excerpt from the 56th Psalm demonstrates). In fact, it can be said that God has been “for us” even before the world began. Knowing that we would need a savior, there were heavenly plans made before there even was an earth! Jesus is identified in the book of Revelation as “…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13.8). When John the forerunner declared the Good News of Messiah, he referred to Jesus as “…The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1.29). With this commentary, we understand that God’s plan was always for Messiah to come and redeem us. Yes, God has always been for us, even when we have been our own worst enemy!
Who can be against us? Actually, no one that has a chance of negating or reducing the magnitude of the Divine gift! What God did He did in the open and thereby, refuted every error that could ever exist regarding the Christ. His resurrection was public; His ascension was before many witnesses; His miracles (those done personally as well as those done through the apostles) are yet strong witnesses of His truthfulness and compassion. He was, is, and always shall be, “for us!”
Questions:
1. How do the historical evidences of the Old Testament show that God is for us?
2. Are some people against the righteous? If yes, then why does Paul indicated that there are none opposed to us (or is that what he meant)?
3. What did the psalmist say that His ever present help had done for him?
4. If the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world was slain for the sins of the world, what is evidenced by His act of dying?
Receive the newest devotional each week in your inbox by joining the "Today's Little Lift" subscription list. Enter your email address below, click "Go!" and we will send you a confirmation email. Follow the instructions in the email to confirm your addition to this list.