God is for us!
Bible’s Greatest Chapter: Romans chapter 8.
Romans 8:1—39)
By Ruben Rivis
Romans Chapter 8 is easily remembered today as one of the greatest single chapters in the entire Bible. If Bible Chapters had a “Hall of Fame,” you can rest assured that Romans 8 would be enshrined there.
Introduction:
If you were to do a chapter study, Romans chapter 8 stands shoulder to shoulder with great chapters like Psalm 23, Isaiah 53, and Philippians 4. The church history is different today because of Romans chapter 8. Names like Luther, Wesley, Calvin, Tyndale, and Augustine are among those who have been changed by the Words of grace in Romans chapter 8.
Illustration: Charles Stanley tells the story of a Professor who wanted to teach his students a lesson about grace.
“His Professor had a practical way of illustrating to his students the concept of grace. At the end of his evangelism course he would distribute the exam paper, and cautioned the class to read it all the way through before beginning to answer it. This caution was written on the exam as well. As we read the test, Charles Stanley said, it became unquestionably clear to each of us that we had not studied nearly enough.
“The further we read, the worse it became. About halfway through, audible groans could be heard throughout the lecture hall. On the last page, however, was a note that read, “You have a choice. You can either complete the exam as given or sign your name at the bottom and in so doing receive an “A” for this assignment”.”
“We sat there stunned,” Charles Stanley said. “Was the Professor serious? Just sign it and get an “A”? Slowly, the point dawned on us, and one by one we turned in our tests and silently exit the room.
In a conversation, the Professor shared some of the reactions he had received through the years. Some students began to take the exam without reading it all the way through, and they would sweat it out for the entire two hours of class time before reaching the last page.
“Others read the first two pages, became angry, turned the test in blank, and stormed out of the room without signing it. They never realized what was available, and as a result, they lost out totally.
“One fellow, however, read the entire test, including the note at the end, but decided to take the exam anyway. He did not want any gifts; he wanted to earn his grade. And he did. He made a “C+”, but he could easily have had an “A”.”
Romans Chapter 8 is the last line on the test of life. All who read the words of this chapter, and believe them, pass God’s test with flying colours. They get an “A”, so to speak.
• Some hear about God’s holiness, and give up ever trying to make the grade.
• Some spend an entire lifetime angry at God who desires to give them grace.
• And of course, a lot of people depend upon morality and good works to get them into heaven, and they do their best to work their way into God’s approval.
Unfortunately, nothing less than a perfect score will do … and only by the grace of God, can any of us achieve a perfect score.
Like the Professor, God makes an offer that seems to be too good to be true. But the truth is; it’s the only question that ultimately matters: Would you take the grace of God, or reject it?
Romans 8:31-32 “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
The first thing that we all need is to remember……
1. God is for you!
Doesn’t it make a difference if you know someone is for you? Get ready for some great Good News: God is for you!
The verse says, “If God is for us ...” The Greek word for “if” in this case, doesn’t mean that God being for us is a possibility. Instead, it’s a certainty. It states, God IS for us!
Illustration: If the clock at your work place tells you its 12:30 pm, you might say, “If I’m going to eat lunch today, I’d better get going.” More than likely, that statement isn’t about the possibility of lunch – it’s about eating lunch! The statement in verse 31 isn’t about the possibility of God’s love for us – it’s about the certainty of God’s love for each of us.
Take a moment, and savour every word. God is for us! Say it with me: “God is for us!”
• Your family may have turned their backs on you
• Your child may have disappointed you
• Your job may have become redundant
• Your marriage may be on the rocks
• Your life might be full of problems
Listen carefully, “God is for us!”
• The maker of the mountains is for you.
• The One who laid the floor of the oceans is for you.
• The one who scattered more than 100 billion stars over 100 billion galaxies, in what scientists say is a length of more than 30 million light years with a playful toss of his hand is for you!
In this verse Paul declares: “God is for us!” He did not say that God was, or that God will be, nor did Paul say that God might be. Paul said that God is—that means God is right now for you. There is no waiting. There will be no probationary time limit. There is no small print to wade through. Right now, God is for you.
His availability to you is not dependent on whether or not you have been good or bad, God is not some kind of Santa Claus deity checking his list twice, and frowning at what you did last week. No matter what problems or difficulties you are facing, God is for you right now!
God is the umpire in the game of your life. He is the one coming to you just before you are about to make a move or take a step or make a decision that will affect the rest of your life, and He’s encouraging you, telling you that He knows you can do it ... and when you take the step of a life time, you really believe you can, because God is for you.
God knows your favourite food, your favourite way to spend an afternoon, and He wants to overwhelm you with good things. He is for you!
God has got your photo on His refrigerator. That is your birthday on His calendar. If God has a bumper sticker on some kind of heavenly car, you are the kid who’s made the honour roll; you are the kid He’s bragging on. He would say, hey, look at my son, look at my daughter!
The Prophet Isaiah made this amazing statement: “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…” (Isaiah 49:16)
Your name, your details, and your heart are written on God’s hands. God is for you! Then the second thing that we all need is to remember……
2. God is for you, despite your failures.
The problem we have with the idea that God is for us, is that we’re so familiar with our failures. In fact we lost count how many time we’ve failed. You see, God does not keep score. If God were to keep score of all of our failures, well what can I say to that?
And so, the devil will whisper to you saying in your heart: “God might be for other people, but you’ve done too much wrong. You’ve made too many mistakes; you’ve made too many poor choices. I can’t really believe that God would be for you … because God knows all about you.”
Take heart: the man who wrote the words of Romans chapter 8 also wrote the words of Romans chapter 7. How had he sinned? For starters, he had persecuted the church; he had watched Stephen’s execution. Even as Paul became a great church-planter, and the writer of three quarter of the New Testament, he battled the sinful urges of his own heart.
Listen to what he says in: Romans 7:14—20 “14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”
Illustration: If Satan were a lawyer, he’d have an easy case. He would say: "God", mind you, Satan would be suddenly telling the truth, "This one has harboured impure thoughts. This one has even acted upon those thoughts. Here are the recorded, verified, certified and notarized cases of gossip, sexual sin, hatred, bitterness, cheating, lying, coveting, laziness, drunkenness etc... The list goes on and on."
It gets very embarrassing, personal and horribly public in the courtroom of heaven. And we’re guilty. We stop the speech, step forward and announce it: "God, I know what I’m supposed to do, but I can’t seem to do it. Father, I knew better, and I did wrong. I don’t deserve your mercy, your love, your salvation, I don’t deserve for you to be for me any longer."
God knew about your sin then, and He knows it right now. The Good News is that He is still for us! Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ died for every sin you had ever committed before you had accept Him as your Lord and Saviour of your life.
He knew in advance how you would blow it before you became a Christian. And guess what—Jesus was also well aware that you would not achieve perfection after you became a believer, either. Paul never got there - "I haven’t achieved it yet. I’m still striving toward the goal," he writes in Philippians, perhaps his last words.
And so we are sinners. And yes, Satan reminds us of that. Paul was smart. Instead of listening to Satan’s accusations, about his shortcomings, Paul listened once more to the message of Christ. And so he leaves the dark words of Romans chapter 7 to make a startling statement as Chapter 8 begins.
Oh, I love this Scripture very much, is one of my most favourite. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! This is Good News, Why? Because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:1—2) Glory be to God!
• If you fill guilty — “There is now no condemnation.”
• If you have sinned — “There is now no condemnation.”
Is it any wonder that the early Christians simply referred to the New Testament as "The Good News?"
God is for you, despite all that you have ever done. Have you come face to face with your sin? GREAT! If you are in the seventh chapter of your own personal letter to the Romans, it’s quite possible that the best chapter of your life is right around the corner.
If Satan is reminding you, right now, of the sins you have committed, it’s possible that he’s trying to get you to quit and giving up hope on a God that loves you, on a God that is for you. Maybe Satan knows more about your future than you do. Don’t worry! Don’t give up! Don’t turn your back on God, because He is for you!
Then the third thing that we all need is to remember……
3. The cross is proof that God is for us.
It is said so quickly: "God did not spare His own Son." The words are too short to do justice for what happened.
Illustration: You might sum up the sacrifice of another person’s lifetime by saying simply: “Her son died in the war.” Think it over for a moment. “Her son died in the war.”
Only six words to sum up the sacrifice of a lifetime?
• When a woman first discovered she was to be a mom, she felt the nausea for weeks.
• She connected with this baby first through the morning sickness.
• Soon, when the nausea passed, she felt the child kick her in the side. It was common for him to wake her in the middle of the night.
• Toward the end of the pregnancy, she slept hardly at all.
• Eventually, she felt the labour pains, and screamed in agony, moments before she saw the most precious sight she’d ever laid eyes on.
• She nursed this baby boy and gave up sleep for him.
• She held this fragile infant.
• She changed the nappies/diapers.
• She bounced him through the colic and rocked him through the fevers.
• She cheered his first steps and wiped away the tears, and the blood, from his first scratch.
• She provided the discipline; she read the books, she took him to school.
• She learned as many spelling words as he did, she explained math and history and the mystery of girls.
• She watched him grow tall and strong and she provided socks and shoes for every step of the way.
• She learned the rules of his favourite sport, and the favourite meal for his favourite girl.
• She read the newspapers with the frightening headlines, she cried when he left for war, she wrote the letters and prayed for miracles, she provided the perfect weekend for that last Thanksgiving together, and she answered the door when the officer came with the bad news that her baby boy had died in a ditch at the hands of an enemy who didn’t give a moment’s thought about the man he shot.
And so, here comes the sentence, “Her son died in the war.” Can a six-word sentence really tell the story? “No way”! So too, here comes the sentence Paul gives us: "God did not spare His own Son."
Why? Because God loves us, He cares for us, and above all, God is for us. The cross is the unspeakable, indescribable proof that God is for you. The Bible declares:
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God…”
Then the fourth thing that we all need is to remember……
4. God is for you, and has great plans for your life (8:32).
You must believe that. He has a plan and a purpose for every one of us.
Illustration: In October 2005, Moses Bittok celebrated an experience he had waited a lifetime to achieve: He became a U.S. citizen. That alone would have been enough to give the native Kenyan the happiest day of his life, but it was just a prelude.
On the way home from the Des Moines, Iowa, federal building, Bittok stopped at a gas station to see the winning numbers in the Iowa state "Hot Lotto Game." He was surprised to find out that he had won $1.8 million.
"It’s almost like you adopted a new country and then they netted you $1.8 million," said Bittok. "It doesn’t happen anywhere—I guess only in America." (Source: "It Wasn’t All Bad," The Week (October 7, 2005), pg. 6; submitted by Kevin A. Miller, Carol Stream, Illinois)
Do you want to see something really amazing? As soon as a person accepts Christ, he or she is given citizenship in the Kingdom of God, and guaranteed a heavenly reward that would put any riches on earth to shame.
From verse 32 comes the promise that God will "graciously give us all things?" Another translation says, "He freely gives us all things." Still another translation says, "He will lavish upon us all he has to give." Another says, after giving His Son, "is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us?"
What would be greater: A gift of a tank of gas, or a gift of a new vehicle? A night in a hotel might be a great gift for the newlyweds, but what of the gift of the new home, paid for in full? The comparison almost can’t be made, but that’s the context, that’s the depth, of what this verse is trying to share with us tonight.
God doesn’t just want to give you a tank of gas, a night out on the town, or a $5 handout. He has such greater things in mind for you that he’ll overwhelm you with goodness. "He’s already has given His Son, specifically to die for you, so why wouldn’t he do other great things for you?" Paul asks.
Do bad things happen? “Sure”, but God is for us. Even the worst of times are not going to separate us from that truth. Do we continue to sin, despite knowing the grace of Romans 8? “Yes”, I’m afraid we all do, and we pay different prices for the wrongs we will commit. But God is for us, anyway.
Conclusion:
Illustration: During the 19th century, Ireland was stricken by a potato famine. During this time, many of the Irish people immigrated to America.
A young Irish boy stowed away on an America-bound ship. While at seas, the ship struck an iceberg and began to sink.
As people scrambled frantically for the lifeboats, the captain supervised the activity and was the last to leave the sinking vessel. When he looked back at the ship, he saw the young boy coming out of hiding.
The brave captain ordered his lifeboat back to the sinking ship. He climbed aboard and rescued the boy, putting him in the seat the captain had vacated-- the only available place in the lifeboat.
As the lifeboat slowly pulled away from the sinking ship, he yelled out to the boy, "Son, never forget what has been done for you today!"
Application Point: Those who have never received the gift of God need to take action to do so, immediately. The Bible declares that today is the day of salvation, tomorrow might be too late.
Those who have received the gift, and yet forgotten the value of it, must recommit to a life that honours the gift-giver, God who is for us!
AMEN!
