2017 40 Days of Prayer, Day 32
The Abiding Presence of God:
A Life of Complete Dependence
Day 32
“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32
Consider the Evidence
The death of Christ communicates much about the nature of God. Great focus has been given to the physical suffering of Christ on our behalf. He suffered greatly in physical pain in His crucifixion. “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed,” I Peter 2:24. “He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed,” Isaiah 53:5. In addition to the physical pain of the cross, Christ also suffered substantial emotional pain. “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried,” Isaiah 53:4. Consider the emotional weight of His experience, rejected by His people, abandoned by His friends, betrayed and denied by His closed companions. Beyond the physical and emotional aspects of His suffering, Christ also bore the judgment for our sins in His suffering. As He died, Christ cried out, “My God, My God why have You forsaken Me,” Matthew 27:46. Paul wrote that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us,” Galatians 3:13. Something happened within the Godhead during Christ’s final moments on the cross. Prior to this historic moment, for all eternity the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit had been in perfect communion, perfect fellowship, possessing perfect love for one another. For a brief, yet monumental moment, the Father severed that communion with His Son. Instead of communion, Jesus Christ experienced the curse of our sin. Despite the relatively brief period of time (three hours or less), this great suffering went beyond any human experience. Christ's physical and emotional suffering, though greater than anything most humans will ever experience, are something we can relate to in our own physical and emotional pain. However, the cross also demonstrates something further than physical and emotional suffering. The cross displays the depth of spiritual suffering. God placed Christ under judgment for our sins. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him,” II Corinthians 5:21. When Paul said, He who “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all,” he had in mind the Father’s judgment of Christ in our place. The judgment of God fell on His own Son so that we might be saved. In the cross, we see the seriousness of our sin and the hopelessness of our condition. In the cross, we also observe the depth of the love of God. God gave up His own Son in order to deliver us from the consequences of our sin. Why would God do this? Love. Love motivated God to act this way. This verse reminds us of what Paul said earlier in this letter to the church at Rome, in Romans 5:8. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were still sinner, Christ died for us.” Christ death on our behalf demonstrates the love God has for us.
Logical Conclusion
If God would offer up His own Son for us, then we can trust Him. If God would do that for us then He can be trusted in all other matters concerning our daily lives. This does not guarantee a life of ease. The remaining verses of this chapter describe a difficult existence in this life for Christians. However, the knowledge of God’s amazing love means that we can have confidence in what God is doing even in the midst of our difficulties. The last verse of this chapter affirms God’s love for us, nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 8:39. He will provide for our us no matter what obstacles we face. Do you trust Him? He gave His Son for our salvation. How can we not trust Him with every situation we face?
Prayer Focus
God, I worship You for Your grace and mercy. Thank You for the sacrifice of Your Son on my behalf. I praise You for Your continual presence in my life, supplying my needs and ministering to me in my weaknesses. Help me to trust You today with every situation of my life.
From DL Moody’s Secret Power
THE FAITHFUL FRIEND
The Holy Spirit tells a man of his faults, in order to lead him to a better life. In John 16:8 we read: “He is to reprove the world of sin.” Now, there are a class of people who don’t like this part of the Spirit’s work. Do you know why? Because He convicts them of sin. They don’t like that. What they want is someone to speak comforting words and make everything pleasant. To keep everything all quiet and tell them there is peace when there is war. To tell them it is light when it is dark, and tell them everything is growing better. That the world is getting on amazingly in goodness, that it is growing better all the time and that is the kind of preaching they seek for.
Men think they are a great deal better than their fathers were. That suits human nature, for it is full of pride. Men will strut around and say, “Yes, I believe that. The world is improving. I am a good deal better man than my father was. My father was too strict. He was one of those old Puritanical men who was so rigid. O, we are getting on. We are more liberal.”
This is the kind of preaching, which some dearly love, and there are preachers who tickle such itching ears. When you bring the Word of God to bear upon them, and when the Spirit drives it home, then men will say: “I don’t like that kind of preaching. I will never go to hear that man again!” Sometimes they will get up and stomp their way out of church before the speaker gets through. They don’t like it. But when the Spirit of God is at work, He convicts men of sin. “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:” Not because men swear and lie and steal and get drunk and murder *“because they believe not in Me.” (*John 16:8-9 NKJV)