by Pastor Greg Hoffmann
“What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him?” - Romans 8:31-32
A recent song titled “Always,” introduced at the 8:00 and 9:30 services, includes these words of promise from the Lord:
“I am with you always, always;
I am for you always, always;
Through the fire through the flood,
You are Mine, you are loved.
I am with you always, always.” (Worship Initiative)
It caused me to ponder what it means that God is for us.
Sometimes in life we go through seasons in our relationship with the Lord where we feel that God is “absent” or “silent” – when it almost seems that God has abandoned us. Such times can be disturbing and unsettling. But what if the exact opposite were true? What if these seasons of seeming silence are actually the Father’s invitations to lead us deeper in our relationship with Christ? What if, during these times, the Lord draws us close, embracing us, so that we might know that God is FOR us?
In the verses above (Romans 8:31-32), Paul asks the question, “If God is for us, who is against us?” Paul is not questioning whether God is for us. “If God is for us” is not a question but a given. The question is meant to show how incidental any opposition can be in the face of God being for us. Since God is for us, other opposition doesn’t stand a chance.
But why is God for us? Is it because of what we have accomplished, how good we are, or even what we believe? To hold this position would easily lead to the feeling that times of God’s seeming absence are because we have done something wrong. God is “for us” not because we have gotten it right. Left to ourselves, we get it terribly wrong. Yet the good news is that God comes to us in our “wrongness,” our brokenness and rebellion, to redeem and rescue us.
God is for us not because we are good, but because God is good.
These verses about God being for us come at the end of Romans 8, a chapter in which Paul talks about the trials and suffering of being a follower of Christ, and how we as Christians (and all of creation) groan to be released from the bondage of sin. What shall we say to all of these things – the reality of suffering and trials in the Christian life? And this is where Paul asks the question: If God is for us, who can be against us? It is as if Paul is saying, “Name whatever opponent you can. That trial, suffering or hardship does not stand a chance, because, in Christ, God is FOR us!!!”
Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us, but He is also God for us. That is why Paul ends Romans 8 by saying that there is nothing we experience in life and nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ.
We live in this certainty – God is for us. He will not give up on us. His seeming silence is but an invitation to draw near and listen more intently.
Lord, in the midst of life’s trials and fragmenting distractions, would You give us greater vision and insight into what it means that You, our Savior, Redeemer and Refuge, are FOR us. Ground us securely in Your love for us in Jesus Christ. Amen.