Skip to main content

All Things

            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? (Romans 8:32)

 

            Have you ever noticed the phrase “along with him” in this verse?  Yes, it’s always been there. Perhaps in different translations and interpretations, it’s not said in those exact words, but the point is that God gives us His Son, with one or more sides of “all things.” Too often, we subscribe to the “dessert first” philosophy and then decide we’re no longer hungry when it comes time for the main dish. We resent the notion that we must eat our vegetables or develop virtues. With a nod to C. S. Lewis, we want Turkish Delight – lots of it – and we want it now.

            Another idea to consider. Suppose you were to invite people to dinner and put together a sumptuous meal cooked to perfection. Would you seat some people at one table and give them access to everything you’ve made while seating others at a different table and providing them with a simpler fair? In this case, we’re not talking about people with food allergies, safety issues, or even the preferences of the diners. It’s all about your choices.  Would you? Neither does God.

            Suppose one of the diners pushed your offerings aside and said she wanted to be served several things you didn’t make. Would you be a bad host if you didn’t make them for that person? Let’s take it to a ridiculous extreme and make one demanded dish a roasted human heart. Would you be a bad host for refusing to make something that is illegal and or morally repugnant for you to make? And if you declined to make this dish, would you no longer be considered as giving your guests “all things”?

            The question is whether “all things” means that God must give us anything and everything we want or whether "all things" means that God will give us good things from what He has made that are good for us. If that doesn’t include everything we think we want, that doesn’t make Him ungracious. It makes us ungrateful.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more