In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

From time to time it may seem as though the whole world is against us. Have you ever felt that way? Perhaps a dear loved one passes away. Maybe you are diagnosed with some sort of medical problem. Maybe you lose your job or your stocks take a dive downward, and you begin to wonder if your retirement income is going to be there for you. Maybe you are feeling alone and afraid. And we know that the devil is against us, and the unbelieving world is against us, and our sinful flesh is against us. Sometimes it can seem like the whole world is against us!

Once again today, the Bible has good news for us! It might seem like the whole world is against us, but God is "for us"! And if God is for us, it makes no difference who is against us. We will win in the end! Believers in Jesus are on God's side, and so God is on our side. Take heart, dear friends! No matter who or what is against us,...

1. HE GAVE HIS SON FOR ALL OF US.

The words in this section are among the most comforting words in all of Scripture. The gospel, the good news, here is simply amazing. Let's study these words together verse by verse. The Bible not only says that God is for us, it tells us what he did to prove it. Listen again to the words of verse 32, "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?" God the Father did not spare his own Son. He did not keep him from us. He gave him up for us all! Just think how much God loves us!

These words reveal amazing grace! We were all born in sin. By our own works and actions, we are all "sinners." We have not loved God with all of our hearts, and all of our souls, all of our minds, and all of our strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have sinned by being selfish in our thoughts and desires. We fall short of God's standards. If God would have just condemned us all, it would have been just and right and holy. That's what we deserve.

But God is also merciful and gracious and loving. So, God did not spare his only-begotten Son. He gave him up for us all. That is amazing grace! God the Father could have just condemned us, but he didn't. God the Son could have remained above the fray, far removed from our problems and needs, but he didn't. God gave up his Son for us all. And "all" means all people! It means all the world. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." God loved the whole wide world, the entire world of sinners, and that includes you and me. And he loved us all so much that he gave his only-begotten Son to be our Savior! Yes, God's Son came to save us, and save us he did. As true God and true man, he came to be our Substitute under the Law. He lived a perfect life FOR US. He went to the cross FOR US, and in our place. He suffered and died FOR US. All of the punishment that we had deserved was poured out on Jesus on Calvary's cross and he endured it all FOR US. Because he had satisfied God's justice, and paid our price in full, our Savior rose from death on Easter Sunday morning. He won the victory over sin, death, and the devil FOR US. He won forgiveness FOR US. And so, whoever believes in Jesus will not perish, but have eternal life! So, take comfort, dear believers, you are going to go to heaven! And there is just no doubt about it.

But that's not all. God's gifts do not stop there. If he did not spare his Son, God will spare no expense to see that we have everything that we need. As Psalm 23 boldly declares, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." I shall lack nothing! If the stock market crashes, we will be okay. If we lose our jobs, God will take care of us. We should never worry. If God sent us the greatest gift, he will not be cheap when it comes to lesser needs. Yes, God is for us!

2. HE DECLARES US "NOT GUILTY."

We read in verse 33, "Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies." The word "justify" means to declare "not guilty" in a courtroom. When the judge says that a defendant is "not guilty" that is final in our country. There is no double jeopardy. You may be completely convinced that O. J. Simpson was guilty. You may believe that he actually did commit murder. It doesn't matter. He was declared "not guilty" in a court of law, and now no one can charge him with that murder again. He will never go to jail for that crime, even if he actually did it, because he was declared "not guilty." Well, in our case, we did the crime, but we do not have to do the time. Jesus did the time for us, on the cross. In view of Christ's atoning work, God declares us "not guilty." We do not have to pay for our sins. Jesus already paid for them on the cross.

So now, no one can successfully accuse us. They may accuse us, but it won't succeed. It won't stand in God's court. The devil accuses us. The name Satan means "accuser." He accuses us of being sinners. He says that we don't deserve to heaven. And we can say, "You're right! I am a sinner and I don't deserve to go to heaven, but I am going to heaven, because Jesus took my sins away and God declares me 'not guilty.'" Unbelievers may accuse us too. They might point at us and say, "You aren't perfect either!" And, we can say, "You're right. We aren't perfect, and yet, we stand before God as perfect, because Christ washed our sins away. God declares us 'not guilty.'" He does not hold our sins against us or punish us for them, no matter what our accusers say. One of the worst accusers is inside of us. Our consciences accuse us and make us feel miserable sometimes. The conscience says, "You shouldn't have said that! You shouldn't have done that! You should have said this! You should have done that!" Sometimes, my conscience jumps all over me and says, "You were going to talk to that person to encourage them, but you didn't! You failed!" And my conscience has a point! I am a sinner. And so are you. We all fall short of perfection! The fact that we don't mean it doesn't matter at all. We daily sin much and deserve nothing but punishment. But then, the gospel comforts our hearts and insists that God declares us "not guilty" of all of our sins.

We can tell the devil and our accusers to get lost! I am, of course, talking to repentant sinners now. There are different Bible passages that apply to those who want to cling to sin and live in it. But, once we repent of sin, and hear that we are forgiven, we do not need to beat ourselves up about the past. We don't need to live under that oppressive guilt trip! The words of absolution remind us that God has forgiven us in Christ. God is not going to condemn a sinner who repents of sin and trusts in Jesus for forgiveness! In fact, our defense attorney is the judge! Jesus says that we are "not guilty." We did the crimes, but Jesus did the time. We deserve to perish, but Jesus is going to take believers to heaven! That's not all, dear believers. God is for us...

3. HE LOVES US - EVEN IN TOUGH TIMES.

From time to time, even Christians get this idea that if you are a believer, if God loves you, that you will never go through tough times. This popular idea is most certainly not true. Believers do go through what we would call "tough times." Believers do experience troubles and trials. Sometimes believers endure very difficult tests of faith. Job went through tough times. Believers today go through tough times too. Yet, these verses remind us that God still loves us! Have you gone through hard times? Have you experienced pain? Have you shed tears of sorrow and bitterness? Have you been so tested and tempted that you even wondered whether God loves you anymore? Take comfort in these words of Scripture. These words are like a rock foundation. When tough times come your way, take your Bible, turn to this section, and hold on tight. Listen again to these words: "{35, 37-39}Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ... {37} No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. {38} For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, {39} neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

What a passage that is! Nothing and no one can separate us from the love that God has for us. There is a long list of tough times in here, but none of these things stop God from loving us. None of these things mean that God doesn't love us anymore. When went through tough times, God still loved us. When we go through tough times now, God still loves us. If in the future, we go through tough times, God will still love us. God loves us - even in tough times. In fact, we are "more than conquerors." With Christ, we are super-victorious! Through faith in Christ, we "win an overwhelming victory." God will trounce our enemies, and take us to heaven right over the top of them! Not even the devil can stop us from getting to heaven. We believers will make it there, because God is for us!

Let us pray: "Oh, Lord Jesus, thank you for saving us! May we never leave your side! Keep us close to you, by your saving Word. Increase our faith! When we face trouble or temptation, hear our prayers and remind us that you love us forever." Amen.