He who did not spare his own Son…

I can recall my son’s first day of kindergarten, which was not too long ago, so that feeling is still fresh in my heart and mind. The image of seeing him off on his first day, struggling to climb the steep steps of that yellow school bus. A boy not even four years old with a backpack strapped to his shoulders and stuffed with all his mother’s love, the bag larger than his torso. Just as the doors would slide closed, you would see his little head pop up to look outside the window with a face full of worry, and as soon as the bus drove away, a flood of tears would run down my wife and I’s faces. Call us over-emotional, but there is nothing like the feeling of losing sight of your child, even if it is just for a moment and even if it is in the hands of professionals who promise you all the care in the world for your child.

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

I could not even begin to imagine how a parent would give up their own child. The truth is, so many have and are in a place where they must give up their child. Whether it is due to disease, adoption, war, or tragedy. My heart excruciatingly weeps and breaks at the mere thought of the reality that there are countless families in the world going through those situations right now, at this very moment as we read.

I could not fathom how God would give up His son so that he could save humanity that would turn and turn against him repeatedly – who would time and time again deny Him and commit sins exponentially and more wretchedly than the last, even after He had given his son for us. And yet, while He knew it all, God still did it anyway.

Suppose we can begin to understand even a glimpse of the pain the Father endured for us and how great that love truly is for you and I. In that case, the promises of our future cannot be more assuring and filled with hope. They neutralize the fear and anxieties of the unknown for tomorrow because we know the promises of the Father in His Son, Jesus Christ.