Delivered Up For Us All

In coming to the world to save sinners our Lord Jesus Christ was not spared humiliation, contradiction of sinners, cruel suffering or the loss of divine fellowship with His Father. He was given as our Substitute and delivered up in our behalf to bear our sins, endure our punishment and die in our place. Substitutionary atonement is a central gospel truth and the Lord Jesus died as our Substitute. The price of our salvation was paid by Christ and our Redeemer bore our grief and carried our sorrow in His own body on the tree. 

Knowing your audience

Here Paul speaks of ‘us all’. He is referring to all for whom Christ died. The ‘all’ refers to God’s elect whom He foreknew, predestinated, called, justified and glorified and for whom all things work together for good. They are the very same individuals who were committed to the care of the Son in the everlasting covenant of grace and represented by Him in the eternal councils of peace. For the salvation of ‘us all’ God the Son was delivered into the hands of cruel men. He willingly surrendered Himself as Substitute for ‘us all’ who were chosen and set apart ‘in him before the foundation of the world’.

Given, and taken

The word ‘delivered’ leaves no doubt about God’s active role in the giving up, or yielding up, of His Son to suffer and die. It complements Paul’s previous description of the Father not sparing the Son but sending Him to accomplish redemption, secure pardon and effect the work of reconciliation. The Saviour was not taken until He was given. The Lord Jesus Christ was always the divinely appointed Substitute; ever the Lamb of God. His death was always intended for the salvation of the elect, no more and no less. 

A consistent apostolic message

Paul taught the believers at Rome how satisfaction for sin and justification for righteousness comes by Christ’s death, ‘Who’, says Paul, ‘was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification’. Here, God is expressly declared to deliver His Son. This is consistent with the Apostle Peter’s message in Acts chapter 2. There Peter speaks of God’s eternal purpose to save His people from their sins by delivering the Messiah for the suffering of death. 

Wicked hands

The Jews, says Peter, by wicked hands had crucified and slain Jesus. Responsibility and culpability for Christ’s death lay with them. Yet, Peter makes it equally clear that the crucifixion was no unforeseen event on God’s part. The covenant of grace is God’s purpose to save and the only begotten Son was ‘delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God’ in order that His blood be shed in lieu of His people’s. Had not Isaiah said, ‘For the transgression of my people was he stricken’? 

The fact and the effect

It is important that God’s people know and understand the nature of Christ’s substitutionary work and the significance of the atonement. Many preachers give lip service to the facts of Christ’s death yet deny or neglect the benefits secured by it. They preach of a ‘sufficiency’ in Christ’s sacrifice for everyone but an ‘efficiency’ for only a few, confounding God’s clear covenant purpose and ignoring His intent.

A mongrel message

When pressed, many agree Christ secured forgiveness only for the elect yet they persist in offering salvation to everyone. They speak of cleansing for sin, imputed righteousness and a new creation, which we applaud, but then add that men must continue working to honour God by their obedience to the law of Moses. They look to the work of Christ for justification and the work of man for sanctification.

Freely given ‘all things’

In tomorrow’s service we shall reflect upon the success of the Lord’s work on the cross and the implication of His death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. We shall note how being not spared by the Father but delivered up for us all has secured every covenant blessing and fulfilled every covenant obligation laid upon the Great Substitute and Representative by Jehovah God. We shall thank the Lord for His gift to the church of free grace and His assurance that all things are ours by faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ.

Amen.