He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Rom. 8:32.

We cannot compass all this verse means to us. Yet this promise is a reality. We can actually experience the truth of it. Cod loves us as He loves His Son. He loves man just as he is, in whatever state he is, whatever he has done. In Christ man has his greatest possibilities.

This love is more than nature, more than duty, more than wealth and human ability. He loves until the worthless becomes of supreme worth, until the insignificant becomes of great significance.

Claim the promise of this text. Within the realization of it the Christian is not surprised at his best moments and his noblest acts. He is not amazed when he does the brave thing or the unselfish thing. He is not astonished when he does the clean thing and the loving thing. But he is amazed at himself when he is dishonest, when he hates instead of loves, when he hurts people instead of helping them.

If it be asked what we receive from Jesus Christ, we can answer, "All things." We see within ourselves all too often the undesirable and the selfish. Yet we have no doubt about what we have in Christ. Our sins may obscure this fact. But we do have Christ. We do have His righteousness and the fruit of the Spirit. If we really believed this verse and committed ourselves to Christ, our lives would be filled with love, joy, and peace. All too often we look too much at our failures and the failures of others. This tends to turn us away from the "all things" we have in Christ. But the text does not change. The promise is forever valid. The believer who lives by this promise can bear witness to it. He passes from doubt to certainty, from sadness to joy, from hate to love.

There are no virtues that Christ does not provide. There are no lasting joys that Christ does not include, and pleasures forevermore. God never asks more of a man than he can give. He offers him first "all things." Then the Christian exclaims, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4:13).