Tears of God the Father
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.พ. 2025
- Romans 8:32
"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?"
1) "Spare" (φείδομαι: pheidomai)
This verb appears ten times in the New Testament and primarily means "to spare" or "to withhold." To spare something means to keep it safe, to exempt someone from a deserved punishment, and instead, to cover them with love.
On the other hand, not sparing evokes a striking image: that of a fierce wolf attacking a flock of sheep without mercy (Acts 20:29). In other words, it means to act without restraint or compassion, unleashing destruction.
As the righteous Judge, God had every right to judge us sinners. Yet, instead of condemning us, He showed us His love and grace. The full weight of judgment fell upon Jesus Christ. God did not spare His only begotten Son but gave Him up for us.
Jesus, as the Son of God, was sinless and did not deserve hatred or condemnation. The phrase "God did not spare His Son" does not mean that God abandoned Him without love but rather that He willingly gave Him up in our place so that we might be spared.
Thus, we should not understand this phrase as if God renounced His love for Jesus. Rather, it is a testimony of His immense love for us: He gave what was most precious to Him to save us.
Why does Romans 8:32 say that "God did not spare His Son"?
There are two possible reasons for this expression:
To show that God, who gave His only Son for us, will also grant us all the blessings of His grace.
Those who believe in Jesus and live by His life can be assured that they will receive everything they need in Him.
This expression echoes the story of Abraham and Isaac.
In Genesis 22, Abraham did not spare his son Isaac but offered him as a sacrifice in obedience to God. In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), the same Greek verb pheidomai is used.
As a father, Abraham naturally would have wanted to keep his son. But he restrained his paternal love in order to obey God. Similarly, God the Father, though full of love for His only Son, chose to give Him up for our salvation.
Just as God provided a substitute for Isaac in the Old Testament (a ram), He also provided Jesus as a substitute for us in the New Testament. Though Jesus died for us, God raised Him from the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit, ensuring the victory of life over death.
This does not mean that all of this was merely a staged event or a symbolic story. Jesus truly suffered a horrific death on the cross, and God truly resurrected Him.
Let us not imagine a God who was indifferent to this suffering-He wept as He saw His Son die. And if we have witnessed the tears of God, we can no longer live for ourselves, but only for the life of Jesus in us.
Hallelujah!