If God…
What would life look like if we really believed the God of the universe is for us?
I think it’s an important question to ask before Easter Sunday because it’s a question Jesus himself had to ask and answer before Easter Sunday.
Speaking of Easter, does anyone know why at Easter and only at Easter you can buy these peeps?
And speaking of chickens…
The Second Chicken
Dr. Lawrence Cohen tells a story in his book, The Opposite of Worry, about what happens when baby chickens get scared.
Have you heard this story?
He knew that when baby chickens get scared, for example… when a hawk is nearby and threatening to eat it, the baby chicken freezes.
You’ve probably heard this idea before, that we all have these basic responses more or less built into our brains… Fight, Flight, or Freeze! As it turns out, we may have more in common with baby chickens than we knew!
Dr. Cohen did an experiment where he held a baby chicken and stared at it pretending to be a hawk. The chicken, of course, froze, hoping to go unnoticed by the hawk until the danger had passed. It stayed that way, completely frozen, for about a minute. Then it popped back up and began to walk around again.
Then Dr. Cohen did the same thing with two baby chickens at the same time. They both stayed frozen for much longer, about 5 minutes!
Then he did the experiment a third time. This time he let one chicken walk around in the box and he stared at another chicken in his hand until it became frozen in fear. Then he laid the frozen chicken in the box. But it only stayed frozen for a few seconds. As soon as it saw the second chicken walking around, it popped up!
His conclusion?
A frightened chicken looks to the second chicken to see if it’s safe. Whenever the second chicken is walking around, unafraid, it seems to signal to the first chicken that all is well. There’s nothing to be afraid of! That second chicken is doing just fine and hasn’t been eaten so it must be safe for me to get up and walk around.
But whenever the second chicken is immobilized, paralyzed by fear as well, the first chicken thinks…. I don’t see a hawk but that second chicken must see one because he’s not moving and so I’m going to stay frozen until I see that second chicken move or until I’m certain it’s safe.
You know what’s really interesting? Researchers discovered that chickens stay immobilized the longest, frozen in fear the longest, when they see their reflection in the mirror! When what they see in the mirror is not just another scared paralyzed chicken, but themselves paralyzed with fear, they stay paralyzed in fear!
Some Things Really Are Scary
Just so you know, Dr. Cohen’s book is all about parenting and helping kids with anxiety. But I think his insight into chickens might help all of us consider what we do and who we look to when we are afraid.
And today, I don’t want to minimize your fear, dismiss your fear, or tell you that you shouldn’t be afraid.
Some of you are going through some things that are really scary.
Chemo is scary.
Divorce is scary.
Raising kids is scary.
Looking for a job is scary.
Getting married is scary.
Having kids is scary.
Wondering how you’re going to pay your bills is scary.
Taking that math test or science test is scary.
Going to the DMV is scary.
War is scary.
The future is scary.
Death is scary.
Life is scary.
The truth is, there’s a lot to be afraid of these days.
And I don’t want to minimize your fear, belittle your fear, or tell you there’s nothing to be afraid of. But I do want to remind us that in the middle of our fear we can remember this truth…
Whenever we’re afraid, where we look or to WHOM we look can change our outlook.
Where to Look
The difference for us as followers of Jesus is not that we are unafraid, but that we know where to look when we are!
I think that’s why, when the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to this group of Jesus followers in the ancient city of Rome some 2000 years ago, he wanted them to understand a truth so deep and so powerful it would change their perspective about everything.
Listen to what Paul writes next in Romans 8.31-34:
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?
I know this is a bit of a strange place to start reading and you may be wondering, especially if you haven’t been here every week of this series, what “wonderful things” is Paul talking about?
Here’s a quick recap of what Paul has talked about up to this point in Romans 8:
1 – There is NO CONDEMNATION FOR US who BELONG to Jesus!
2 – The Holy Spirit is for us!
When we set our minds on the Spirit of God we experience life and peace.
3 – Your identity in Christ changes the direction of your life.
There is no obligation for us to do what our sinful nature wants us to do. No! We are indebted to the One who gave everything so we could live!
Because of this…
4 – There is Hope for us!
And this Hope has a name, it’s Jesus! And HOPE changes everything.
What does it change? Now we know that God is intimately aware and actively involved in the details of your life. And what’s amazing is that…
5 – God prays for us! The Holy Spirit intercedes for us!
So Paul says, with all of this in mind…
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
For Paul – all this proves his overarching point in this letter to the Romans… GOD IS FOR US!!!
God is FOR Us
Let me say that again, real slow, And I want you to let this truth sink in…
GOD IS FOR US!
He is not against us.
He is not out to get us.
He is not waiting to catch us and punish us in our sin.
He is not angry with us.
He is not disappointed in us.
He is not judging us with a critical eye.
God doesn’t hate you.
God doesn’t dislike you.
God doesn’t disapprove of you.
God is not sad or mad or upset because you think you let him down.
God is not losing sleep at night because of what you did or didn’t do.
No!
God is for you!
God is for us!
This is How You Know…
Just in case you’ve forgotten this truth, that God is for us, just in case you failed to remember or you’ve allowed our enemy to convince you otherwise, Paul wants to remind you of the reason you can know that you know that you know this is true…
32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
The one thing God could have withheld from us, He chose not to withhold from us.
No one would have blamed God for withholding his one and only son from us.
No one would have thought twice if God had sent 10,000 angels to rescue Jesus from the cross.
No one would have faulted God for thinking the price was too high, the cost too great, the death of his son too much to ask!
Because God did not withhold his one and only son, why in the world would he withhold anything from us! He would not!
Jesus himself said, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”
Matthew 7.11
God is not a genie in a bottle waiting to grant you three wishes. That’s not who God is. God is your FATHER. Your HEAVENLY FATHER. Your PERFECT FATHER. And there’s nothing he will withhold from you.
He proved this at the cross where he gave His one and only Son so that you and I could have eternal life!
Here’s the Good WORD
Because God is for us, because God has not withheld anything from us including His one and only Son, Paul writes…
33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Your accuser cannot accuse you anymore. He has no standing before God when the case against you comes to trial. And even if he did, Jesus Christ would be standing right next to you, advocating for you, pleading for you, and pointing to the cross as a reminder to your accuser that the penalty for your sin has been paid once and for all!
If it’s the word of your accuser against the word of Jesus, the Word become flesh, the Word who is Jesus, then here’s the Good News, the Gospel, the Good Word… God’s Word always wins. God always gets the Word.
And His word over you is CHOSEN. FREE. FORGIVEN. SPIRIT-FILLED. CHILD of God. SON of God. DAUGHTER of God. HEIR of God.
Whatever debt you owed has been paid in full at the cross.
FOR US 3X
And just in case you missed it, in verse 34 we see these two words, “FOR US,” three times!
Paul writes…
Jesus DIED FOR US.
Jesus was RAISED FOR US.
And now Jesus PLEADS FOR US!
So let me ask you again, If God is FOR US, who could be against us? NO ONE!!!
What if you lived like you believed the God of the universe is for you?
I told you earlier that I do not want to belittle your fear, I don’t want to be dismissive of your fear or what you’re going through, I don’t want you to walk out of hear thinking that the message today is, “As people of faith we should never be afraid.”
It’s true, God doesn’t want you to live in fear. In fact, on nearly every page of scripture you’ll hear this reminder from God… Don’t be afraid.
But that’s a reminder of where to look when you are afraid, not a command that you have to not be afraid and that if you are afraid at any point then you’re not a good Christian.
How do I know that?
One last story.
Jesus has gone to the garden of Gethsemane to pray on the Mount of Olives. His disciples are nearby but Jesus is alone. He’s about to be arrested. Beaten. They are going to place a crown of thorns on his head and then they will drive nails into his hands and into his feet. And you know what I think, I think Jesus was afraid in this moment.
He knew the cross was before him. And the cross is scary. The gospel writers tell us that Jesus had sweat drops of blood on his forehead. (Luke 22.44) That happens when you’re so filled with fear that the capillaries in your forehead burst from the stress you’re up under and appear like sweat on your brow.
But what does Jesus do in this moment?
Does he tell himself… You shouldn’t be afraid? You should have more faith? No. He feels the fear. But then He prays. And as He prays he turns his eyes to our Father in Heaven. And he says, “Not my will but yours be done.” (Matthew 26.36-46)
Jesus knew where to look when overwhelmed with the weight of fear. He looked to God.
And because Jesus looked to God in the middle of his fear, because Jesus faced the cross, because he entered the darkness of the tomb, and because God was faithful to raise him from the grave at first light on Sunday after the darkest Friday the world has ever known, we too can know that this is true:
GOD IS FOR US!
I’m not sure Paul had any idea that we would be reading his words some 2000 years later! But I do believe Paul knew there would be other believers who would need to hear this message.
And God knew that we would need to hear this message!!!
God knew… we weren’t there when Jesus was crucified.
We weren’t there when He was resurrected.
We didn’t see him ascend to Heaven.
We would believe because of the testimony of others.
And there would be times when we too would have doubts, fears, and our own reasons to give up on God.
So we too need this reminder…
God has not given up on us!
God is FOR US.
And when we feel afraid, remember to turn your eyes to your Father in Heaven.
When you feel the fear see that God is near.
What if you lived like the God of the universe is for you?
We live in a world filled with fear and anxiety. Chances are, someone near you today is going through something. Someone around you has something real they are afraid of. In the words of Dr. Cohen, someone need you to be the second chicken.
That doesn’t mean that you’re not afraid. It just means you know where to look when you are afraid. You look to Jesus. And because you look to Jesus you can point others to him as well.
What if this is exactly what the world needs now? Christian people, Jesus following people, who because we have fixed our eyes on Jesus are living a different kind of life. It’s not that we aren’t afraid, it’s just that we know this is true: If God is for us, who could be against us?
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