“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 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 honour at God’s right hand, pleading for us.”
Romans 8:31-34 NLT
Paul asks another question. He logically thinks that if God was prepared to sacrifice His own Son for us, how could there be any limit to what He was prepared to do for His children? But what does “everything else” include? We can start by listing what it doesn’t. Nothing evil or sinful will come our way from God, thus excluding much of what we are exposed to in our lives here on Planet Earth. Also much of what we devote our time, energy and resources to may not come under God’s “everything else” umbrella. Paul wrote the following in 1 Corinthians 3:11-13, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value”. What God considers “everything else” might not match our values. One day everything that is of no value to either Him or us will be burnt up. In our humanity we tend to associate gifts with the “stuff” with which we surround ourselves. Some of it is necessary for our natural lives, but much is superfluous. No place for gadgets in Heaven – we won’t need them!
God’s “everything else” includes all the resources of Heaven. We will need eternity to experience all of it, there will be so much. Imagine being able to visit all that God has created, for a start. And meet all the people, past, present and future, who will be in Heaven. We are totally unable to get our minds around what God will provide for us. Compared to what we have here on Planet Earth, God’s “everything else” will be infinitely more.
We mustn’t forget that God makes available to us some of His resources for the here and now. Through the power of the Spirit within us we have enormous potential. Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think”.
So what do we pilgrims feel about this “everything else” promise from God? Excited? Impatient? Paul couldn’t wait to get to Heaven. We read in Philippians 1:21-23, “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me”. It’s all about our faith. Paul’s faith was convinced about the “everything else” that was waiting for him in Heaven. Are we?
Dear God. Like You, Your Heavenly resources are limitless. And we know that You are a wonderful, loving Father who wants to share Your resources with us. We are so grateful. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 