If God is for us, what can stand against us? I was talking with someone last week about the Coronavirus and how surreal this whole experience is. He told me that he’s not a religious person, but that he’s convinced the Coronavirus is God’s way of getting our attention. He went on to explain that the way the world has been going—I’m not really sure what he meant by that—we needed a wake-up call. This is it. This is God’s judgment, His way of putting us back on course. As a Christian, I couldn’t disagree more!
If God is for us, what can stand against us?
Assume for a minute that the Christian worldview is true, that Jesus is the revelation of God, that He is God. Then the thing that is most true about God, about the Transcendent Creator of all that is, about the Eternal Lord of the Universe, is that, at a specific moment in time, He emptied Himself of all His divine privileges, entered the world He created as a tiny, little, vulnerable baby, and lived a fully human life. Then He suffered the excruciating agony of the Cross and died an actual death. Finally, three days later, He rose from the dead with a body that had been transformed beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.
Assuming the Christian worldview is true, at the center of reality stands a Cross. At the center of reality stands a God who suffers with us and then transforms that suffering into a transcendent glory that is light years beyond any earthly experience.
If God is for us, what can stand against us?
There is no easy answer for why God would allow something like the Coronavirus, and Christianity doesn’t try to provide one. Instead, it provides a Cross. A God who loves us this much, who would give up eternity’s bliss for a Cross, HAS to be for us!
That’s why Paul can say: If God is for us, what can possibly stand against us? It wasn’t easy for Paul to say this. Paul was under far greater stress than we ever will be during this crisis. He was violently persecuted, imprisoned, brought to the brink of death on numerous occasions, constantly under the threat of death. He suffered horribly, experiencing every kind of loss, from losing his position and status, to losing loved ones, even to losing his freedom and experiencing periods of hunger and homelessness.
But through it all—through it all!—he could confidently proclaim that nothing can stand against us, because, if God gave His beloved Son for us and then raised Him from the dead—utterly transformed—He can be trusted to make all things—all things—work for our ultimate good.
If God is for us, then what can stand against us?
As a Christian, I don’t know why God allows things like the Coronavirus. But I do know that He doesn’t cause them. And I do know that He is with us through it all. And above all, I do know that—if we let Him, if we place our trust in Him—in eternity, He will transform all our suffering in ways we can’t even begin to imagine.
God doesn’t cause our suffering; He redeems it!
If God is for us, then what can stand against us?
Coincidentally—or perhaps providentially—this whole Coronavirus crisis is happening right smack in the middle of Lent. Lent is the forty-day period of preparation for Easter. Traditionally, Christians use this time to intensify their prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (i.e., charity). They freely give up earthly things in order to focus more on the Ultimate Thing, God.
Although it’s been imposed on us—we didn’t choose this—forced to give up so many of the earthly things we love, we’re all going through a Lenten experience right now. But if we really believe that life is ultimately about a relationship with God, this can become a time of extraordinary transformation for us.
After all, if we really believe that God is the Ultimate Good, that He is all we really need, that He is infinitely more than we could ever want, then instead of agonizing over all we’re losing out on, instead of being consumed with stress and anxiety, we can use this time to focus on Him, to focus on what He did for us on that Cross. We can use this time to be passionately consumed with Him and passionately consumed by His love.
Then, in every fiber of our being, we will know that He is for us!
Then, we will know that nothing, not even the Coronavirus, can ever stand against us!
How are you using this time? What is consuming your thoughts? You can let me know by going to the “Contact E.J.” Page of the Raising Jesus website. I’d love to hear from you! May the peace of the Risen Lord reign in your hearts and minds, and may His Spirit guide and protect you and your loved ones through this difficult time.
