And now, notice how this mysterious act is grasped by the Apostle here as what I may call the illuminating fact as to the whole divine nature.  From it, and from it alone, there falls a blaze of light on the deepest things in God.  We are accustomed to speak of Christ’s perfect life of unselfishness, and His death of pure beneficence, as being the great manifestation to us all that in His heart there is an infinite fountain of love to us.  We are, further, accustomed to speak of Christ’s mission and death as being the revelation to us of the love of God as well as of the Man Christ Jesus, because we believe that ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world,’ and that He has so manifested and revealed the very nature of divinity to us, in His life and in His person, that, as He Himself says, ’He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.’  And every conclusion that we draw as to the love of Christ is, ipso facto, a conclusion as to the love of God.  But my text looks at the matter from rather a different point of view, and bids us see, in Christ’s mission and sacrifice, the great demonstration of the love of God, not only because ’God was in Christ,’ but because the Father’s will, conceived of as distinct from, and yet harmonious with, the will of the Son, gives Him up for us.  And we have to say, not only that we see the love of God in the love of Christ, but ’God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son’ that we might have life through Him.

These various phases of the love of Christ as manifesting the divine love, may not be capable of perfect harmonising in our thoughts, but they do blend into one, and by reason of them all, ’God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’  We have to think not only of Abraham who gave up, but of the unresisting, innocent Isaac, bearing on his shoulders the wood for the burnt offering, as the Christ bore the Cross on His, and suffering himself to be bound upon the pile, not only by the cords that tied his limbs, but by the cords of obedience and submission, and in both we have to bow before the Apocalypse of divine love.

II.  So, secondly, look at the power of this divine surrender to bring with it all other gifts.

‘How shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?’ The Apostle’s triumphant question requires for its affirmative answer only the belief in the unchangeableness of the Divine heart, and the uniformity of the Divine purpose.  And if these be recognised, their conclusion inevitably follows.  ’With Him He will freely give us all things.’

It is so, because the greater gift implies the less.  We do not expect that a man who hands over a million of pounds to another, to help him, will stick at a farthing afterwards.  If you give a diamond you may well give a box to keep it in.  In God’s gift the lesser will follow the lead of the greater; and whatsoever a man can want, it is a smaller thing for Him to bestow, than was the gift of His Son.