With the Lord Jesus Christ comes all good things. Our Saviour told His disciples, ‘seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you’. What are ‘these things’? All temporal things that are good and necessary for our earthly life. All the blessings of salvation; a hatred of sin, forgiveness of sin, and peace with God. All the blessings of spiritual life; union with Christ, the love of God, the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. All the blessings of heaven and eternal glory.

In coming to the world to save sinners our Lord Jesus Christ was not spared humiliation, contradiction of sinners, cruel suffering or the loss of divine fellowship with His Father. He was given as our Substitute and delivered up in our behalf to bear our sins, endure our punishment and die in our place. Substitutionary atonement is a central gospel truth and the Lord Jesus died as our Substitute. The price of our salvation was paid by Christ and our Redeemer bore our grief and carried our sorrow in His own body on the tree.  Knowing your audience Here Paul speaks of ‘us all’. He is referring to all for whom Christ died. The ‘all’ refers to God’s elect whom He foreknew, predestinated, called, justified…