Raised and Delivered

Paul concludes this section of Romans chapter 4 with the following verses:  “²³ Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, ²⁴ but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.  Why did Jesus die on the cross?  Was it because of His political activity or His desire to change the social order of the day?   I don’t think so.  Jesus died on the cross to offer the human race forgiveness and freedom from sin.  Was this His own desire?  Well…sort of…but not totally.  Note how in verse 25 we read that Jesus was “delivered up”.  I understand this to mean that the Father delivered Jesus to mankind.  Now, since both the Father and Jesus are God, it seems to get a little hard to understand but Jesus was delivered up by God for sin.  Then He was raised for our justification.  First He was delivered and then He was raised.  First He paid the price for sin and then we reap the benefits of His sacrifice.  Jesus was delivered so that He could be raised and so that we could be justified. Could God have done it a different way? I suppose so; but He chose this way. I hope you choose to follow Jesus.