Romans 8:31-39
Have you ever gotten separated from your parents in a grocery store? I feel like that is a universal experience! The feelings of fear and uncertainty overcome you as you frantically search up and down the aisles, hoping they wouldn't leave without you!
Before Jesus, we were separated from God and without hope. We lived in fear and uncertainty; wandering alone and frantically searching for something to satisfy us. There is a lot to unpack in this set of verses, but it begins by saying that God is for us and not against us. It continues on to say that He is for us so much, that He sent His one and only Son to die for us. It is hard to believe that the Creator of the world, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, is for us.
Verse 35 calls us to ponder. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? What about anger? Selfishness? Lust? Bitterness? What if I made a BIG mistake in my past? What if I make a BIG mistake in my future? As we sit and think about our life, we can rattle off sin after sin, shortcoming after shortcoming, fail after fail. We know that our sin is not deserving of an eternity with God. Sometimes, it feels like we can sin our way out of our relationship with Jesus. But, nothing can separate us from Christ’s love.
The verse continues… Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Even as Christians, we will still experience hardship, persecution, and sin. Our bodies are riddled with sin. God knew that. That is why He sent Jesus. It is easy to feel discouraged when we are in the lowest valley of life; like maybe the love and grace of Jesus can’t reach us that low. Like we’re too far gone and God no longer wants us.
But the verses continue… No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Despite the reality of our ugliness; if we have Christ, we are conquerors. Actually, we are more than conquerors. Because neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I have heard many people say that if they are far from Jesus for a season of their life, that God no longer loves them. Or that they have done something that is too bad that God could never forgive them. But if you are truly saved by the blood of Jesus, not even that can separate you.
Though, His grace does not mean that we no longer put in the work in our relationship with Jesus. When you are married, you don’t just stop working on your relationship the day you say “I do.” This set of verses doesn’t excuse us to keep on sinning and wallow in the depths of struggles and trials. However; there is hope in these verses that with Christ, He fights for us. The schemes of the devil are not more powerful than Jesus. Because He is victorious, we are victorious. Because He conquered death, Hell and the grave; we conquered death, Hell and the grave.
Before Jesus, we were separated from God and without hope. We lived in fear and uncertainty; wandering alone and frantically searching for something to satisfy us. There is a lot to unpack in this set of verses, but it begins by saying that God is for us and not against us. It continues on to say that He is for us so much, that He sent His one and only Son to die for us. It is hard to believe that the Creator of the world, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, is for us.
Verse 35 calls us to ponder. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? What about anger? Selfishness? Lust? Bitterness? What if I made a BIG mistake in my past? What if I make a BIG mistake in my future? As we sit and think about our life, we can rattle off sin after sin, shortcoming after shortcoming, fail after fail. We know that our sin is not deserving of an eternity with God. Sometimes, it feels like we can sin our way out of our relationship with Jesus. But, nothing can separate us from Christ’s love.
The verse continues… Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Even as Christians, we will still experience hardship, persecution, and sin. Our bodies are riddled with sin. God knew that. That is why He sent Jesus. It is easy to feel discouraged when we are in the lowest valley of life; like maybe the love and grace of Jesus can’t reach us that low. Like we’re too far gone and God no longer wants us.
But the verses continue… No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Despite the reality of our ugliness; if we have Christ, we are conquerors. Actually, we are more than conquerors. Because neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I have heard many people say that if they are far from Jesus for a season of their life, that God no longer loves them. Or that they have done something that is too bad that God could never forgive them. But if you are truly saved by the blood of Jesus, not even that can separate you.
Though, His grace does not mean that we no longer put in the work in our relationship with Jesus. When you are married, you don’t just stop working on your relationship the day you say “I do.” This set of verses doesn’t excuse us to keep on sinning and wallow in the depths of struggles and trials. However; there is hope in these verses that with Christ, He fights for us. The schemes of the devil are not more powerful than Jesus. Because He is victorious, we are victorious. Because He conquered death, Hell and the grave; we conquered death, Hell and the grave.
Posted in Devotional