Pastoral Thoughts

Romans 8: 35Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death?  36(Even the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.)  37No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away.  39Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Many of the “nasties” mentioned in these verses from Paul were part of his experience. These were things that actually happened to him in the course of serving Jesus Christ.
Paul says he had “overwhelming victory” despite extreme opposition. How does he have this victory?  He says it is “through Christ, who loved us”.  The operative thought here is Christ’s love for us.  We know this because he continues the theme of the role of God’s love in Christ in verse 38.  Paul claims here that there is no power we might fear which can separate us from the love of God. That love he says is clearly revealed by what our Lord Jesus Christ did for us in coming into our world and subjecting his whole self to the cross.

When we run into the “nasties”, the fears for today and worries about tomorrow, can suggest God’s love is not real.  It is then we are to remember our Lord on the cross.  The love of God in Christ has not dissolved, it is still there, and through faith, we need to accept the reality of it. If we do this we can share Paul’s confidence in the midst of the storms of life.

It is important to note here that Paul is not saying that his love for God gives him complete confidence and victory.  Rather he is saying that God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ is what assures him that no power can take him away from God, and it is this knowledge that gives him the victory.

Friends, it is not my hold on God’s love that sustains me; it is my faith in God’s loving hold on me that will keep me and give me victory through all the storms.

Yours in His all powerful loving grip,
Pastor Bill.