Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39
I recently read a real-life account of a blind man who climbed the Mount Everest! People with all their faculties intact would find this trek daunting. But here was a man who has absolutely no clue what lay before him accomplish a herculean feat! If you aren’t impressed yet, here’s another fact. It was his seventh climbing of such sorts!
Talk of grit and determination!
Incidentally, one of the most important equipment in mountain climbing is the rope. It is tied around the waist of all the braveheart climbers to keep them secure and connected to each other.
God’s love is like that rope; connecting and securing us to Him.
We had been learning about the love of God for many weeks. The last time we studied this topic, we explored a beautiful revelation of His love. Today, let’s look at the love of God that is unbreakable and inseparable.
LOVE LIKE A ROPE
In many ways, aren’t we all like the blind man? We don’t know where our next step is going to lead us to or what’s coming our way in the future. Yet, we have a journey to make and a destiny to arrive at. We trudge on ahead braving all the odds of life with the love of God fastened around us neatly. It holds firm and together, tight and snug. We can be certain that we won’t trip and fall because it’s not us holding on to God’s love, but God’s love that is holding on to us.
Paul, in the book of Romans, states that nothing can ever separate us from this love of Christ. As lovely as it sounds, it seems like a hard thing to understand. Let’s take a quick look at understanding why that is so.
- DISENCHANTMENT WITH WORLDLY EXPERIENCE OF LOVE
Look around us. We see all kinds and forms of love – love between spouses, parents and children, friends. Many a time, these love relationships disappoint and disenchant us. That’s why when Jesus came and demonstrated Godly love, people couldn’t grasp it. The Greeks who boasted of different words to express different kinds of love scrambled to find a new word to express Godly love.
- DISENCHANTMENT WITH OUR SINFULNESS
No one better than us knows how sinful we are! In fact, even we wouldn’t love the sinfulness in us, let alone somebody else. Armed with that certainty we find it difficult to believe that the Holy and Perfect God of this universe could love us!
- WORLDLY SUFFERING
Many people wonder if God really loved them, then why they are suffering so many problems. The first century church to whom Paul wrote the letter of Romans was no stranger to suffering. They were facing intense persecution. Tribulation, distress, famine, nakedness and sword were not just metaphors in their lives. Those were their everyday realities. Now, we must understand that God did not create evil. He wanted us to have a wonderful life. The problems and suffering that we are facing today has been brought on by man’s rebellion! Paul reminds the early Church that despite all their sufferings they could be assured that God loved them and that nothing could ever separate them from that love!
WHAT COULD SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD?
Paul doesn’t just say that nothing can separate us from the love of God. He goes on to detail the things that could possibly arise in our minds as being able to separate us from God’s love. After that, he proclaims ‘Not these or anything else at all can ever come between us and God’s love for us’.
Let’s quickly run through the list Paul addresses. These could be some of our fears today.
- DEATH AND LIFE
Death is an unwelcome guest. It separates people from their loved ones. The thought that we cannot see our beloved person anymore on earth brings grief and sorrow. So Paul says in other words that death may separate us from our family and possessions but it cannot keep us away from God’s love. The Bible says that when we are absent from this body we are present with God. It does not separate us from God at all. In fact, it takes us right into His presence. So we don’t have to fear death. Jesus promises that He will raise us back to life. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says, ‘But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope’. We have reason for hope – hope of an eternal, forever life with Jesus.
Now, if death is painful then life is not too far either. Many of our lives are not immune to difficulties and calamities. ‘Where is God when life hurts’ often seems to be a fitting cry of the heart? But the life of a follower of Jesus experiences tender love even in the midst of life’s pains.
Let me tell you the story of John Chrysostom. He was a celebrated preacher and known as the ‘man with the golden mouth’. Some of his sermons were so convicting that his audience would squirm in their seats uncomfortably. Well, it so happened that one day the Emperor of the nation felt that Chrysostom was talking about his sinful life. Fuming, the Emperor had him arrested and brought before him for trial.
He glared at Chrysostom and told him that he would be banished if he didn’t stop preaching. Chrysostom simply replied, ‘Banishing means sending me to a place where there is nothing. But that won’t be true in my case. Because wherever I go, my Heavenly Father will be there. I am not afraid of being banished’.
The Emperor retorted, ‘Then I will kill you’. Chrysostom calmly said, ‘My life is hidden with Christ and is safe in his hands. I am not afraid of death’.
The Emperor countered, ‘I will take away all your material possessions’. Chrysostom replied, ‘The Bible says that where your heart is there our possessions will be. I have given my heart to Jesus. I am not afraid of possessing nothing’.
Finally, the Emperor said, ‘Fine, then I will drive you away from all men to a place where you will have no friends’. Chrysostom said, ‘Sure, you might be able to separate me from all my friends, except for one friend – Jesus Christ. He will be with me no matter where I go’.
Isn’t that incredible? No threat could separate him from God’s love. And therefore, nothing could stop him from doing his God-ordained duty.
Another similarly exciting story is Paul’s. 2 Corinthians 11:23-26 says, ‘Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren’.
Wow!
Clearly, Paul knew what TROUBLE meant – in life and in his imminent death. Having gone through and knowing that he would probably die soon for his faith in Jesus, He says, ‘NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD’.
- ANGELS AND PRINCIPALITIES
There are good and bad angels. The bad angels or the devil’s army are referred to as the principalities in Romans 5. But the good news is that Jesus won against the devil on the Cross of Calvary. So we can engage in warfare against the demonic hosts. The devil may attempt to make us feel guilty. But Paul says that nobody can condemn us because Jesus died for us, rose again for us, sits at the right hand of God for us and intercedes for us. If God is for us the nothing, not even the devil, can be against us!
- THINGS PRESENT AND THINGS TO COME
Neither the cares of today nor the concerns of tomorrow can separate us from the love of Christ. We don’t have to worry about a single thing in life as ever being able to make God stop loving us.
- HEIGHT AND DEPTH
Climb up to heaven or dig a hole deep in to the earth, but even then nothing will be able to keep us from God’s love.
- POWERS AND AUTHORITIES
Powers mean mighty deeds or people in authority. So when a man with authority misuses his power or becomes totalitarian, he can wreck havoc in the lives of the citizens. Paul says that even the darkest powers of this world cannot separate us from God’s love. We can rejoice in that truth.
- ANY CREATED THING
Finally, Paul says that even if there is anything that he missed out in listing or that we haven’t thought of so far, we can be certain that even that thing cannot separate us from God’s love.
CONCLUSION
Paul signs off by reassuring us that God’s love is not only unbreakable, but is also triumphant. He says we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus who loved us. Don’t quit or give up yet. If we are getting beaten up, remember it is only a phase. Keep standing and stay put. The victory will definitely be ours. God’s love guarantees it!
SEEMON MINISTRIES 