NOTHING CAN SEPARATE

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

This is Pastor Dean Thompson with a word of hope. Nothing can separate us. Romans chapter eight verses thirty eight and thirty nine. 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 creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul is making a list. It is a strange and beautiful list because Paul is reaching for every category of reality he can name and say No, not this either. Death, the great several relationships? No. Life with all its slow erosions? No. Angels, demons, powers seen or unseen, things happening now, things looming on tomorrow's horizon, the dizzying heights of glory or the shame of the lowest depth. Some other creature? Paul has not even named sorry, some other creature Paul has not even named yet. No, none. Nothing. The Greek tis any other creature is sweeping anything God made, anything God did not make, there is not a single thing in the universe with sufficient strength to break the love of God toward his own. CEB Cranfield, in his magisterial commentary on Romans, points out that Paul moves from the cosmic powers to the most pedestrian realities, precisely to reassure ordinary readers. It is not only the dramatic forces that fail to separate us, but also the slow grind of daily life. Douglas Moore states that height and death were astrological terms in Paul's day, denoting the highest and lowest points of celestial bodies, often associated with fated forces that supposedly determined human destiny. Paul says, even the powers people most fear cannot reach you where you stand in Christ. Notice what is missing from this list. You, your weakness, your wandering, your weariness. These are also creatures. Also, any other thing, you yourself cannot remove yourself from the love of God in Christ Jesus. The love that holds you is not the love you produce, it is the love that produced you. Augustine, who knew the geography of his own restless heart better than most, wrote, Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in ye in thee. End of quote. He discovered, and what Paul announces here is that even our restlessness cannot unconquer us. The hand that holds us is not our hand. So when you are afraid that God has finally given upon you, hear Paul again. I am persuaded. The Greek pepes may is perfect tense. He has been persuaded and he remains persuaded. Persuasion comes from evidence. The evidence is the cross. If God did not spear his son for you, he will not abandon you now. And if you believe it, say amen. Oh God our Father, when we doubt your love, please persuade us again with the cross. Hold us where our own grip would slip, and just help us to abide in you. Amen. God bless you, brothers and sisters.