Romans 8:38-39 “For I
am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord.”
Scripture,
being the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God, paints a stunningly
realistic
picture of life as a servant of the Lord. None of the biblical authors
sugarcoat
what
it means to obey God. The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines the word “obey” as:
To comply with the commands, orders or instructions of a superior, or with the
requirements of law, moral, political or municipal; to do that which is
commanded or required, or to forbear doing that which is prohibited. Similarly,
Webster’s defines the word “obedience” as: Compliance
with a command, prohibition or known law and rule of duty prescribed; the
performance of what is required or enjoined by authority, or the abstaining
from what is prohibited, in compliance with the command or prohibition. To
constitute obedience, the act or forbearance to act must be in submission to
authority; the command must be known to the person, and his compliance must be
in consequence of it, or it is not obedience. Obedience is not synonymous with
obsequiousness; the latter often implying meanness or servility, and obedience
being merely a proper submission to authority. That which duty requires implies
dignity of conduct rather than servility. Obedience may be voluntary or
involuntary. Voluntary obedience alone can be acceptable to God. While some
people may preach as if becoming a Christian means the end to life’s problems
and freedom from all tragedies, Scripture has no such ideas about the Christian
life. To follow the Savior is to invite suffering, for even Jesus warns us that
we “will be hated by all nations for His
name’s sake” - Matthew 24:9. God will not have us pretend that suffering is an
illusion, and He offers no guarantee that believers will escape it. Suffering
is not the goal, but the natural consequences of serving the savior of the world Jesus Christ.
A commentary for Romans 8:38-39 states that though
the Lord never minimizes suffering, He also encourages us in Romans
6:1–11 to consider it in light
of the confident hope we enjoy by sharing in Christ’s death and resurrection.
Christ died to all of God’s enemies - the world, the flesh, the devil, and
death - but He did not stay dead. All of these did their worst, killing the
Savior for His faithfulness. Yet our Creator was working through even His foes
to take His own wrath upon Himself in the humanity of His Son, Jesus Christ, so
that He could be reconciled to His people. Moreover, Jesus rose from the dead
for our justification, demonstrating that even His enemies’ worst could not
defeat Him. He could not be separated from His Father’s love; thus, He was
resurrected as the conquering King over the world, the flesh, the devil, and
death. Because of our union with Him, His victory is our victory. We are more
than conquerors over anything that would try to separate us from the love of
God for us. Though we enjoy in many ways the reality of being more than
conquerors even now, until Christ returns we will sometimes not feel like
conquering heroes. We may feel at times that God has departed from us, but that
is when we have to believe his Word rather than our feelings.
What
does God’s Word say about these things? Romans
8:38-39 gives a list of all the things that cannot separate us from God’s
love. The list does not specifically include every possible agent that could
potentially separate us from the love of our Father, but it is made exhaustive
by adding “anything else in all creation”
to the things that cannot separate us from the persevering love of the Lord.
This is extremely comforting, for “anything
else in all creation” includes everything that is not God Himself. Mark
this well: there is nothing that can divorce God’s people from His love—not
even ourselves. Many
Christians will accept that nothing outside of ourselves can separate us from
God’s love, but they live with the constant fear that they might jump out of
the Lord’s saving hand. But we are a part of creation, and if nothing in creation
can separate us from God’s love, then we cannot separate ourselves from His
love. His love for His people does not wax and wane. If He loves us in Christ,
He loves us forever.
Blessings
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