MONDAY April 22nd
Romans 8:37-39
‘No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 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.’
We are nearly at the end of this magnificent chapter; it starts off in verse 1 by reminding us that we are no longer under condemnation and finishes by remining us that we are more than conquerors through Jesus who loves us.
The eternal love is can I put it this way, embedded into our lives as we have come to accept Jesus as our Saviour, therefore, we are more than conquerors, that is we can live victoriously knowing that there is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In verse 38 Paul lists those things that humanly speaking we may consider as having the power to come between us and the love of God, he mentions first death and life, well, we know without any shadow of doubt that Jesus has shown us how to live victoriously in life, and he has demonstrated that he has given us victory over death, the closing verses of the great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15 says ‘But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ’, so the moment we who have put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ breath our very last breathe here on planet earth, because of the amazing victory that Christ has gained, death will not cut us off or separate us from the love of God, we can say that we will actually begin to experience it more powerfully than ever, for we shall be in his presence.
The reality of this was so powerful in Paul’s life and testimony that in Philippians he could say ‘For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain’, Philippians 1:21. As the sons and daughters of the living God we are in a win win situation, he blesses us in life, and we are blessed in death, for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
So, nothing, absolutely nothing whether in life or in death shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I am reminded of the words of the psalmist in Psalm 23, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me . . . Surely goodness and mercy (steadfast love) shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.’
God so loved, he sent his Son, as we have come to respond and to receive this incredible love through surrendering our lives to Jesus at the Cross, his love surrounds us, fills us and his love is with us in life and through death, so we need not fear death, for it is but the glorious entrance into the eternal presence of God.