WEDNESDAY April 24th
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.’
Well, we continue the same theme today, taking the part that says ‘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.’
I wonder if Paul uses the words height and depth, to help us to understand how vast the love of God really is, in other words you could get to the highest possible place in our atmosphere (and beyond), we could dig down to the deepest depths possible and yet whether height or depth, we will not be separated from the love of God. God is omni-present, therefore because God is love, his love is also omni-present. Paul would not have had a clue concerning the modern phenomenon of space travel which we have been able to witness over the last 60 years or so, the fact that man has walked on the moon, space craft have been millions of miles into outer space, and yet with all our crazy exploration, man has not and will not ever be able to get to a spot in space where the love of God cannot be found!
No wonder the Psalmist could say ‘The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork’, or ‘Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!’ (Psalm 24, Psalm 139)
The previously mentioned ‘rulers, (principalities KJV) powers’, can incarcerate us in prison as they did with the apostle Paul, or banish us to some faraway place as they did with John to the Isle of Patmos, but in incarcerating or in banishing they cannot and will not be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord! Remember Paul and Silas in prison – they sang hymns and prayed, remember John on the Isle of Patmos, he had the most incredible revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Considering Romans 8:28, because they were loved by God and in return loved God and lived for God according to that which was his will and purpose for them, we see that God worked everything out for good!
In Psalm 56 we read ‘This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?’ (vv9-11) It is found again in Hebrews 13:6 ‘So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”’ The verse before says ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’
So, who (or what) shall separate us from the love of Christ? Paul has answered it very comprehensively for us, as we remain in him, absolutely nothing, zero, zilch, nought, naught, diddly squat.
‘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.’
Are you a conqueror?