In every moment and in every season there is a call –“Nearer my God to thee”.
”My Dear children that is a response to the call I am sending out – a call to come nearer to Me. A call to draw closer in relationship with Me, to experience My goodness, My grace and My love and ultimately to share in My glory. So yes the call goes out ’nearer my God to thee’ and I will draw you ever closer. “
Today we come to the conclusion of the great chapter which opens with the statement Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We saw that this was a response to the battle which every Christian experiences which ch 7 ends with. So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. We saw in the first part of the chapter the important role of the Spirit in this battle. Today Paul brings that teaching to a close. Please read Romans 8:31-39.
See if you can see the points he makes.
1 God is for us and He is far more powerful than anyone or force that can come against us.The proof of His attitude of love and concern for us lies in the fact that He did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all. Then comes one of those “how much more statements”. Having given His own Son how much more will He not also, along with Him give us all things. Take a deep breath and think through that statement. Think through it every time you may doubt God’s attitude towards you in all things. His Son, His precious Son has already been given you, the greatest gift of all time. Makes any other need we may have pale into insignificance alongside that.
2 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? Could it be God, the very One who has worked so hard to bring us justification? Or even less the very One who died to save us from our sins and who is at the right hand of God, the Father interceding for us.The idea becomes ridiculous against that background. There IS no condemnation for those “in Christ Jesus”.!
Paul then moves to summarise the whole chapter starting with the statement in vs 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Followed by a long list of possibilities which he prefaces with powerful statement For I am convinced that none of these things will ever separate us even death itself!. He started in vs 28 with the firm statement and we know. Now he rounds it off with for I am convinced.
Friends this is one of the most powerful chapters in God’s word to settle any doubts about how firm our relationship is being held by God. No suffering, nor any struggle with sin, real or imaginary, can ever separate us from God’s love.
See you all next week.