Who Can Separate us from the Love of God?

 A snippet from our pastor's message last Sunday, I trust you will find it encouraging.

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 

Who shall separate us from His Love? And a search is made to see what might be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The search is made there in all these areas that we are familiar with, tribulation, that means trouble, do you have some trouble? Distress, which also means anguish. Persecution, famine, nakedness, perils, the sword, all these things. If any of these things could have separated us from God it would have been done long ago but here we are still here, praise the Lord. 

36 As it is written: (this is a quote from Psalm 44)

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

That is the costliness of loyalty to God in a world that is at war against God. So many times there is a cost but instead of separating us from God these things draw us closer to Him, praise the Lord. 

37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

In the here and now we are more than conquerors. This is more than a triumph because even in the most terrible times of such things as sickness and decease, when our bodies are racked with pain etc, and we seem to be at our lowest of the low but then we come out of that and our spirit is lifted, and not only is that a victory for us but it brings glory to God, and it builds up those who are with us and blesses them, and it is a witness to those who don’t believe, they wonder how this can be. And it seems that obstacles become stepping stones with the Lord, we are more than but it is not in our own strength, it is through Him who loved us, the power of Christ. 

The power of Christ that can change your bitterness into sweetness, 

your weakness into strength, 

a sickness into health, 

and a tragedy into a triumph, 

that can make a heartache a blessing. 

Is there anything that can separate us from God’s love? 

He lists the possibilities one by one and dismisses them all. 

Are you persuaded?  

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Think about these things, death, death seems so final doesn’t it in the world? Death with all its terrors, and then there is life with all its allurements. And what about these angels and principalities, supernatural powers, human powers, angelic powers, demonic powers. Things present crashing in sometimes, crowding in upon us like the waves crashing onto the beach, there’s another one crashing in and another one crashing in. Things to come, a foreboding about tomorrow, what might be tomorrow, thinking about that and worrying about those things. What about height and depth, what would that be? I think it must be space and all of its contents, including all occult forces. Anything and everything is anything left out? No, it says any other created thing, you couldn’t get more comprehensive than that.  If you belong to Jesus, and you belong to Him now then you belong to Him forever. Start your day with confidence in what he says there, resting in what he says, and patiently waiting for Him in your present circumstances with a heart full of praise and wonder for the greatness of God’s provision for us, amen. 

What is Man?

Pastor Philip asked us the question on Sunday, "What is Man?" Philip informed us that If you were to chemically analyse the average man you would find that he is about 70% water, he has enough iron in him to make a few small nails, he has enough phosphorus in him to tip the end of about forty matches, (he truly is a bright spark). He has enough sulphur in him to rid two dogs of fleas, and enough fat to make about four bars of soap, along with a few other elements. Total value about ten pounds!

So, what is man? The scientists and cosmologists would have us believe that we are an accident, in fact the chair you are sitting on and the computer you are looking at have more meaning than you because they were made for a purpose, but if they are right you were not made for a purpose you just happened! That is not the truth, the truth is to the question, what is man? Is that man is the pinnacle of God’s creation, made in the image of God, for God. Man has a purpose, you have a purpose, you were not an accident, you were designed by the Creator and made in his image. Why is man creative? He gets that trait from his creator. Why is man loving? He gets that trait from His creator. Why is man kind, and helpful, and caring? He gets those traits from His creator, there is in each man that God has made an image of His creator. However, it is not now and has not been since the fall of Adam and Eve as it was, now it is marred by sin. Eve and Adam succumbed to the temptation of the devil and fell into sin, from that time on man was spiritually dead and had no way of ever getting back to what he should have been under his own steam.

So, did God care what had happened to the mankind that He had made? Philip posed the question, what is man? But David in his Psalm continues:

Psalm 8:4

What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?

Is God mindful of us? Did God visit us? Yes, He did, despite all that He created, His glorious wonders, the sky, space, galaxies, stars, planets, look up as David did and wonder at the the awesomeness of God, of His glory, might and power and as you gaze upon the vastness of space, and the glory of the heavens and you are overwhelmed by it all and the God who has created it, remember He is mindful of mankind, and He has visited mankind.

 Philip gave us a small science lesson explaining some things about space and the speed of light and other things. Now I may not understand these things but I do know that even the scientists are baffled by so many things, they are only just scratching the surface but one thing I am sure of, God is not baffled by the scientists, He knows that they are men like all other men, sinners who have a need.

When Adam and Eve fell into sin it left a void because they were spiritually dead. Ever since that time man has been trying to fill that void with anything they can. In these days we think that religion, work, drink, drugs, relationships, money, fame, power and all manner of other things will fill that void, they won’t, only God can fill that empty void at the centre of your being.

What then can we do to fill that emptiness inside that nothing satisfies? The Bible, which is the Word of God tells us that we should repent of our sins and believe on the Lord Jesus. That is to walk away from our old sinful ways, walk away from the world’s ways, and walk away from the devil’s ways and walk God’s way, which is in the Bible. Only God can satisfy the hungry soul. 

God in His grace and mercy has revealed Himself to everyone who has ever lived on this planet through creation, look at it, how could it all just happen? Consider how your body is made, how could it just happen? Consider you personality, your character, you are unique, there is not another you anywhere and God loves you and He wants to have a relationship with you. He wants to be your Father and take care of you, He wants you to be His child and to grow in grace and knowledge of Him and His Son, Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God who took your punishment for your sin. God visited the earth, Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” He taught, He healed the sick, and He cared. He died in our place taking upon Himself our sins. He was buried and rose again the third day and we too will rise from the dead and if we are His then we shall live forever with Him.

Who can Cheer the Heart Like Jesus?