2 Chronicles 11:1-13:22; Romans 8:26-39; Psalm 18:37-50; Proverbs 19:27-29
Our reading in Romans today is such a beautiful reminder
of the power and fullness of God's love for us. It can be summed up in
this simple rhetorical question: "If God is for us, who can be against
us?" (Rom. 8:32)
If God is for us, what does it matter if our own sin and
weakness accuses us (see Rom. 8:1-4)? "He did not spare his own Son, but
gave him up for us all" (vs. 32). Jesus covers our sin and weakness;
his wholeness is so much more complete than our brokenness.
If God is for us, can we be pulled away from him by
"trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or
sword" (Rom. 8:35)? Though the men and women to whom Paul wrote this
book of Romans were experiencing some (or many) of these difficulties, God was
still present and involved and near. And for us, in our trouble or
hardship or persecution, "who can separate us from the love of
Christ?" All that could wedge us apart from God is God
himself, and he is utterly, devotedly committed to us.
If God is for us, then "neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:38-39).
Well. That just about covers everything, doesn't
it? NOTHING.
Not my own inadequacies, not my own failures, not the
life that I have lived or should have lived, not the death that awaits me -
NOTHING.
Not the powers of the enemy, not his accusations, not my
present circumstances, and not the uncertain days and weeks that will come
against me unexpectedly - NOTHING.
Not laws or politics or terrorists or cultural norms, not
a big event or a little moment - NOTHING.
And just to make sure, Paul throws in the kitchen sink:
"nor anything else in all creation" (Rom. 8:39, emphasis
mine). NOTHING.
If God is for us, who can be against us?
Hallelujah!
- Sarah Marsh
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