August 5, 2012
Evening Service

We covered a lot of ground this morning.

·         We will suffer with Christ.

·         We will also be glorified with Him. 

·         Our suffering is not worthy to be compared with our coming glory.

·         All of creation, including ourselves, long for the day when Christ will return and “make all things new.”  We saw a glimpse of what He is preparing for us in Revelation 21.  Our hope builds our patience to endure the present trials.

·         We have been given the Spirit to lead us, guide us, teach us and intercede for us.  The Spirit in us communicates to our Heavenly Father what our hearts cry out for and aligns it with the will of God.

·         Our journey to meet God, at times, is filled with pain, suffering and heartaches. But: 

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

·         We can take comfort in knowing God is in control and is using our experiences to mold us into the image of our Savior.  There is a purpose for our suffering.  We must trust our Heavenly Father that He is in control and in the end it will be for our good.

·         He chose you, called you, justified you, and will one day glorify you.

 

 

Rom 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

·         Who is greater than God?  Who dictates to Him on what to do?  NO ONE!

·         If God the One and only Creator of all things has chosen us to be His son or daughter, who can stand against that?  He has marked us for Himself and no lesser power can succeed against His will.  This is a huge faith builder for us.

 

Rom 8:32 Truly He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

·         When a world of lost sinners needed a Savior, He held nothing back but offered His prize Treasure to shame, reproach, ridicule, and suffer even unto death to redeem us.

·         Think about this; God is already all in for us.  He has already given us the greatest gift possible.  He has paid the highest price for us.  He will not hesitate to supply us with the smaller priced things.

·         How can He not now “freely give us all things.”

·         God tested Abraham’s faith and loyalty by asking him to sacrifice his son on the altar.  Abraham was so loyal, he was prepared to offer his dearest possession, Isaac, to God.

·         God shows that same loyalty to us.

 

Joh 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  (17)  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.

·         Never let these words grow dull in your ears or lessen the desire in your heart to worship and serve Him with your best.  God has offered His best for us; we must give our best for Him.

 

Rom 8:33-34 Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifies.  (34)  Who is he condemning? It is Christ who has died, but rather also who is raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

 

 

·         The question is answered by the second statement.  Who can charge us?  No one because it is God who has justified us.

·         Can anyone condemn us?  No one; because Christ is the One whom all judgment has been committed to and it is He that has given His very life for us.  He now sits at the right hand of our Heavenly Father not bringing judgment upon us, but interceding on our behalf.

·         Paul portrays Christ here as not our Judge, but the Lover of the souls of man. (Barclay)

 

Rom 8:35-36 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  (36)  As it is written, "For Your sake we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep of slaughter."

·         Paul’s search for a reason that we can be separated from our Lord now moves from whom to what.

·         Can tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril or even death separate us?  Of course not, our circumstances never dictate our status with God or separate us from Him.

·         Paul quotes Psalms 44:22 in verse 36.  Because we identify ourselves as His sheep our destiny will be fulfilled, even unto death.

 

 

Rom 8:37 But in all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us.

·         All these circumstances we encounter do not separate us from God, but actually draw us closer to Him.

·         We not only triumph over these forces, for we are more than conquerors, we use them as springboards to bring glory to God, blessings to others, and good to ourselves. (8:28)

·         All this is done “through Him who loved us.”   Only God can make the bitter- sweet, weakness- strong, tragedy- triumph, and heartache- blessing.

Phi 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

 

Rom 8:38-39  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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

·         Paul’s search is now complete.  Nothing has been found that can separate us from the love of God.

·         Not death, life, angels, principalities, powers, time, height or depth, nor any creature.

·         Not cancer, loss of our loved ones, job loss, financial loss, drought, flood, tornado, personal short comings, and the list goes on without end with the answer being the same.

·         Nothing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

·         Is it any wonder that it was said of Paul that he ran to the guillotine to be martyred for His Lord.

 

Where does that leave us tonight?

 

It leaves me in awe of what God has done for me.  It renews my desire to totally surrender myself and all that I have to Him as an act of worship to Him.  Yet I know even now I have been given only a small glimpse of His love for me.

 

1Co 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall fully know even as I also am fully known.

 

I long for that day to come, when my faith shall become sight and I shall see” Him as He is.”