Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
There is such a valuable truth here. If it's not obvious to you, Paul is using the widest language possible. Height, depth. Powers above, powers below. Anything in all creation. He's exhausting these categories to make this one point very clear. And that is that if you are a Christian, there is nothing—right? Absolutely nothing that can ever separate you from the love of God in Christ.
Nothing Can Separate You
That means suffering cannot separate you from God's love. When we're suffering, it can feel like we're alone. It can feel like we've been separated from the love of Christ. But Romans chapter 8, verse 39 says we are not separated from the love of Christ. Our fears cannot separate us from the love of Christ. Satan cannot separate us from the love of Christ. Your past cannot separate you from God's love. Your sin cannot separate you from God's love. Death itself cannot separate the Christian from God's love. Anything that tries to wedge itself in between you and God's love will fail.
God's love is not fragile. It is not conditional. It is not temporary. It is covenantal love. It is no-matter-what love.
God's Love Is Not Conditioned on Performance
This is about as deeply practical as something can get in the Bible. I've found in myself and in others that so many people live this way. They live as though God's love is conditioned on my performance as a Christian. Am I a good person? Am I a bad person? Here's how it works. Or here's how it feels, at least for me. If I have a good day—and I say good day, I mean, I didn't sin as much as maybe another day. Like I walked with God, I was prayerful, I read the Bible, I was good to people, I obeyed Him. Now, at the end of that day, when I've had a good day, I believe that God loves me and I may even sense that God loves me.
Now let's take a bad day. Let's take a day where I don't read my Bible, I don't pray, I don't watch my mouth and my tongue. My thoughts aren't what they should be. I make some bad decisions. I sin against God. I sin against others. What's my experience at the end of that day? At the end of that day, I'm wondering whether this verse is true. I'm questioning whether God really loves me, or if I've separated myself from His love. Because I think, how could God love me when I've lived like this?
God's Love Is Anchored in Jesus
This verse takes the ground out from underneath that, because it is reminding us that we do not anchor God's love in our performance or in our consistency. God's love is anchored in Jesus Christ our Lord. Christian, God loves you as much as He could possibly love you right now. No matter how you perform in your Christian life, nothing will change. God will still love you. If you have a bad day tomorrow, God will still love you as much as He possibly can, as much as He loves you now. Why? Because God's love is rooted in Jesus Christ our Lord, who has paid for all of our sin, so nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Preach This to Yourself
Accusations are sure to come. You're going to question this. You're not going to believe it's true at times. You're not going to sense it is true. When that happens, you need to preach the good news of Romans chapter 8, verse 39 to yourself. When fear whispers that you are alone, that you have separated yourself from God's love, when suffering makes God feel distant, respond. Speak up with this verse.
