BiblicalInsights.net

     What would you allow to come between you and God?  Jesus asked, “What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26).  What is worth more than your soul?  What holds you in relationship to God no matter what happens?  What force is powerful enough to keep you in covenant relationship with God?  A force more powerful than persecution.  A force more powerful than death?  A force more powerful than life? 
     In Rom. 8:35-39, two loves are brought together for the preservation of relationship to God and the glorification of man.  One is God’s love for us and the other is our love for God.  Together, these two forces can withstand anything!  Together, these two forces make us and God inseparable!  In Rom. 8:35, Paul asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”  One of the first aspects of this statement that needs to be answered is: does this phrase, “love of Christ” refer to Christ’s love for us or our love for Christ?  I believe this phrase describes the love we have for Christ.  Consider the following:  1)  The word separate comes from a Greek word (chorizo) meaning “to put asunder.”  It is in the middle voice which indicates that the subject participates in the results of the action.  Who does the departing?  The saint separates himself from God.  2) The seventeen things mentioned in v. 35, 38,and 39 are all external to the Christian.  These are outward pressures, powers, beings that can cause a Christian to give up on God and separate himself from God.  3) Christ’s love for the Christian is absolute.  Christ will never abandon His own.  4) The Christian’s love for Christ is going to be tested, but it can stand the test.  Christ’s love for the Christian is not tested by the 17 things mentioned.  Is your love for God strong enough to pass the test?  Consider that the apostle Paul’s love for Christ was strong enough because he faced all of these seventeen trials and never broke relationship with God.  If Paul can do it, you can do it.
     Love beareth all things (I Cor. 13:4-8).  Love is strong, tough, and resiliant.  Love connects us to God!  God loves us and we love Him and consequently, we are more than conquerors!  Love connects us to the greatest Being in the world.  Love connects us to the most powerful Being in the universe and beyond the universe.  His love meets our love and forms a bond so strong that it cannot be overthrown.  This type of love is the grounds upon which Paul has great confidence–I am persuaded–that none of these things will separate us from God.  Why?  Love is powerful enough to prevail. 
     The ultimate glorification of the elect of God comes from the meeting of two loves in one life.  When these two loves come together, the result is an inseparable relationship.  Mutual love is a strong bond that can bring us to eternal glory.  Love for God means: adoration of God, complete attachment to Him in covenant relationship, fidelity to Him, unspeakable gratitude to God and fullness of consecration to Him.  God’s love for us will never fail and continually supplies His grace to us. 
     The problem we face in our churches, homes and communities is a lack of love for God.  Love for God is the first and greatest commandment.  If we don’t get this one right, nothing else matters (Matt. 22:36-39).  “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.”