By Audrey Bauman

Romans 8: 31 - 39  NLT

Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It's back to Romans time again. You may wonder why I'm repeating verses from when we left Romans in early December. The next three chapters in Romans are difficult ones as Paul explains to the Jewish people why they must turn to Jesus to be children of God. Those chapters have caused a lot of debate about what they mean in various church denominations. So ... I decided we'd return to the end of chapter 8 to some of my favourite verses in the Bible as we start reading through Romans again. 2025 will bring its challenges, and it's good to remember who is in control.

These verses start with "If God is for us, who can ever be against us?" Who is God? He is a supreme being, the creator of this universe. We use these words to describe him: "omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (present everywhere at once), immutable (unchanging), eternal (above and beyond the bounds of time), self-existent (needing nothing), holy (the very definition of "good"), and just (absolutely right in all decisions)". (Quoted from Charles Swindoll's Living Insights: Romans  pg. 212) That is the God we are reading about; the God we love and have faith in, the God we trust.

And what did God do for us? He sent his son to this earth to die for us, to take the penalty for our sin. Jesus was raised to life again, and now "is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us". Paul is convinced that "nothing can ever separate us" from the love that God has for us. Earlier in Romans 8, it says, "Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death". (v. 1 - 2) When we believe that this is true, then we are accepted by the Lord as His children.  "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God" (v. 16)

Sometimes when life gets difficult, we wonder if God truly loves us. This is when these verses in Romans are so important. They assure us that we are God's children and that He loves us completely. We need to remember who He is, and that none of those horrible things in life can separate us from His love. Verse 35 mentions "trouble or calamity". Sometimes those things do happen. A horrific car accident takes the life of someone we love, or injures them with long lasting problems to deal with. We have a job that takes all our energy and we wish we could find something else. Our kids are giving us so much trouble. The adjectives "destitute and hungry" are also mentioned. In Canada, we are so grateful that we don't experience what is happening in other places in the world where food is scarce. We watch the people in Gaza as their country is destroyed and food is scarce. Yet can those things separate someone from God's love? NO. We live in an imperfect world where Satan loves to create disaster. But we can be assured that God loves His children and He is present with them always. Present with me and you always.

"Neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow" (v. 38) are mentioned as well. They don't seem as ghastly as the words of verse 35, but our fears and worries do tend to upset us and make our days hard to face. When we are having tension in our marriage, when we are worried about our finances, when we are concerned about health issues, when we worry about what is happening around the world and in our own country ... what do we do when that worry upsets our stomach, and raises our blood pressure? When it just feels like tension takes over our body, when we can't stop thinking about something?

"Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." (v. 39) When life is difficult, that is what we need to remember, need to know. When that worry and tension starts to creep up on you, pause and pray. Quote that verse. Ask God to give you the peace and calm that you need.

Here are some other verses that I take to heart when I find worry starting to take over in my life:

Philippians 4: 6 - 8  NLT

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

Our song for today is Peace Be Still by Hope Durst.