For I am convinced that 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. – Romans 8:38-39
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because nothing will ever separate us from the love of God. Paul is absolutely and utterly convinced. He isn’t just pointing to things that are known, or things that ‘we’ know, now he knows. It is as though he now cannot help but speak of the glorious love of God in Christ Jesus. It bursts from him. This is not something he has read about, or something he has learned, or something he assents to. He is convinced. This is his brief song of Christ’s love.
I wonder whether you heart has been so moved as you dwell on the love of Christ that you too burst forth in personal testimony and stake your life and reputation on your conviction of the deep and unshakeable love of God.
About eight years ago, my dad was diagnosed with cancer. Up until that time, he had been pretty loose (and quite unhealthy) with his diet and exercise. When he heard the diagnosis, though, a lot of things changed in his life. It wasn’t just that he had the operation and underwent chemo, he also drastically changed his diet and exercise regime. He went from someone who refused to eat salad to someone who consumed large bowlfuls (enough for a family of four) at every meal. More than that, he began to preach it to others, including his children. He became convinced. There was no new information (mum had been trying to get him to eat more healthily for years!) but now that information was made real to him. It convicted him and he changed his life.
How has God’s love in Christ gripped your life? How do you testify to His love in your words and life?
I wonder whether some of us were once gripped by His love, but distractions and disappointments in life have drawn our hearts away. I wonder whether some of us have intellectually assented to His love, but it has never really captured our hearts. Maybe some of us have been glimpsing His love, but other priorities and fears have turned us elsewhere.
Has His love so captured our hearts that we would be willing to follow Him, regardless of hostility or ridicule, regardless of sufferings and hardships, regardless of personal confusion and unanswered questions, will you yet follow Him? Will you yet testify to His love and goodness?
Are you so convinced?
In C.S. Lewis’ Prince Caspian, the Pevensie children return to Narnia to restore Caspian to the throne. They return to find that the magic has all but disappeared, but they set out on their quest. Lucy, the youngest and most faithful of the siblings, gets glimpses of Aslan – the beloved Christ figure – and she tries to tell them they should go in a different direction, but nobody else sees him and they don’t believe her. One night, Aslan’s voice wakes her and she goes to him. He gently rebukes her for continuing the wrong way. She protests weakly, asking whether she could really have gone alone, but realises that she would not have been alone because she would have been with him. She should have tried harder to convince them, and failing that, struck out on the path she knew he called.
This exchange shows us at once the weakness of our faith and the struggle we have to follow Christ, and also the grace of Christ who calls to us even as we are going our own way. Do you hear the voice of Jesus, even now? Is it one that you have not been following as He wanted?
Lucy is heartbroken and repentant, feeling utterly disappointed and disgraced at the way she failed to follow Aslan and at the difficulty of getting back to where he wanted them.
“Lucy buried her head in his mane to hide from his face. But there must have been magic in his mane. She could feel lion-strength going into her. Quite suddenly she sat up. ‘I’m sorry, Aslan,’ she said. ‘I’m ready now.’
‘Now you are a lioness,’ said Aslan. ‘And now all Narnia will be renewed. But come. We have no time to lose.’”
Prince Caspian, C.S. Lewis
Lucy heard the voice she liked best in the world and followed it, and even when she realised how wrong she had been, she did not run from that presence. She came even closer to him, burying her head in his mane. Even in her guilt and shame and feeling of hopelessness, she clung to the one she loved because she knew he loved her.
Are you so convinced of His love that you would testify to it and follow Him no matter what? Are you so convinced of it that you would rather be mistreated and scorned than deny or keep silent about it?
Most – if not all – of us would not be able to say that we have loved Him so well as He deserved or followed Him so closely as He has asked, but there is grace for us. Truly nothing can separate us from His love, not even our wandering hearts, but now is the opportunity to hear and listen to His voice calling you to Him, to repent and find both forgiveness and strength.
Will you come before Him now, closer to Him, and receive His rebuke? Even in rebuke He is kind and gentle. A bruised reed, He will not break. A smouldering wick, He will not put out. He is far kinder and gentler than we deserve, and certainly more than we would be. Receive His rebuke, and experience again the depths of His love that restores and renews. It will strengthen you in your conviction, such that you will testify of His great love and fall to your knees in worship.
For I am convinced that 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.
Prayer focus:
- Praise God that His love is unending and steadfast. Take some time to dwell on His love and respond to Him in praise.
- Pray that we would be so captured by His love that we testify to it without fear or doubt.
- Pray for that our lives would bear witness to the depths and height of His love. Pray that we would repent and find even there that His love is undimmed.
