No One Can Separate Us From the Love of God (Romans 8:35-39)

Rev. Steven Abbott | The Mission Anglican Church | Aug 6, 2023

1. The number one memorized and recited Bible verse is John 3:16,

• There is a beautiful tradition about John the Beloved Disciple
• Most of what we do every day is predicated upon what or whom we love.
• We are what we love (James KA Smith)
• Our loves embolden us to accomplish seemingly impossible things.
• SofS 8:6-7 tells us love is stronger than death . . . and 1 Cor 13:7 says, love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
• 1 John 4:8 tells us God is love. It’s his character to seek and save the lost.

2. Romans 8 is all about what God has done because of his great love

• God is the one who frees us from slavery to sin
• God is the one who gives us the Holy Spirit for prayer and for power
• God is the one who foreknew us, predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son, justified us, and and will one day glorify us
• We can rest confidently in the never ending, never stopping, never giving up, always present, relentless love of our God.

3. Paul asks in Romans 8:35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

• It’s clear from the rest of Romans 8, that the answer is no one and nothing
• v. 8:32 “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things.”
• Romans 8:15 tells us that we are not only saved, but we are adopted sons

4. Paul prepares us to face opposition as God’s children.

• V. 35-36 lists worldly opposition
• V. 38-39 lists spiritual opposition

5. V. 37 Jesus makes us more than conquerors. Jesus makes us coheirs.  

• Paul quotes Psalm 44:22 to tell us we’re in good company
• Remaining faithful to Christ during opposition can bring us closer to Christ
• In 8:17, “we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” 2 Tim 2:12 “If we endure, we may also reign with him.”
• Paul also says in v. 18, “I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

6. Why does a loving God discipline his children through suffering (Heb 12:4-6)

• We live in a fallen world that God subjected to “futility, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the sons of God” (vv. 20-21).
• Sin is a powerful reminder that God has promised us a New Creation.
• This fallen world is the closest to Hell we will ever be if we believe in Christ, but this is the closest to heaven the unbeliever will ever be.
• Suffering allows us to find greater unity, confidence, and conformity with Christ and one another.

7. God is calling you to get out there to tell somebody about his love!

• This year the Surgeon General released a letter that stated, “Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling—it harms both individual and societal health. It is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity.”
• About half of people say they are lonely and all of them were created for God’s love. This gives us an incredible opportunity.
• We can be a welcoming, serving, outward-focused church that’s determined to rescue the lost. We can knock on doors, evangelize, get to know our neighbors–we can do whatever it takes to share the love of God! But, what we can not do, is keep God’s love to ourselves.

8. Telling others about God’s love and living a godly will require persecution

• There is no greater love than what Jesus did on the cross for us
• If we don’t tell others about God’s love for them we are denying the greatness of God’s love
• For God so loved you that he gave his one and only Son, so that if you believe in him, you shall not perish but have eternal life.
• God makes us sons, not for us to sit back and enjoy the privileges, but to go out and invite other people into the family of God.
• No one can separate you from God’s love. Live for that truth. Share it with others.