Rev. Brian L. Kachelmeier
Rom. 8:38-39
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
In chapter eight of the letter to the Romans, St. Paul puts forth the following question, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Romans 8:35 ESV) He gives his answer just a few verses later when he declares, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 ESV). Now this is our text this night. His answer is that nothing, no one, no body, not a thing can separate us from the love of Christ. God’s love for us in Christ is greater than anything in all of creation. Nothing can compare to God’s love for us in Christ.
We seek love and we seek to be loved, but our sin clouds our vision and we look in the wrong places and we look for the wrong thing. Apart from Christ, we do not know what true love is. Apart from Jesus, we do not know the true love that God has for us. God’s love for us is revealed in Jesus Christ. As John 3:16 states, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son and whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” This is a revealed knowledge.
Apart from Jesus, we are covered in our own sins. Apart from Jesus, we are enemies of God who actually desire to separate ourselves from Him. Apart from Jesus we are left with the wrath of the True God because of our sin.
For this reason, sin causes us to seek refuge in man made gods that we can love and that we can handle. We can control these gods and put them in our own hands. These fake gods are made in our own images.
To hide from the wrath of God under these synthetic gods would be like hiding under an umbrella in a nuclear blast. It is the True God who comes to destroy these plastic gods who cannot love us. God comes to reveal His love to us and take us to be His own. God does not love us because we are loveable; rather, God who is love loves us because of Jesus. In Jesus, we are loved by God. He reveals to us what true love is. Nothing can separate us from this love that God has for us in Jesus Christ.
The language of separating is the opposite of the language of bringing together. It is love that binds us together and it is the absence of love that pulls us apart. We see this image in marriage, where God brings two people together and attaches them by love. Therefore the Lord says, “Do not bring asunder what the Lord has brought together.” The marriage between a man and a woman shows forth the love that God has for us in Jesus. Jesus is described as the bridegroom and the church is the bride. In this holy union the two become one flesh and what God has brought together, no one should separate.
Because of our sinful hearts by nature, we doubt the reality of God’s love. Now in this life, we are constantly in need of hearing about God’s wonderful love for us. If we look at the events in our life, we may feel cursed. Yet, God’s promise to us is that in Christ we are blessed. There are times when we feel unlovable. Yet, God continues to love us in spite of our feelings. There are times in our lives when we do not recognize God’s presence. Yet, God promises to be with us in Christ.
In this life, we are constantly under attack by our own sinful flesh, the devil, and the world that try to separate us from God. But, nothing can separate us from the love of God. There is nothing too high or too low. There is nothing in the present age or in the age to come. There is nothing in all creation that can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ. Not even death. Because of Jesus, death does not take the believers away from God; rather, death takes the believers to be with God for eternity. On the Last Day, we will see the love of God when we are completely separated from sin, the devil, and the world.
In Christ, God continues to love us in spite of our sin. It is God who separates us from our sin. He takes our sin and removes it from us. As Psalm 103 says, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:11-12 ESV). He removes it as far as the east is from the west. In Christ, He does not count our sin against us. He is the one who holds us in His hand and nothing can take us out of it. Like in a marriage relationship, God continues to assure us of the love that He has for us in Christ.
Beloved, you are loved in Christ and nothing, not a thing, no one can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus your Lord. Amen.
