Separated
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
Romans 8:35-36
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Separated
There are not a whole lot of sure things in this world. As the old saying goes, “But in this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” And in this world, there is no shortage of people trying to convince you that you can avoid both. The tax issue can be taken up elsewhere, but death must be addressed here. In our text, Paul compares us to sheep being led to slaughter, a reference from Psalm 44:22. He lists many things that would like to separate us from God, death being among them. But he askes the question, if they actually can separate us. No doubt, death is the consequence of our sin and is unavoidable, and our situation looks desperate. Yet it was into this desperate situation that God Himself intervened for us. Humbling Himself by taking on our human flesh, Jesus stepped into His creation and defeated our enemies. Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and the sword are still our crosses to bear in this life, but rest assured, they have been defeated. The cross and empty tomb saw to that. And in the end, it is Christ who will separate us from these foes as we are taken to our eternal home with Him.
Romans 8:35-36
+
Separated
There are not a whole lot of sure things in this world. As the old saying goes, “But in this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” And in this world, there is no shortage of people trying to convince you that you can avoid both. The tax issue can be taken up elsewhere, but death must be addressed here. In our text, Paul compares us to sheep being led to slaughter, a reference from Psalm 44:22. He lists many things that would like to separate us from God, death being among them. But he askes the question, if they actually can separate us. No doubt, death is the consequence of our sin and is unavoidable, and our situation looks desperate. Yet it was into this desperate situation that God Himself intervened for us. Humbling Himself by taking on our human flesh, Jesus stepped into His creation and defeated our enemies. Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and the sword are still our crosses to bear in this life, but rest assured, they have been defeated. The cross and empty tomb saw to that. And in the end, it is Christ who will separate us from these foes as we are taken to our eternal home with Him.
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