Would you turn with me tonight to Romans chapter 8, verses 31 through 39. Romans chapter 8, verses 31 through 39. Hear now the word of the Lord. What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died, more than that, who was raised to life, is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble, or hardship, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, for your sake we face death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 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. So far the reading of his word. Let's turn to the Lord in prayer, shall we? Father, open our eyes that we may behold your glory tonight. Open our ears so that your word may truly speak to us when we hear your voice. Open our hearts so that we may receive and apply these truths to our lives. We thank you and pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Having six and four-year-olds mean that we get to read a lot of children's books. And tonight, I might offend some of you, I hope not, but I'm going to begin with a children's story because I think it aptly summarizes for us what we want to say. In this, the story is called The Runaway Bunny. And The Runaway Bunny is written by a lady named Margaret Wise Brown. So listen very carefully. Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away. So he said to his mother, I am running away. If you run away, said his mother, I will run after you, for you are my little bunny. If you run after me, said the little bunny, I will become a fish in a trout stream, and I will swim away from you. If you become a fish in a trout stream, said his mother, I will become a fisherman, and I will fish for you. If you become a fisherman, said the little bunny, I will become a rock on the mountain high above you. If you become a rock on the mountain high above me, said his mother, I will be a mountain climber, and I will climb to where you are. If you become a mountain climber, said the little bunny, I will be a crocus in a hidden garden. If you become a crocus in the hidden garden, said his mother, I will be a gardener, and I will find you. You get the picture, and this will shortly end. If you're a gardener and find me, said the little bunny, I will be a bird and fly away from you. If you become a bird and fly away from me, said his mother, I will be a tree that you come home to. If you become a tree, said the little bunny, I will become a little sailboat and I will sail away from you. If you become a sailboat and sail away from me, said his mother, I will become the wind and blow you where I want you to go. If you become the wind and blow me, said the little bunny, I will join a circus and fly away on a flying trapeze. If you go flying on a trapeze at his mother, I will be a tight rope walker and I will walk across the air to you. If you become a tight rope walker and walk across the air, said the bunny, I will become a little boy and run into a house. If you become a little boy and run into a house, said the mother bunny, I will become your mother and catch you in my arms and hug you. Shucks, said the bunny, I might just as well stay where I am and be your little bunny. And so he did have a carrot, said the mother bunny. So ends the story. It's a wonderful story of a love that a mother has for a child, and hopefully parents in general have for their children. And in many ways, the scripture describes our relationship with our Father in Heaven in a similar way. That indeed, there is no way, as children of God, we can actually run away from Him. As scary as this may sound, it comforts us because it's a reminder to us that indeed our God is inseparable. Our God is inseparable. What's intriguing for us in the book of Romans is that he's been discussing deep theological ideas. He's reminded us in the beginning that all of us have sinned in chapters 1, 2, and 3 and fallen short of the glory of God. But in chapters 3, 4, and 5, he reminded us that our salvation has come in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. That indeed there is hope, there is peace, and there is reconciliation with God, that we stand before him no longer as our judge, but have been adopted as his sons. Chapters 6 and 7 and 8 remind us as children of God then, having been justified by faith alone in Christ Jesus alone, How does our life, how do we live our lives, He has taught us. Having taught us these wonderful things, He ends with summary phrases and sentences in 828-31 when He says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called. Those he called, he also justified. Those he justified, he also glorified. Having summarized his teachings of chapters 1 through 8 in these words, he begins our final section in chapter 8, reminding us of his previous discussions when he asks the question, what then shall we say in response to these? What then shall we say in response to these? Instead of answering this question directly, he actually answers by posing to us four separate questions. Paul calls on his readers to react to what he has said. He's not satisfied in having expounded the greatest knowledge of theology. He wants us to now see how these truths then get applied. And he begins with this question when he says, If God is for us, who can be against us? If God is for us, who can be against us? If Paul had said, who can be against us, numerous answers might be given. One needs to only look at verse 35 to list out a catalog of hardships that any one of us can face. The essence of the question, however, is in the if clause. there is no doubt in Paul's mind that God is indeed for us. More accurately, this translation should be reflected in this confidence when he says, since God is for us. Not a conditional statement as to whether God will be for us, but the confidence in knowing that God is indeed for us and saying, since God is for us, who can be against us? Who is this God? Well, we know the words of Isaiah when he says, Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of heavens and the earth. This God who created and now who has redeemed is for us. There is a covenantal promise that's been made to his people. And this God is indeed for us. And the question that Paul poses to you and I is, Who then can be against us? For us relates to us his commitment, His promise that he was and is and will be there for us. The goal of grace is to reconcile the relationship between God and man and the resulting bond of fellowship in Christ by which God binds himself to us is unbreakable and inseparable. This makes the question possible when he says, if God is for us, who can be against us? In this rhetorical question, although you and I are not shouting out the answers, but at the same time, internally, we are to answer this question by simply saying, no one, nothing, there is nothing before God that can stand against us if and since God is for us. But he's not done with the question. As if building a larger case, he actually asks a second question in verse 32. He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things, he says? Again, Paul did not ask the question, will God not graciously give us all things? If that were the simple question, I'm sure you and I could have a list of things that we have brought before God that remain unanswered before him. For there are many things that we desire, we want, we desperately need, at least we've convinced ourselves to think so, yet God has never answered us in the way we had hoped. But that's not the question he actually asks. The question he asks, again, comes from the first half of this question when he says, simply, he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things. He first points out the costliness of our redemption by pointing out to us he did not spare his own son. He did not spare his own son. Romans 3 says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His blood. Paul is reminding us, having taught us these great truths before, that in saving us, God went to the limit. What more could He have given for us? We cannot possibly know the pain felt by the Father and Jesus at Calvary. Yet we can see this. If the measure of love is what it gives, then there never was such love as God showed to sinners at Calvary, and there never will be. The first part of this verse makes the question actually possible, arguing from what we commonly call greater to the lesser, that since God has given to us the most precious gift in Christ Jesus our Lord, since God has given to us, without any hesitation, his Son, so that he may die for us. Since our Father in heaven turned his face away from his only begotten Son, Christ Jesus, when he cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me, in order that you and I, who revel in our sin, may be reconciled to himself, If such a wonderful gift, if such a priceless gift, if such a gift as this that no one can ever replace, why is it that our countenance is down with those small and petty things that are minuscule in light of comparison, in comparison to what God has already given to us in Christ? having given us His Son, everything else on this side of glory pales in comparison in spite of our protests. That no matter what we might say, for the needs of our salvation and our eternal destiny, until the day we meet Him face to face, where we no longer see Him through a veil, without no longer the face covered for our benefit, here, until that day, All that we need, not necessarily what we want, all that we need, the Lord promises to provide. Here, this makes the question possible when he says, He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things? And this rhetorical question begs us to reply in our own minds and our hearts, it's true. There is nothing that he would spare having given up his son on our behalf. But building a further case, he asks his third question when he asks in verse 33. He says, Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? it is God who justifies. Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Paul does not for a moment deny that Christians fail and fall, sometimes in a very grievous way. You and I perhaps can relay our own experiences of our own sinfulness that even on our good days, we fall short of the glory of God either by committing sin he told us not to do or omitting those things that he has asked us to do. And in fact, we're following from chapter 7. There's a lot of controversy as to how those verses should be interpreted. But no one denies that the experience shown in chapter 7 is really found in Christian lives. The good that I want to do, I don't do. The bad that I don't want to do, I keep on doing was Paul's own confession as to his own continuing sinfulness. So Paul is not delusional in thinking that you and I as believers will somehow live in a perfectionistic life in any sense of that word. But he also does not deny that there are many who does and will accuse us. If you were to ask the question who, we can perhaps name several. Our consciences accuse us for our own sinfulness, and the devil never ceases. In fact, that word itself means a slanderer, bringing up charges against those people who are sons and daughters of God. In addition, we doubtless have human enemies, perhaps many of us, who delight to point out and point an accusing finger at our own expense in the failures that perhaps we exhibit. But what Paul wants to deny and deny emphatically is that any lapsus now can endanger our justified status before God. None of the allegations brought against us can stick before God. Here, the thing that he reminds us as we have seen the love of God already exemplified and demonstrated for us in Christ Jesus our Lord, That indeed our Father in heaven, in Christ, cannot love us more than He already does and cannot love us less than He already does. That our status before Him as adopted sons and daughters cannot change no matter the charge brought before God's throne. Because indeed it is God who justifies and He has spoken. All my legal knowledge comes from law and order. So if there are lawyers here, please forgive me, because my knowledge is very much limited. But at the same time, the truth is found in the fact that there is always an appeals process in law. Whether the accuser or the defendant, when they experience a loss, they can appeal to the next level court. And we see that in the ecclesiastical courts as well. But when the final decision has been made by the Supreme Court, such decisions cannot be overturned. It's set in stone. It's the final word on that particular issue before the court. And what Paul wants to remind us is that indeed our God, who has made his decision in Christ Jesus our Lord, and the bloodshed, and the death and resurrection of our Lord, that decision of our eternal status before God, The eternal Supreme Court has spoken. It cannot change. It cannot be appealed, nor can it be altered. That decision has been made. Oftentimes, perhaps our most strenuous accuser is our own internal conscience. Even our sense of guilt, remorse, and shame. Sometimes preoccupation with ourselves is always a major component of unhealthy guilt for many of us believers. And the language of guilt is demanding, abusing, criticizing, rejecting, accusing, blaming, condemning, reproaching, and scolding. Yes, we feel guilt over sins where we acknowledge the wrong and feel remorse for our failure to live up to God's standards. But as we embrace the forgiveness that comes to us in Christ Jesus our Lord, a continuous sense of guilt is not a proper characteristic for a believer before God. For Romans 5 wanted to remind us that those of us who believe by faith in the death and resurrection of Christ, he says this as a conclusion when he says, Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Oftentimes, we live before God as if we are not adopted children, but foster children. My wife was, before we had our first child, was an adoption social worker. And as such, she worked a lot with adoption cases and foster adoption cases. And the foster children are always difficult because whenever they get placed, there is a sense of temporariness, provisional nature to their placement. They don't want to offend the parents because they fear that they might be sent back to the system. There's this ongoing sense of burden because they fear any mistake that they might have made will be a cause for their dismissal from this newfound family. And we approach God in a similar way often, not recognizing our adopted status before God that is legal and binding. In fact, our father will never let us go. Our attitude before God seems to be as if we are foster children, provisional, wondering when we'll be kicked out. But here, this is not exactly the picture that Paul wants to draw. For he says this legal status that has been bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus, our Lord, cannot be overturned. Which is why this question is so remarkable to us when he says, who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. And the simple point that he wants to make is that for you, who are now adopted as his sons and daughters. Your status cannot change. Our God does not change his mind. He is not forgetful like we are. Therefore, we stand before him righteous, not because of the righteous acts of our own, but because of the righteous act of Christ Jesus, our Lord. But culminating in this sermon at the end of his theological teaching is Paul's final question. He not only reminded us as he asked us, if God is for us, who can stand against us? No one and nothing. He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things? And in fact, he will. Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? No one. And no charge can stick before God since God is the one who justifies. But he ends with these final words in verse 35 when he says, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Love is quite a bit underestimated in our day and time. God's love, as described to us in scripture, is unconditional, sacrificial, and unchanging. Our love, usually expressed on a daily basis, is quite conditional. You scratch my back, I scratch your back. It is really self-protecting instead of self-sacrificing, and it's quite a bit changing. For my emotion today may be different than my emotion tomorrow. And my affection for you, while great today, may not be the same next week. That seems to be the way we conduct ourselves. Yet, the kind of love that Paul has been describing for us in Romans is quite a bit different than the one we normally express on a daily basis. For Romans chapter 5.8 describes to us God's love when it says, but God demonstrates his love for us in this. While we are still sinners, not clamoring for God, not seeking after God, not pining for God, but while we are still sinners, Christ died for us. Ephesians 1 corroborates this when it says, For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, Not based upon our own goodness, but based upon the love that God has for his people. For you see, Paul reminds us of the kind of afflictions that you and I might experience. In fact, he reminds us of the seven possible oppositions to this union with God in Christ. He talks about trouble. He talks about hardship. He speaks of persecution. He speaks of famine. nakedness anger and sword these are not things that he's just bringing up as part of his brainstorming paul certainly knew them because he himself had felt them second corinthians chapter 11 as well as chapter 12 remind us of the kind of difficulties that paul went through as an apostle of jesus christ except for the last one he mentions the sword which ironically as we understand from historical legend is the way by which he died here paul faced and knew affliction and he lists these things up before us as he talks about who could potentially separate us from the love of Christ and I don't want to be pretentious here my life is short and perhaps there may have been many difficulties in my life but relatively speaking God has been very gracious to me and my family and perhaps there are many of you here whose afflictions are much greater than I can imagine or something that I have faced in my own life but here something that Paul wants to remind all of us, no matter the circumstances and the pains and tears of our lives, he says simply this, in this question there is no other answer. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? He wants us to answer, no one and nothing. For he says, we are more than conquerors. Not only will we triumph over these troubles and trials on this side of glory, it's not that we will just get by, not that we will survive. He simply reminds us that we will overcome and triumph over these issues. We are more than conquerors. But it's not based upon our own ability to endure and to be consistent. Here's the catch. He tells us the reason we are more than conquerors is because of him who loved us in verse 37. There is no separation from Christ's love that is possible despite what the world and what our lives may throw at our feet. This is why his final conviction is so powerful. For at the end of these verses, in verse 37, he says what we just said when he says, knowing all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. And he tells us why. Paul's conviction is this when he says, I am convinced. Not maybes, not perhapses, not I think. He says, 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. And just in case, there may be quick and clever individuals who might tell Paul, you've missed something. He has a all bucket condition here when he says, nor anything else in all creation. That's Paul's way of saying there is nothing you can bring up that will be outside of the categories I just mentioned to you. Nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I am convinced. The triumphant statement is a result of Paul's conviction that God is adequate, no, more than adequate, as our keeper and as our end. He is convinced that nothing, literally nothing, can overcome the love that God has for us in Christ Jesus. Our God's love for us is indeed inseparable. Despite mentioning every possible fear or hindrances that can perhaps come between us and God, he says simply, there is nothing on this side of glory and nothing on that side of glory for that matter that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is why Marjorie Kempe, in describing the love that God has for us, she called it a furious love of God for those he loves in Christ Jesus our Lord. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? No one and nothing. Perhaps there is no finer words to summarize these statements found in Romans 8 than the catechism found and the question and answer found in our catechism, Heidegger Catechism. Although I am currently an ordained minister in the PCA, subscribing to the Westminster Standards, my father retired as a minister in the Christian Reformed Church, and I grew up with the Heidegger Catechism as a child, And even in my office at school to this day, I have this hand-stitched question and answer number one of the Heidelberg Catechism sitting on my wall as a reminder, not only of my past and upbringing, but truly a confession of my own faith. And I believe that this is the confession of your faith as well as a proper summary of what we have spoken of in terms of love of God for us in Christ when it asks this question. What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong body and soul in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven. In fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ by his Holy Spirit assures of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him. I pray that this will be the confession of our hearts as well. In response to Romans chapter 8's teaching of our standing before God, that we are able to repeat and say to ourselves that I am not my own, but belong body and soul in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. If he is for us, who can stand against us? What can separate us from the love of Christ Jesus our Lord? Nothing and no one. May that be the conviction of our hearts as well. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this precious reminder of your faithfulness to us, that in Christ Jesus, you have called us sons and daughters, and that as we have been placed into your hands, you will never, ever let us go. Despite the circumstances that are so fleeting and changing, despite our lives, which oftentimes overwhelm us. In the midst of this turmoil, Lord, we are able to say amen to the words of Paul when we hear this truth taught to us again, that there is indeed in Christ nothing that will separate us from the love of Christ. I pray, Lord, that you will continue to remind us of your love in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Convict us of this love. Help us to experience and see this love in our lives. And I pray our lips will sing praises and thanksgiving to you each and every single day. We thank you and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.