back to index2017-01-22 In God We Trust
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Let me read the passage and then we're going to jump into the text this morning. 00:00:13.200 |
As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long. 00:00:18.600 |
Knowing all these things, we are more than conquerors. 00:00:21.040 |
Through him who loved us, for I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers 00:00:26.080 |
nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else 00:00:30.360 |
in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." 00:00:39.840 |
Gracious and loving Father, we thank you so much for this day. 00:00:42.980 |
We know that it is only by your grace that we are attracted to you, that we long to hear 00:00:49.080 |
from you, that we desire to worship and honor you. 00:00:53.560 |
We pray, Father God, that the Holy Spirit that you've made to dwell in us, that as it 00:00:58.160 |
continues to intercede, as he continues to pray on our behalf, help us, Lord God, to 00:01:05.920 |
Help us to have open ears, sensitive hearts, and willing life, Lord God, to obey all that 00:01:12.880 |
As you guys know, as we've been studying through the book of Romans, we're at the conclusion 00:01:23.400 |
Chapter 9 through chapter 11, he's going to be expounding about his faithfulness and the 00:01:28.080 |
illustration of how the promise that he made to the nation of Israel, God's not going to 00:01:31.840 |
renege on that and he's going to continue to be faithful. 00:01:34.440 |
And so that's the subject matter in chapter 9 through 11, his faithfulness. 00:01:38.000 |
But as we've been talking about, Paul has been arguing this point of our assurance of 00:01:44.220 |
Why we can have absolute confidence and assurance, not because of what we've done, not because 00:01:49.280 |
of being clever or any kind of training, but because God had intended from the very beginning 00:01:54.940 |
that he who began a good work, that he will carry us into completion until the day of 00:02:01.560 |
So naturally, the argument that he's been building up to is the reason why we have assurance 00:02:10.720 |
Verse 35, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 00:02:15.480 |
Will it be tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, or danger, or sore?" 00:02:21.320 |
So the natural question when we hear this is, if God loved us and that he's going to 00:02:24.960 |
protect us from all of these things, then why is there suffering in the world? 00:02:30.580 |
Maybe you have thought that, maybe there's something going on in your life and you're 00:02:35.200 |
If God loved me so much that nothing can separate us from his love, then why is this particular 00:02:51.040 |
Paul knows that that's probably the natural question that's going to come up when we talk 00:02:56.320 |
If God is sovereign, I mean, is he really sovereign? 00:02:59.320 |
If he's really sovereign and he's loving, I don't understand what is happening right 00:03:06.480 |
See, Paul already knows that and he's going to conclude the assurance of salvation at 00:03:11.920 |
the end of chapter 8 to basically bring home the point that this is why suffering happens. 00:03:19.120 |
So the text that we're looking at starting from verse 36 through 39, there's three points 00:03:23.400 |
that I want you guys to see in this text when Paul's argument is, how do we view suffering 00:03:33.240 |
The first thing that we want to see that's mentioned in verse 36 and on is, God's love 00:03:40.960 |
Again, let me qualify this before I even get to this. 00:03:46.920 |
If all that we're talking about, his love, is just simple theology to you, everything 00:03:52.840 |
that I'm going to say, everything that Paul's going to say is just going to fall on deaf 00:04:02.580 |
But in order for anything and everything that God is saying about this, about his love, 00:04:07.200 |
that if you truly believed it, that a sovereign God genuinely loves you, a sovereign God who 00:04:14.480 |
is in absolute control over history, control over you, control over the future, that that 00:04:20.800 |
God who is all powerful, all knowing, and he's all loving toward you, and you actually 00:04:27.400 |
believe that, that is not theoretical, it is not a doctrinal statement that you sign, 00:04:33.120 |
but you believe that, then it completely changes everything. 00:04:38.880 |
First thing that he says is that God's love changes our perspective on suffering. 00:04:42.840 |
In verse 36, in response, the rhetorical question of, well, what's going to separate us from 00:04:51.280 |
And then he goes in verse 36, he says, "As it is written," quoting Psalm 44, verse 22, 00:04:57.080 |
"As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. 00:05:03.080 |
Now, you have to understand verse 36 in the Psalm that he's quoting in the context of 00:05:08.520 |
what he's quoting, or else you're going to misunderstand what Paul is saying. 00:05:12.080 |
On the surface, it may seem like Paul is saying, "I'm suffering for you." 00:05:17.940 |
That the reason why I'm suffering for you is because God loves you. 00:05:20.560 |
I mean, that's what it seems like he's saying, it seems to fit the context, at least here. 00:05:24.880 |
But when you look at Psalm 44, you don't need to turn your Bible there, I'm just going to 00:05:31.240 |
Psalm 44 is someone who is in anguish, crying out to God, "Why are these things happening 00:05:41.020 |
He's basically complaining to God, "I've been faithful to you, I've kept my covenant to 00:05:45.120 |
you, I've been righteous, and yet these things are happening in my life." 00:05:51.880 |
So it's a lot like the book of Job, where Job was targeted because of his righteousness, 00:06:01.120 |
It wasn't despite the fact that he was righteous, God allowed this to happen. 00:06:07.080 |
He said, "Have you considered my servant, who is upright?" 00:06:11.520 |
And he was targeted as a result of his righteousness. 00:06:13.880 |
Well, that's what it's saying, and I'm going to read Psalm 44, 17-22. 00:06:19.240 |
After laying his complaint before God, "Why is suffering happening in my life? 00:06:23.840 |
All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you." 00:06:30.360 |
"And we have not been false to your covenant, our heart has not turned back, nor have our 00:06:38.840 |
Yet you have broken us in the place of jackals, and covered us with the shadows of death. 00:06:43.400 |
If we had forgotten the name of our God, or spread out our hands to a foreign God, would 00:06:52.320 |
In other words, he's complaining to God, "If I did anything wrong, you would know it, and 00:06:57.080 |
I know that I can't hide any of this from you. 00:07:00.080 |
But you know, God, that my complaint is genuine. 00:07:05.880 |
And then in wrap-up, he says in verse 22, "Yet, for your sake, we are killed all day 00:07:17.120 |
He's not saying, "Despite the fact that I've done all of this, why haven't you protected 00:07:23.420 |
God actually is saying, "It's because you've been faithful. 00:07:29.120 |
Now this thought is very unsettling to Christianity, in our generation. 00:07:36.660 |
That because you love Christ, suffering comes into your life. 00:07:41.400 |
Because you decided to follow Jesus, and because you decided to accept this love of God, that 00:07:52.880 |
You and I, we reject the health and wealth gospel. 00:07:58.160 |
If it's health and wealth, you know, the prosperity gospel, if you believe in Jesus Christ, you're 00:08:08.400 |
You know, if we were to ask you to survey, I don't think you would be at this church. 00:08:14.000 |
But there's a knee-jerk reaction in our lives when something good happens, we automatically 00:08:22.440 |
Get a good job, make money, maybe win the lottery. 00:08:26.360 |
Maybe we're able to get the house that you wanted. 00:08:30.760 |
And then when something difficult happens, you feel under pressure, you didn't get the 00:08:36.840 |
You went to the hospital and found out that you were sick. 00:08:43.440 |
We automatically, there's a knee-jerk reaction, "Did I do something wrong? 00:08:52.320 |
Even though we don't accept the health and wealth gospel, the health and wealth, the 00:08:56.200 |
prosperity gospel is so deeply embedded in the psyche of every human being that it clouds 00:09:06.240 |
the way that we see life in everything that we do. 00:09:13.680 |
So in other words, what he's saying is, "I expected only good things to happen. 00:09:19.400 |
I expected that you would answer my prayers and I would get the job and my family would 00:09:24.040 |
come together and everything would turn out well. 00:09:28.200 |
See, he says, "For your sake, because we've been faithful to you, we are being poured 00:09:39.040 |
See, the idea of sheep being slaughtered at this period of time, I mean, immediately you 00:09:45.680 |
had an image of sacrifice because the most common animal that was sacrificed at the temple 00:09:52.520 |
A sheep being slaughtered automatically was equated with sacrifice, with atonement, with 00:10:00.520 |
So in other words, the psalmist is saying, "We're being poured out as an offering to 00:10:08.400 |
Yet the scripture describes Jesus himself in the exact same way. 00:10:12.760 |
In Isaiah 53, 7, he says, "He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his 00:10:17.920 |
mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearer's 00:10:27.520 |
It shouldn't surprise any of us because Jesus made it absolutely crystal clear. 00:10:32.840 |
If you want to be my disciple, take up your cross and follow me. 00:10:38.840 |
Jesus went to the cross, was offered as a sacrifice as a lamb. 00:10:44.560 |
So it shouldn't surprise us that our lives are also a sacrifice like the lamb. 00:10:55.080 |
It is not despite the fact that we follow Christ that suffering comes. 00:11:03.320 |
Because we have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the glorious kingdom of his 00:11:10.840 |
We are aliens and strangers in enemy territory. 00:11:14.280 |
And the fact that suffering comes because we are followers of Christ is only assurance 00:11:22.200 |
In fact, doesn't Jesus warn us, "Be careful when every man says good things of you. 00:11:28.480 |
They did not receive me and they will not receive you." 00:11:32.200 |
So the fact that everybody is saying good things of you, the righteous and the unrighteous, 00:11:37.360 |
may be evidence that you are not following me. 00:11:41.960 |
It completely changes our perspective on suffering. 00:11:45.480 |
In fact, in Acts chapter 5, 40-41, you have these same apostles. 00:11:51.880 |
It's just a few chapters before when Jesus was going to the cross, were cowarding, were 00:11:59.400 |
Just when their master was going to the cross, I mean, his disciples, his apostles are hiding 00:12:10.760 |
So even Peter, the leader among the disciples, would deny Jesus to his face three times. 00:12:17.480 |
And yet, just a few chapters later, just about a month or so later, we see them after being 00:12:23.960 |
caught in front of the same people who crucified Jesus. 00:12:28.480 |
They beat them and forbid them to continue to talk about Jesus. 00:12:32.840 |
And their response, verse 41, "Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that 00:12:39.040 |
they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name." 00:12:46.320 |
What made these men who were so afraid just a month before, stand up with such courage 00:12:53.060 |
In fact, they considered it a privilege, an honor to suffer for the name of Christ. 00:13:13.760 |
And the Holy Spirit comes upon them and all of a sudden, these men absolutely change. 00:13:18.960 |
Their perspective of suffering and pain change, absolutely change because of the resurrection. 00:13:25.040 |
In 2 Corinthians 12, 10, it says, "For the sake of Christ, and I am content with weakness, 00:13:30.400 |
insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities." 00:13:40.600 |
It's not because Paul somehow was one of those special men who enjoyed being insulted and 00:13:46.920 |
In fact, before Paul met Christ, he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. 00:13:56.440 |
His father purchased an opportunity for him to be discipled by the greatest scholar of 00:14:03.320 |
This guy was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. 00:14:07.380 |
And yet, because he met Christ, he experienced the suffering, hardship, insults, persecution. 00:14:14.600 |
And he says, "I rejoice for all these things because for when I am weak, then I am strong." 00:14:19.440 |
It is not because he innately loved these things. 00:14:24.120 |
Nobody turns the other cheek because that's just who they are. 00:14:28.040 |
You get slapped on the cheek and like, "Hit me on this side." 00:14:40.080 |
If we have a choice between safety and hardship, of course we're going to chase after safety. 00:14:46.280 |
What Paul is saying though, is that God brings these things in our lives to deliberately 00:15:02.720 |
We want to have more money so that we can have more influence. 00:15:09.480 |
But God's inclination toward us is to make us weak. 00:15:15.920 |
Because Paul says it isn't until we are weak that He is strong. 00:15:21.720 |
If you are confident in your finances, that's the area where you probably stumble the most. 00:15:28.960 |
That's the area that you probably have the hardest time trusting God the most. 00:15:38.400 |
Maybe you went to the upper echelon of schools. 00:15:42.960 |
And it's the very things, those very things are the things that are causing you to stumble. 00:15:53.200 |
God deliberately brings suffering in our lives to make us weak. 00:16:01.360 |
Isn't sanctification a process of making Christ bigger in our lives? 00:16:07.560 |
Isn't sanctification ultimately to have the aroma of Christ stronger in all that we are? 00:16:14.280 |
So God's purpose in our life is exactly the opposite of what we naturally pursue in this 00:16:24.440 |
So He allows suffering, hardship, persecution to make us weak. 00:16:29.080 |
Because it is in our weakness that He is strong. 00:16:32.400 |
Philippians 1 29 30, "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should 00:16:37.560 |
not only believe in Him, but also suffer for Him." 00:16:45.360 |
Suffering for a Christian is never meaningless. 00:16:51.360 |
Suffering without meaning, when pain comes into your life and you don't know why, that's 00:17:01.000 |
Because you're following Christ and there's purpose and meaning behind it that causes 00:17:06.200 |
When Christ becomes strong because of our suffering, it completely changes the way that 00:17:10.600 |
we view and interact with suffering in our lives. 00:17:14.980 |
Hardship was not experienced by Apostle Paul despite the fact that God is sovereign and 00:17:20.200 |
It is because God is sovereign and loving, He was suffering. 00:17:24.320 |
Secondly, not only does it change our perspective, not only because of the love that we experience 00:17:30.280 |
suffering, He says we are more than conquerors because of His love, through His love. 00:17:34.960 |
In verse 37, "In all these things, in all these trials, we are more than conquerors 00:17:42.360 |
In the ESV it just says more than conquerors. 00:17:44.560 |
NASB, it makes sure that we understand that Paul in essence is taking us to the superlative. 00:17:52.600 |
He's not just saying, "Oh you're going to conquer." 00:17:55.840 |
So in the NASB it says, "In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who 00:18:08.520 |
That in contrast to what the world thinks, that in the midst of suffering, it's like, 00:18:18.740 |
And they may be accusing these things of Christians, yet what he's saying is they do not know. 00:18:26.320 |
Not only are we not beaten, not only are we not in despair, he says, "No, we are more 00:18:35.940 |
In 2 Corinthians 4, 7-12 it says, "But we have these treasures in jars of clay." 00:18:43.040 |
Jars of clay basically is a way of saying that on the surface it looks worthless. 00:18:48.000 |
A jar of clay is something that the world would pick up and have no value. 00:18:53.080 |
They wouldn't put anything valuable in this jar. 00:18:57.720 |
But he says our treasures are in jars of clay. 00:19:01.360 |
It may look like trash and useless to the world, but they're his treasure. 00:19:06.320 |
To show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 00:19:11.120 |
It is not the packaging, but the gift itself. 00:19:16.680 |
When you're kind of embarrassed about the gift, you do a great job packaging. 00:19:21.520 |
But when you have this fantastic gift, you almost kind of want them to be disappointed. 00:19:27.200 |
You put it in a plastic bag and you tape it up and it looks like you just kind of scrunched 00:19:38.360 |
So, a lot of guys when they propose, they put it in food or bun cake or something and 00:19:49.240 |
He said, "Our treasures are in jars of clay." 00:19:55.760 |
Even though on the surface it may look like affliction and hardship and difficulty, it's 00:20:01.560 |
because they do not see the Christ, our sovereign God, who loves us behind all of that. 00:20:08.320 |
And the word afflicted basically means to be under pressure. 00:20:28.160 |
You're under pressure but you will never be crushed. 00:20:33.280 |
He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are capable. 00:20:42.960 |
The word perplexed means confused or even literally to doubt. 00:20:48.160 |
You know, in the Christian world, we're not allowed to doubt. 00:20:53.120 |
So we can talk about struggling and difficulty and all this stuff but we're not saying, "Oh, 00:21:06.840 |
But the reality is, whether it is allowed or not allowed, isn't that the experience 00:21:13.320 |
There are periods in your life where there is serious doubt. 00:21:17.720 |
There are periods in your life where you question, "Why is God doing this? 00:21:23.120 |
And when it gets bad enough, you question His love. 00:21:29.720 |
You know, what I love about the Bible is the Bible doesn't dress any of this up. 00:21:37.320 |
If you've ever read through the book of Psalms, a big chunk of the book of Psalms is crying 00:21:56.600 |
The whole book of Job is trying to figure out, "What is God doing?" 00:22:05.720 |
But Jesus said, "Even if you have faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains." 00:22:13.000 |
And it's not because it's the power of faith. 00:22:15.200 |
It's that even that tiny connection to the super powerful God, even that tiny connection, 00:22:23.640 |
that faith that connects us to this living God is enough to move mountains. 00:22:29.640 |
And sometimes you and I have to be honest and confess that that's what's holding us 00:22:39.000 |
There are periods in our life where we don't understand what's going on, why God is allowing 00:22:43.400 |
these things to happen in your life, and it is that small faith that God planted in you 00:22:50.480 |
And that's why we, she says, we are perplexed. 00:22:53.960 |
And at times we doubt, but we are never led to despair. 00:23:00.480 |
Because that tiny little faith still gives us hope. 00:23:05.600 |
We are persecuted, targeted for harm, but never forsaken. 00:23:19.680 |
I don't know about you, when you think about struck down, what images come into your mind, 00:23:26.120 |
If you watch MMA, you might be thinking, "Wow, that guy got struck down." 00:23:31.240 |
You get hit so hard, you get put to the ground. 00:23:33.400 |
When I think of struck down, I think about the ultimate striking down is death. 00:23:39.200 |
And I think that that's what Paul is talking about. 00:23:41.240 |
That even in death, you are never completely destroyed. 00:23:45.320 |
The worst possible scenario in the secular world, the greatest fear in the world, before 00:23:51.280 |
we met Christ, is, "What if this happens and we die?" 00:23:57.880 |
But he says, "Even in death, we are not destroyed." 00:24:06.000 |
We are not only, is it purposeful, but we conquer. 00:24:10.760 |
2 Corinthians 4, 16-18, "So we do not lose heart, though our outer nature is wasted away, 00:24:17.000 |
our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 00:24:19.640 |
For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all 00:24:26.960 |
Think that in the context of Paul and his ministry. 00:24:37.500 |
This is a man who was stoned, thought to be dead, dragged out into the city, and came 00:24:54.040 |
He was a countryman, preaching the gospel just to make it hard for him. 00:24:58.880 |
Even this very church that he's writing this letter to, that he poured his life out, he 00:25:05.920 |
But by the encouragement of Jesus, he said, "Go continue to preach. 00:25:11.000 |
And despite that, he continued to preach, and he plants this church. 00:25:13.800 |
And this very church, this very church that he spent the second most amount of time in, 00:25:19.640 |
the first being Ephesus, second in Corinth, starts to question, like, "Is that guy an 00:25:25.120 |
Think about the heartache and brokenness in him, having to convince these very people 00:25:30.320 |
that he risked his life to get the gospel to him, questioning his apostleship. 00:25:35.480 |
I mean, we're not talking about physically, emotionally, spiritually. 00:25:38.760 |
In every way, here's a man who should have quit. 00:25:45.120 |
And no one would be able to question him, because no one suffered like this man. 00:25:51.520 |
And yet, he says, "Slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory 00:26:00.520 |
As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen, for the 00:26:03.600 |
things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." 00:26:10.000 |
Even in the midst of suffering, he said, "We are conquerors, because our Almighty loving 00:26:17.560 |
Paul's suffering was directly linked to following Christ. 00:26:24.800 |
That's why Paul says in 2 Timothy 2.10, "Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, 00:26:29.400 |
that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." 00:26:33.600 |
You know, you probably know this passage really well, 1 Corinthians 15.58, where Paul says 00:26:40.520 |
to the Corinthians, "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always 00:26:46.320 |
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." 00:26:54.320 |
Do you know why Paul writes that particular passage? 00:26:58.120 |
He's not just thinking about, well, what do Christians need to hear? 00:27:04.000 |
He's writing this letter to a particular church, a group of people who are divided, fighting 00:27:12.120 |
And he's writing this encouragement because there's temptation to quit. 00:27:19.220 |
He says, "Be steadfast," because some of them are being tempted not to be steadfast. 00:27:27.120 |
"Be immovable," because some of them are being tempted to move. 00:27:37.120 |
"Be immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." 00:27:41.960 |
He says this because there's people probably in the church ready to quit, like many others 00:27:50.600 |
actually have, knowing that your labor is never in vain. 00:27:58.320 |
That no matter what suffering, no matter what hardship comes into your life, our sovereign 00:28:02.840 |
"Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing 00:28:12.120 |
See, suffering as a Christian, when you know that a sovereign God is behind all of this, 00:28:17.480 |
it completely changes the way we see suffering, the way we relate to suffering. 00:28:23.040 |
But finally, third and the most powerful statement of all the statements is found in the last 00:28:28.520 |
part in verse 37 and 38, it says, "Nothing can separate us from the love of God." 00:28:36.360 |
He started this passage, or at least this section, this idea, in Romans 8.28, it said, 00:28:43.400 |
"For we know that all things work together for good, those who have been called according 00:28:51.120 |
And now he concludes in saying, "Not only do we know, I am convinced of this." 00:28:55.800 |
So if you remember, he begins by saying, "The Holy Spirit has been given to us so that in 00:29:00.160 |
the things that we do not know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit comes and He intercedes 00:29:06.060 |
But one thing that I do know, that my sovereign God is in control of all things. 00:29:10.960 |
That all of these things are going to work together for good for those who have been 00:29:15.120 |
And then the crescendo, the final punch is, "I am now convinced, convicted, I am assured 00:29:21.840 |
that the love of Christ will never be separated from me." 00:29:28.720 |
Even the most timid of ladies, when they have a child, become fierce. 00:29:35.240 |
Everybody, this is just natural observation, right? 00:29:40.680 |
Even the meekest of creatures, even the tenderest of women, do not mess with their kids. 00:29:54.040 |
Whether it is a puppy or a chicken or a dove or a snake, whatever it is, you don't mess 00:30:05.440 |
God uses this as an illustration to remind us of His love. 00:30:11.840 |
In Isaiah 49, 15, it says, "Can a woman forget her nursing child?" 00:30:20.960 |
That she should have no compassion in the sun of her womb? 00:30:26.200 |
Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 00:30:31.220 |
Even though there's every intent to watch our children, to care for them, that every 00:30:35.680 |
mother instinctively will give their life for the safety of their child. 00:30:41.120 |
But even if that fails, He says, "I will not." 00:30:45.680 |
Nothing will separate us from the love of God. 00:30:49.080 |
You know what's amazing about that verse in Isaiah 49, verse 16? 00:30:53.360 |
He concludes it by saying, "Behold, here's evidence that my love will not fail you. 00:31:00.120 |
Behold, I have engraved you in the palm of my hands." 00:31:03.520 |
Now if you read the commentators, they have different ideas of what this means. 00:31:11.120 |
The consensus though is that in the ancient Near East culture, that in order to not to 00:31:17.920 |
forget something, that they sometimes would make marks on their palms. 00:31:22.760 |
It's kind of like a long time ago when you wanted to not forget something, you would 00:31:32.160 |
If you don't want to forget the number or something, you just take a picture and you 00:31:36.760 |
But before all of that, we would just write it on our hands. 00:31:46.840 |
Or even if you forgot, you would just kind of, you know, if you put it on the back of 00:31:50.040 |
your head, you wouldn't see it, but it's on your hand, so you're going to see it. 00:31:54.140 |
This culture where he says, "I will not forget you because I have engraved you on 00:32:01.780 |
Now, I don't like to milk passages and say, "Oh, here's Jesus." 00:32:09.400 |
But I can't help but to imagine, and I think you're probably thinking the same thing, when 00:32:13.080 |
Jesus, when God says, "I will not forget you. 00:32:17.520 |
What image does that automatically conjure up in your head? 00:32:27.040 |
When Jesus was resurrected and Thomas wanted to be assured, Jesus showed him his scars. 00:32:35.640 |
Jesus' glorified body is a permanent body that he has for eternity. 00:32:44.960 |
So which means today, Jesus has those scars on his hands. 00:32:52.260 |
Even if the greatest love that we know in this world, the love of a mother toward their 00:32:57.760 |
child, even if that fails, "My love will not fail you because I have engraved you 00:33:08.080 |
What is that scar reminding him of constantly? 00:33:12.760 |
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son." 00:33:26.600 |
I know we recite that verse probably a thousand times, a hundred thousand times. 00:33:38.680 |
But if you really believe that, it's not just a theological statement of the church. 00:33:48.480 |
But it's the God of the universe who's willing to give his only begotten son. 00:34:06.800 |
Think of the hatred that you harbor in your heart toward people. 00:34:10.940 |
Think of the lust that you compromise every single week. 00:34:37.200 |
Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. 00:34:41.560 |
Not death, not life, not angels, not rulers, not present, not things to come, not powers, 00:35:40.680 |
Somebody says something to you and ruins our day. 00:35:47.160 |
How many times have we determined to honor God and have failed the very next day? 00:35:54.960 |
If our security was based upon you, just like our New Year's resolution, we would be done 00:36:07.440 |
No, our salvation is not based on your will or your good. 00:36:17.240 |
And he demonstrates his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died 00:36:22.760 |
That's why we will never be separated from his love. 00:36:27.600 |
And with that confidence, live up to the calling that you have received.