For which I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us. of the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The context of today’s sermon is a situation here in Bethlehem that requires hundreds of you – I pray for 1,500 of you! – to begin Sunday morning worship at Northwestern College’s Maranatha Hall in Roseville on October 13, four weeks from now. That Sunday there will be two services here at 8:30 and 10:30 am, and two services there in Roseville at 8:30 and 10:30 am. The first part of our worship service where we do most of our singing will be live at each site with choirs or worship teams led by Chuck Steddom here and Dan Holst at the north site. The second part of our worship – what we like to call expository exultation, the preaching – will be live at one site and video streamed to the other site, alternating live and video between north and center every two weeks. We remain one church with a body of elders, a staff, a vision, a mission, a budget, a unifying theology, a covenant, an infallible Bible, a great sovereign, triune God – worshiping in two places, with the coordinating nerve center , outfitter and with small groups scattered throughout the Cities.
That is the context of the message. And there is a remarkable connection between the context of the church and the biblical text. The church context is a kind of separation that is not a separation. We call it “Go without going”. The biblical text deals with a type of separation that is not a separation. We will focus on Romans 8:38-39 which ends, “in all creation he will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is manifested in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It may look and feel like a separation from God’s love, but it is not a separation from God’s love.
So let us first turn our minds and hearts to the word of God, and then step back and see the situation of our church in light of this magnificent truth.
Romans 8: Nothing can separate us from the love of God
Verses 38-39 list 10 things that cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord – 8 of them in pairs: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I say again what I have said so many times: the point of this entire passage is your safety. God wants his people to experience a deep and unwavering confidence that they are secure in his love.
And the reason why you need to emphasize it is because in real life we seem and often feel very insecure. To use the words of verse 36, “They are killing us all day long, we were considered like sheep to the slaughter.” This is always true for Christians somewhere in the world. And when it is true we can feel very insecure and very separated from God. And this will be true for you at some point in your life – things will happen that will make you feel that you are separated from the love of God. That’s why this text is here, and that’s why I’m preaching, and that’s why you’re here this morning.
Let’s look at the list and strengthen our hearts with the powerful and encouraging word of God. Note that these verses describe the security of “God’s elect.” (Romans 8:33), not everyone’s safety. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, he has chosen you, you are his, you belong to him. Verse 28 says that you love him and are called according to his purpose. This is his purpose – this eternal security. Verse 29 says that you are known, that is, recognized with favor, loved before time; you are predestined to be like Christ, and you are called from death to life, and you are justified once for all – counted righteous in Christ – and you are glorified. These promises of inseparability are God’s declaration that he will save his people and nothing can destroy him. You have these promises if you have Jesus as your Lord, Savior and Treasure.
Neither death nor life can separate us from the love of God
Verse 38: “For I am sure that neither death nor life . . . will be able to separate us from the love of God.” Death is first on the list. Why? For at least two reasons: because Paul just said in verse 36, “They are killing us all day long.” And because death separates us from much of what that we know on earth.
It is the most urgent threat. So immediately Paul says, “Death cannot separate us from the love of God.” In fact, death does exactly the opposite. Increases closeness and communion with Christ. Philippians 1:23, “I am very pressed between the two. My desire is to leave and be with Christ, because that is much better.” Death means “to be away from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8) It is not separation, it is homecoming.
But it is the separation from family and friends and the body and all the pleasures on earth. This is why it may not seem like God’s love. But Paul says it is the love of God. It is not as if we are loved by God until death and then loved again by God after death with a great separation from God’s love at death. No. Death – the experience of death – is not a separation from the love of God. God loves us before death and loves us in the act of dying and loves us after death. And all of our losses here are part of being loved by God. Difficult as it may seem, Paul wants us to know and experience the fact that death – and everything it takes away from us – is not a lack of God’s love.
When Christ died he secured his own people in death and in life. Nothing in life and nothing in death will undo the triumph that he achieved on the cross and resurrection. That’s why Paul says in Romans 14:9, “For this Christ died and came to life again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” His lordship over life and death is invincible. So life and death cannot separate us from God’s love.
No cosmic or supernatural power can separate us from the love of God
The next pair that Paul mentions in verse 38 is “angels and principalities.” ; And then a few words later, he mentions “powers.” Neither angels nor principalities nor powers will separate us from the love of God. These three names are probably designations of angelic or demonic beings since “angels” are mentioned first in the group. So Paul’s point is: there are no supernatural cosmic powers that can separate us from the love of God. These powers were decisively defeated at the cross. Colossians 2:15, “he spoiled principalities and authorities and put them to shame, triumphing over them on him = the cross].” When Christ rose, Ephesians 1:21 says, he was exalted “above all principality and authority and power and lordship”. So even though these scoundrels are on the loose, they cannot do the greatest harm to God’s elect. It must irritate Satan greatly to hear God say, “You and your mighty hordes are powerless to take my loved ones away.” “The grim prince of darkness / we do not tremble for him / his rage we can bear / for his fate is certain.”
Nothing in time and space can separate us from the love of God
The next two pairs (in verses 38 and 39) are Paul’s way of saying that nothing in time and space can separate us from God’s love. First time: “…neither the present nor the future…will be able to separate us from the love of God.” Then space: “neither height nor depth… will be able to separate us from the love of God.” Paul is covering every possible base, he’s saying it over and over again.
Nothing in the present or in the future can separate us from the love of God
The present-future binomial covers our fear that although the present is tolerable now, the future is going to be horrible, and we wonder if we will be able to bear it. Or we may fear that the present is so bad that we won’t get to any future. Paul’s response: It will never be so bad now or in the future that you separate yourself from God’s love. Circumstances will never surprise God that he has to go back on this promise. The future is absolutely his and he knows it and directs it. If he says he won’t break us up, he won’t.
Nothing high or low can separate us from the love of God
The height-depth pair (v. 39) covers our fear that lurks somewhere far, far away some threatening power that would surprise us and destroy our faith and separate us from the love of God. Paul says: No. No matter how high you go or how deep you go, you will never find a power that can nullify the protecting power of God. “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, there you are” (Psalm 139:7-8 ). Nothing in the highest heaven and nothing in the deepest hell can separate us from the love of Christ.
No created thing can separate us from the love of God
Then, at the end of verse 39, Paul adds an all-inclusive encouragement to make sure nothing is lost: “…another created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That covers everything that is not God.No thing or person in the entire universe can separate us from the love of God.
And that includes ourselves. There are those who say that the elect cannot be snatched out of the hand of God (John 10:29), but they can jump. In other words, they say, you can be chosen, born again, justified, and in the end perish. That is not what the Bible teaches. “Whom he justified he glorified” – that is the radical assurance of the elect. Security is not that you can abandon the faith and live in sin and go to heaven. Security is: God keeps his elect from final apostasy and unbelief. The promise of the new covenant for all God’s people is this: “I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not fail to do them good.” And I will put my fear in their hearts, so that they will not depart from me” (Jeremiah 32:40). There may be many stumbling blocks and going astray, but if you are his, you will be brought back. Trust him.
So nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate God’s elect from him. The result is massive security for merciful service through much suffering.
“Go without going” and register in small groups
I now turn to the Church context for this message, namely the moving of many of you to the North Extension Site for worship beginning October 13, and the fact that today is small group registration on Sunday. These are not unrelated things.
I think what I would like to take away from Romans 8:38-39 for this church situation is this: in all…