Can love die? Without Christ it can. The Bible says that in the last days terrible times will come when people will betray and hate each other. It says that the love of most will grow cold. It says that people will become lovers of themselves, lovers of money, but not lovers of people. They will turn abusive, disobedient, ungrateful, unforgiving, slanderous. They will be without control, brutal, and treacherous, and without love (Mt.24;2Tm.3). Can love die? Without Christ it can, even among the closest of human relations.
For example they say that over half of today's marriages end in divorce. And the disastrous end of second marriages is even greater. Why? People don't love the other. Sometimes other causes are cited as contributing factors, but the ultimate reason of separation comes down to love – the lack of it. “In-love people” can endure any hardship together. But without love the relationship itself becomes a hardship. Love is like glue; it cements our lives together.
Our text speaks of love, God's love for us. And more, it speaks of how that love works for us and affects us day in and day out. It declares that God's love is great and will never leave us, not even in the worst of times
We will go through troubles and hardship. We will have to endure grief and pain. People may leave. God never will. His love remains constant and strong. In Christ He has cemented Himself to us, and that will not change. “His love endures forever.”
Can we be separated from Him? Separated from His Love? Paul cries. Never! I. not by trouble; II. not by death, III. not by angels or demons, IV. not by time or space… V. not by anything - absolutely nothing!
I. Not by trouble.
The psalmist exalts, “Praise the Lord, give thanks to Him, for He is good; His love endures forever” (106:1). God's love does not quit. Do you find that difficult to believe, especially when the troubles of life overtake you?
Unexpectedly, you can find yourself lying in a hospital bed; you can find yourself standing in a soup line; you can find yourself ridiculed, threatened, even attacked at work or school; you could find yourself or a loved one on a deathbed. Troubles of all shapes and sizes come our way. “We face (them) all day long,” Paul says.
For example, you could leave this building today, think that you are just going home to a nice Sunday dinner, and find yourself in a crippling or even fatal accident on the way. We face death every day. The only reason it does not come to us yet is because the gracious hand of God is holding it back – for now.
When these things happen to us, we can easily be tempted to ask “Why? What have I done to deserve this? Have I done something that makes God angry with me? Is this love?”
But the person who looks at love from God's eyes, realizes that such questions are foolish ones. The troubles that haunt us in life do not come from God; they come as a result of sin.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they opened the lid of Pandora's box that allowed the pests of pain, plague, and poverty out into the world and into our lives. All our troubles are the direct result of the sin that infected the world from that time onward.
What did God tell them in the Garden of Eden was the result of their actions? To the women He said, “Because you have done this…with pain you will give birth to children.” To Adam He said, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it. It will produce thorns and thistles…and by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground.”
All our troubles are the result of sin – not necessarily a specific sin, but sin in general.
And because we are sinners living in a sinful world we go through trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, times of want and nakedness (when we barely have any money to buy clothing), danger, or times of the sword (when our lives are threatened by war or simply by a mugger who wants to take advantage of us). Things will happen in a fallen world. We go through trouble.
But like a close friend, an ally, a protector, God stepped into our lives to help. It took more than a simple pain pill to overcome. It took Christ and His blood to cover us (1 Jn.1:7). And so the Father sacrificed Him for our troubles; “He gave Him up for us all.”
Paul writes that in Christ, God has justified us to Himself. He's declared us not guilty, even though we had sinned. Because of that no one can condemn you, no person, not the devil, not even your own conscience. Why not? Because Christ Jesus died for all; Christ Jesus rose to life for all; Christ Jesus now sits at God's right hand and always steps in between you and God saying, “Father, you
must forgive them for I have paid the price for sin.”
In Christ sin is taken care of. With your eyes on Him it cannot separate you from God's love . And if sin, the greatest trouble of all, cannot separate us from God's love, then no other trouble can either. Separated from God's Love? Not by troubles . Never!
II. Not even by death.
Death. Are you afraid to die? Many people are. Some put on a false front and pretend that death doesn't bother them, but when they see the end of their lives approaching, it shows itself in their anxious looks.
Actually, we can understand why people fear death, can't we? People tend to fear the unknown. Aren't you leery of going somewhere or doing something or experiencing something with which you are not familiar? We tend to fear the unknown, and for many there is no greater unknown than death. None of us has gone through it and come back from it safely to tell what it is like. There is only one person who can tell us what it's like because he has come through it. That is Christ. And what has Christ told us?
He told us that He not only died for our sin, but that He also rose again for our justification. He told us, “Because I live, you shall live also.” In Him God has defeated death. If it is true that in Him God has defeated death for us, and if it is true that God's love endures forever, than we need not be afraid of it. With Paul we can exclaim in a jubilant way, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?...Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
From this side of eternity, death looks like a shadow that blocks the light of God's love. In reality it is the door through which we enter the daylight of God's perfect heaven. We need not fear the dark because God's perfect love has filled our lives with heaven's daylight. Do we have to go through death? Yes. But with our eyes on Christ, we go through death's door only to enter eternity's light. Separates from God's love? Not by trouble, nor by death. Never!
III. Not by angels or demons.
Oh, if you've got that conviction, dear friend, you make the devil so mad, because he wants nothing more than to throw you into great confusion and fear over this. That's his delight. In it he hopes to disrupt your relationship with God, and separate you from Him. The devil would like nothing more than to separate us from the love of God. And because of that, he is always dangerous.
He's been dangerous since the very beginning. Shortly after his creation, this former angel rebelled against his Creator. He wanted to supplant God. He lost. But, that wasn't the end of his story.
God sentenced him to an eternal existence in hell. That's where he is. From there he can't do anything to hurt God; but he does try to get at God by hurting God's creatures, us. So he works to ensnare us so that he can add us to his numbers – to his angels and demons. His eyes, dear friend, are always upon you to make you fall.
That's why the Scriptures are so earnest when they say, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1Pt.5:8). You, and you, and you, and you, and me, all are that “someone” that the devil prowls for.
But have no fear, dear Christian. If your eyes are on Christ, the not the devil, not his angels nor his demons can do anything to you. He is like a chained dog; he can only go so far. But, there are times that such a dog looks cute to us. We may think that we would like to pet him. Beware! A mad dog can rip you to pieces. And so does Satan. But with Christ in your life he can't. Why not?
Because Christ has already defeated him. He defeated him at the time of his temptations in the desert. He defeated him throughout his life here on earth. And above all, He defeated him on the cross so that the devil can hurt you no longer. The Bible says, “Having disarmed the powers and authorities, (Jesus) made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col.2:15). The deed is done, the victory's won. One little word can fell him. That word is “Christ.” Cling to Him! Resist the devil, standing firm in faith and he must flee (1Pt.5:9).
Separated from God's Love? – not by trouble, not by death, not even by angels or demons. Never!
IV. Not by time or space.
Boy, dear friend, if you aren't convinced by now that God loves you and won't let anything come in-between you and Him, what will convince you? Well, perhaps you are convinced for now. But what will happen over time? Will God's promise hold true? After all, with the passing of time, some things change in our lives, right?
With the passing of time our financial situations change, don't they? Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. The way we look at things changes. As we grow older some of the things that we once thought were so important to us really aren't that way anymore, are they? Attitudes change as we grow in wisdom and maturity. We discard old ways and old things for something new. Over time things change for us. Could they change with God, too?
No! Never ! Paul writes, for “He is the same yesterday, today and forever.” He does not change like shifting shadows (Ja.1:17). And the passing of time has not changed God's attitude towards you.
Well, if time can't separate us from God's love , what about space ? Is it possible to go to a place where we would be outside the reach of God's love? No! You couldn't go so far out into outer space that God isn't there with you. Likewise, you couldn't descend into the deepest depths of the sea and go beyond His reach. Height nor depth can limit God or His love for you.
The Psalmist wrote, “If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast” (139:8f). God is everywhere. And where He is, so is His redeeming love seeking the best, the very best for you as He knows it to be.
Nor can the heights or depths of human emotion separate us from God. If we go through the best times of our lives, He is there, blessing us with His saving presence. If we go through the worst times of our lives, He is there, blessing us with His saving presence. No matter how high, no matter how low, it cannot separate us from His love today, tomorrow, or the next. No time, no space can come between us. Never! In fact, God goes further by saying, “nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us,”
V. Not by anything - absolutely nothing .
Isn't it great to have that type of all-inclusive assurance? And you've got it, dear friend, just like Paul did in our text, for the same Savior that promised these things to him in faith is your Savior too. Nothing, absolutely nothing can separate God in His love from you. The only thing that can is your refusal to believe what He has said is true. He doesn't change; His love won't diminish; His promise won't be less. He is God! Separated from God's Love? Never! God grant us that assurance always; for Jesus' sake. Amen.