Nothing Will Get in the Way of My Relationship with the Lord
Rev. Sean Lester
Sunday March 22, 2009
Text: Romans 8:28-39
(NIV) Romans 8:38,39 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.
(KJV) Romans 8:38,39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Theme: God’s true love for people, and our true love for Him.
Proposition: Nothing can get in between Jesus and those who are in love with Him.
Introductory thoughts
1. God decided to love all people.
a. it was an act of his will and an act from his Heart.
b. God make everything in a person’s life work for His purposes.
c. God conforms all people into His likeness.
d. God gives destiny, a calling, justification, and glorifies to all people.
e. God gave up His own Son
2. The one who acknowledges God’s hand in their life has a choice about how to respond.
a. Two choices, to respond to the loving God in admiration and love, or to not respond to God and in effect choose not to have an eternal relationship with Him.
b. Those who do respond to God’s love do so in order to have a relationship with Him. The response is always with passion and conviction.
Interrogative: How do people who are in love with God preserve the relationship?
Transition: They make a choice that nothing will get in the way of their relationship with God.
I. Neither death nor life will get in the way.
a. The feeling that one would give up his or her very live to save the other. Jesus displayed that kind of love when he chose to leave the throne of heaven and come to earth as a human. Sin and death separated people from God, but the Word became flesh determined that death would not get in the way, anymore.
b. That same spirit of love was demonstrated when Peter and John were taken before the religious leaders and ordered not to preach in Jesus’ name anymore. They responded that they would rather obey the Lord than men.
c. I have met people from other cultures who made a choice to follow Jesus even when doing so meant punishment with pain. But death doesn’t get in the way of true love. What does a Christian lose by death? We get heaven. We get relief from the pain of the world.
d. Life doesn’t get in the way either. Jesus had the opportunity to stay alive, but he chose the cross. It was his destiny and he accepted it.
II. Neither angels nor demons will get in the way.
a. The resolve not to get distracted by supernatural things. Jesus criticized the Pharisees because they sought out miraculous signs instead of the righteousness of the one who does the miraculous. He lamented that crowds of people were following him because he had multiplied the loaves and fishes. He was grieved because the people didn’t love him. Rather, they loved what he could do for them.
b. I ask the question of those who want to get married. “Why do you love this person enough to marry them?” I want the other person to hear what is said so that they can be sure that the love is real. Sometimes, the answer is something along the lines of “because of how he/she makes me feel”. Now, because someone responds that way doesn’t mean their love isn’t real. It does mean that there is work to be done in clarifying why a person thinks they are in love. But, the point is, it is hard to love the righteousness of God when one is distracted by the supernatural-ness of God.
c. God sends preachers to draw people to salvation. Every Biblical record shows that people came to faith because of preaching. Neither angels nor demons save people. God is good because He is, not because of what he does.
III. Neither the Present nor the Future will get in the way.
a. People go into love relationships accepting the circumstances of the present and without regard for what they may face in the future. In fact, God rarely discloses what the future will hold for those who follow him. Well, Jesus did let Peter know that he would be murdered and he let John know that he wouldn’t. But, do you really want to know?
b. The wedding vows say it beautifully, “for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.” How many of you, when you got married, knew what was going to be required of you? How many of your lives together ended up the way you assumed they would? And if it wasn’t the fairy tale you thought, why are you still together? The answer: the present and the future don’t get in the way of love.
c. Fear of the future does get in the way of love. A casual reading of the Bible will show you that God calls people to painful and dangerous things. But, it is our love for God that allows us to endure. In the end, we know that what God has planned for us far surpasses the brief pains of this life.
IV. No powers will get in the way.
a. Powers are those people who would exert force over you. Parents, communities, churches, clubs, all have relationship to you and may have opinions on what you should think and do. When the wine ran out in Cana, Jesus obeyed his mother and made more. When his mother and brothers came to get him because they thought he was crazy, he didn’t obey. He remained focused on his calling.
b. Again, the powers tried to tell the disciples to stop preaching about Jesus. They didn’t obey. I’ve seen families become torn apart because some dominant relative made them choose between their faith in Christ and their relationship with the family. Remember the man who had been born blind. The authorities wanted him to disavow the one who had healed him, but the man wouldn’t. As a result, he became one of the few people that Jesus personally introduced himself to as the Messiah.
V. Neither height nor depth will get in the way.
a. No matter how successful we may be as individuals. The disciples of Jesus followed him when everyone else left. They followed him when people followed but Jesus was keeping their “success” in perspective.
b. Career success or failure, financial success or failure means nothing to those who passionately love you. Your children don’t care about it. Your spouse doesn’t care about it. Your God doesn’t care about it. All of them care about you as a person. God feels the same way toward you. He calls you to follow Him. It is a relationship with you that He wants. Whether you are a successful businessman, the president of your association, or whatever you do in life as a career or avocation does not matter to God. He loves you.
VI. Nor anything else in all creation will get in the way.
a. God’s love was single purposed: To save you from death so that you may live with Him forever.
b. There are lots of things that would distract you. But, the passion of love keeps you close to home.
c. Practical application: In your life of prayer, be sure you consider what you are doing with your time. Are you focused on your relationship with the Lord? Does it reflect in your relationship with others? Are you rejoicing in things or worrying about things that in terms of eternity don’t matter?
Concluding thoughts:
1. What shall our response be to God?
2. God doesn’t withhold his love for those who have “gotten saved.” He has called and pre-destined everyone. It is something we as Christians should acknowledge.
3. In the acknowledgment, we say to everyone, “and how do you feel about God?”
4. Those who recognize God’s love can’t help but feel in love with him. And in the love, feel jealous for the relationship.
5. What is our first response? To stand with Him and for Him before everyone to acknowledge our love for him.
