Romans 8:38-39 – To Be Loved
(NOTE: to get the full effect of the Trojan War illustration, you may want to research this more than I have written. Watching "Troy" is a help, too.)
Well, we’ve made it. We spent all fall studying Romans 8, and I must admit, I’m ready for a change. Perhaps you are too. Next week, we will start a short Christmas series based on Galatians 4:4, which says that Jesus was born when the time had fully come, when God was ready, when the world was ready. We are going to look at why God chose when He did to send Jesus into the world.
But today, we conclude Romans 8, verses 38 and 39. And it is a grand conclusion to a wonderful passage. We have seen that those who are in Christ, those who trust Christ for their future in heaven and for their getting through this life, for those people, there is no condemnation. We have passed from judgement to forgiveness. We are not under some sort of curse, but we are free. We don’t have to work for our salvation. Good deeds do not earn us heaven, but they are proof to God that we have accepted His offer of being snatched from the jaws of punishment.
And the law, the lists of rules and standards that we considered impossible to reach, Jesus brought down to our level. He fulfilled what was required for us, so faith in Jesus, faith in His goodness and not in our own, is all that is needed on an ongoing basis to be right with God.
And ultimately, for us to live to please Him, to do what He wants and not what we want, should be the trademark of a Christian’s life. I’m not saying it’s easy, but Paul showed us that a Christian, a believer, someone who has been changed, no longer has the right to make himself happy. It’s our job to make God happy. And when a Christian lives to please himself or herself, that shows there is something wrong in their heart.
Because after all, we don’t have to sin. We can be free. I’m not saying that we are perfect, and I’m not saying that Christians never sin or are incapable of sinning. I’m not saying it is not possible to sin. I am saying it is possible not to sin. Our performances may be far from perfect. Still, since Jesus told us to be perfect in Matthew 5, and it was in the context of love, we can have a perfect love. We can love God with everything in us. I love my wife, but I am far from perfect. I may have made mistakes, but I didn’t deliberately set out to hurt her feelings either. In a sense, that is perfect love. And that’s what God asks and requires of us: “I don’t expect you to be flawless, but I expect you not to go out and on purpose do something that you know is wrong.” That’s freedom. That’s love. That’s part of what we have as Christians.
Paul went on further to describe our connection with God more as a father/child relationship than a master/servant arrangement. Paul said we could call God Father, Daddy, rather than a formal “sir” or “mister”. And as His children, He has so much prepared for us.
Granted, that also includes suffering. We go through life, each of us, with a certain amount of pain and trouble. But the good news is, there is an end to it. It will not last forever. Paul told us to keep our eyes on eternity instead of what we see around us. Things will be better someday. What’s more, we will be repaid for all the sorrows we face with dignity and trust. Christians will be more than reimbursed for our troubles when we get to heaven.
And even the difficulties we face now, God has not left us alone in. Our prayers, which seem so flimsy and powerless, God can make sense of. He doesn’t ask for eloquence or perfection. He just asks that we pray and mean what we say.
And so, because of all this, all this grace and mercy, all this forgiveness and hope, what can we say? God is for us. He is on our side. No matter what others may do to us, we need to live for Him and His approval alone. In the end, that’s all that matters. That’s the life that God has called to. That’s an amazing life.
Because of His amazing love. Let’s read v38-39. In preparing for this message today, I came across a story in the book The Sacred Romance, by John Eldredge. The story told of a woman who started a war. He just mentioned the story in passing, but I was fascinated by it, so I am going to elaborate a little bit on Helen of Troy.
How much of this is Greek mythology, and how much is factual history, scholars don’t know. But the tale is an interesting one. Helen was lived 900 years before Christ in the nation of Greece, in the town of Sparta.
- beautiful woman
- fathered by Zeus, mothered by a human
- many suitors
- suitors had to swear an oath that they would protect her and her husband, whoever he might be
- Helen’s mom’s hubby chose Menelaus because of political reasons
- He was a good husband but seemed mundane
- Menelaus went away and came back from Troy with Paris
- Paris swept her off her feet, and he fell instantly in love with her too
- They eloped (she may have been kidnapped or bewitched, though)
- Menelaus mounted a full battle with Troy for her with 1000 ships
- The battle lasted 10 years and Troy was defeated, Paris killed
- Helen went back with Melenaus and lived happily ever after
I see in this mythical story a beautiful picture of what Christ did for us. We too were brought into this world by our biological mothers, but we are so much more too. We are the offspring of God. God the Father created us. He chose to bring us life.
And His plan for us was to be happy with Him. To be content. To feel at ease in His presence. Unfortunately, things didn’t stay that way. Our forefather and mother, Adam and Eve, and ultimately we too were led away and led astray by a jealous rival. Satan wanted to defeat God, but since he could not overpower God, he chose to tempt us to desert God on our own. Which we did. Every one of us. We all chose to leave our first love and follow the seducer, the deceiver, the kidnapper, the bewitcher, the liar, the thief. Satan wooed us away from the true Lover of our souls. Yes, we were kidnapped. But we also chose it. Satan stole us, yes, but it was also our choice to roam away from our place of faithfulness to God.
But God did not take all this sitting down. No, there was a plan. It had been there all along, but when the time was just right, and all-out attack was mounted. It was quite a battle. The Trojan War lasted 10 years, but the war against Satan took 33 years. From conception to birth through life to death, and to resurrection, Jesus defeated Satan, the usurper, the pirate, the hijacker.
Why was the Trojan War even fought? For the love of one woman. Why did God send Jesus to the cross? Why did He bear the agony we were meant to experience? Why all the hassle, all the fuss? Why the violence and the bloodshed? Because there was no other way to win us. There was no other way to silence the foe. There was no other way to bring us back from enemy territory.
Granted, God could have left us where we were back in the Garden. He could have said, “Forget you. I gave you everything, and you threw it away. I’m done with you.” But He didn’t. He provided a way to be right with Him, through the shedding of blood. An animal’s blood for ours.
Then, He could have left us high and dry without Moses. He didn’t have to provide the Law, but then we would not have known how to please Him. He provided the Law and further explained how to be right with Him.
Unfortunately the Law was a band-aid, covering over sins but not healing them. The Law was a warning sign, letting us know of danger without being able to fix our situation. We could have continued in that predicament, going to heaven but struggling the whole way.
But it didn’t stop there. God decided to provide a deeper work, a cleansing and not just a covering over. He planned to work from the inside out, to change our motivation and not just our behavior. That’s where Jesus’ accomplishment kicks in. To change us, and not just improve us. To fix us, not just refine us. And the motivation that drove Jesus to do this was the same motivation that sent Menelaus into a 10 years war: for the love of his bride.
And like Menelaus, even though the love of his bride may have wavered, Jesus’ love certainly doesn’t. There is nothing you can do to make Him love you more, and there is nothing you can do to make Him love you less. His love is all powerful, and nothing you can do to make Him stop loving you.
Does that mean He will always love what you do? Of course not! Does that mean that He won’t send anybody to hell? First of all, God doesn’t send people to hell; people choose hell when they choose to live without Jesus. But secondly, it will be with tears in His eyes when the judgement of some is announced. Hell is part of creation, and nothing in all creation can make God stop loving us.
So how do we handle all this? We respond by loving Him back. We receive His free gift of salvation. We remember His sacrifice.
(Segue into communion.)
