Romans 8:31-39 • Jesus Loves Me

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(This transcript was prepared using software tools and has not been reviewed for complete accuracy.)

For those of you who brave the weather and the difficult roads today, just a little word, be a little something extra for you in the stockings this year as a result.



 Which of course is not the gospel at all, that we do things in order to get selfish gain. So why are you here?



 You know, all this Advent season, we've been moving through the chapter 8 of Romans, seeing how God tells us of the love of Jesus for us in its many dimensions.



 And if you could just picture in your mind what it is at times to be a family in a car, going through one of those Christmas theme parks. We've been looking at all the wonderful sights of Advent in the Christmas season, but you know at the end of the rod there's going to be the very best display in the park.



 What is it?



 It's Romans 8, verses 31 through 39. Let me ask that you would stand as we would honor God's Word and think of this dimension of the love of Jesus.



 Romans 8, 31, the Apostle asks, "What then shall we say to these things?



 If God is for us, who can be against us?



 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who is raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.



 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Not tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword.



 As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day, long we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."



 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.



 Let's pray together.



 Father remind us of the love of Jesus from which nothing can separate us in heaven or in earth, in hell or in circumstance, in the distance of our own hearts, the distractions of our eyes.



 You are ours and we yours.



 So we would pray that as we celebrate the coming of Jesus you would remind us that he is Emmanuel God with us not because of our doing but because of your great mercy with which you loved us.



 Teach us again that our hearts and souls might draw near to you and in responding to your grace we might be those servants who are made able because of the love that compels us to follow our Savior.



 So work that grace in our hearts we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated.



 The unlikely star of a news report that went viral this past week was an Alzheimer's patient



 in a nursing home being aided by a caregiver who may have known something about the woman that no longer registered in any way. The eyes were vacant, the face stony.



 There was no recognition, no interaction, no communication, nothing.



 Nonetheless the caregiver began to sing to the one who seemed totally removed from this world and any recognition or response that was possible.



 The song you'll know.



 Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.



 Nothing.



 No response.



 Little ones to him belong.



 They are weak but he is strong.



 Nothing.



 Yes, Jesus loves me, a hand raised.



 Yes, Jesus loves me.



 And the hand began to beat in the time of the song.



 Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.



 And the hand kept going as if to insist that the song come again.



 And the caregiver sang it again.



 Little ones to him belong. They are weak but he is strong. And then the words came out of the mouth that seemed not able to earn any expression at all, not able to recognize anything and empty eyes, the words came. Yes, Jesus loves me.



 Yes, Jesus loves me.



 Yes, Jesus loves me.



 The Bible tells me so.



 And the caregiver took the face of the Alzheimer's patient in her hands and put forehead to forehead against the patient and they sang the words together. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Somehow deeper than thought, beyond memory, beyond the ability to capture what it actually means was that truth woven down deep into the DNA of the soul because somewhere in the past someone cared enough to tell the essence of the truth of the gospel. Perhaps when she was a child, perhaps when she was growing, we don't know but somehow the seeds of the truth had been planted deep in her so that beyond the measures of this world, beyond what experience could register, beyond what the earth could prove, the truth was there still.



 Yes, Jesus loves me.



 Yes, Jesus loves me.



 The Bible tells me so. It's not just for her.



 It's for you.



 It's for me.



 It's what the season is really about.



 The truth that Jesus loves me.



 ♪ Little ones to hear me love ♪ ♪ They are weak but he is strong ♪ ♪ Close your eyes, little one ♪ ♪ There is nothing to fear ♪ ♪ All around is the love of the Lord Jesus dear ♪ ♪ He can see through the dark ♪ ♪ And will stay right here forever ♪ ♪ He will watch over you ♪



 How do we so plant those seeds of faith that they take root beyond experience, that they branch even into eternity when memory and strength and experience will not affirm it? How do our hearts keep saying, "Yes, Jesus loves me."



 The Apostle helps us by saying simply, "You must believe that the love of Jesus is greater than your sin." It is after all where the passage begins, verse 31. What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? It's just that simple to start with. God is for us. Knowing the worst about us, our weakness, our vices, our addictions, our failures, our sin.



 Nonetheless, God knowing all of that says, "I am for you." I'm not just the frowning umpire on the sidelines of your life. I'm not the cruel uncle.



 I am not the vindictive judge.



 I am your heavenly Father.



 And because of that, I am for you.



 Come what may.



 What is the proof of that?



 Verse 32, "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" It is that expansive expression of the Apostle that all things in heaven and earth are being coordinated for the eternal good of those that God loves. And we doubt it. We look at our experience. We look at our struggles. We look at our hurts. We look at our pain. We look at our sadness. And we say, "What is the evidence of the love of God in the midst of all this?" And he says, "I gave my most precious gift for you.



 How could you doubt that I love you if I purchased you at so high a price, the price of my own Son?" The great evidence of his care is what he gave to care for you and for me.



 When I was first dating Kathy, I didn't understand all about the relationship between a professional musician and her instrument.



 And so one night after a concert, I picked her up for a date.



 And as we were walking to the car, she let me carry the flute.



 And as we got close to the car, I popped the trunk in order to put the flute in the trunk.



 Mistake.



 That flute was not going to ride in the trunk. Why? Because she had worked for years to be able to afford that particular flute, to have it special made for her to just write and appropriate in its preciousness for her gifts, for her skills, for her abilities, for her to be able to express her heart with that flute. And having given so much of herself for that flute, there was no way it was going to ride in the trunk. It was not going to ride in the back seat.



 It was going to ride with us.



 So your heavenly Father, out of love for you and to express the preciousness that you are to Him, provided His Son, Emmanuel, God who would be with us to tell us how precious we are to Him so that we do not doubt. And the impact is even expressed here of what it means to be counted precious by the Father. Verse 33, it means our past is not held against us. Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? If God is for you, then who can be against you especially if it is God who justifies?



 Yes, there may be charges that could be brought against you by a holy God, the one who measures your goodness by His holiness and therefore always finds that you fall short. He could rightly judge, and instead He justifies, which we count a great blessing because if you have been pardoned, justified by the highest judge of the universe who can bring charges now, the past put aside. You are made right with God by the work of God who justifies by putting the penalty for your sin on His Son and then declares you as you put faith in Him just right before Him, the penalty of your sin put on Jesus and Jesus' righteousness put on you.



 But that's not the end of it. It's not just some past act for the charges that could have been filed.



 Verse 34 adds, "Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for you."



 It's just not that there aren't charges for past sin. There is no condemnation for present weakness, fault, failure, and sin. Why?



 Because Christ Jesus is the one who died because He died. The penalty was paid.



 He did not merely die. He was raised again, which says the punishment is done.



 That which could have been the sentence for all of us, death eternal away from God.



 Christ took as the perfect one to pay the penalty so that punishment is done and the evidence is the resurrection as Christ was raised by the Holy Spirit in your behalf and mine to show not only that the punishment is done, but the frown is gone.



 If the sin is really passed, if there is no condemnation now that can be brought against us, it means that He who now sits at God's right hand, the place of favor, is not just your God.



 He's your brother.



 And because He's your brother and you are united to Him, that is your position too.



 The frown is gone and beyond that, that brother is interceding for you.



 The very one who gave himself for you is at the behest of the Father who loved you enough to send Him. Now before the throne of grace interceding in your behalf saying, "God, we do not condemn



 because I paid the penalty.



 Work what is right, all things together for good, for this one who I am claiming in your behalf."



 We know the truths. You know the truths.



 And yet even as we say them, we recognize how we wrestle to believe and accept that a God who knows us, a God who knows our weakness, our addictions, our faults, our frailty, even after we know Him, that He could still be interceding for us and claiming us and loving us and working all together for good.



 A century ago, the Scottish preacher Alexander White talked about a snowy day in which the ministers of his region had a scheduled meeting and it wasn't good to meet in the church, so instead they met in his home because of the cold.



 The ministers gathered, they talked about whatever business they needed to take care of. The business was done and most left except one stayed, lingering in conversation that seemed meaningless. Just why don't you go home?



 After a while of the conversation that went in circles, the struggle came out. Almost in jest the minister and older man said to Dr. White, "And now Dr. White, what word of comfort do you have for an old sinner like me?"



 Somehow beneath the jest Alexander White saw the truth of the question, "Was there any comfort for a sinner who knew all the truths and yet they had not penetrated?"



 Dr. White would later write, "It took my breath away.



 He was an old and dear saint who had not claimed the reality of God's justifying love and Christ's continuing intercession." What could I say?



 Somehow the Holy Spirit brought to mind the right words.



 Alexander White got out of his chair. He went across to the older man, took his hand, looked him in the eye and said, "Our God delights in showing mercy."



 The words of Micah 718, the very same prophet who said that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, reminded the older man, "God is not just taking mercy out of his penny purse and begrudgingly giving us grace. No, He delights in showing mercy. It is his heart's delight to do so.



 Our God delights in showing mercy."



 Not much more was said, the older man left. But the next day a note came to Alexander White, "Dear friend, I will never doubt Him again. The sins of my youth I was near the gates of hell, but that Word of God comforted me. I will never doubt Him again. If the devil cast my sin in my teeth, I will say, "Yes, it's all true, and you know not the half of it, but I have to deal with the one who delights in showing mercy."



 That's you too, and that's me too. Yes, our sin is real, and Satan wants to condemn. Satan wants to bring it against us as charges, and we have to say, "It's all true, and you know not the half of it, but I have to deal with the one who delights in showing mercy. Jesus loves me, and He does."



 Through that night Jesus gives angels charge over you. When you're done to sleep, He will not stumble too. As you drift into dreams, heavenly wings cover you. Forever He will march over you.



 Always dear Jesus will hold you. Always dear Jesus will love you.



 Always dear Jesus, always.



 Forever He will be with you.



 All right, maybe I will accept that His love is greater than my sin, but the circumstances of my family, of my life, of my nation, of my world, do they confirm at all that angel wings watch over me, that God has given His angels charge over me, that the love of Jesus is really greater than my circumstances?



 The apostle is not deaf to the question. Verse 35, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?



 Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sort, as it is written, for your sake we are being killed.



 All the day long we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." Yes, the hurt is real. Some of it's natural, distress, famine, that kind of difficulty, but the apostle speaks of even tougher things.



 He speaks of persecution, tribulation, and sword.



 To Christians to whom He is writing, who have already experienced the ravages of Claudius, who has cast Jews and Christians out of Rome, they are only now coming back, having experienced death and famine and nakedness and peril and heartache. And here the apostle is saying, "And even that has not separated you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, your Lord." Yes, the earth may have come against you as defenseless sheep, but the great declaration is still, verse 37, "In all of these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." I just word for some past era, past age. I heard again on the news this morning, church leaders who are saying, "This age in which we now live is the age in which more Christians live under persecution than in any period since Jesus walked the earth."



 We don't experience it so much in this nation. We get upset about court cases and political terms.



 But what if you were a believer who lived now in South Sudan whose family is being starved in order to have a governmental change? What if you were in India, Indonesia, China, North Korea? Would you believe that angel wings were watching over you? It would be hard.



 And so we believe again that those things, as much as they are part of earth's reality, are never denying the eternal purposes of God. We are held despite the thunder and the storm that shakes our earth by the love of Christ for eternal purposes.



 Some years ago, Kathy and I got a call rather late in the evening, a family having a child coming earlier than expected, said, "Would you watch Little Stevie while we go to the hospital for Little Stevie's brother or sister who's arriving soon?"



 Sure, bring Stevie over.



 It's getting dark. The parents are going away.



 Little Stevie has no desire to be in our house.



 Nonetheless, because it is bedtime, I take Stevie back to the bedroom, and some of you aunts, uncles, grandparents know what you do to get Little Stevie to sleep. You lie down and you begin to pat, and you pat, and you pat. Little Stevie is not going to sleep.



 My arm is wearing out. Stevie is not wearing out.



 Finally, I about got him to doze off, and the doorbell rang.



 To the door, there is Stevie's father standing in the rain.



 Sorry, false alarm.



 Can we pick up Little Stevie? Sure. Come in, we walk down the hallway just as we almost got to the bedroom door where Little Stevie was supposedly asleep. The rain not only intensified, there was this huge thunderclap, and this little white cotton pajama streak came out of the door and ran right into his father's arms.



 And the rain still came, and the wind still blew, and the thunder still roared.



 But Stevie did not cry anymore because he knew he was safe in his father's arms.



 This is a fallen world.



 This is a broken creation.



 And so the storms come to our lives, even the lives of those that God loves.



 But eternity is secure in the arms of our Father because of the provision of Jesus Christ. And so even when the rains come and the storms blow and the thunder shakes our lives, we



 And so when the rain comes and the thunder strikes our lives, we say, "But His love will not fail."



 And so when the rain comes and the thunder strikes our lives, we say, "But His love will not fail." And so when the rain comes and the thunder strikes our lives, we say, "But His love will not fail."



 I read the words this week of a family member whose family lost nine members in the Texas church shooting last month.



 The Holcums lost family members spanning three generations in that shooting.



 The patriarch grandfather who goes by the name Papa Joe talked to reporters.



 He said this, "Everybody expects us to be crying because we lost some of our family. It happened, it hurts.



 But we don't look at death as final separation.



 It won't be long until we will be there in heaven with the rest of our family. I miss my family. We don't see them coming down the sidewalk to our front door anymore.



 But I won't miss them long."



 How do you answer not just your own sin and circumstances, but evil in this world?



 You recognize there are forces beyond us, even spiritual wickedness, the apostle will say.



 He reminds us here that we must not only believe that the love of Jesus is greater than our sin and our circumstances, but greater than Satan himself and the evil he would bring into our lives and our world.



 The apostle spares no description. In verses 38 and 39, he writes of everything we could consider that would separate us from the love of Jesus. And he says, "For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." He takes everything that we could consider.



 Neither death nor life, from birth to grave and beyond, the moments of our experience and the endings of our experience. They don't separate us from the love of God, not angels nor rulers, the inhabitants of height nor depth, heavenly or earthly realms, not things present nor things to come, the challenges of our time or eternal time, not powers, not height nor depth. It's almost as though he has looked at the column of spiritual beings from heaven all the way down to hell.



 And he says, "Nothing there spiritually from heaven to hell is going to be able to separate us from the love of God, nor just to make sure you know anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." It's as though he has looked at the snow fallen on a broken world and recognizes the coldness and the hurt that it may call and he balls it all up into one huge snowball that Satan could throw at you and says, "It shall not separate you from the love of God.



 For the eternal God who rules the universe has already determined that all things shall work together for our good." For the apostle says, "I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers, things present, things to come, 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." Yes, it can be tough. Yes, evil is real.



 Jesus loves me.



 ♪ On the side of him ♪ You are always in his sight ♪ Forever he will march over you ♪ Oh yes, Jesus loves me ♪ The Bible ♪ Tells me so - On Sunday, August 16th, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 225 took off from the Detroit Airport and crashed seconds later.



 155 people killed.



 One survivor, a four-year-old named Cecilia.



 Cecilia Sichan from Tempe, Arizona.



 When the rescuers first discovered Cecilia alive, they thought she'd actually been in a car on the interstate on which the plane crashed. No one could have survived the crash.



 But the more they investigated and discovered she had been on the flight,



 they then discovered how she survived.



 Apparently, even as the plane was falling out of the air,



 her mother, seated next to her on the plane,



 undid her own seat belt,



 got on her knees in front of Cecilia



 and covered her child with her body.



 And then neither height, nor depth,



 nor life, nor death could separate that child from the love of her mother.



 Such is the love of our Savior.



 So that neither height, nor depth, nor life, nor death, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from His love. The realities, yes, sometimes horrible.



 The love of Jesus enduring and eternal.



 Now, 30 years later, Cecilia is herself a mother.



 And she writes, "I thank God every day



 "for a mother who wrapped herself around me



 "and would not let go."



 Such is the love of a Savior.



 His name is Jesus.



 He came in a manger.



 He lived in purity. He died cruelly to suffer the penalty for your sin and for mine. He rose in victory. He comes again in glory.



 And for that, I know Jesus loves me. 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 anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.



 Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible tells me so. Little ones, to him belong.



 They are weak, but he is strong.



 Yes, Jesus loves me.



 Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me.



 The Bible tells me so.