Facts for Uncertain Times from Romans 8

Today I want to comment on some facts for uncertain times:

The biggest psychological difference between the 1800's and today is that we have an overall feeling of uncertainty which our Victorian ancestors didn't have.

In the 1800's people thought that they ruled their own destiny, but in 1912, the Titanic, the "unsinkable ship," sank.  One survivor said: 'I'll never feel sure about anything again."

Soon after followed WWI, then WWII, then Korea, and the wars of the Middle East and South East Asia.

Nuclear energy, which,  once seemed to be a great hope, but is now seen as a great danger, but so are fossil fuels who many fear causes our climate to change.

Our experiences in the first two decades of the 21st Century have done nothing to give us any feeling of certainty. The attacks of 9/11 were followed by Hurricane Katrina. Soon after that we had the Great Recession in 2008, and now in 2020 we have the COVID-19 crisis. Life is definitely uncertain.

The Good News is that we do have a source of certainty to which we can turn. Paul gives us some facts in Romans 8 that we can hold on to, facts that we can be certain about.  These facts can still guide us today in the same way that they guided the early church.

FACT 1: GOD IS FOR US! 

Romans 8:31 and 32 tell us, "What, then, shall we say in response 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, along with him, graciously give us all things?"

This is the essential difference between our God and the false ones that surround us. Our God is a person and He wants to fellowship with us and He wants to bless us. Other gods must be appeased and bribed to buy them off. This is like paying-off a corrupt judge. Besides being very costly to us, we never have any assurance that it will actually work!

How do we know this fact about our God? Well, it only takes a short review of scripture to give us the assurance that our God is for us. Here are some examples:

John 3:16:  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

John 10:10:  "The thief comes not but to kill, to steal, and to destroy; I am come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

This one fact should give us confidence as Christians. We can rest assured of God's love and favor and we can rest on His power and strength. This reminds me of a mistaken sermon title once printed in a church bulletin: 

A church secretary asked her pastor what the title for his Sunday sermon was. The pastor was in a hurry to go make a visit at the hospital and he said to her ''The Lord Is My Shepherd . . .  that's enough.'' And that is exactly what she put in the bulletin.

Even mistakes can sometimes be good theology!

FACT 2: GOD JUSTIFIES US! 

Romans 8:33 tells us, "Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies."

Gossip is the most destructive form of communication. It is done behind the victim's back and it gives no opportunity to refute the charges. Gossip is done to hurt and to correct or to rehabilitate.

Satan gossips about us slanderously. If you have any doubts about this, just read the first two chapters of the book of Job! Some of the charges Satan makes against are not true, but many are, because we are frail and limited human beings. His purpose is not to help us, but to hurt us and in that way, to hurt God.

Our God, on the other hand, paid the price for our sin!

Legally, a parent is held liable for a minor child's debts. I remember reading a news story about a mother who redeemed a stolen item from a pawn shop and returned it to the owner to get her son out of trouble. This is just what God does for us, but even better.

When we become God's children, He pays our sin debts, and then He casts our sin away as far as east is from the west. In His sight, when we allow the blood of Jesus to cleanse us, it is just as it we’d never sinned!


FACT 3: CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR US! 

Romans 8:34 tells us, "Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us."

Think about the work of a bodyguard: In the event of an attack, the bodyguard is supposed to interpose himself physically between the principal and the attacker. The bodyguard must be willing take a bullet in place of the principal. This is how the bodyguard gives the principal freedom to live; by being willing to give up his own life!

Jesus did just that for us! He placed His body between us and Hell and by doing so, He gave us the freedom to live! Even now He is in Heaven reminding God of our justification. This is why Satan’s slander is ineffective!

FACT 4: NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM CHRIST!

Romans 8:35-39 says, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 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."

Paul reminds us here that we are connected to God through Christ. In some ways he is like the tethers you see on children in the shopping mall or in the park. Like those children we can wander off from God for some distance, but he always brings us back. Or maybe we are like a yoyo, but in any case, the connection we have to God through Christ cannot be severed.

The United States Army TOW missile system is guided by commands transmitted by fine wires. These missile guide wires are extremely small, but they so strong they can sever a helicopter rotor mast, which Army aviators have learned to their regret. This is like God; nothing can break our connection to him. He sticks to us like glue!  He is our shadow; he never leaves us!

FACT 5: WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS!

Romans 8:37 tells us, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

Sports victories don't last; victories are sweet and fulfilling to some extent, but they are temporary. A championship team must play again the next season to keep it. In baseball, you are only as good as your last time at bat.

The truth is, sports victories don't really apply to much else in life. You may have wild success in one area but be a failure in others. As an illustration, Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player of all time, but he did not have similar success when he tried to play baseball. In addition, you might have victory in sports, but your life may be a disaster otherwise.

Our lives and our potential are different:  We have an eternal victory in all areas!

CONCLUSION:

If you think we live in uncertain times, you are not alone! We can take comfort, however, on some facts that we can be certain about:

FACT 1: GOD IS FOR US!

FACT 2: GOD JUSTIFIES US!

FACT 3: CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR US!

FACT 4: NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM CHRIST!

FACT 5: WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS

Really, what more needs to be said?

Every blessing,.

Dr. Otis Corbitt