Romans
Dear Friends in Christ,
Some of you may get Reader’s Digest magazine. We don’t, but I grew up with it around the house. What I specifically remember is that certain kinds of stories were regularly repeated features. Two come to mind. One was a medical exposition on some part of the body entitled “I am Joe’s (insert a vital organ)”; the other was a “Drama in Real Life” story. I rarely read the “Joe” stories, but I frequently read the “Dramas.”
The “Drama in Real Life” stories were accounts of ordinary people who found themselves in a catastrophic or adverse situation not of their own making. Man versus the environment was a popular theme, I recall. Oftentimes whatever condition the featured people found themselves in escalated into a life or death affair, and the thrust of the article was how they dealt with it. Most of the stories had happy endings. The people ended up being rescued either by their own wits or the heroism of others. But you still went away hoping that you’d never find yourself in a similar situation…
But the truth is it that to one degree or another every single one of us deals with our own individual “dramas in real life.” They may never make the pages of Reader’s Digest, but there are events in each of our lives that are extremely critical for us on a personal level.
Maybe it has to do with health issues, either your own or those of a loved one. Maybe the company you work for is downsizing or consolidating and you think you’re okay, but you never know; or maybe you know for sure you’re not okay. Maybe you’re struggling in a family or personal relationship. Or maybe you find yourself in that powerless position of watching something bad happen – but not being able to do anything about it.
Whatever the case may be, at times we find ourselves in “dramatic” situations. The winds of unwanted change begin to blow and the dark storm clouds of doubt and uneasiness begin to settle in over our lives. And then the “what ifs” begin to rain down. What if this? What if that? How are we going to make ends meet? How are we going to deal with this? And the uncertainty of it all can cause us stress and worry.
For such times as these, we need to hear and know the words of our text. The divinely inspired words of the Apostle Paul provide us with a rock solid certainty that transcends all the shifts and shadows of life. Because of Jesus Christ – who He is, what He has done for us, and what He will do for us – we as Christians are, in the words of our text, “more than conquerors” over any and every “drama in real life.”
In fact, the English phrase “more than conquerors” does not even adequately capture the strength Paul conveys in the original Greek. A more literal translation of what Paul calls all who are in Christ Jesus might be the term:
“SUPERCONQUERORS”
1. In Christ
2. Through
Christ
Our text for today is rich and full and, because of that, we’re only going to be able to hit the high points. But to set it in its context, we should know that it follows a beautiful section where Paul tells us that God has always had His eye on us. In the verses that immediately precede our text Paul talks about one of the deeper but most comforting teachings found in Scripture – the doctrine of election. Meaning: God in His grace has chosen us to be His own dear children. Therefore (and this is now the thrust of our text), everything that happens in our lives – including the drama – must be viewed from this perspective and in this light.
Paul hammers this home for us with a series of questions. The basic question is this: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Paul wants us to think about this. Just who or what is there that can separate us from “the love of Christ” as demonstrated first on the cross, and then in His abiding presence in our everyday lives? That’s the general question Paul would have us contemplate.
But Paul is not content to have us think only in generalities. So he sharpens the question and gets specific. “Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” Seven items are mentioned. We can group them into three categories.
1) Trouble, hardship, persecution – These are concrete things which believers might suffer or endure for the sole reason of being Christian. Certainly they were realities for early Christians, and they continue to be realities for Christians living in certain parts of the world today. This may not resonate with us completely because we are blessed to live in a country that prizes religious freedom. Some degree of trouble and hardship and persecution may accompany our Christian walk, but it’s usually more passive than active.
2) Famine, nakedness – These would seem to be troubles that can fall upon all people, both Christian and non-Christian. “Famine” would denote earthly, physical misfortunes or shortages from which Christians are certainly not exempt. (It’s interesting to note that our African missionaries, pastors and church members refer to the period of time when the last year’s reserve of crops are running thin and the new crops have not yet been harvested as “the hunger season.” In fact, a recent article posted on the internet says that approximately 5 million people in Malawi – a place where we as a church do extensive mission work – are facing the toughest “hunger season” in more than a decade. So Christians today still deal with famine.)
“Nakedness” suggests the idea of being destitute; of having “only the clothes on one’s back.” Early Christians would often have all their earthly possessions confiscated because they were considered enemies of the state. And again, many Christians living in “emerging” countries, though spiritually rich, live in a state of poverty you or I will never ever experience.
3) Danger, sword – These would be hardships of a higher degree than those previously mentioned. Historically there have been times and places (and still are) when being a Christian is in itself a danger. Throughout the centuries many, many Christians have indeed fallen to the “sword” – that is, been executed – for no other reason than believing in Jesus as the Son of God and Savior. Paul himself was one of them. He met his end by literally falling to the sword. Church history tells us he was beheaded under the rule of the Roman Emperor Nero. His crime? Unwavering devotion to Jesus Christ.
But Paul wants us to know that none of this should surprise
us. As our text continues he dips into
the Old Testament to assure us that hardship, especially the kind brought on
exclusively because of faithfulness and devotion to our Lord, has always been a
part of the experience of God’s people. As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we
are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
Paul harbors no illusions about Christianity being a soft life or one that is free from difficulties, and he doesn’t want us to, either. Whether as a direct result of our faith in Christ, or (to widen the scope for us 21st Century American Christians who gratefully don’t have to deal with actual physical persecution) as a direct result of the fact we live in a sinful world, each individual life will have its own personalized moments of drama.
But the big question is… can any of the drama Paul just outlined
separate us from God’s love? And the
answer is: No. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us
from God’s love. In all these things – meaning despite
all these things, whether it be Paul’s list of seven or any others we can
come up with on our own – we are more
than conquerors (literally “superconquerors”) through him who loved us…
And who is that loved us?
God from all eternity! And to
what extent did He love us? How can we
certain of His love? Let’s go back to Paul’s
words in verse 32: 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?
Paul takes us to the cross and asks us to reflect on its
meaning not just as it pertains to our eternal life, but as it pertains to our
daily life as well. Did you catch Paul’s
divinely inspired logic behind this statement?
According to the classic rules of presenting an argument, Paul moves
from the greater to the lesser. If God
has met our greatest need (the
forgiveness of the very sins that rightfully should bar us from heaven), does
it not stand to reason that He will meet every other lesser need as well? If God
shed the lifeblood of His Son on the cross to take care of the eternal, spiritual needs of His
children, can we not trust that He will take care of our temporal, physical needs?
Yes we can. Through the knowledge and power of Jesus Christ in our lives there is nothing that can defeat us. Through Jesus Christ we are more than conquerors over all temporary and fleeting “dramas in real life.” The problems we go through do not define us. The cross of Jesus Christ defines us. And the cross of transforms us from beaten, pressed down, and wracked-with-worry individuals to “superconquerors.”
Paul now underscores everything he has said on this subject
with this bold and beautiful closing assertion:
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.
Without commenting on the different words, the point that is
being made is simply this: Nothing can
separate us from the love of God. And
nothing can separate us from the love Christ has for us.
Note well: Paul doesn’t say “I think” or “I hope,” but “I am convinced” of this. This is an extremely significant word. To be convinced means to be won over by evidence. And Paul saw the evidence of God’s love and providence not only on Good Friday, but in the empty tomb on Easter Sunday and the abiding presence of the living Lord throughout each day of his life.
So it is with us. As we reflect upon how God has taken care of us physically and spiritually, like Paul, we also are won over by the evidence. And we, too, have become convinced of His love.
Let us always remember the depth of God’s love, because this is something Satan would surely like us to doubt. When tragedy strikes, he whispers in our ear: Where is God? We grieve over the untimely death of a loved one and he whispers: This is God’s will? We struggle with the loss of a job or a financial setback; a loved one causes us heartache as they seemingly turn against us or abandon every value we’ve tried to instill within them, and Satan whispers: Why is God letting this happen? Where is his love now? He seems to have separated himself from you…
But at those times let us remember that Romans chapter eight provides the bottom line and the final answer to all of life’s twists and turns. There is no trouble that cannot be conquered. There is no sin that has not been forgiven. There is nothing in the heavens above or the earth below that separates us from the love of God. And the cross of Jesus Christ proves it.
I’d like to end this morning not with a summary statement or a prayer that these words be taken to heart, but by reading once again, slowly, the beautiful words of our text.
Think about them. Think how they apply to your own circumstances. And enjoy the full comfort of knowing that whatever your situation may be – whatever “dramas in real life” you are now or will contend with in the future – it is simply impossible to get beyond the loving reach of Jesus’ outstretched, nail-pierced hands.
Because of Him, we are “Superconquerors.” Read Romans 8:32, 35-39. Amen.