God’s Loving Gift (Romans 8:38-39)
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Gift giving is a beautiful reflection of the greatest gift ever given to us: Jesus Christ. Our giving is a dim reflection of God’s giving, because our gifts can’t compare with His. But I can imagine worse gift giving. What if we gave all of our gifts conditionally?
This got me thinking. Is God’s gift of salvation unconditional? Our immediate response is “Yes,” but I want us to put that gut response on trial just this morning while we hear from God’s Word.
“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.” (Rom 8:38-39)
The first thing we notice in these verses is a long list of things. Though each of these things is powerful in its own way, none of them can separate us from God’s love. Once we have obtained God’s love through grace by faith in Jesus Christ, we cannot lose it. God’s love is ours in – or, it could be translated – through Jesus Christ our Lord.
It’s popular to say that God loves us unconditionally, because it’s true. But it’s only true because He has already met His own condition. Because God hates sin, He demanded that sin be paid for. We cannot please God apart from Christ’s atoning death on the cross (v. 3-4).
You see, God didn’t send His Son just because of His love, but because of His wrath, too. God’s attributes are never in isolation of each other, but work together in perfect harmony. If God were full of wrath towards sin, but not full of love, why would He have sent His Son? He would just let us die in our sin. This is what His wrath demands. God would be just in giving us the penalty for sin. Sin isn’t God’s problem, it’s ours.
But if God were full of love only, without hating sin, why would He have sent His Son? He could have allowed us into Heaven without sending His Son. The account of the birth of Jesus in Matthew makes this clear.
“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel –which means, “God with us.” When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” (Mat 1:18-25)
Before God’s Son is finally given a name in verse 25, two names are given as possibilities.
1. The Holy Spirit tells Joseph that the child’s name will be called Jesus (v. 21).
2. The Old Testament prophesies that His name will be called Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14).
Which would they choose? Well, I don’t think this was really an either/or decision. In fact, the Old Testament tells us many names that the Son of God would be called (Isaiah 9:6, Jeremiah 23:6). He’s also called the Anointed One, the Branch of Judah, the Messenger of the Covenant, the Lamb of God, Ruler, Servant, Shepherd, and Redeemer, among other things.
The first name given to us in Matthew 1 told us who the Son of God was, and the second told us His purpose. Not only would God be with us, but God would save us. In the name Jesus, we find both the love and wrath of God (v. 21). The name simply means, “The Lord saves,” but the angel gives additional commentary on what it means. We find God’s love in the first part, “He will save his people…” We find God’s wrath in the second part, “…from their sins.”
Like Paul, we ought to be convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. We can fully know this. Why? Because salvation doesn’t depend upon us, but on God. All of the conditions for our salvation have been met by God Himself. God’s love toward us, therefore, is unconditional. There is no condition we must meet. Don’t be satisfied with a little bit of faith. Be fully convinced that God is powerful and able to save you.
Pastor Chris Huff has been with us since July 2009. He and his wife, Abby, have four children. Chris is originally from St. Louis, MO and even though he was raised as a city boy, he has a small town heart. Chris is all over the internet, so you can find him on Facebook, Twitter,… (read more)
