Suffering and the Glory of God – Part VIII
Part 8 and the concluding sermon of the “Suffering and the Glory of God” series. Part 8 is an exegetical treatment of Romans 8:31-39 addressing the all the potential barriers suffering can erect between the believer and the love of Christ. This sermon was originally preached March 9th, 2008 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.
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March 9th, 2008
Pastor Duane M. Smets
Suffering and the Glory of God – Part VIII
Romans 8:31-39
Introduction
Last week we mainly worked with verses 31-34 which mainly deal with the question of why suffering seems to say that God is against us. One of the biggest barriers to faith or detractors from it is the question of how there can truly be a good, all-powerful God when there is such immense and real suffering and pain and evil in the world?
The answer was two-fold. First, that our sense that suffering is wrong and that God should do something about it, is a moral sense, it is a sense of justice, that there is objective absolute truth that says certain things are wrong and ought not happen. That sense reflects innate knowledge that God is, a person or a being, that exists creating and upholding this personal moral law of goodness that is in all of us. There must be justice, there must be a just or right or good God! That was our first answer, that the very presence of evil and suffering in this world turns out in a “great irony” as C.S. Lewis says, to be one of the strongest arguments for the existence of God.
The second part of our answer was that God sent his one, only, unique son, the God-man, Jesus Christ…he sent them in the world to die for the sin and evil that is in the world, that people might have forgiveness and that the whole course of things might be changed. In that great plan, God shows himself to be not a God who is far off, not concerned, not caring about the pain we feel and experience, but a God who enters right into the middle of it through Jesus. Then, in the great exchange of the cross, God shows himself to still be just…wrongdoing and evil must be punished. But then God offers forgiveness and grace and mercy to wrongdoers through Jesus perfect life and resurrection. And so he shows himself to be a God who is both just and all-powerful and also justifier, a good and compassionate God…a God who justifies. He makes things right through Jesus.
We ended talking about the resurrection of Jesus. Verse 34 ends by saying that Jesus rose and is now “at the right hand of God” and is “interceding for us.” To intercede is to go before a king on the behalf of another person. It would be like if I had a friend who worked in the oval office and I had him go and put in my personal request and concern to the President. Jesus knows what it is like to suffer immensely, he has felt the whole gamut of human emotions, because of that Hebrews 4:15 says he is not “unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.” And then the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 16:9 that his eye runs “to and fro throughout the whole earth” to strengthen our hearts. So what happens is Jesus sees us when we suffer, goes to God the Father and intercedes for us. And what is the result…the love of Christ!
The rest of the words in Romans 8 that we will look at today are all about the love of God in Christ that bonds us to him and enables us to make it through anything. Verse 35 begins with a question, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” And verse 39 concludes with nothing being able to “separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In between verses 35 and 39 is a arsenal of words, Saint Paul brings up any and everything he can think of that might be a potential problem, something that could possibly lead us astray and ruin us, and asks well what about this, what about this, what if this happens, or that happens, what then?
So let’s look at them and keep these questions in mind, I’ll come back to them after we go through each of the things Paul brings up, but be thinking about these questions: What is this love of Christ? Is it mainly a feeling you have that helps you when you are suffering? Or is it mainly a conviction in your mind meant to give you assurance beforehand, so that when you suffer you make it through? Think about those questions as we move through Paul’s arsenal of sufferings.
Tribulation, Distress, Persecution, Famine, Nakedness, Danger, or Sword
Let’s look at his first slew of words, “Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” Tribulation is general word for any kind of trouble or being under some kind of pressure. Distress is an inward feeling of anxiety, the feeling of being trapped or hemmed in from every side. Persecution is tyrannical violence from some outside person pursuing you as his enemy to do malice unto you. Famine is to lack an essential necessity of life, food. Nakedness is being stripped of all your clothes and left to the cold. Danger is peril, where you are put at some sort of risk. And the sword is death, the instrument of execution, usually by beheading as a capital punishment.
Every one of these things has to do with some sort of physical discomfort you may encounter while being a Christian. Note, the love of Christ does not guarantee that you will not experience these things as a Christian. These things will not separate you from the love of Christ if you face them, but we are not promised protection from hardship as Christians. In fact, 2 Timothy 3:12 says “…all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” in some way or another. And 1 Peter 4:12 says, “Beloved do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though some strange thing were happening to you.”
Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or sword are very likely…we are not to be surprised. But so many are. There are whole websites out there like exchristian.org devoted to telling stories of deconversion. People who claimed to be a Christian at one time and no longer are. There is story after story of tragedies like car accidents, handicapped children, loss of a loved one…all kinds of stories that when those things happened people quit being Christians because from their perspective, they thought they were protected from those things.
Much of the tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword may come from natural disasters and calamities…but then there is also the kind that comes particularly from being a Christian, from being on mission. That is why Paul clarifies the word “sword” here in Romans with a quote from Psalm 44, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
The Mission of the Sword
Like lovers who love to tell of how in love they are, like sports fanatics love to tell how great their team is, like music or movie junkies who love to tell you about their favorite band or the latest movie…those who have truly become Christians will be impelled tell people about their savior, Jesus Christ. And that will inevitably bring about some difficulties and challenges at times. On the extreme level, like Rome in the first century when this book was written, or like in several countries right now…persecution is alive and well. Here’s a few stories from just last month.
On February 27th, in Nigeria, a pastor of a local church narrowly escaped a government-backed mob armed with machetes who looted and set fire to the church building. The stolen choir gowns were handed to street merchants who then wore them in mockery, claiming to be pastors.
On February 24th, in India, a band of 125 Hindu extremists attacked a members of the Mandir church right before services were about to begin. Reports say they came on Jeeps, beating drums and shouting slogans in Hindi, ‘He who talks in favor of only Hindus will rule the nation’ and, ‘Stop conversions.’ And they dragged people out of the meeting and beat them with bamboo poles, rods and belts.
On February 12th, in Shangqiu City, China, a group of 20 policemen stormed a Bible training meeting arresting over 70 believers including men, women, and children and put them in jail for ” using a cult to violate law enforcement.”
That is the extreme level. Not just experiencing some people thinking you are a weirdo or that you are different somehow, but them beating you and potentially even putting the sword to your neck. I wonder if God might put it in one of your hearts to intentionally go and live in a country like one of these solely so that some might come to know Jesus through the spilling of your blood? Historically, Christianity always thrives and grows and spreads when the blood of believers runs. In Revelation 6:9-11 the apostle John has a vision and he says this,
“I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”
Notice that phrase, “Who were to be killed.” It is as Jesus said in Luke 21:16-17 “Some of you will be put to death. You will be hated…for my name’s sake.”
Just so you know me and what I am about and what one of our goals are in this church…it is our goal to raise up a strong and healthy group of people here, but then not only that but to then send out some people out of this place who will go and die. I’m telling you I believe in the gospel and the hope of the gospel that much. Could it be that one of you would so catch a vision for the gospel that you would go and give your life for it?
May God grant it to be so. That’s intense and kind of scary. But for those who can take it, take it. But now let’s talk about the softer level, just for a moment. The level for those of us here whom God has called to live in San Diego…because we are missionaries too. We are missionaries in this city. We are on a mission to impart the gospel to the people who live in this place. On the most basic level that means making friends and talking to them about the real issues of their life and helping them see how Jesus is the answer.
Here’s the deal, here’s what I see in some of you, and what I find in myself too frequently. We either A, don’t have any friends who are not Christians. We just hang out with Christians and that’s it. Non-Christians are bad and you don’t want to get dirty by being with them. That’s a problem. That’s not okay.
This is the model of mission that’s big here in San Diego among a number of churches. Christians are to go out and talk to people about Jesus, with the hopes that it will somehow elicit a quick decision for Christ, without having had to take the time to develop a relationship. Not to mention the fact that Jesus said to go make disciples and not to just do drivebys, it turns Christianity into merely a social club or interest group where we all just pat each other on the back and just make ourselves feel better about being a bunch of wierdos. That’s not what it’s about.
So option A mission is not having any non-Christian friend and thinking that is somehow good. Second option, B, you have friends that are not Christians and are good at making friend and hanging out with them but you never talk to them about Jesus at all. Why? Well, Paul Tripp says, “Perhaps we love our relationship with this person so much that we don’t want to risk losing it.” Or maybe “we want to avoid the personal sacrifice and complications” involved. The problem is that neither of those things are true love, their just replacing love with being nice and seeking to avoid uncomfortable moments.
Often the truth is that we fail to bring up Jesus not because we really love other people and care about them so much and really want to help them but because we love ourselves too much. We are afraid our friends might misunderstand us, be angry with us, think we are different then them…and we don’t want that. We want them to love us more than anything. A sword, are you kidding me? Yeah right, I’m not down to even take somebody maybe not thinking a nice thought about me because I’m so insecure.
You see this passage in Romans about the love of Christ, implies that it will compel us all to become missionaries and that the likely result of that is that there is going to be some challenges, some discomfort, and difficulties…potentially rejection and suffering and death.
Now the great encouragement of this passage is the love of Christ. Jesus lived, he died, and he rose from the dead for me and my sin and that has changed my life. It has hit so deep in all the levels of my being, that suffering can’t even touch it. The sword can’t kill me because my God is not dead, Jesus rose from the dead and promised that to his followers and that’s me.
So in the extreme form I can be put to death and spill my blood and that is not the end for me. There is resurrection! Or in the softer form, I can make friends with people who are not Christians in this city and talk to them about Jesus and even if the result of that is I am rejected in some way…I have a real Jesus who rose and lives and sits on a throne interceding for me and his approval and his love means so much more than anyone else’s.
Death, Life, Angels, Rulers, Present, Future, Powers, Height, Depth, All Creation
Let’s move on to the next slew of words in Romans. After talking about tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword, verse 37 continues, “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.”
We’ll talk about this being more than a conqueror and this phrase “I am sure” in a minute. But first let’s look at this next list, death, life, angels, rulers, things present, things to come, powers, height, depth, and all creation. It’s an extensive list. The last slew of words dealt the experience of physical sufferings you may experience while being a Christian. Now Paul moves to the spiritual, spatial, and supernatural things.
In the first set, “death nor life” we are reminded that being human is not just a physical thing but a spiritual thing. The love of Christ is something that breaks in and is real in this life and continues beyond death, death does not and cannot change it. I was up in Orange County on Friday to see a friend who had a family member die this week. Sometimes the death of a someone close is paralyzing, seeming to force love into another world. Or for others, life seems sapped of all joy and devoid of any love at all. In death and in life…the love of Christ is real and relevant.
In the second set, angels and rulers, we are reminded that this is a spiritual world where there are spiritual forces at work. Some have been and are tormented by bad angels, demons, experiencing oppressingly evil thoughts and anguish. Some have been mistreated and misjudged by human governments and judges. Whether angels or rulers, the love of Christ is stronger. Jesus is stronger than any angel, demon, judge, president, king or emperor. He is supreme.
In the third set, things present or things to come, we are reminded that we live in a world where we experience time. Sometimes the present, what is going on right now can seem so intense. Our existential side kicks into high gear and we put so much weight on what is happening right now. Amy says I get this furrow between my eyebrows and I start to scowl and my emotions and my mind is just running wild. The present, in the moment, can just seem to press in. But the love of Christ can come in and calm and assure us that he is at work.
Or how about the fear of the future, the things to come? How many of you worry about the next day or the next week or the next year? You worry whether you will find a mate, whether you will have enough money to make it, whether you will be in the same place you are now, whether you will move or have kids or if things will get any better with your job, your family, or your marriage? I know you guys got to worry about the future. I sure do. This text says the love of Christ can put our worries to rest and that we can rest in him because he loves us and will take care of us.
Next there is this little word, “powers” stuck in the middle of all these pairs. We can’t be sure exactly what Paul is getting at here but it seems he just means the sort of sense that there is some vague force at work in the world. I hear it all the time, “that’s just karma”, either getting you back or returning a favor. Or I have a friend who gets his horoscope reading texted to him every morning. Astrology is something that has been around for a long time, even when this was written. Many scholars think that is what Paul is referring to here, a sense that there is some magical force at work in the stars that determine the course of our lives. No, neither karma, nor astrology, nor any other power is greater than the power of the love of Christ, it conquers all.
The last set is height or depth. They are spatial things. The sense is wherever you go, it does not matter. There is no place on earth, in the heavens or under the earth where the love of Christ will not go with you. Christ’s love is not limited by geographical boundaries. No matter where you are, if you are in church or if you are at home or in your car or lying in your bed…the love of Christ abides.
Finally, just to make sure he didn’t miss anything, Paul adds, nor anything else in all creation! The point is that no one, nothing, not a single person, place or thing can stand in the way of the love of Christ in you. Every single voice or possibility is hushed. The case is closed and no one can reopen it, it cannot be appealed, no contrary verdict can be found…nothing in all creation can stand in the way of the love of Christ in his saints. The phrase emphasizes the totality of the victory which God has brought about in Jesus Christ. It is massive. God loves you and has given you Jesus and no matter what suffering you encounter, he loves you and that will not end or change.
More than Conquerors
Now I’ve said the phrase, “the love of Christ” like a hundred times today and at the beginning of my sermon I asked “what is this love of Christ? Is it mainly a feeling you have that helps you when you are suffering? Or is it mainly a conviction in your mind meant to give you assurance beforehand, so that when you suffer you make it through?”
My answer is that it is both. I’ll start with the second. What is the love of Christ? Well how has Paul defined it already? That was last week. It was that God is not against us. He should be, because we are all jacked up, full of ourselves, don’t give a rip about God, have done and continually do all kinds of things wrong and then make light of them telling ourselves that we’re still good people…God should be against us. But instead he sent his son into the world and put what should be against us against his own unique son, Jesus. And Jesus did it willingly. He wanted to do it. He died for us, so that we might know God and be forgiven and cleansed and receive all of his goodness.
That is the love of Christ. It is the fixed ground displayed and demonstrated in human history on a cross. He died for us for our sin, and he rose again to give us new life. That is the ground that enables us to face suffering and be strong. So I say, yes, the love of Christ is mainly a conviction in your mind meant to give you assurance beforehand so that when you suffer you will make it through it. I think that is part of the design of this passage, to prepare you for suffering before it happens.
You see, these things don’t go down very well when you are in the middle of it. When you are sick or when some tragedy has happened, the last thing you want to hear from someone is “oh, don’t worry…it will all work out somehow.” That is not comforting. That is not how you minister to someone when they are hurting. You want to know what you do, you cry with them. That is what Romans teaches a couple chapters down the road, you weep with those who weep (Rom. 14:15). When someone is broken and hurting by the suffering they are going through, that is not the time for you to give them a theological lesson on suffering. That is the time you cry and you hug and you tell them you love them and that God loves them.
The time we learn these things is now, when we are just studying through the Bible and things come up and as they do our roots go down deeper and deeper, so that we become a strong and healthy tree and then when the hurricane winds of suffering come, we may bend but we do not break because we know what is happening. So I teach you these things now, so that you will know how to suffer and how to help those who suffer.
But what about when you feel as though you’ve been conquered? You feel like you have no strength left? You’ve faced some of these things, like Paul had. I think that’s part of why he knew what to write. God was surely directing him, but he had learned these truths through being naked, famished, in danger, persecution, and distress…he knew. Surely he felt at times like he had been conquered…which is why he was able to say, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us!”
You see I think Paul points out all these things because he knows that we may experience them. We may at times feel like the trail we are going through has completely separated us from the love of Christ. We may feel so overcome in spiritual battle and warfare that we are about to throw in the towel. We may very well find those moments, but there is an activeness to the love of Christ here. It is not just a factual event of history in the past, Jesus rose and lives today and is interceding for us.
So this is the way I think it works. When suffering strikes, Jesus intercedes for us, and when that happens, our minds will be drawn toward considering who Jesus is and what he has done. And as that happens slowly it will seep to our affections and we will then be moved and our confidence and strength will begin to rise and enable us to see through whatever the huge obstacle is that is in our way…and the love of Christ rises and rises and rises in us until we shout in joy, “nothing can separate me from the love of Christ!” Come hell, demons, all the host of heaven…come sword, come danger, come trials…what can you do to me?! Nothing. Because my God loves me and he gave his life for me and I will live, I will live, I will live.
I think it works like that. I think that is why Paul could make such a bold claim at the beginning verse 38, when he says “I am sure!” Another translation says, “I am convinced.” How arrogant? How could he be so confident? It’s this bold, audacious, triumphant statement…”I am sure.” Friends, when God works in your life, there’s nothing else you can say. I can give you all the rational arguments and reasons…I know them well, but in the end, I know my Jesus and there is nothing anybody could ever say to make me think different. He’s changed my life. I’m sure of it. Nothing can touch that, nothing in all creation.
Conclusion
Let’s conclude. It’s been a wonderful series studying suffering and the glory of God and today is the perfect capstone…nothing in all creation can separate us. I hope you’ve learned some things and more than that I hope your confidence in our great God and savior has been strengthened so that it can handle suffering.
I want to conclude with an appeal, because all the wonderful truths and assurances we’ve looked at today and over the past weeks are not yours if you don’t love Jesus. This love of Christ that defies and conquers all suffering is only your if you belong to Jesus.
Now for some that may seem messed up. In any relationship there is supposed to be give and take, where each person adjusts and changes for the other person. If not the relationship turns out all wrong and one person controls everything and ends up oppressing the other person. Perhaps the idea of being a Christian just seems so backward, there’s one way and I must accept it…let me just put it to you this way, in Jesus God has adjusted to us.
In Jesus God became a man, a limited human being, he submitted himself to immense suffering and death. On that cross, he took on our position as sinners and died in our place in order to forgive us. In Jesus God has adjusted and come to us. That is why we are Christians. This love of Christ throughout this passage is not our love for Christ, it’s his love for us. We love him because he first loved us.
And when you fall in love with a person, you want to please them so much. I fall in love with Amy over and over again…and when you fall in love you just constantly try to find out what they like, what they want, and you just want to do whatever makes them happy no matter how much it cost or how inconvenient it is. With Jesus, it’s the same…once we realize how much Jesus changed for us and gave himself for us, there is nothing we won’t give up for him, to have him and be with him…even death itself. So give up yourself for Jesus, he’s worth it.
The love of Christ is so different than anything else. Most people fade in and out of love. It’s why there is so much divorce today…because people don’t feel love anymore and thinks that’s the end of the marriage. There is no divorce with Christ, he doesn’t end it with us when our love falters or fades. His love is permanent and real and will take you through anything.
Let me end this sermon with some words from Pastor and Scholar John Stott,
“God’s pledge is not that suffering will never afflict us, but that it will never separate us from his love. This is the love of God which was supremely displayed in the cross…and was poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit…Our confidence is not in our love for him, which is frail, fickle and faltering, but in his love for us, which is steadfast, faithful and persevering. The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints needs to be re-named. It is the doctrine of the perseverance of God [in] the saints. Let me nor more comfort draw, from my frail hold of thee; In this alone rejoice with awe, thy mighty grasp of me.”
