By: Dale Weckbacher
Romans 8:38-39
For I am sure that
neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to
come, nor powers, 39 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.
(ESV)
The topic of walls is prevalent
in the news today. A google search for
just the word wall results in 9 billion hits.
Narrowing the search to “border wall” did narrow it down to 14 million
hits so I will see you in about a year while I take time to read each article,
only kidding. The book of Nehemiah in the
bible provides a historical account of the restoration of the wall of
protection that had broken down in Israel, exposing the nation to danger. Sadly, however, walls have also been used to
keep people in, separating them from friends and family living outside the
wall. Romans
8:35-39 speaks of a wall of protection built and guarded by God that
protects the hearts of believers and does not separate but unites those living
inside its protection.
The microphone was not invented
at the time the Apostle Paul wrote Romans
8:35-39 but had he stood up in front of a group of people saying what he
wrote, he probably would have dropped the mic and left the stage. The justification given to everyone
professing faith in Jesus as savior provides a wall of protection around every believer. Granted, many believing in Jesus as their
savior experience persecution and even death for their belief, making it appear
the wall of protection has been breached.
However, even death does not separate a believer from God (2
Corinthians 5:6-10). However, as
believers in Christ, we can step outside the protection of the wall and
separate ourselves from the protection of the wall designed to provide
protection and not separation. To ensure
we do not step outside the wall of God’s protection we must,
1) Realize
the benefits of staying connected to God (Romans
8:35-39) – The more we take time to meditate and contemplate what the
Apostle Paul meant with his declarative statement of nothing being able to
separate a believer from the love of God, the more we realize that the ultimate
benefit of a relationship with God through Christ is a life of connection with
our creator. When Adam and Eve sinned
and God evicted them from the Garden of Eden, they suffered death. However, this was not instantaneous physical
death but spiritual death or separation from God. So massive is God’s love for humanity that even
when evicting Adam and Eve from the Garden, God makes the promise of a savior
who will bruise the serpents head but at the expense of the serpent biting the
seed of the woman (Genesis
3:15). Genesis
3:15 is a prophetic statement pointing to Jesus who crushed the serpent by resurrecting
from the grave as the serpent bruised his heal on the cross. So deep is this love of God that did not
hesitate to send Jesus to die for our sins that nothing or no one, not even
death can separate us from it (John
3:16; 5:13; Romans 5:8).
2) Rely
on the inner strength of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians
3:16-19) – While the declarative statement of Romans
8:35-39 brings comfort in knowing nothing can separate s from God’s love,
it is not a statement declaring life for a believer will be free from trouble (John
16:33). This is something the
Apostle Paul was all too familiar with through suffering beatings and
imprisonment for his faith (Acts
16:37; 2 Corinthians 11:25). However,
even while enduring wrongful suffering for his faith, the Apostle Paul learned
contentment for he did not focus on his sufferings but on the prize of eternity
in the presence of God (2
Corinthians 12:1-10; Philippians 3:12-14).
Ephesians
3:16-19 reminds us that this contentment is not something coming naturally
to a believer but something coming from an inner strength of the heart made
possible by the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. Troubles will still come to a believer in Christ,
but they have a wall of protection against hopelessness and despair through the
inner strength of the Holy Spirit in his or her life.
3) Remain
in God’s presence (Psalm
139) – The theme of Psalm
139 is David’s asking God to search his heart for anything that would
separate him from an intimate relationship with God. God’s reason for calling David to be King of
Israel was not his great stature or wisdom but that he had a heart that sought and
obeyed God (1
Samuel 13:14). However, David did
not have a perfect heart as evidenced by his sins of adultery and murder (2
Samuel 11). Psalm
139 provides insight into David’s understanding of the need to have a
regular heart check-up to ensure he remained within the protective wall of God’s
presence for protection against his enemies.
Just as we should have regular medical check-ups with a doctor, a
believer in Christ must also have regular spiritual check-ups with God to
ensure a healthy heart that loves, seeks, and obeys God.
These are the three Rs of experiencing
connection with God within the protective confines of His wall of
protection. Anyone who wants to can
enter this protective fortress for Jesus paid the price of admission on the
cross. All one needs to do is go to the
will call ticket window and pick up his or her ticket. If your ticket is unclaimed at the will call
window, I invite you to claim it by praying with me now,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
Congratulations, you are now
living within the protective wall of God’s protection described in Romans
8:35-39. However, this does not mean
life will be free of trouble and instead, that life from this point forward comes
with the inner strength to find contentment in Christ through the troubles of
life as exampled by the Apostle Paul. Those
living within the protective wall of Christ must also have regular spiritual heart
check-ups to ensure nothing comes between them and a healthy connection with
God through Christ. May God bless
everyone reading this post.
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