I Rest in Christ, Part 8: Buckets of Love
Romans 8:35 Who could ever separate us from the endless love of God’s Anointed One? Absolutely no one! For nothing in the universe has the power to diminish his love toward us. Troubles, pressures, and problems are unable to come between us and heaven’s love. What about persecutions, deprivations, dangers, and death threats? No, for they are all impotent to hinder omnipotent love, … (TPT)
Romans 8:37-39 Yet even in the midst of all these things, we triumph over them all, for God has made us to be more than conquerors, and his demonstrated love is our glorious victory over everything! So now I live with the confidence that there is nothing in the universe with the power to separate us from God’s love. I’m convinced that his love will triumph over death, life’s troubles, fallen angels, or dark rulers in the heavens. There is nothing in our present or future circumstances that can weaken his love. There is no power above us or beneath us—no power that could ever be found in the universe that can distance us from God’s passionate love, which is lavished upon us through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One! (TPT)
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. (NIV)
Recently I was praying with a good friend and during the course of the prayer he prayed that God cover me with ‘buckets of love’. Most of the prayer has faded into the mist, but that phrase has stuck with me. It reminded me of these verses and the dramatic depth of God’s love for us. It is hard for us frail human beings to accept that people love us—even those who are the closest to us. We are all intimately aware of our hidden sins and weaknesses, and many of us have experienced failed relationships that have scared us badly. This was brought into dramatic focus in my life years ago. I had been about half-way through my marriage of 30 years at that time when I came to realize that my wife had only just recently begun to trust that I genuinely loved her and would never leave her. She had had such difficult previous marriages that it took 8 years of ours for her to believe I was for real.
These kinds of things are common in people’s lives and one of the side effects is that it is hard for people to believe God loves them. At some time in our lives we have all had love taken from us. Whether it was by death or a hurtful decision, we have all lost love of one kind or another. However, there is one love that will never be taken from us; that is the love of God in Christ Jesus. But if ever there was someone who had proven his love for another it is God. Consider what God has done. In view of all that God has done for us as believers—sacrificing his own Son, forgiving our sins and making us right with himself, bringing us into his own family, giving us the gift of his Spirit, promising us eternal glory—we need have no fear or panic. We can rest, assured that God is for real, and know his love is permanent and consistent, and that he will never withdraw it.
Let’s look at the depth of God’s love for us.
God is faithful to his covenant people, and so those who are against us will come to nothing. There is no one that we need to fear, and all the opposition presented against us is ultimately doomed. The absolute proof that God is for us is seen in the incredible truth "Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else?"(Rom. 8:32) This overwhelming love is beyond comprehension; God did not just allow the cross but deliberately "delivered" his Son to the cross for our sake.
In God's court people will accuse us, but God the righteous judge will at all times declare us innocent. As a result of Christ’s victory on the cross for us, despite everything that we have done wrong, no one will be able to accuse us. We have already been declared “Not guilty!”
That is the situation we find ourselves in as believers in Jesus. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done or how many witnesses saw us do it. It doesn’t matter what evidence the devil comes up with against us. No, it doesn’t matter because it is all covered in the blood of Jesus. Because Jesus has already paid the price for our sins and declared us as “not guilty.” No one can condemn us, and no one can accuse us, because the Righteous Judge has already dismissed the case against us. All because we belong to Jesus!
Christ's love gives us the strength and produces the victory. Once more we are reminded that we are inadequate, but Christ is more than adequate! Whenever we center on our own strength we are completely defeated. When we depend on Christ and the Holy Spirit, we are always victorious.
And the most powerful aspect of this verdict of ‘not guilty’ is that it is not a fluke. From the beginning of time God knew mankind would sin and that the penalty of that sin would be separation from him. But also from the beginning of time God had the solution: That at the appropriate time he would send his Son to sacrifice himself on our behalf and thereby cleanse us from the stain of that sin. And even more overwhelming is the realization that this declaration of innocence is permanent for all eternity. Paul says it in 38-39, ‘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.’ This is what my friend meant by ‘buckets of love’: He was praying that I, and all of us, come to understand that this verse is true, and real, and all-encompassing. God’s love through his Son is so complete that we really have no understanding of it. We have to choose to put aside our doubt borne of pain and accept Christ’s love borne of sacrifice. We live in Christ’s love. It surrounds us. It is an ocean of compassion we swim in. Let’s apply that to our lives and not worry about being hurt.