EASTER SUNDAY! One of the two most significant events in human history! We have so much to celebrate: THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST! We have been given the chance to have an eternal relationship with our creator. The glories and riches of such a relationship are being celebrated today.
All other relationships are subject to change…but not the love of God in Christ Jesus! Jim Elliot, an American missionary who was martyred in the 1956, is famous for saying: “No one is a fool for giving up what cannot be kept, to gain what cannot be lost!” I hope one of two things happens for you today:
#1: You’re encouraged by God’s Word recognizing what you have cannot be lost
#2: You give up what you can’t keep (your life) & surrender to what you cannot lose (Eternal Life in Christ)
Romans 8:31-38 (NLT)
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?
- What are the wonderful things?
- There are ten just in the first 30 verses of Romans 8
10 Wonderful things we have in ‘The Crucified & Risen Christ’ (Romans 8:1-30)
We are no longer commended by sin if we belong to Christ.
Surrendered to Christ we are freed from the power of sin and death.
God ended sin’s control over us by sacrificing His Son.
When we let God’s Sprit control our minds we have life and peace.
If Christ lives in us, our bodies can die and we will live eternally by God’s Spirit.
If we are led by the Spirit of God we are children of God.
As God’s adopted children we are heirs with Christ; in glory AND suffering.
We have been indwelt with God’s spirit as a foretaste of eternity, giving us hope.
God’s Spirit leads us in prayer and into harmony with His will.
We have been called by Christ and therefore we have right standing with God.
If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else?
- Are you convinced that God is for you?
- The sacrifice of His own Son…what could be more personal, more intense?
- What more could be offered? What could pay what we could never afford?
- It is the ultimate act of love [Prefigured by Abraham’s willing to give his son]
33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
- The Devil / Satan is the accuser of the brethren… do not doubt that he dares to!
- Our position with God is not something we can do, only God can redeem us
- Through the sacrificial death, victorious Resurrection and ongoing ministry
- We are beyond the reach of any condemnation or accusation regarding sin!
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) Ps. 44:22
- There is no doubt it can ‘feel’ like we are somehow separated from God’s love
- Our lot in sharing everything with Christ in eternity is we share in hard stuff too
- But our present circumstances do not dictate our eternal destiny!
37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
- The truth is, none of those things, no matter how we may ‘feel’ stop the victory
- Everything the world, our flesh and the devil can throw at us changes nothing
- Overwhelming victory! Eternal life with the eternal God…do you realize this?
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
- He is convinced…How did Paul become convinced of this truth? [He lived it]
- Living or dying / Non human beings / present or future concerns
- Hell has power…but not over your surrendered relationship with Christ
- If you belong to God Satan and his demons cannot change that
39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- This is really good news! If you give your life up you are Christ’s FOREVER
- It has been argued that we can separate ourselves from God
- But are we not included in ‘All Creation’?
- This means today, tomorrow, FOREVER
- We go back to the ultimate act of love revealed in the God-man Jesus Christ
I’d gladly lose me to find you. I’d gladly give up all I got. To catch you I’m gonna run and never stop. I’d pay any price just to win you. Surrender my good life for bad. To find you I’m gonna drown an unsung man. I’d call that a bargain. The best I ever had! ~ Bargain by The Who
SUMMARY:
All the wonderful things Christ did by dying in our place and by rising from the dead, give us ample reason to surrender our life to His Lordship.
All who surrender their life to Christ are free of accusation and commendation because of Christ’s sacrificial death, bodily resurrection and heavenly intersession.
In the troubles of this life a believer may feel apart from God’s love, but the truth of Scripture is that none of that effects our position with God, no matter how we feel.
Those who surrender their life to Christ have SO MANY wonderful things…and they are all permanent and irrevocable. This is known as ‘Eternal Security’.
“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”~ John 10:28-30 NIV
APPLICATION:
Remember to count your blessings ‘In Christ’. Search God’s word for all the things you have as His bought and paid for possession.
Don’t let the Devil accuse or condemn you, if you have surrendered your life to Christ’s Lordship. If you have not…
Apply the promises of God’s Word to your situation when you face adversity. Don’t give in to how you feel, live based on what you know to be true.
Trust Christ Jesus to give you assurance of your salvation by His indwelling Spirit. If you do not have that security, surrender your life to Christ TODAY!