God’s Everlasting Love
Romans 8:31-39
Randy Hageman
Part of Paul's Letter to the Romans—Romans 8
March 25, 2024

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Palm Sunday remembers Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, with the crowds proclaiming him to be their

.

7They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and [Jesus] sat on them. 8Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”—Matthew 21:7-9 (ESV)

The crowds didn’t truly understand what Jesus as the Messiah, the

, came to do, and the highs and lows of Holy Week, the week from Palm Sunday to Easter, show us this.

Jesus isn’t the end of our

, nor does he promise to be.

Jesus’ death on the cross on Good Friday proved that being the Messiah did not make him

to people’s mistrust, mistreatment and hate.

What hope and

do we experience as we follow Jesus, as we live beyond Palm Sunday and face our own Good Fridays?

A lot of folks don’t understand the Christian life, because they try to jump their lives from the celebration of Palm Sunday straight to the celebration of Easter, without enduring

, without enduring Holy Week, and especially Good Friday.

The central theme of Romans 8 is

for believers, no matter what they have faced or will face as they go through the Holy Week of real life.

31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.—Romans 8:31-34 (ESV)

“If God is for us, who can be against us” doesn’t mean we won’t have enemies or circumstances that bring trouble and suffering into our lives – it means that it ultimately won’t matter because God is on

.

Paul shows us that there is no one who has any standing to bring any

against those of us who are in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Any charges brought against those of us in Christ are simply

!

As the old saying goes, it’s not what you know but

you know, and when you know Jesus, God’s own Son isn’t ashamed to step in and vouch for you!

Jesus: 21Not everyone who calls out to me, “Lord! Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22On judgment day many will say to me, “Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.” 23But I will reply, “I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.” —Matthew 7:21-23 (NLT)

The reason God has done all this, has chosen us as His own, is because He

us in His image and us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?…—Romans 8:35 (ESV)
5And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. 6When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.—Romans 5:5-9 (NLT)

Love is

to accept someone for who they are and sacrificially working for their good.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?—Romans 8:35 (ESV)

As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” (Psalm 42:22)—Romans 8:36 (ESV)

Paul is again reminding his readers that God will save His people, not despite their

but, in fact, through and even because of them.

I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church.—Colossians 1:24 (NLT)

Somehow, the sufferings of God’s people are used by God to fulfill His purposes, in order to extend His

even further.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.—Romans 8:37 (ESV)
38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor 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.—Romans 8:38-39 (ESV)

Nothing created can stop God from loving

who is in “Christ Jesus our Lord.”

can separate ourselves, and that’s exactly what sin is and does, but once we’re in Christ, Paul affirms for us that the love of God that offers us salvation can never be snatched away from us.

If God really did raise Jesus, the Messiah and His Son, from the dead, then everything else, including God’s love for you and me, is also

.

31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor 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.—Romans 8:31-39 (ESV)


Next Week: EASTER!