The Inseparable Love of God (1) [ Romans 8:38-39 ] Why can nothing separate us from the love of God? 1. Because God’s love is eternal. Romans 8:29a says: “For those whom He foreknew…” The word “foreknew” refers to before eternity began —before the creation of heaven and earth . The phrase “those whom He foreknew” does not simply mean knowing about someone intellectually, but rather loving them. In other words, it refers to “those whom God loved from eternity past.” Amos 3:2a says: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” If “known” merely meant intellectual knowledge, that would imply that God only knew Israel and did not know the other nations—which cannot be true, because the all-knowing God lacks knowledge of nothing. Therefore, “I have known you only” means “I have loved you only.” God loved Israel among all the nations of the earth. Hosea 13:5 says: “I knew you in the wilderness , in the land of great drought.” The “wilderness” was where the Israelite...
Day 29: Jonah 2:3-4, 8-10
Even so,
I will look to the Lord again.
We tend to
resist the difficult realities given to us, often expressing it through
complaints and resentment. However, if
we can find God's blessings even in the midst of accepting those challenging
realities, we can truly say that person is a blessed believer. Jonah the prophet is considered to be one of
such individuals. The reality he faced
was that he was on the verge of life and death physically, and spiritually, he
felt cast away from God, experiencing the weariness of soul.
However,
even in such circumstances, Jonah resolved, "Yet I will look again toward
Your holy temple" (Jonah 2:4), looking to the Creator God, who is greater
than "the deep" and its "billows" (v. 3). Through
this, he came to realize the grace God bestowed upon him (v. 8), and he was
reaffirmed in his calling as a worshiper (v. 9). He was reborn not as a complainer or a
grumbler, but as a thankful person (v. 9), and further, he ultimately
experienced salvation (v. 10) with confidence in God's deliverance (v. 9).
Like Jonah,
may we also look to the Lord again in the midst of difficult realities, so that
we may enjoy the blessings God has prepared for us.
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