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 6: Romans 9:1-8
Unbreakable love
In
Paul's unbreakable love for the people of Israel, there was "great
sorrow" and "unceasing anguish" (Rom. 9:1-2). The reason for this was Israel's unbelief. Paul's "great sorrow" and
"unceasing anguish" stemmed from the fact that his kinsmen according
to the flesh, the Israelites (v. 3), sought to attain righteousness not by
faith but by works (v. 11). Paul was
particularly distressed to see a privileged nation like the Israelites, who had
the privilege of knowing and believing in God (vv. 4-5), not availing
themselves of that privilege.
Yet,
amidst witnessing the disobedience of the Israelites, and feeling the urgency
and agony for the salvation of their souls, there was something that comforted
his heart. It was the word of the
unbreakable covenant of God (v. 6). The
promise in that word was, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called" (v. 7).
The core of this promise was God's
sovereign choice. Even if Paul himself
were accursed and cut off from Christ, he fervently desired that his brethren,
the people of Israel, would hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and believe in
Jesus for eternal life (v. 3).
Do you have such earnestness, especially for the salvation of souls among your family and relatives who do not believe in Jesus? Are you willing, even if it meant not entering heaven and going to hell in their place, to fervently desire and pray for their salvation?
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