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...
Grace after disaster “Thus says the LORD, "The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness-- Israel, when it went to find its rest” (Jeremiah 31:2). God's thoughts toward us are peace (Jer. 29:11). God's thoughts toward us are the future and hope (v. 11). But our thoughts are different from God's thoughts (Isa. 55:8). We have evil thoughts in our hearts (Mt. 9:4). What comes out of our heart is an evil thought, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness (Mk. 7:21-22). So our thoughts are sin (Prov. 24: 9). God sees that every intent of the thoughts of our hearts is only evil continually (Gen. 6:5) and disciplines us only with justice (Jer. 30:11). God disciplines us and bring disaster on us so that we may realize our sins and repent of our sins. Even...