Jesus Loves You
Jesus Loves Me, This I Know!
Romans 8:31b-39 “31b …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, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)
Many of us learned as children a song called “Jesus Loves Me.” The words of this song are as simple as they are familiar; “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; they are weak, but He is strong. Yes Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so. Another verse, perhaps less well known, reminds us as adults, “Jesus loves me still today, walking with me on my way...”
It is a simple song, but like many simple things it communicates a profound Truth. Our God is not an angry deity in the sky seeking to punish us at every whim. He is a loving God; in fact, He is Love!
Such a God could not, and does not, leave us without hope. He does not ignore our needs and desires. Scripture tells us to cast all our cares upon Him, for he cares for us (I Peter 5:7), and “delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4).
It is easy for us to grow confused about living the Christian life. We apply what Paul calls “the elementary principles of this world” to our relationship with God and we become unsettled. But as we read in Second Timothy 1:7, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.” (KJV) Again in Luke 12:32 we read, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (NIV)
However, we live in a world of things we can see and things we can touch. If it does not register with our senses, it is often difficult to believe in its existence. God, however, does not exist merely in the realm of the temporal. He transcends time and space. Nothing is impossible with Him.
First John 3:1 puts it this way: “How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” Connecting that with verse 32 of Romans 8, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
Just think about what it is that God has done! The most incredibly loving act of God is well expressed in a verse we all know. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16, KJV) In reciting this verse however, we sometimes miss what comes next. John 3:17 reads: “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”
This does not mean that we can simply live a life of sin and rebellion against God. Paul makes that clear in Romans 6:1-4 where we read, “1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
What it does mean is that though we were hopelessly lost and unable by virtue of our sinfulness to have a relationship with God; though we deserved only death; God provided a way of salvation. In His great love and tender mercy, God made a way for us to be reconciled to Himself, and not merely as what we might call “friends of God”, but as children! Romans 8:15-17 tells us, “15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.”
One of the great truths preached by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, comes from this passage. Scholars and theologians call it “assurance of salvation.” It is the idea that the Spirit of God confirms within us that we are the children of God. What a glorious thing it is to be certain of what the future holds for us!
Salvation is a great and wonderful thing, but it can sometimes be hard to relate it to our daily lives. We can easily see how God provides for our eternal needs, but what of the here-and-now? We struggle with troubles in our lives, with temptation that besets us and to which we often give in, with emotional uncertainty and guilt. Does God care about these things? The answer is a resounding “yes!” God says that we may cast all our cares on Him. He declares that He desires to give us the Kingdom. He stands ready to meet every need we have. It is not so much that He removes us from difficulty, or prevents hard things from happening to us, but more that He gives us deep peace and joy amid such artifacts of this fallen world ruled by the accuser.
We walk by faith and not by sight. And what is faith? Hebrews 1:1 gives us the answer. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Faith does not mean blindly believing whatever we hear. Faith means believing that God exists, and that, being perfect, He keeps His promises. Hebrews 11:6a tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith allows us to live a life without fear; a life without neurotic self-doubt; a life of inner peace and joy; a life where our needs are fully met.
Our passage in Romans 8 asks us;
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Is there any person or being who can do it?
Can trouble do it?
Can hardship?
How about persecution, or maybe famine or nakedness?
Can danger or sword do it?
And then it gives us the unequivocal answer: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Many times, however, we do not feel like conquerors. Instead, we feel beaten down and loaded with burdens. This happens because we fail to look in the right direction. In Colossians 3:1 and 2 Scripture tells us, “1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
When we look at our lives from the proper perspective and remember that we are citizens of the Kingdom of heaven we see that earthly things do not define us. It does not change our status as children of God if calamity comes. Ecclesiastes 1:14 reveals the truth; “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” It is not about the world; it is about a relationship with God by which we cry abba, Father.
Would you like to be free from worry? Would you like to have inner peace despite the things you hear on the news every day? There was a time when I, like the writer of Ecclesiastes, saw how meaningless life appeared. I had a deep sense of despair. I could see only worse things ahead. However, we can go to our Father in heaven with such things and find peace and rest. Do not get me wrong; I still succumb to the temptation to look at things from an earthly perspective. I have spent a fair amount of time doing just that. But now I know I have a Rock, a Fortress, and a Deliverer.
When, by the grace of God, we turn our attention back to Him and His Kingdom, we find tranquility and soundness of mind. He gives us clarity of mind and provides a firm foundation on which to rest. Life in vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ is life and peace. When we turn to Him, we find comfort. He clothes us in His own perfect righteousness, peace, and joy.
I have tried many ways to get this point across but let me try just one more. If you win the lottery it is of no benefit to you unless you turn in your winning ticket and collect the prize. If you are bequeathed an inheritance, it makes no difference whatsoever unless you claim the money and put it into your bank account.
God says, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19). He tells each of us what our choices are and then He even tells us which choice to make. It could not be simpler or more elegant. Humanity has been bequeathed the greatest inheritance possible. By simply believing Him everyone who wants it can collect it and enjoy the benefits. For all who believe, the profound truth is evident and they can say, “Jesus loves me, this I know.”
