Many years ago, I accepted an invitation to preach in a church that had recently experienced a mean-spirited, hurtful split. I did not desire to go, and the church did ask that I come, but the command to go came from my LORD Himself. I said I would come to preach, however to God I said, “If You will give me a message they need to hear, I’ll go.”
I frankly do not recall much of the message, and the notes destroyed long ago, but I cannot forget the message title: “What the World Needs Now is Love.”
There were only 48 members there that first Sunday, but they shared and spoke of the message during that week, and when I returned the next Sunday there were 86 present. The numbers continued to rise as the LORD had me continue the theme of God’s perfect love.
The world today needs to know, and believers today needs reminding, of God’s unfailing, unending, love. Read these powerful words of promise to those who are in Christ Jesus our LORD:
35 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)
The Apostle Paul asks the question, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Then he tells us of ten things, which cannot break that love-bond:
DEATH – Death is a thief that divides, separates, and robs loved ones from each other. It all but destroys the homes it visits. Yet, for the born-again believer, death takes him home to be in the presence of his God. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the LORD.” Most assuredly, death cannot weaken the love of God; it verifies the strength of it!
LIFE – Life is the opposite of death. The true believer has life eternal, and even the life lived now cannot weaken, or end, God’s love.
ANGELS – God created angels, all angels, including fallen angels. As strong as angels are, Paul affirms they have not the strength to break the bond of God’s love for His own.
PRINCIPALITIES – Beloved, these higher powers of darkness, wicked, evil spirits that manifest themselves through man; have no ability to separate the child of God from his Redeemer’s love.
POWERS – As a believer, you are in the hands of the All~Powerful One, and there is no power, physical, mental, or spiritual, which can overcome Him. You are safe in Him because He is your keeper against all else.
THINGS PRESENT — This includes anything that presently exists. Name whatever you will; it cannot have an effect on God’s love for you.
THINGS TO COME – We have no knowledge of future things we may face, but of this, we are certain; nothing to come can touch or interfere with the love of God for you.
HEIGHT – Go as high as you can; no, higher than you can imagine, and you will not discover anything out there that will come between you and God’s love for you.
DEPTH – Go down, down, down, as deep as the earth, or even hell itself, and you will never, no never, find anything to break your love relationship with your God.
NOR ANY OTHER CREATURE – If Paul had any kind of lapse of thought to name something of concern, he covered it with these last words, “nor any other creature”. All within God’s creation is on Paul’s list. Nothing left out.
Blessed believer, what has you worried? He has said that He will never leave, nor forsake you, no not ever!
