I Am Persuaded
November 2018
|
THERE IS SOMETHING about knowing the love of God. I’m not talking about a head knowledge only but an experiential knowledge where there’s no doubt that you have experienced the purest kind of love possible. Paul said, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 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” (Rom. 8:38-39). I love Paul’s use of the phrase “I am persuaded.”
I Stand Convinced
In the Greek, the phrase “I am persuaded” is pepeismai gar. It is a perfect passive indicative verb. I know that’s all Greek to you, so let me explain the significance of this verb. It is a perfect tense, which means it was a past action which has ongoing results. It wasn’t that he was persuaded in the past and no longer believed that nothing could ever separate him from the love of Christ. He believed in the past with the result he stood convinced that nothing could ever separate him from the love of Christ.
God Convinced Him
This verb is also passive. In other words, Paul did not convince himself. He became convinced by God. God did the action. He was merely the recipient of that action. God actively convinced Paul that nothing, no one, neither good nor bad could ever separate him from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.
Unwavering Confidence
Paul not only had an unwavering confidence in the assurance of God’s love, but he also understood the power of God’s love. God’s love is more powerful than: death, life, angels, principalities, powers, things present, things to come, height, depth, or any other creature. God’s love is so powerful that Paul stated none of these things could ever cause a separation between him and God’s love. He wasn’t talking about man’s love. He was talking about the agape love of God.
In Christ Jesus
God the Holy Spirit had revealed to Paul that the love of God is found in Christ Jesus our Lord. Christ is the ultimate manifestation of God’s love. In Colossians, Paul explained that “…in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” and that we are “…complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power” (Col. 2:9-10). Jesus is God’s expression of love to mankind. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (Jn. 3:16). The expanse of God’s love is that it was for all of mankind. The expression of that love was that He gave the world Jesus.
The Cross
The Cross is the ultimate expression of God’s love for you and for me. It is a greater expression of God’s love than the words Jesus spoke. It is a greater expression of God’s love than the miracles that Jesus performed. The Cross is the ultimate expression of God’s love.
Do You Stand Convinced?
Have you experienced God’s love? Have you come to the point that you know with certainty that His love is greater than anything or anyone who would attempt to stand against you. Can you say, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 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”? (Rom. 8:38-39).
If not, He’s a prayer away.
|
|
