Romans 8:38-39 “And I am convinced that nothing can ever
separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers
of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the
earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us
from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
As we read in Romans 8:38-39, NOTHING can separate us from
the love of God! What does that love look like?
Let’s take a look at one characteristic of God’s love.
God’s love is
unconditional. The story of the Prodigal Son illustrates this truth.
Luke 15:11-32 tells us that a man’s youngest
son asked his father for his share of the inheritance. He was given his share and he took off for
foreign lands. He spent his money on
wild living. When his money was gone so
were his “friends.” He was left alone
and penniless. In his desperation he
rented himself out to pig farmer. He was
so hungry that even the slop that the pigs ate looked inviting to him. The Word tells us that he “came to his senses.”
Luke 15:17-19 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home
even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of
hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against
both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please
take me on as a hired servant.”’ He recognized the error of his ways and
decided to go home to become a servant in his childhood home. He knew at least there he would be warm, dry,
and fed. The scripture goes on to tells
us that while he was a long way off his father spotted him. He ran to this prodigal son and embraced
him. He brought him home, put the family
ring on his hand, put a robe on his back, and had a banquet to celebrate the
return of his once lost son. He restored
him to his place as son and returned to him the rights and privileges of son
ship.
Observations from the story:
a.
By asking for his inheritance while his father
was still living, the son, in his pride, was saying that he did not care about
his father or regard him as valuable.
Money was more important than blood.
b.
Instead of honoring his inheritance he
squandered it for selfish gain and instant gratification.
c.
In his desperation he broke a law of God
regarding unclean animals (pigs).
d.
He “came to his senses” and humbled himself.
e.
The Father was watching for the son.
f.
The Father threw aside his dignity to run and
meet this disobedient, disrespectful son when he spotted him in the distance.
g.
The lost son repented and asked for servant
status in his home.
h.
The Father not only forgave his son, but
restored to him his position of son ship again.
Jesus used this parable to illustrate a few different ideas,
but the one I want to discuss is the concept that God’s love is
unconditional. The father in the parable
demonstrated unconditional love toward his son.
He had given his son everything he needed while he was growing up, yet
this ungrateful son chose to leave it all behind to live for himself. We can see that the father never gave up hope
that his son would one day return. He
saw him watching for him to come home.
We also see that when the son repented and confessed his sin, the father
unhesitatingly forgave. He didn't
lecture, didn't criticize, he didn't even address the son’s behavior.
If a human, fallible, finite, human father can demonstrate
this type of unconditional love, how much more can/will our infallible,
infinite, Heavenly Father demonstrate unconditional love for the very beings he
created to love in the first place? Many
Christians fall away from God because they believe the lie of the enemy who
tells them that once they sin, God will no longer love them.
The Remodel: Believing, knowing, understanding that God
loves us unconditionally. NOTHING can
separate us from his love. We can never
make him love us more or cause him to love us less!
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