What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Rom 8:31 (NIV)

Think Bigger

We tend to view life through binary glasses. We’re either for or against, in or out, part of the crowd, outside of the crowd, light or dark, day or night.

Life is so more fluid than that. And complex. The longer I live and the more I experience, the more grey and mingled and mixed the world looks. Christ didn’t view life in “for’s and against’s.” He saw hearts. He saw brokenness. He saw stories… how people arrived at where they were and how he could get them on the continued journey of healing and wholeness. He surprised everyone with who he was “for.” Think of Zacchaeus who collected taxes; Mary, who was stuck in a life where her body was worth more than her mind. Think of the small boy with leftovers for lunch from last night's supper who fed hundreds and hundreds on a sunny afternoon; think of the naked man with his demons showing whom Christ healed and gave peace… Think of the temple where he overturned tables, and those he called hypocrites and whitewashed tombs…

Even in moments of exasperated passion, Christ was not against ‘a person' but sought to overcome the soul destroying forces of hatred, greed and fear…

He is for us all. Every single one. Your neighbour, your government representative, the person who hurt you, those you love. God surrounds each of us, willing us to wake up and see him; awaken to the love that transforms us into who we really are… alive in Christ who cleanses away the destruction sin nature seeks to leak upon our souls.

Paul finds himself wrestling with these thoughts. He was a man with blood on his hands whose life was divinely interrupted, turned upside down, sabotaged by grace, bowled over by forgiveness. A man with questions and complex history, of wide and varied experiences. He knew the transforming love of God first hand, knew his disrespect of sins and occupations… felt the love of God in his life more strongly than he had ever felt anything before. A love that embraces the past, listens to heartache, is not afraid of eye contact or a long embrace. Love that reveals truth, and then more truth and then truth again… Love that empowers and restores; stands you up and knocks you to your knees… How do you describe a force, power, an energy, a transforming phenomenon such as the love of God?

Paul wrote,

“With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us?… Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.”

Romans 8:31-39 (shortened, MSG).

Over to you… How do you view life? Leave us your comments below.

[vcex_image_grid columns=”3″ pagination=”false” thumbnail_link=”custom_link” link_title_tag=”true” custom_links_target=”_blank” overlay_style=”title-category-visible” columns_gap=”5″ img_hover_style=”fade-out” image_ids=”20934,20935,20937″ custom_links=”https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1239768002?pt=118656308&ct=blog%20footer&mt=8,https://www.pktfuel.com/dailyemail,https://www.pktfuel.com/support” img_height=”350″]