Nothing separates us

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither 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."Romans 8:38-39

Paul ends Romans chapter 8, the Everest of the Bible, with a deliberately exaggerated list: neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, neither height nor depth... He sweeps the universe, closing every door doubt could come through, and finishes with "nor anything else in all creation," so that not a crack is left.

Notice a clever absence: the only thing left off the list is what does not exist. And notice too what the list includes on purpose: the two things that haunt us most, the present (the mess of right now) and the future (the fear of what is coming). As for the past, he had already settled it at the start of the chapter: "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

And the man who wrote this was not theorizing: Paul tested the list on his own body. Flogged, stoned, shipwrecked, imprisoned, and finally executed. Death, the first item on the list, he faced up close. And he kept the conviction: "I am CONVINCED." It is not vague hope; it is the verdict of someone who checked.

Today's application: read the list out loud, and in the middle of it, slot in your personal item. "Neither death nor life... nor [my diagnosis], nor [my debt], nor [my worst day]... will be able to separate me from the love of God." The love of God is not a place you fall out of by carelessness. According to Paul, there is no force in the universe able to pull you out of it. And he looked.