While praying and studying scripture for our Fall study, I was struck by the completeness of Paul’s message in Romans 8. God uses Paul to tell us much in this one single chapter. Romans 8 takes us from our struggle with self and walks us through turning to Christ, living in Christ, being co-heirs with Christ, suffering with Christ, the purpose of our lives in Christ, being conquerors through Christ, and never being separated from the love of Christ. In short, this sometimes difficult to understand chapter of the Bible explains our walk with Christ.
The chapter begins with “no condemnation” and ends with “no separation.” Friends, that’s an offer we can’t afford to pass up! Pause in your reading for a moment and think about what it means to not be condemned for the things you’ve done or not done to damage your relationship with God or fellow man. Really! Just pause and don’t read on yet. Now pause and consider NEVER being separated from God’s love. Wow! What would the opposite be like? What if you were condemned eternally? What if you were separated from his love?
Friends, God has made a way! The negative and critical culture that we live in leads us to believe God is our enemy. We can easily view God as the gatekeeper in the sky who has created impossible hoops for us to jump through. We see him in a negative light as the cause of disease, calamity, and death. However, this is a completely backwards view of God. We learn in Romans 8 that God, because of his great love for us, made a way for us to overcome condemnation and separation. He made a way that even death itself cannot separate us from him. God knew we would face the miseries of a fallen, broken, sinful world. God knew we would face eternity separated from his love. So, in his great love God made a way. Friends, GOD IS FOR US!
We serve a God who beckons us day by day into a closer relationship with himself. It is the prayer of our staff that as we welcome the new season of fall that you will invest time in your relationship with God. He is daily seeking a deeper and deeper relationship with you. Let’s encourage one another in our fall theme, “GOD IS FOR US.”
“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31 (NIV)
Eric Bowman
Eric is our associate pastor, working with outreach and youth ministry as well as adult discipleship and growth. Eric retired from a 28-year career in public education as a high school band director in 2019 and is now living his lifelong dream as a pastor. Eric and his wife, Diana, continue to live in Henry County where they have been lifetime residents. They "raised" three children and are now making their best attempt at "raising" themselves.