Young People’s Blog

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33).

As we read the Word of God, we continually find things that are beyond our understanding. This is not surprising, for if we could understand everything about God, we would be gods ourselves. But we are not God, and never will be. We are creatures—that is, we are created beings—and will always be so, even when we are in heaven with our glorified bodies.

Today we have a verse that is what we call a “doxology”—a special outburst of praise to God, in view of who He is, and sometimes what He has done. In Romans 11, the Apostle Paul has been going over some things that are hard to understand, and are actually impossible for us, as creatures, to understand completely. Yet we can believe them and enjoy them, even if we do not understand them totally. Rather than being puzzled or frustrated by this, Paul bursts into praise, that an infinite God has made His ways known to us, as finite creatures. We could not know God unless He chose to reveal Himself to us, but He has done so, and all for our good.

“Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid” (Romans 9:13-14).

Verses like this are sometimes hard for us to understand, and as a result, some people have dared to accuse God of being unfair. But when did the Lord say that He had hated Esau? It was not at the beginning of his life, but rather long after Esau had rebelled against God, despised his birthright, and exhibited hatred against his brother Jacob. It is not until the end of the Old Testament that God says that He had hated Esau.

God had a right to make Jacob the more prominent one of the two brothers, and to give him a larger blessing than Esau. If Esau had accepted this, he too could have been blessed by God, and enjoyed a relationship with Him. But his subsequent life showed that he had no interest in the Lord, and his bad attitude towards Jacob came out time after time.

Let us each take care not to question God’s dealings with us. If He wishes to give someone else more than He gives us, that is God’s right. But He will honor us too, if we use what He has given to us, for Him.

“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” (Romans 8:38-39).

Two days ago, we saw that in Romans 8:35, the Apostle Paul talks about the love of Christ. Here in our verse today he talks about the love of God. Two days ago, the difficulties described in the verse were problems that could occur in this world; in today’s verse Paul describes situations that may be outside of this world. We may experience problems in this world, but what happens after death, or what if angels are involved? Paul assures us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ or of God, whether in this world or outside of it.

When Scripture attaches the name of Christ to something, it is generally the practical side that is in view. When it attaches the name of God to something, it is usually the nature and power of God that is in view. See how many other couplets like this you can find in the New Testament. There are quite a few of them! (The grace of God and the grace of Christ is another example.)

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Romans 8:37).

How is it possible to be more than a conqueror? After all, if we win out in a certain situation, then we may speak of ourselves as having conquered it. So how can we be more than conquerors? Let me use an illustration.

Suppose a ship back in the days of sailing vessels. Sometimes a storm would come up, and the wind would be so strong that they would have to take in the sails, and just let the wind drive the ship wherever it would. Then, after the storm was over, they would assess the damage, take a reading to decide where they were, and try to get back on course. They would say that they had survived, or conquered, the storm.

But suppose that after the storm, they found almost no damage to the ship, and then found that the storm had actually driven them right on course, and faster than if they had been able to sail in good weather. That would make them “more than conquerors.”

That is the way it is with storms in our lives. They are not our enemies, but rather only drive us nearer to our destination, and all through the power of the Lord Jesus, who loves us.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35).

We notice in this verse that the Apostle Paul, by inspiration, refers to the love of Christ. Then he describes many situations in which Christians may find themselves in this world, and points out that none of those things can separate us from that love. Sometimes, when we are in very difficult circumstances, we may wonder why the Lord does not deliver us. Our hearts may even say, “If the Lord really loves me, why does He not make my situation a little easier?” But the Lord loves us just the same, and His comfort in going through difficult problems is worth all the trouble we may pass through. His love will never fail us, and we will see tomorrow how the Lord uses those tough situations for our blessing.

“The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8).

These verses are worded very strongly, but they show us what we are by nature. Our old sinful nature is actually enmity against God. The word enmity means a deep-seated hatred of something or someone, and that is the way our old nature feels towards God. It cannot please Him in any way.

Many years ago a Christian young man asked a much older Christian brother if he had any advice for a young man just starting out on the Christian pathway. His advice was good; he simply said, “Learn well four words—‘the flesh profiteth nothing’ (John 6:63)” It was good advice, for how often we as Christians think that there is some good left in us, and that allowing our sinful nature to act will somehow make us happy. Let us remember that it can never please God.

“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom” (Luke 6:38).

In the town where I live, there are two roadside stands on the outskirts of town, and in the summer they sell fresh produce from neighboring farms. They are almost across the road from each other, but they operate quite differently. At one of them, if you buy, for example, a quart box of fresh beans, you get a box that is barely filled to level. But at the other one, the man takes a big handful out of his large supply, and fills the quart box to overflowing. He charges the same price as the man who fills his boxes only to level. I think you can understand why this man gets by far the most business!

As Christians, it is good to be generous in our dealings. Not only does this please those with whom we deal, but it pleases the Lord. Also, He will never allow us to lose out because we are generous. He will see to it that we prosper in what we are doing.

“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:5-6).

The Apostle John is beginning to write the book of Revelation, a book that gives us details of the judgments that will fall on this world after all the true Christians are called home to be with Christ. But before he talks about these judgments, John cannot help but express his joy in what the Lord Jesus has done, so that those who believe on Him do not have to suffer the judgment of God.

The Lord Jesus loves us, and has washed us from our sins in His own blood. More than that, He has brought us into a relationship with God the Father, so that we are both kings and priests. We do not reign as kings yet, but will do so in a coming day.

Surely all praise, glory, and dominion are due to the Lord Jesus, forever and ever. On this the Lord’s Day, we should especially be ready to honor and praise Him.

“But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14).

Some years ago there was a teenage boy who grew up in a Christian family, and he also had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior. However, as he mixed with other students in his high school, many of them talked about movies that they had seen, and how exciting they were. They mocked him from time to time because he had never watched a movie, at least not the kind they talked about.

Finally, the boy told his father that he would like to watch a movie. To his surprise, his father said to him, “Fine, son, that is all right with me.” However, his father then said, “There is one condition I want you to remember. I would like you to pick a movie that does not have any of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, or the pride of life in it.” (These words are found as a warning in 1 John 2:16).

The boy looked at his father, and then wailed, “But then there wouldn’t be any movie left!” “Exactly,” said his father. “That is what most movies are made of. They do not build you up spiritually, but rather drag you down.” The boy got the point and realized that watching that kind of movie was not a good thing for a Christian.

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).

In our verse today there is a further warning for those who are enjoying their Christian liberty. There is a danger of using our liberty as “an occasion to the flesh.” What does this mean?

It means that sometimes we may think we are walking in Christian liberty, when we are really just allowing our old sinful nature to act. Let me use an example.

The movie industry has made some excellent movies that are very educational, such as nature films, history films, etc. However, it is easy to move along from something like this to movies that excite our old sinful nature. We can justify this to ourselves by saying that there is no verse in the Bible that tells us not to watch movies. However, those who make movies know how to introduce things into the movie in order to make it popular. We will say more about this tomorrow.