Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Last time, we began our discussion of the Love of Christ in the terms of His unchangeableness toward us. Christ’s love for us cannot be tainted or altered. His pure love covers us in every aspect of our lives. We may not always listen to or obey the Holy Spirit, but that will not diminish the love of Christ for us. He will, rather, love us so fully to the point where we desire to obey and to bring honor to His name. He has loved us to the uttermost. His righteousness is our covering. His Omnipotence is our strength. The truth of His love is that He indwells us with it. It becomes our very life on this earth. It cannot be restricted in these earthly vessels, but must burst forth from us unto others. We are indwelled by Him in love, and are made the vessels through whom He has the complete freedom to touch the lives of all those with whom we come into contact. 
	This evening, let us consider a continued aspect of the love of Christ. His love is inseparable from our beings. There is a key facet we need to consider. We need to seek after the Lord to make Himself real in our lives. The reality of our earthly beings needs to be brought into line with the truth of our spiritual beings. We need to realize that Christ is indeed our very life on this earth. As that is true in our minds, our hearts, our actions, and our words, so will our beings radiate forth the full confidence that we belong to Him alone. 
In 2 Cor 5:14+15 we are told For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. There is a dynamic difference in our lives as we are covered in the love of Christ. While His love is absolutely unchangeable, there is a transformation that does take place in us because of His love. Sometimes it is gradual, sometimes it is instantaneous, but always it is dramatic and effective. We mentioned a moment ago, that we are incapable of being separated from the love of Christ in our lives. This is because we are now recognizing the loving work of God, in Christ. He is bringing us into a living relationship with our most Wondrous and Holy Heavenly Father. Because we were dead in our sin and trespass, something had to be done to bring us into life. We needed to have spiritual life to enter unto the throne of God in perfection and in grace. That something was the death and resurrection of Christ for us. His love constrained Him to suffer death on the cross, so that in His victory over death, we would become alive in Him. We are the active recipients of His spiritual life. We are covered in His perfect righteousness. We are brought before the throne of our Heavenly Father in rejoicing as a direct result of the Love of Jesus Christ and the Father for us. That is something that will never be withdrawn from us, because of its immense value in the blood that He shed on our behalf. It is also something that will never weaken or decay with time, as do all the elements of this world order. We are purchased unto the heart of God, in the love of Jesus Christ. That is an instantaneous change in our beings, as we accept Christ into our hearts.
His love also constrains us, or more fully, holds us back from the filth in which we once reveled. There is a cleansing work that His love accomplishes in us. We are being, daily, brought into conformity with the life of Christ, Who now covers us in His Love. The constraining power of His Love is not bondage. It is not a thou shalt not edict. It is far more effective and life-altering than anything this world can comprehend. It is because we are so loved by Christ. It is because we are in the constant covering of His grace, and His Mercy, and His Peace, that we choose not to live unto ourselves any longer. We choose to live wholly unto Christ. We desire to be changed, by His unchangeable love. We want to please Him and to see Him blessed in all His fullness. 
Our acceptance of Christ signals the effective operation of His perfect action of loving us unto the Father. We needed to be saved. He knew that and He chose to make our way of salvation through the only manner in which it could ever be accomplished. He died in our stead to settle the righteous penalty of our sinful lives. He then rose in victory over all the elements of darkness, pulling us up with Him into the glorious presence of God. Apart from Him, we would have disintegrated in our sinful core before the throne of His Holiness. In Him, we are held close to the heart of God, never again to suffer the curse of death.   
Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me. Because of His pure essence of Love, we are made to be partakers of that so great victory. Our beings are transformed from slavery unto death, chained to the wiles, whims, and drudgery of this world order, into fellow heirs of God in Christ Jesus. The lives that we now live are not our own, thank the Lord! We live unto Him. We desire for Him to live forth from us unto all those that are part of our sojourn in this life. We find the true reason for our being made alive in the complete surrender to the One Who now lives His life in us. We are encumbered to live a life that is worthy of His Love. That is the tremendous transformation in our beings. Our desire is to manifest the love that is now our life. It is not really even that, but far more inclusive. We are now dead to our old life and alive unto God. We have had the self-seeking nature of the first Adam buried on the earthly side of the cross. We are now a completely new, spiritually alive creation in the glorious triumph of Christ. As we read in 1 Cor 15:45-49 So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 
This means that our entire focus of what it means to be alive is now violently and absolutely crucified to self by the love of Christ being nailed to that cross in our stead.  That love has been infused, by the active ministry of the Holy Spirit, into these hearts that were once dead in sin and trespasses. 
The entire corrupt governmental system of our old self-life has been completely wiped out. It has been overthrown and eradicated. This has been accomplished not by will-power, not by good intentions, not by self-help, not by self-improvement techniques, not by charity work or ethical behavior. This miracle of deliverance from death is our life. It is because one person, the Son of Man, gave Himself up in Love, to become the focus of our hearts. He loved us unto death, and He loves us into life. 
There are those who would argue that Christians are nothing more than robots that follow a strict set and harsh rule of doctrines. Many critics talk of the restrictions and the deprivation under which we willingly choose to live our lives. There have been many who consider Christians to be dull, boring, and lacking any sense of humor. How right they are from their worldly perspective. We really have no commonality, any longer, with this world order. What this world finds to be enjoyable and worthy of adoration is that which glorifies self. It takes pleasure in anything that gratifies and sedates this abominable flesh. The inhabitants of this age are fettered with the bonds which seek after earthly delights. This is the only avenue open to them as a means of finding some purpose in their existence. There is a constant search for the meaning of life and the purpose for the continuation of humanity. In the depths of its depravity and slavery to self, this age vainly attempts release through drugs, alcohol, bullying, and extreme behavioral deviations. All of these are an utterly useless effort to deliver man from the drudgery of his depravity. The false gods of this age are worshipped in a wasted effort to find some relief and some kind of reliance to fill the spiritual void that is inherent in humanity apart from God.
 As Christians, we live here, but our reliance for everything is now focused, not in our efforts, but in the Love that is our daily portion. We are abhorrent to this world order because we do not partake of its foul temptations. We do not bow to the false gods of its deception. We are enabled, by the life that we now have in Christ Jesus, to see past the veils of deception and into the very heart of the issue that is deceiving this realm. We know the truth that our God reigns eternally. We cherish the fact that He so loved us that He gave His only begotten Son to redeem us and to give us spiritual life. The death that surrounds us is so very clearly seen. Our eyes have been opened, by the grace of God. No longer blind, we now choose not to partake of the supposed delights of this age for fear of offending the great love with which we have been purchased unto God.
The key that should be in evidence in our witness to this earth is the love that is now our life. The world fumes at, abhors, and attacks those who do not revel in its bondage to self. This is a vain effort to eliminate that which would bring forth the light of truth into the darkness of this spiritual void. In opposition to this, we choose rather to love, to pray for, to lift up both our loved ones and enemies that we are blessed to know. Rather than condemn and curse this world’s captives in the hatred with which it persecutes Christ, we give Him the freedom to express His love through us unto this world. This is true even as we are being martyred. We live forth the love of God that is shed abroad to win the hearts of the lost. We desire to be a true, shining witness of Him in the darkness of this age. The beacon that we present is the Lord Jesus Christ. The heart that we have is the love with which we have been so loved. 
There is no place for a sense of superiority or of blasting the lost of this age. We were all a part of that horrid bondage. We wallowed in it until the Lord’s grace lifted us out of the bog. He cleansed us fully in the lifeblood of Jesus Christ. We were once dead in sin and trespass, just as is this age. Again, it is only by the grace of God that we have been saved. And, it is in that same, saving, loving grace that we pray for those who surround us. As we were loved, so are we to love, and to encourage, and to brilliantly show forth the One Who is our life. 
Eph 5:1+2 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. In line with this, we are to be a living sacrifice for the sake of others. Our entire focus of being is that Jesus Christ can live forth and love, to the uttermost, the world which He came to save. In that course, we are called upon to follow our Lord as living sacrifices to the Love of God. That is our daily life. This is not a Sunday life that we live, worshipping one day of the week and then living our lives as best we can the rest of the week. No, the utter revolution of our being has wrenched away the false focus of our lives. We have been delivered from the bogus sense of satisfying ourselves. We are now fully aware of the call of God to be of complete service unto the Lord. Where once we were only concerned with our place and what we could get and keep in this world, we now are concerned with the spiritual condition of others. We seek after the Lord to make us the full expression of His character of sacrifice. This is not for our glory, but for His glory. We count not the lives that we live as worthy to place before God. Our focal point of attention has been removed from being locked on us. It is now set completely on the wonderful person of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. That necessitates that we no longer view ourselves as the center of the universe. We realize that we are in this life because that is where God has ordained to have us. We should be a living sacrifice for the spiritual benefit of even those who would persecute us. As He lives, so do we live on this earth, is not just a wonderful concept. It needs to be the stimulus which keeps us ongoing in Christ.
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Everyday should find us contently seeking after the Lord to be glorified in these lives that we live before Him and before man. That means that we should be a beacon of light in our work places. There should be evidence in our approach to every situation of the One, Who has infused His life of Love into our entire beings. Workmates should take note of the fact that we are not like them. This is not because we gloat over them with any sense of superiority, but because we are of service unto them. As we toil, the Lord should be evidenced in that place of work. This should be true to such an extent that it cannot but be noticed that our labors are centered on doing our utmost as unto the Lord. We should not have to say one thing. The presence of the Lord in us should be so manifest that at our approach the dirty jokes cease. As we are around, the profanities are curbed, and the spiteful conversations are muted.  We must not be surprised that we are slandered behind our backs. We should recognize that our fellow employees seem uncomfortable with our presence and want to see us removed from their environment.
These episodes are not to be feared, but expected. They will happen as we give ourselves over fully unto the Lord for His miraculous life to be seen through us. At the same time that we experience hostility and separation in the workplace, be assured that we will be sought after when worlds collapse in the lives of those around us. They will seek us out because they have witnessed the gracious work of God in His dealings in our lives. Through all the catastrophes and circumstances, we are living proof that He is the loving and gracious Lord God Almighty. We should be one to whom they turn for advice and admonition. Just as the early church was persecuted and martyred on one hand, and sought after for the Peace and the Love of Christ on the other hand, so are we to be in this world. 
Eph 4:7 …But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. This passage is so needed for the next aspect of the complete infusion of the love of God into our lives by the Holy Spirit. Just as we are to be His witness, in life, in our daily workplace, so should the same be true in our daily dealings with our families. Husbands, wives, children, parents, and siblings should all be considered in the same sacrifice as Christ gave to us. His gift of life and Love eternal should be as fully expressed in our homes as it is in the world. It is here that the full work of Christ has the place to put our old life to death that the life of Christ may bloom forth in reality. It is easy to put up a facade with those who do not know us intimately. It is possible to live a life of testimony in the world, when we have the shelter of our homes to be our nightly refuge. Of what value, however, is that facade, as we see the Lord actively working in our family to uproot and to eliminate all the residues of self that would infest our lives? This is where the full grace of God is immensely required for our hearts to keep from failing in utter despair. There is no greater avenue available to the Lord to work in us than through our family members. It is here that we cannot be other than absolutely looking to and securing God’s grace and mercy through the death of our self-lives on the cross of love. 
Family is precious to God. It is the expression of where we are in Christ Jesus. It is to be a place where God is valued above all else. That means that He will diligently and effectively work to complete His plan in us and in the lives of our loved ones. He is so marvelous in His grace. He is able to work effectively in both the husband and the wife at the exact same time. His perfect and precise dealings stir the hearts of both. He never wastes a moment. He never misses an opportunity to bring to the surface that remainder of self-righteousness that we have in us. We can see it in our indignation at the lack of respect we are shown by our loved ones. We are constantly reminded that our only hope is in Him as we interact with our assorted family members. 
He is able to burn through those elements of this world which attempt to infest and choke a marriage. He supplies the grace and the patience and the longsuffering to deal with the onslaught of the power of this age against our children and our siblings. Through it all, He supplies the grace to see, not the circumstances, but the Love with which we and our family are being held. That is the truth of what is happening in our families. We are being brought to the point of looking beyond our place, beyond our limited abilities, and beyond our faulty understanding, to Him. We are being brought to that point where we completely give up and ask Him to prove Himself. We cannot fix any situation. We cannot change any heart. We cannot sooth over any ill feelings. We can only love and love and love again through Christ, the source of God’s grace. Thankfully, His grace has no measure, as the song declares, His mercy no end. His love has no boundary known unto man. For out of the infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and He giveth and He giveth again. 
We must deal with others, as He so lovingly deals with us. It must always be out of the infinite riches of Christ. When we can live in that constant certainty of His love in Christ, then we can see the Lord dealing in our lives. And it is not only in our lives, but in the lives of our loved ones. With Him in view, we are not discouraged, not downtrodden, and not melancholy. Neither will we be infuriated, hurt, or disappointed in the life that we live, or in the lives that we see momentarily evidenced in our family members. Rather, we will rejoice in our tribulations and strife because we will not be focusing on the dower aspects of the death of self. We will be attentive to the joy that is proven in His fullness. We will know the need for self to be put to death that Christ can reign eternally in the full testimony of all our loved ones in Him. 
1 John 3:16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Let us not forget to mention our fellow believers in Christ. Of course, we consider them in the terms of our family, but still, we seem to find many elements of their lives as less than pleasing to our ideals. We consider them outside the image of our concepts of what a Christian should be. We tend to be very judgmental. We seem to sometimes lack the patience and the knowledge that they, too, belong to the Lord. At times, it is in the avenue of their not being holy enough to associate with us. Sometimes it is in the realm of their being too snooty or too spiritual for our tastes. Whatever the vision that we use to classify our fellow believers, we are wrong. We need to be put under the Hand of God’s righteous dealings if we look at them in any manner other than as God sees them. When He looks at them, at us, at His Church, He sees Jesus Christ. He rejoices in the Love that His Son is in our beings. As such, we should also rejoice in the truth that each one of us is a fellow partaker of Jesus Christ. That alone should be the revelation in our spirits as we rejoice that God has joined us lovingly together in Him. 
Let us encourage, rather than disparage one another. Let our hearts be filled with the admonition to one another that Paul had for Timothy in 2 Tim 2:1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. It is the Love of God that constrains us to be a living witness and the encouragement to one another of the full measure of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Are we ready to lay down our lives for our brethren as Christ did for us? Are we willing to set aside our self-desires in order to be of service to one another? That can be the greatest tribulation of all, you know. It is not the persecution from the world that is the most severe test of the Love of Christ in us. It is the measure of Christ evidenced in our family relationships and in our dealings with one another that is the most strained and tested. It is here that we will prove the measure of the Love of God that we value in Christ. He will not separate Himself from us, and nothing can remove His love from us. That should be the truth of our lives with each other in Christ Jesus Our Lord, Our Savior, Our All.  
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
I leave you with the benediction of the Holy Spirit in the very last words of scripture, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.