In a time when so much in our world seems uncertain, what a glorious privilege it is to read and sing of the security we have in Christ Jesus! He has set us free (Romans 8:2), and nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:39). Therefore, this morning we can sing with confidence that the almighty Lord will shelter us under His wings and gently sustain us (Praise To The Lord, The Almighty). He is our solid rock (My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less), who
“deigns to calls us His beloved” (All For Jesus). The service closes this morning with the great Lenten hymn, Stricken, Smitten, And Afflicted. Based primarily on Isaiah 56, this sorrowful description of the cross concludes with a remarkably hopeful final verse, describing Christ as a “firm foundation” and a “refuge of the lost.” As we live in difficult circumstances, I pray that this hymn will remind us that “none shall ever be confounded who on Him their
hope have built.” —Henry C. Haffner
Key Words: In Christ, Foreknew, Predestined, Called, Justified, Glorified, Love
Keystone Verse: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)
Romans 8:1-4; 28-30; 38-39
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.