Nothing--I SAID NOTHING

Daniel 6:20-23

When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?” Daniel then said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

Romans 8:38-39

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the lion's den
I hope you knew that before you came in
This is where the angels and the devils fight
And their choosing up sides tonight

"Snakedance" By Bob Walkenhorst recorded by The Rainmakers

Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Nothing. In our sin stained world this is a foreign concept. Hopelessness, helplessness, despair are constant companions. But this is not our way. Our hope is in Christ. Our hope is in the resurrection. Our hope is that in all of the plans that men prosecute and execute against one another; in the end God in Christ defeats them.

Jesus the Messiah conquered death. I suspect after that it's smooth sailing.

Now this is the lion's den. We don't don't get tossed into it like Daniel, it's just the state of our affairs. The angels and the devils choose up sides and they're both ready for a fight. If we don't know it's sin that does this in our world we're foolish. We better know what the score is before we take the field.

The most important part of that score though is our hope is in God in Christ who lives and breathes in us. This is the lion's den, but Daniel knew his hope was in the Living God, the God he worshiped under threat of death. The God we worship in the promise of new life. This is our hope. Our hope is that no matter what our fragile human experience may tell us, NOTHING can separate us from the love of God.