The joy and sorrow of Christ

Romans 9:1-2 I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. After writing one of the greatest declarations about the love of God in the entire Bible, this verse seems like an invasive jolt. He had just said that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, which you would think would fill him with ecstatic joy in his heart, and instead he immediately felt compelled to express sorrow and unceasing grief. Is that possible? Is it possible to be glorying in the love of God and at the same time experience sorrow and grief? Paul must have thought his readers would have the same question so he assured them of this reality by a positive and a negative assertion. What he’s about to say as the source of his sorrow and grief is the truth and is not a lie. He went even further to say that it’s the truth “in Christ.” Meaning, Jesus, who searches his heart (remember vs. 27) knows that this conflict is in Paul, and in fact, I suggest, he was saying the sorrow and grief he feels in his heart is actually the sorrow and grief of Jesus. And even more, the Holy Spirit agrees with Paul that it is the sorrow and grief of Jesus. We will learn what the source of this sorrow and grief is tomorrow in vss. 3-5. But for today let us be encouraged by this: One of the greatest evidences of the love of Christ within is that it produces great sorrow and unceasing grief for those we love who are separated from God. When we know of friends and family members who are blinded to the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus and who are slaves of unbelief and idolatry, we can’t help but feel deeply what lies before them on that day when we will be finally completed and glorified. Today, as we live to love with Jesus, expect in this world, to experience both the joy of Jesus and the grief and sorrow of Jesus for those He puts in your path. We learn from this verse also that we should not be ashamed to express both as the Lord manifests them to and in us. That’s why I say we are living to love with Jesus. We are not generating the love, we are experiencing and expressing His love. We simply receive what we are given. This verse gives us freedom to be real with what we are experiencing of the love of Christ in our hearts. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com