God works everything for good

Standing at the start of a new year and thinking about what this year will hold can be very daunting because we don’t know.

But wouldn’t it be a great comfort if you belonged to a good God who did know everything, who was in control of everything and who was said he will work everything you experience for your good.

If you knew that was true it would bring peace and calm assurance to your mind as you contemplate what the future might hold.

The good news is our passage this evening tells us that this is true for every Christian. one of the best ways to begin 2023 is to have a firm grasp of the truth contained in v.28, and then to keep coming back to it again and again.

In order to do that I want us to thing a little bit about v.28 and then ask 2 questions of the verse that we will answer using the two verses that follow.

I. God works everything for good. v.28

We know God works everything for good.

a) God works all things for good

God who is infinite in power, goodness, love, wisdom.

God who has made us his children.

b) All things for good-

All means all. Every thing you experience.

The context gives the focus of suffering.

Physical suffering- illness, pain, age

mental suffering- worry, depression

spiritual suffering- doubts, temptations

This does not mean that God is the author of our suffering but that He overrules it and uses it for good and loving purposes.

c) Who does he do this for?

Two descriptions- What they do, what God has done

-For those who love him-

Believers.

This is not true of everybody.

-For those who are called, according to his purpose.

Effectually called. It is because of this calling that they love him. We love him because he first loved us.

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Whatever you experience as a Christian God in his love makes it work for your good.

Ultimately what ever God has ordained for us this year we know good will come from it. We have a loving God who is in control and wants the best for us.

This hope and comfort is for the believer, the unbeliever cannot claim this comfort. With out Christ the truth s everything is working for you ultimate ruin.

II. What is the good? v.29-30

-Temporal good

earthly

spiritual

-Our greatest good.

Romans 8:29,30- Conformity to Christ- Our greatest good

v.18 this will be so great our present sufferings cannot compare to it.

V.30 glorification

Partakers of the new creation- Where God dwells with his people and nothing sinful or painful is there.

glorified bodies- free from sin, free from weakness, able to love God more fully.

Made like Christ

Everything we experience, the whole trajectory of our lives are heading to this.

-The greatest good v.29

That Christ might be the Firstborn among many brothers. The glory of Christ is the greatest good.

Shorter Catechism Q1

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As Christians we know none of our suffering is meaningless but all of it is used by God and orchestrated by him to bring about our greatest good, and his greatest glory.

III. How do we know? v.29-30

a) God’s predestination.

v.29 The foreknown are predestined to conformity to Christ.

Foreknew- Fore-loved not foreseen faith.

1- People not facts- whom

2- It distinguishes- Amos 3:2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth. Word YDH. NIV translates chosen.

3- God’s foreknowledge is not passive- God is not a bystander who watches history unfold like a TV.

4- God’s election always precedes faith- Acts 13:48 “ Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.”

Predestined- God has predetermined what will happen to them. God has willed it before we were created. It is certain. God has decreed it.

God does not change so his plan does not change. God is infinite in knowledge and wisdom. This means he doesn’t change his mind. There are no plan b’s in heaven.

God has predestined our conformity to Christ.

b) God’s saving purpose v.30

Called- effectively called.

It cannot be a call that everyone receives as not everyone is justified.

Justified- declared righteous because of the imputed righteousness of Christ

Glorified- Made like Jesus

All in the aorist- past tense.

Our glorification is still future but in the mind of God it has already happened because he has willed it and it is certain.

If you have been called and justified you will be glorified and everything you experience is working towards that goal.

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What certainty we can have in times of difficulty.

Conclusion

This brings us back to where we started. We know (Because of God’s predestination) all things work together for good (our ultimate good, everything is being orchestrated by God to bring about our glorification.)

What will this year hold?

No doubt there will be a lot of joy in this year, lots of good times. But there will also be times of difficulty.

Whatever we face we can do so knowing our God will work all things together for our good, that is our ultimate good.