All Things for Good (2)

Taylor Horton / Suffering

Romans 8:28; Romans 8

We can have hope in our sufferings because God works all things for our good

Introduction

We are told in seminary to quote wise men who have gone before us, so I’m going to start by continuing the echo by saying that I don’t have just one favorite verse. (Pause for possible humor) However, one verse that gives me hope and peace in different circumstances is Romans 8:28. My desire this evening church is to show you from this verse that you can also have hope and peace in your lives. Follow along with me as I read Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28 NKJV

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28 NKJV

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

By itself, that’s a really helpful verse, isn’t it? (Pause) Yes, it is. However, for us to understand this verse, we need to look at the context around it. I really only have two points, but I think that we can dig deep into these two points, but before I move on, there is something from this verse that we need to address.

Look at the end of the verse: to those who are the called according to His purpose. Are you part of the called? (Pause) The reason I ask this question is the same reason that when you go to the DMV to do anything with registering your vehicle or renewing or obtaining your license, they ask you for specific documents. Often, it’s mail with your current address, birth certificate, etc. Before they even get into a conversation about what you’re there for, they ask if you have these certain documents. If you don’t, what do they do? (Pause)They tell you that you need those documents if they are to go any further with you to help you. Without those documents, their help, the benefit that they can offer stops there.

The same principle applies to this verse. It’s for those who love God, and those who are the called. Are you one of the “called out ones?” In short, are you a believer? (Pause) If your answer is “yes”, then rejoice friend. This verse is for you. You have “the documents” to follow the illustration. If your answer is “no”, then the “help” stops here. This verse isn’t for you. Now that sounds depressing but let me point out that it would be unloving for me to walk through this verse and give you false hope. It would be unloving to let you leave here, believing that God is working in your situation in the way that this verse says, but in reality, you’re still under His condemnation. I urge you, to place your faith in Christ. Listen to these verses:

Romans 3:23 NKJV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

This is saying that you’re a sinner. Look at Romans 6:23:

Romans 6:23 NKJV

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You have sin that must be paid for, and Christ paid that price. He became sin so that those who put their faith in Him as Lord, and His resurrection may receive everlasting life as it says in Romans 10:9:

Romans 10:9 NKJV

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

So, if you aren’t a believer, repent today and be saved. Now, to those who are part of “the called,” the reason this verse gives us hope in our sufferings is that it teaches…

No Circumstance is Beyond God’s Purposes

As believers, Paul is saying that all things are being worked together (by God and not some force) for our good. What about terrible circumstances? (Pause) What about the dreaded medical diagnosis? (Pause) What about the death of a child? (Pause) What about financial collapse? (Pause)Does this verse include these circumstances and ones that are even worse? (Pause) Yes. I believe it does. Look at Romans 8:17-18:

Romans 8:17-18 NKJV

and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Skip ahead a few verses to verses 22 and 23:

Romans 8:22-23 NKJV

For we know that the whole creation groans and laborswith birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groans within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

What’s the theme here? Suffer, suffering, groaning, labor, and birth pangs. Why do people groan? (Pause)Because they are in pain. How many moms are here? (Pause) Weren’t you extremely excited for the birth pangs that were set before you? (Pause for humor).

So when we get to verse 28 and Paul says “all things,” surely he could mean everything in the universe and I believe this verse reaches that far, but I also believe that the focus of this verse is on the suffering that Paul was speaking about in the previous verses.

This means that those who are dealing with health issues, broken families, financial fallout, hopelessness, and loneliness, you’re the ones Paul has in mind here.

Please, I don’t want us to miss this. If you’re suffering, this is for you friend. It’s for the child who has abusive parents. It’s for parents who have wayward children. It’s for the person who never had their father in their life. It’s for the Christian who is suffering persecution overseas. If you’re someone who suffers, look at me, this is for you. You!

And you need to understand that no circumstance that you’re in now, that you have been in, or that you will ever find yourself in—regardless of how hopeless and dark it might seem—is beyond God’s scope. This is an ever-present reality for you because you have an ever-present (a better word is omnipresent) God.

And I can prove this to you. What is the greatest evil ever committed in this world? (Pause) The greatest evil ever committed is the innocent Son of God dying at the hands of wicked men. This truly is a tragedy! And yet, in this moment of hopelessness and darkness, as we would perceive it, God used the greatest evil on this planet to bring about the greatest good that this planet has ever seen, which you, believer, have benefitted from, and are benefitting right now from.

If God can use the greatest evil for even your good, then certainly he can use all the other forms of evil that you face for your good as well. And it isn’t that God might do this. The text says that He is doing this, currently. All your sufferings are being worked together by God. None of your circumstances are beyond God’s purposes.

The second reason this verse gives us hope and peace in our sufferings is…

God’s Purposes Have Your Best Interest at Heart

The verse says that all things are worked together for good. Now we have to be careful here. We can easily come to the text with our own definitions of the word “good.” We must align our definitions of words with God’s definitions of words, and this includes the use of the word “good” here in this text. Because if we aren’t careful, we can easily fall into a soft form of a prosperity Gospel.

So, how does God define “good”? Look at Romans 8:29:

Romans 8:29 NKJV

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

The goodness that God is working in all these things is for us to look like Christ. You might ask, “Is looking like Christ really that good?” (Pause)That’s a good question. Let me take it even further. What about the Christian who survived the Holocaust? (Pause)He lost his family, his wife, and his kids. He lost his job, his home, and his health. He watched other people he knew be tortured and killed. He himself was tortured, lived in barbaric camps, and was malnourished. He survives and gets out and must start all over. Am I saying that all of that was meant for him to look like Christ?

Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying, and even more, that he should prefer his current circumstances above a different set of circumstances because looking like Jesus is that amazing. Jesus is that amazing.

If anyone had the power to change their circumstances, it was Jesus, and, get this, He chose not to, because, as the writer of Hebrews attests, Jesus saw the joy set before Him, and endured the cross.[1] He didn’t want a different set of circumstances, but instead, He submitted to the will of the Father because He delights in the Father. His circumstances with the cross brought the most glory to the Father and gave Him the most joy.

This means that the Christian Holocaust survivor shouldn’t want a different set of circumstances because of the joy set before him of enjoying God’s goodness. This means that you, Christian friend, also shouldn’t want a different set of circumstances because of the goodness that God has set before you of being conformed to the image of Christ. This is the goodness of God in your life.

Not only this, but God’s predestination in your life has the ending glory in view. This conforming work that God is doing in you through your current circumstances has its climax on that blessed day when you will be glorified. This is why Paul can say in verse 31:

Romans 8:31 NKJV

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Who can be against us, indeed? God has predestined us to one day be glorified and, in the meantime, He works our sufferings for us to be conformed to the image of His Son because God’s ways are that pleasing.

You might ask, “Taylor, I hear what you’re saying, but what if I don’t see how I am to look like Christ in my current situation?” (Pause)This is a good question. I can relate to this concern. I never knew my dad. I know his name, and some facts that my mom told me, but I don’t know him. He knows I exist. He just didn’t want me. Can I be honest with you? (Pause) I haven’t quite figured out how God will use this for me to look like Christ. Perhaps God means to use it for me to be a loving father to my son. Perhaps. I don’t know how, but I know that He will, and I know this for two reasons:

1. I serve a God who doesn’t lie. He has graciously shown the truth of this verse in my life in other areas. You might be able to look at other circumstances in your life where a seemingly unfavorable circumstance brought about great good in you.

2. God is not merely a spectator in my suffering who stands on the sidelines and watches, untouched by it all. Jesus knew that Lazarus would die and that He would raise him from the dead, yet don’t the Scriptures still say that Jesus wept? We don’t have a High Priest who is distant from us, says the author of Hebrews, but who understands our suffering. Our suffering is understood by our Savior, and it has a purpose.

This is how I can rest my head on my pillow at night. This is how you can rest your head on your pillow at night. The suffering that will most likely still be there in the morning isn’t pointless and it’s understood by God.

If you’re going through a trial right now, go home tonight and meditate on this passage and this verse. Write it on a piece of paper and stare at it. Let your thoughts be full of it. Fill your prayers with it. If you’re counseling someone who is suffering, bring this verse into the counseling room. Let them hear it often because it takes time for this verse to sink in for some of us. And when you dwell on this passage, friend, let your response be the same as Paul’s in verses 37-39

Romans 8:37-39 NKJV

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39nor 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.

There is hope for you, friend. We can have hope and peace in our sufferings because God works all things for our good.

I think that Cityalight captured this truth quite well:

“Christ the sure and steady Anchor In the fury of the storm When the winds of doubt blow through me And my sails have all been torn In the suffering, in the sorrow When my sinking hopes are few I will hold fast to the Anchor It shall never be removed”

When your sails have all been torn. When your sinking hopes are few. In your suffering and in your sorrow, look to Christ. God has decreed these things to be so that you may be conformed to the image of Christ for the glory of the Lord. He loves you so. Keep your focus on Him.

[1]Heb. 12:2