Romans 8:28-30

Romans 8:28-30

Right understanding of God, and good

Sovereign

(Omnis)

Sits outside the realm of time

David Psalm 11:3-4

Psalm 139:13-16

Loves us

Isaiah 49:14-18

Hebrews 12:5-11

He is the only one that’s good.

Jesus himself said only God is good

Paul said in Romans 3 that no one does good

Right understanding of what all things means v28

Its not a tally of good and bad things

It’s not bad things happen so that good things can happen

It’s not 1 door closes so another can open

It’s that God uses ALL things, both good, and bad for our ultimate good.

God’s use of bad things

God used the Babylonian and Assyrian empires to inflict judgement on Israel

God used King Cyrus, a king that did not know Him, to rebuild Israel

God does not minimize bad things, or trivialize the pain of them

A lot of us read this and think God is not saying “don’t be sad when bad things happen”. God does not trivialize the pain, the bad things still hurt. Or else He wouldnt have cried with Mary knowing he was about to resurrect Lazarus. He didnt say “don’t cry, don’t you know I’m going to ressurect him for the glory of God”.

This truth is meant to be a comfort in our pain, God is on his throne

For what purpose? V29

So that we may be conformed to the image of His son

When you think of forming, I think of a mould, I think of playdough, but the greek word used is morphe. The idea is that this change is a total morphing, not just external. It starts internally, and it will finish with the external, when we’re rid of our fleshly bodies and we are with Christ again.

But until then theres this tension.

This tension of a work that was started in us, of which the first fruits is the presence of the Holy Spirit, and that ends in our glorification, a glorification so certain that Paul uses past tense to describe it in Romans 8:30

But in between, we’re in this place of hoping for a day without our flesh, but still living with it, constantly putting it to death. and this flesh, its antithetical to the Spirit, its directly opposed to it, Gal 5:17

See our flesh is designed to survive.

As humans we’re hardwired to avoid pain, we have things like pain receptors that send signals to our brain to warn us about pain. As humans our psychology is wired to desire good things, the reward center of our brain releases chemicals when good things happen to reinforce the behaviour so that it may repeat. We are designed to avoid pain and desire good things.

So our flesh desires comfort, and good things. But what is God’s desire for us? Conformity to His son. 1 Thes 4:3 Our Sanctification! And on the path to our sanctification there are both good and bad things, so we CANT be sanctified if we’re lead by our flesh.

This is why Paul said we dont know what to pray for

We pray for the wrong things.

We pray for good things, and good circumstances when God’s view is much highger and His plans much greater than ours. We pray that God grants us the job we want or the partner we want. So often our prayers are us trying to bend God’s will to our own, we say we want God’s will but we come to Him with our minds made up, and not with an open heart seeking His will.

Have you ever had a friend come to you for advice but you can tell theyve already made up their mind.

Gods will for our lives

The ultimate purpose in our lives is to glorify God through becoming more and more like him. Our flesh is not wired that way. Thats why Paul said in Romans 8:14

The rich young ruler

did not know God, he did not know God is good, and he did not know that God loved him. So even what he was asking of Jesus was short sighted, asking eternal life how he may have eternal life. And when Jesus responded it says he walked away in sorrow. And if you think of Jesus’ instructions you might even think they’re harsh, even the disciples thought it was a lot, but the one who asked him to do that, had done the very same thing, leaving His glory, all for the joy set before Him.

That is our purpose, to look like Him. Him who is our example, the very way in which looking like Him is even possible, and our comfort in every circumstance.

,,m,’,m.ll’kkklliloopooò

Who: To those who love God

What: in ALL things, God works for the good, who have been called according to His purpose

We don’t become exempt from the things of this world, we are in this world and there’s no avoiding that.

Where:

When: All the time. In the totality of your life

Why? Because He loves us

So that we may be conformed to the image of His son.

How?

It’s not about better life circumstances, it’s about a better life.

Bad things turn out for good

The good things can never be lost

Glory

Psalm 11:3-4