The Great 8: Part Five
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And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Pauls asks, what shall we say to these things and answers with the third unanswerable question, verse 33...
“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?” -
“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?” -
Paul isn’t saying the charges people bring against us don’t have credibility. They do. I often say that when people accuse you, when people judge you, you can boldly say to them, that’s nothing, if you only knew me better, if you only knew me the way my spouse knows me, or the way I know myself, you would have a lot more to bring against me. You can own it when you are charged. That isn’t what Paul is saying. You have to read the next sentence. Verse 33:
“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. -
“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. -
You were justified by the cross. Justified, just as if I had never sinned. And the other side of the coin, just as if I had always obeyed. Who can bring a charge against you? If you are in Christ Jesus, bringing a charge against you is like bringing a charge against Jesus himself. Who will charge him? We were chosen not in ourselves, not because of ourselves, but chosen in Christ, in the obedience of Christ, in the covenant headship of Christ, in the perfection of christ. Jesus has paid in full the price for every believer and has clothed us with his righteousness. The Christian ought to be the freest person on planet Earth because of this.
All Things
Paul doesn’t simply ask, “doesn’t God give you all things?” Because he doesn’t give us everything we want. But Paul asks it in light of eternity, in light of the work of Jesus. The “all things” Paul is talking about is so much infinitely more than the all things that we are talking about. In other words, God will give us whatever ALL THINGS we need to prepare us for heaven to prepare us to be glorified to be with Jesus and like Jesus…to prepare us to be an image of Christ in Heaven. To bring many sons and daughters to glory.
And what are these “all things” ultimately? All things are all the things that Jesus gets, we get. In other words, Paul is saying why are you setting your minds and hearts on such small temporal earthly fleshly things, when God has destined to give us ALL things. No eye has seen no ear has heard neither has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love him.
For in him, in Jesus, all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through him and for him.…if all things were created for Jesus, all things were created for us.
Grand Teton Arrival Point
Paul Dares Us to Bring Tough Questions
Yes, Paul wants to shape how they think about God theologically, but he wants their theology to transform how they live. Paul knows that when he makes big statements like
, all things work together for the good of those who love God and those who are called according to his purpose, that there will be questions. So is called the Great 8 because it is sometimes called the greatest chapter in all the Bible because Paul takes us to the heights of the benefits we have of being in Christ Jesus.
is all about what God does for us, not what we do. It is God who justifies, not us, it is God who adopts, not us, it is God who raises us from death to life, not us.
Paul is writing this book as a letter to the Roman Church, as a sermon to people he will never meet. Paul writes to these Christians in Rome and he says they are famous in all the world for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He isn’t writing to debate theology but to give them high octane gospel fuel that will empower them to heroically face anything in life. He is writing as a pastor concerned for people whose lives would be in danger simply for being a Christian. is called the Great 8 because it is sometimes called the greatest chapter in all the Bible because Paul takes us to the heights of the benefits we have of being in Christ Jesus.
is all about what God does for us, not what we do. It is God who justifies, not us, it is God who adopts, not us, it is God who raises us from death to life, not us.
Paul is writing this book as a letter to the Roman Church, as a sermon to people he will never meet. Paul writes to these Christians in Rome and he says they are famous in all the world for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He isn’t writing to debate theology but to give them high octane gospel fuel that will empower them to heroically face anything in life. He is writing as a pastor concerned for people whose lives would be in danger simply for being a Christian.
Many years ago, our family vacationed in Idaho near the Grand Teton Mountains. After the flight there, we still had a 5 hour van ride to get to the place we were staying…and that van ride was memorable mostly because our daughter Katie screamed the entire time, but there was something else I remember. As you are driving towards the Grand Teton Mountains, there are mountains on either side of the road, and you are in awe of the beauty and majesty and sheer size of these mountains. And you are pointing outside at the sights…you can’t imagine it getting any more majestic and beautiful and awe inspiring. Until it does…
Because just when you think it can’t get any more beautiful, you turn the corner…and you realize up until that point you haven’t yet seen the ACTUAL Grand Teton Mountains…you realize that all the mountains up to that point were just a crescendo leading to a point of arrival.
Because when you turn the corner you begin to experience, not only the surrounding mountain ranges, but the ACTUAL Grand Teton Mountains that tower way above all the rest of the mountains. The sheer majesty and transcendence of the Grand Teton Mountains don’t diminish the surrounding mountain ranges, but you realize they were a great crescendo leading to this arrival point.
In the same way, this morning we are turning the corner in .
What We Have Experienced So Far (Free from Law, Supernatural, Adopted)
We have experienced the surrounding mountain ranges on our way in to the depths of .
And just when we think it can’t possibly get any better, or grander, or bigger, we turn the corner of , and we are confronted with some of the most amazing mind-blowing encouraging and re-assuring statements in all the Bible and is the archway, the entranceway:
We have seen that God graciously offers to us a second way of living…living supernaturally in our day to day lives, instead of living by the natural, or living according to the flesh, that old things pass and new things come.
We see another glorious mountain range that we are adopted into God’s family and that everything given to Jesus is given to us, that we have a Father to whom we can cry Abba Father, meaning that we can have the most intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father,
And just when we think it can’t possibly get any better, or grander, or bigger, we turn the corner of , and we are confronted with some of the most amazing mind-blowing encouraging and re-assuring statements in all the Bible and is the archway, the entranceway:
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
We Need Peace
When we grasp the towering, majestic promises of this one verse, we will begin to experience something that is so fleeting in this life. Peace.
Chips (not that kind of peace)
Because isn’t that what all of us are longing for? Peace? We are so anxious, so worried, we worry from one thing to the next thing. We try to control situations. We impose our will on challenges. And all the while this perfect peace is available to us, Jesus who IS our peace. Don’t you want peace in your life? In the deep recesses of your heart? In your relationships. When people ask me about Reach Church, one of the words that comes to mind isn’t a word that usually comes to mind when people think about Christians and that word is peace. We have peace here. Because Jesus is here and Jesus is our peace. Nothing But Jesus brings peace. Don’t you want peace with your past, peace with your present, peace with those scary far off things that haven’t yet happened? Everyone wants peace that lasts, not peace that is fleeting.
Paul offers a lasting solution for a lasting peace. A lasting solution for a lasting peace.
A lasting solution for a lasting peace.
Think about your life.
There’s a way that God does it and a reason or goal for why he does it.
ALL THINGS
Notice Paul says ALL THINGS work together. Not some things. Not things we like. ALL things. And that is why this verse can be such a comfort—aren’t you amazed at the people who go through such awful trials, sickness, death, persecution, and yet they have this elusive peace. Why? Because they know God is working all things together for their good.
Not just when the diagnosis is benign but when the diagnosis is malignant. Not just when they get there safely, but when they die in an accident on the way. Not just when you resist temptation, but when you fall into sin. Not just when your faith is strong, but when your faith is weak. ALL THINGS.
But we can secretly doubt this verse as well…because ALL THINGS means ALL THINGS.
Even our own sin. Other people’s sins. Experiences we understand and those things we don’t understand. ALL things is an incredible statement. How could it possibly be true that God uses ALL things when there are so many horrible things that happen not only to us but in the world.
Meaning even our own sin. Other people’s sins. Experiences we understand and those things we don’t understand. ALL things is an incredible statement. How could it possibly be true that God uses ALL things when there are so many horrible things that happen not only to us but in the world.
And many times we misuse this verse to encourage someone who is going through a trial.
All Things aren’t Good: Jesus Wept
Paul doesn’t say that all things that happen to us are GOOD. He doesn’t even say that the things that seem bad in our lives become good. There are bad things that happen that continue to be bad things until the very end.
Because Paul doesn’t say that all things that happen to us are GOOD. He doesn’t even say that the things that seem bad in our lives become good. There are bad things that happen that continue to be bad things until the very end. It’s important to get this point because some of you right now are going through trials that are difficult and things aren’t good:
It’s important to get this point because some of you right now are going through trials that are difficult.
It wasn’t good when a 45 year old mother died of cancer.
It wasn’t good when my brother died in a car accident.
It wasn’t good when your husband walked out on you for another woman.
It isn’t good that you continue to struggle with the same sins.
Failed relationships aren’t good.
A wayward child isn’t a good thing.
Death isn’t good.
Jesus Wept
The shortest verse in the Bible is when Jesus was standing at the tomb of his friend Lazarus and John tells us simply, Jesus wept. If you study that context, you see they were angry tears. Jesus wept because death isn’t good. Job said even though God slays me, even so will I trust and hope in him.
Paul isn’t saying all things are good, Paul is saying that all things, yes, trials will be worked together by God for your supreme good and we will see later that he defines what that good is.
We KNOW
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world.
Jesus says two things: you will suffer, and yet you can have peace in the deep recesses of your heart. It isn’t that you won’t suffer, and it isn’t that the bad things that happen are somehow good things. It is that you can have peace in the suffering and in the bad things.
Promise only for Believers (not Common Grace)
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Paul also doesn’t say that God works all things together for good for everyone. Paul says, God works all things together for the good of who? Of those who love him and those who are called according to his purpose. It is true that God watches over those who love him and those who don’t. Jesus said that God causes rain to fall for the Christian farmer and the non-Christian farmer. That is called common grace. This is something different. Paul is saying that there is a special act of providence, a special way that God works things together for the good, of those who love him.
Paul doesn’t say, I think. He doesn’t say, maybe. He says We KNOW. I am sure. I am certain. Paul has no problem asking questions. Paul has no problem telling us the things we can’t know or don’t know. Paul said earlier there are times we don’t know how to pray. But here Paul says we KNOW with iron clad certainty. It is not maybe, it is not perhaps. We KNOW. I want you to think of the sheer scope of this statement. That we can know that everything that has happened to us is being used by God to works things together for your good. That should give us peace.
If we have those two qualifiers in mind, it is amazing that Paul says God works ALL things together. Not just some things. Not just the easy things. Not just the big things. But ALL things. That is a huge statement that should overwhelm us, but should comfort us.
We KNOW
It is also incredible to see that Paul says in verse 28, we KNOW. He doesn’t say, I think. He doesn’t say, maybe. He says We KNOW. I am sure. I am certain. Paul has no problem asking questions. Paul has no problem telling us the things we can’t know or don’t know. Paul said earlier there are times we don’t know how to pray. But here Paul says we KNOW. I want you to think of the sheer scope of this statement. That everything that has happened is being used by God to works things together for your good.
We don’t always know what God is doing. We don’t always agree with what God is doing. There are things that happen to a child of God that we can’t comprehend in our brains would EVER be worked out for their good. And Paul doesn’t say he is working all things together for our comfort. Or for our joy. Or for our happiness. But for our good.
Paul and Suffering
Paul Speaks From Experience
And Paul isn’t speaking as someone who is out of touch. He isn’t speaking as someone who hasn’t faced severe trials. Paul recounts trials in :
Beaten, Stoned, Shipwrecked
Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
—Three times I was beaten. I know people who were beaten up just once, and their life was permanently changed.
---Paul was stoned. Stoning wasn’t a punishment it was execution. And he survived it. Paul meant it when he said he had battle wounds on his body.
--Imagine being ship wrecked once. He is ship wrecked three times. And one time he is ship wrecked, he is hanging on to the wreckage for dear life. They wash up on a shore. And they are getting warm by the fire and a snake jumps out of the fire and bites Paul. I’d be like. I’m out. These things didn’t happen to Paul before he was a Christian. Before he was a Christian, life was great. He was in a position of power and honor and wealth. He was a leader. These bad things happened to him when he was in the center of God’s will.
The same man who endured these sufferings wrote . Not that some things work together but all things. Paul says, God uses all those things. There wasn’t bitterness. There wasn’t disbelief by Paul. There was a deeper and deeper faith as life kept coming at him in ways none of us can imagine.
Paul says, God uses all those things. There wasn’t bitterness. There wasn’t disbelief by Paul. There was a deeper and deeper faith as life kept coming at him in ways none of us can imagine.
So when Paul says ALL THINGS, he truly means ALL THINGS.
How does God work all things together for the good of those who love him?
First, it starts with God, not us. The best translations start with God. The traditional translation is:
“All things work together for good to them that love God.”
“All things work together for good to them that love God.”
That puts God at the end. The better translation of this verse puts God at the start, because God is the one directing things.
(NASB)
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. - (NASB)
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. - (NASB)
How does God work all things together for our good?
Synergy, Blender and Salt
The meaning of the phrase “works all things together” is the English word synergy. The word synergy means that the parts work together in a way that creates a greater impact, a greater effect than if the parts had remained individual parts. A great staff of people have synergy because when they work together they produce an outcome that is greater than the sum of all the parts. That is the word Paul uses here. That God synergizes all the parts of our lives.
He blends them together. He is like a great blender…a chef will mix different ingredients together that wouldn’t taste good on their own, but they are blended together to create something that tastes wonderful.
Think about salt. Salt is comprised of sodium and chloride. Sodium by itself is poisonous. Chloride by itself is poisonous. But mix them together and you get salt, which brings out the best taste in food. We all need some salt in our diet, in fact, we can’t live without some salt in our systems. God takes bad things, poisonous things, synergizes them together and works even the bad things together for our good.
Think about everything you have gone through in life. The way you were raised. The mistakes you made, the way you grew, the sins no one knows about, the secrets you keep so close.
Joseph
God uses other people’s sins to work things together for our own good. God uses our own sins to work things together for our good. That may be hard to square up with Scripture but think about Joseph. Joseph’s brothers dropped him into a pit because they were jealous of him. He was sold into slavery. Suffered over a decade in prison, being falsely accused, eventually rises to the number two man in all of Egypt. And because of him millions are saved from a famine. That is why Joseph can say,
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
“what man meant for evil, God meant for good.”
God can get someone who doesn’t like you to work things together for your good. That is why the Psalmist said, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. God is always at work. I love that verse in …The Lord will fight for you, all you need to do is be still.
God is Sovereign
In other words, God is on your side. We will see next week the awesome verse that follows, if God is for us, who can be against us? God is in your corner. And God is sovereign. We throw that term around so loosely but think about what it means.
God is not elected.
God is not empowered by anyone.
God is not permitted to do things by anyone. He is not controlled or affected or limited or disadvantaged. God is not dependent on anyone.
God is never diminished. God is never surprised.
God has complete knowledge of the past, the present and the future. God stands outside of time. He doesn’t need to be filled in or brought up to date.
God enters our lives from the future. He knows what you are crying about today and what will make you laugh tomorrow.
God has seen your life. Nothing occurs to God. God isn’t held back by any person or nation in history no matter how power that person is or that nation is. God is the sovereign King above all kings and the sovereign Lord above all lords.
A Specific Good
And this good in is a specific good. It has a specific purpose. It isn’t a vague good. We can know NOW what that supreme good is.
Inifnite complete knowledge. Omniscient. When God writes the book of your life starts with page 1000 and goes backwards. All the days were written before one came to be. God has already seen your life. Nothing occurs to God. He never needs to be filled in brought up to date. He already knows effortlessly all of it present—he enters our lives from the future. He can seem uncaring---he already knows what you are crying about today you will laugh about tomorrow.
And this good in is a specific good. It has a specific purpose. It isn’t a vague good. We can know NOW what that supreme good is.
God used creatures in the scripture…he used a donkey…fish with tax....whale....used a Raven to bring meat to Elijah...
Conform us to the Image of His Son
God makes people do things against their own nature to make things happen.
But to see that good, we have to stand back. What do I mean?
God can get someone who doesn’t like you to help you. To take all things and weave them together for your good. A table of feasting in presence of your enemies. God is not elected or diminished or allowed or permitted, he isn’t held back by any person in history, no matter how powerful a person is, or how powerful a country is.
When you go to an art museum and you see a great painting on a large canvas, if you stand too close, you won’t see the whole canvas. You have to stand back to take in the beauty and to see the whole picture painted.
One of the most taken out of context verses in all of scripture is . I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and give you a future. It becomes a facebook status or a favorite verse because the belief is that everything is going to turn out alright in the end. And things don’t always turn out ok in the end. People die. Children die of cancer. Divorce happens. Relationships fall apart. And in the context of , God had just allowed the catastrophic destruction of Israel to happen in front of their eyes, the Israelites are in bondage thinking they will soon be delivered, Jeremiah tells them forget it, settle in, that they are going to suffer for the rest of their lives, that they won’t be freed, but yet, God is STILL working ALL things for their supreme good.
Conform us to the Image of His Son
The greatest most unjust most evil act in history was the crucifixion of Jesus and yet God used that. God decreed that. God allowed that. God brought beauty out of those ashes and he will do the same for you. You may not see it in the here and now…you may not see it in your lifetime. But he will do it.
So God mixes all of our experiences together for our ultimate good.
But why? Why is it all necessary? What is the purpose? What is the reason?
We will look at this verse a lot more next Sunday, but verse 29 gives us the whole canvas, the whole painting:
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
There it is. God works all of this for our good to conform us to the image of Christ.
There it is. God works all of this for our good to conform us to the image of Christ.
God saves us for the sake of his son Jesus. He saves us because he is forming us through sanctification here on earth to look more and more and more like Jesus. To conform us more and more to the image of Christ. We may never see what the good was of our trials and pains during our lifetime. JS Bach wasn’t very famous during his lifetime. His music was seen as too complex and cerebral. But he kept writing on each composition to God alone be the glory and now that glory is realized every time his works are performed. We may not see the good in our lifetime.
May not Recognize Good
Or at least we may not recognize it…because the good is becoming like Jesus. That’s it. And Jesus is more than enough. And even if we aren’t like Bach and we are forgotten, think about the original recipients of Romans…they were no name Christians who Paul said were famous for the Gospel. Who were they! No one knows, but they were famous for Jesus, for being conformed to his image. Their life story was “preach the gospel, die and be forgotten.” And preaching Jesus was more than enough.
Or at least we may not recognize it…because the good is becoming like Jesus. That’s it. And Jesus is more than enough. And even if we aren’t like Bach and we are forgotten, think about the original recipients of Romans…they were no name Christians who Paul said were famous for the Gospel. Who were they! No one knows, but they were famous for Jesus, for being conformed to his image. Their life story was “preach the gospel, die and be forgotten.” And preaching Jesus was more than enough.
Stand Back: Canvas, Joni
Stand Back: Canvas, Joni
But to see that good, we have to stand back. What do I mean?
When you go to an art museum and you see a great painting on a large canvas, if you stand too close, you won’t see the whole canvas. You have to stand back to take in the beauty and to see the whole picture painted.
Stand back and see the whole canvas. Don’t press your nose up against one little section of the canvas. Stand back and see that the purpose, the good that will come to pass is the glorification of every believer, for the father to have many sons and daughters, for heaven to be populated with creatures everywhere who are a reflection of Jesus. That is the good. Becoming like Jesus.
All things God is working for the good of those who love him. What he purpose will come to pass. The glorification of every believer, to have many Sons, everywhere you look there will be a creature of reflectliom of god man. You are to be confirmed to image of Christ
Joni Erickson, who was paralyzed in a swimming accident when she was 17, said, “God allows what he hates, to accomplish what he loves.” And what he loves is to make us like Jesus.
And God does this through painful trials and experiences.
I have used this illustration before, the greatest pianos are the pianos that are made by hand. That is why hand made pianos each have a character to them that is unique to them. They aren’t mass produced pianos that all sound and play the same way. They are unique. Part of their uniqueness is all the little imperfections along the way because the craftsmen aren’t perfect. When all of the little imperfections come together with the overall design, the result is a piano that plays like no other and sounds like no other.
That is the good. Becoming like Jesus. And God does this through painful trials and experiences.
And God does this through painful trials and experiences.
Michalangelo
Peace.
Michalangelo
One of the greatest artists to ever live was Michelangelo. He was once asked about a statue of King David that he had sculpted. How was he able to sculpt such beauty? And the answer he gave is amazing.
“Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”
-Michelangelo
-Michelangelo
He also said,
“I saw the angel in the marble and I carved and carved until I set him free.”
-Michelangelo
We are a block of stone, and God artistically is chiseling away at that block of stone, until we ultimately are a reflection of Jesus. And it’s painful. God, the Master artist, can take the stains and scars of our life and make them into something for our good and his glory.
God is at work in every situation. God is chiseling away.
Many times God is chiseling away sin. Just when we think we have arrived, God says what about that area of your life? The closer we get to Jesus, the more we see our own sin. Paul said at the end of his life that he was the worst sinner that he knew. At the end of his life. God is chiseling away.
Shall We Go On Sinning?
You may think, if God uses all things to work together for my good, even my own sin, why would I bother with holiness? Why wouldn’t I just keep on sinning if God is going to use my sin for my good? Here is the great paradox…when we sin, a true child of God doesn’t say, I will just keep going on sinning because God is going to use it anyway. A true child of God is grieved by his sin. But then he knows that God is going to pour out grace and chisel away that sin in some way.
Eustace and the Dragon Skin
In CS Lewis’ Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Eustace is a rotten and greedy and self centered little boy who has found himself in the possession of a large fortune. He puts a gold bracelet on his arm and falls asleep and dreams of all the ways he can use his newfound treasure. When he wakes up, he is no longer a boy, but he is now a dragon, which is symbolic for his inner greed and self centerdness. The bracelet he put on his boy arm is now constricting his dragon leg and the pain is searing. Even worse than the physical pain is the pain of realizing he has now been cut off from humanity and he begins to cry large hot dragon tears.
But then the master arrives. Aslan who is the type of Christ in the story. Aslan leads Eustace to a well of water and Eustace knows if he can just get into the water the pain of his leg will be soothed. Aslan says he will need to be undressed first. Eustace remembers that he is a dragon and that his skin are his clothes, so with his new claws he begins to tear away at his dragon skin so he can jump into that water. He peels off one layer only to discover another nasty layer underneath. Then another layer. Then three layers and he realizes he cannot make himself clean, he cannot get rid of his pain and nasty skin.
Aslan says, “you will have to let me undress you.”
So desperate was Eustace, even his fear of Aslan’s claws was not enough to stop him from laying down flat on his back. Laying anxious on the ground, here’s what Eustace felt.
The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. . . .
Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off — just as I thought I’d done it myself the other three times, only they hadn’t hurt — and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me — I didn’t like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I’d no skin on — and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I’d turned into a boy again. . . .
After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me . . . in new clothes.
Clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Back to our original question of peace. Jesus is the lasting solution for a lasting peace because he is our fortress.
Two Ways (not Good for ALL people)
We have said again and again that Paul unpacks two ways throughout . Living by the law of sin and death and living by the spirit of life. Living as an orphan, living as a child. Living supernaturally or living naturally by the flesh.
Living inside the fortress of which is peace, or living outside the fortress of which is war. Because this promise isn’t for everyone. Paul doesn’t say God works all together for all people, he says God works all things together for those who love God and are called. Do you love him? God allows everything into our lives for one of two purposes—either to bring us into a relationship with himself or, if we already know him, to make us more like Jesus.
God is At Work, Jesus as a Carpenter: Makes and Fixes Things
God is at work. Doing what? Verse 29: Conforming us more and more to the image of Jesus. It always comes back to Jesus doesn’t it? Even a passage like which can become one of those vague God passages. A nice social media status that even non Christians can use. The big man upstairs is working it all out—
Even this passage points to Nothing But Jesus. To be conformed to his image. That is our purpose. We talk a lot about Nothing But Jesus around here. We have even said we want to be part of a nothing but Jesus movement. Why? Because Jesus is the goal. And we desperately need a Nothing But Jesus movement. John Wesley said,
“Give me one hundred preachers who fear Nothing But Sin and desire Nothing But Jesus, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen, such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of God upon earth.” -John Wesley
Jesus is the only lasting solution for a lasting peace. Jesus was a carpenter. That means he made things and he fixed things. Jesus is still doing it today.
Jesus said in:
God is soverign is the king of kings and lord of lords and is the soverign over all soverigns.
Piano Illustration
Inifnite complete knowledge. Omniscient. When God writes the book of your life starts with page 1000 and goes backwards. All the days were written before one came to be. God has already seen your life. Nothing occurs to God. He never needs to be filled in brought up to date. He already knows effortlessly all of it present—he enters our lives from the future. He can seem uncaring---he already knows what you are crying about today you will laugh about tomorrow.
I have used this illustration before, the greatest pianos are the pianos that are made by hand. That is why hand made pianos each have a character to them that is unique to them. They aren’t mass produced pianos that all sound and play the same way. They are unique. Part of their uniqueness is all the little imperfections along the way because the craftsmen aren’t perfect. When all of the little imperfections come together with the overall design, the result is a piano that plays like no other and sounds like no other.
Doesn’t minimize pain. Jesus wept.
Jesus is using even all our little imperfections to bring us to completion.
Jesus said in:
All things God is working for the good of those who love him. What he purpose will come to pass. The glorification of every believer, to have many Sons, everywhere you look there will be a creature of reflectliom of god man. You are to be confirmed to image of Christ
Jesus said in:
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Jesus said yes, you will suffer, and yet you can have peace in the deep recesses of your heart.
And eventually, Jesus the great carpenter will make all things new, and this time we won’t be like the piano with lots of imperfections, but we will be with Jesus and like Jesus. That is a lasting peace. That is a lasting solution for a lasting peace.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
For we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love him and those who are called according to his purpose so that we will be conformed to the image of Jesus and so that the church as a visible representation of Christ first and then Heaven will be populated with reflections and the image of Jesus.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose so that we will be conformed to the image of Jesus and so that the church as a visible representation of Christ first and then Heaven will be populated with reflections and the image of Jesus.
For we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love him and those who are called according to his purpose so that we will be conformed to the image of Jesus and so that the church as a visible representation of Christ first and then Heaven will be populated with reflections and the image of Jesus.
Paul also doesn’t say that God works all things together for good for everyone. Paul says, God works all things together for the good of who? Of those who love him and those who are called according to his purpose. It is true that God watches over those who love him and those who don’t. Jesus said that God causes rain to fall for the Christian farmer and the non-Christian farmer. That is called common grace. This is something different. Paul is saying that there is a special act of providence, a special way that God works things together for the good, of those who love him.