The Good Life

Introduction

I hope you have had a great week of camp. It is pretty hard to believe that this is our last full day together. With that in mind, all of you will be going back home tomorrow. You will be going home to whatever place you came from. When you arrive, the problems that existed before will still be around. Things will not be exactly as they were here at camp and so I want to leave you with some parting advice from the Bible to help you pursue the good life that God has planned for you.

Because...

God wants us to have the good life

is one of my favorite chapters of the Bible, there is so much good stuff to read out of here, but we are going to focus on just 3 verses. Let’s start with Romans 8:28..

1. Trust Jesus as Savior and love Him only. -

Here, the verse says that all things work together for good for certain people. All things do not work out for good for those who do not love God and for those who do not know Jesus as their Savior.

I know some of you are working through some really tough questions related to your belief in God, your belief in Jesus taking your place. You are struggling with what the Bible calls faith.

Illustration: Putting faith in a chair

Some of you might be questioning your salvation today. You might be thinking, “am I truly saved?” One of the best ways to tell is if you love God. If you have trusted Him for your salvation, then some other truths in make a lot more sense if we also love Him.

Romans 8:7–8 ESV

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

These verses describe how we are before trusting Christ and we go from hostile enemies to children of God.

Romans 8:15 ESV

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

This verse tells us that we can cry out Abba! Father! to God. That’s a very close and intimate name that a child called their dad. We have that kind of relationship with God now and it is only something that someone who truly loved God would want to call Him.

Romans 8:18 ESV

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

tells us that the suffering in this life is not even comparable to the life to come that is found in Jesus. No one in their right mind would ever say something like that unless they loved God.

So, our trust in Jesus as Savior, and our love for God are linked very closely.

There are some people out there that will tell you to give God first place in your life. I am telling you this, “Give God only place” in your life. A love for God should describe who you are everywhere, not just at church and camp.

2. Live like Jesus. - v. 29

Verse 29 gives us the purpose that God has in mind when He is working all things together for good. The purpose is that we would become like Jesus.

God has given us some special ways that that can happen. You are holding one of them right now.

The Bible is there to help you to become like Jesus. The second way that God makes you more like Jesus is through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit resides inside every believer. The Holy Spirit uses the Bible to convict you and convince you to live differently than you are. I have said it to my youth group a million times, but this book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book. The reason that is true is because the Spirit uses the Word of God to change you, if there is less Bible, there is often less Spirit control since they work hand in hand.

The third way that God gives us to become more like Jesus is the people of God. I told you before about the challenges I went through when I was younger. If it was not for the church and some people that cared for me there, I have no idea where I would be today. God uses His people to draw us closer to Himself.

So, the Word of God, used in the power of the Spirit of God mold us into the Son of God as we are encouraged by the people of God, all for the glory of God.

So, as you go home, I would encourage you to take that 20/20 challenge seriously. Start asking the Holy Spirit to help you understand what you are reading when you do, and get plugged into a local church to help you as you go from this place.

3. Have confidence in what God has done for you. - v. 30

The last point is found in verse 30. We need to have confidence in what God has done for us. I mentioned earlier that some of you may be doubting your salvation. If you know Jesus as your Savior, there is no running away from His arms.

Romans 8:38–39 ESV

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, you are as good as glorified and in the presence of God now, at least that’s the way that God sees us. He sees us through the lens of Jesus and what He has done. We are seen just as if we have never sinned and just as if we always obeyed. That’s how God looks at you now if you are a believer.

The Example of Joseph

Genesis 50:20 ESV

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.

Joseph had a rough life, but God used it for good. Some of you might be thinking right now that your life is not really “good” so how can God say that it is good. Well, let me share an illustration that helped me understand what our passage in Romans is talking about.

Application

Baking a cake