I Can Do All Things

“I Can Do All Things” Romans 8:28-29 6-23-2019 Romans Sunday School Good morning. Today we are going to do something a little different. Instead of going forward in Romans, especially chapter 8 as we have been doing for the past while, we are going to go back a few verses. So, you all can go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 8, this morning we are going to be focused on verse 28, and then also look at the surrounding verses just for a little bit of context. In order to help us understand verse 28 a little more. “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.” Romans 8:28-30 This is favorite verse with many Christians, maybe over all one of the most popular verses from Romans. This verse is used to seemingly assure the believer that no matter what happens, God can take it and maybe in a sense turn it and use it for good. That no matter what bad thing happens to us or our loved ones, God is just waiting up there to counterbalance that bad thing that happened and make everything all sunshine and fresh air again. That maybe, hey you had a friend that was in a car wreck, but then they witnessed to the nurse. So overall while the wreck was bad, God took it and turned it for good again, and hey everything is cool and great again. Or this quote from an article about Simone Biles, the most decorated Olympic woman’s gymnast in history. The author was writing a devotion for athletes, and talking about all the hardships in young Simone’s life, how her mother was a drug addict, and as a result, young Simone and her siblings were put in the foster care system for years until their grandparents took them in to live. He said “There is no doubt that God’s hand has been on the life of Simone, and he turned significant adversity, significant brokenness, into significant good” Roland Mechler. But is that really the proper interpretation of this verse? That God is a reactive God and not a proactive God? That instead of starting or orchestrating, He is just having to turn things for good? When you actually look at it, you might start to see that what is really happening is that God from this verse is being seen as reactive, in other words reacting to what went wrong and not orchestrating or allowing it. Almost like one is saying, “God I know you are powerful, and strong, however maybe not quite strong to be totally in charge, but its ok, because once the bad thing happens that You couldn’t quite stop, You come along and make everything alright again.” This sounds kind of bad view, but really this is what we are saying when just randomly slap this verse, Romans 8:28 on anything that happens in our life cavalierly, without really studying it and knowing what it really is talking about. And this is what I want to do in the little bit of time that we have left. Look more into what this verse is actually talking about, and how that might change its application, and how it might even require a change in mind set on our part. So the first part of the verse talks about “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God.” First off then what is this good that the verse talks about? Is it just my everyday happiness or pleasure? A sort of if I’m not happy God will turn everything out to be ok? This is a incorrect belief. Both because it is a very self-centered belief, that’s God’s job is to serve me, to make me happy, and second of all because in verse 29, we see what “good” that verse 28 is talking about. In verse 29, Paul says, “For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.” With the key being “conformed to the image of His Son.” That is the ultimate good, that is what verse 28 is talking about when it talks about all things working for the good of those who love God. That all things are working or being worked to bring those who love God into greater conformity with Him Son. In Colossians 3:10, after the author gives a list of what a Christian should be putting to death; such as wrath, lying, and sexual immorality for in doing so he says that you are being renewed in “knowledge according to the image of your Creator” or really being brought into greater conformity with Him. Verse 28 then goes on “For the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.” Or in other words, everything is working together to bring those into greater conformity those who love God and are called according to His purpose. And what then is Gods purpose? 1 Timothy 2:4 says God “wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” If we then put all this together, we can read or see it almost like this. “we know all things work together to bring into greater conformity with Christ those who love God, and have been saved and called according to Him.” This makes it less about me and my personal satisfaction, and more about God and His glory, and making Himself more known. With all this in mind it can be easier maybe in a sense to view some of the things that happen in everyday life that might not exactly thrill one. That is, God is not being like “oops, I didn’t see that bad thing coming, I better turn it and use it for good.” Instead He is allowing these evil or bad things to happen with full knowledge on His part, not for the immediate pain that it might cause one, but so that through all of what happens, one can hopefully learn and grow in Christ and ultimately be brought into greater conformity with His Son. If one holds to more of this view, then when, not “if” something bad happens, you don’t have to spend all your time and might trying to find the good in something. And if you do not find the good, to then give up one’s hope and trust in God. But then when something happens, it becomes more about how you, how I can be brought into greater conformity with Christ likeness because of what happened. http://www.athletesdevotional.com/2018/02/03/god-works-for-the-good/