GOD WORKS FOR OUR GOOD (2)

“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        

There is a New Testament dimension to the truth that GOD WORKS for OUR GOOD: “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” (Rom.8:28). This assurance of God’s care for His own was written to the Christians living in extreme persecution in the city of ancient Rome. For New Covenant Believers, if we abide in God and continue to recognize His sacrificial love that Jesus, His Son, poured out on us, we can rest assured our purpose is secure in Him. ALL THINGS that happen can work together for our good. God lavished us with His love by giving up His Son, for us to live eternally with Him: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (v.32).

These assertions of assurance are specifically directed to Believers in Christ. God rules over everything and everyone – believers and unbelievers – but His oversight is different for Believers, to whom His providence works “for good.” For those “who love God,” all things are directed to achieve “good.” The promise is given for those who are “called” by God into fellowship with Jesus Christ. Writing to the Corinthians, Paul addressed them as “the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, CALLED to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours” (1Cor.1:2). That’s the primary call of every Believer!

John Piper wrote in his book, Future Grace:

“Nothing can blow you over when you are inside the walls of Romans 8:28. Outside of Romans 8:28 all is confusion and anxiety and fear and uncertainty. If you live inside this massive promise, your life is more solid and stable than Mount Everest. Outside this promise of all-encompassing future grace there are straw houses of drugs and alcohol and numbing TV and dozens of futile diversions. There are slat walls and tin roofs of fragile investment strategies and fleeting insurance coverage and trivial retirement plans. There are cardboard fortifications of deadbolt locks and alarm systems and antiballistic missiles. Outside are a thousand substitutes for Romans 8:28.”

"Once you walk through the door of love into the massive unshakable structure of Romans 8:28 everything changes. There come into your life stability and depth and freedom. You simply can't be blown over anymore. The confidence that a sovereign God governs for your good all the pain and all the pleasure that you will ever experience is an incomparable refuge and security and hope and power in your life."

This promise is true for “all things”! Paul was not suggesting that bad things don’t happen to Believers. He could not have meant so, given the context of trials and tribulations that Christians were to expect. If bad things happen to Believers, then, what exactly is the “good” that Paul had in mind? The text provides the answer: conformity to the image of Jesus (v.29). God is determined to make us like His Son; so He providentially decides that all things work toward this end. That’s the ultimate in His “Goodness”! God is not only concerned about the Big Picture; His providence governs the details – the smallest, most incidental events, such as the death of sparrows and hair loss (Mt.10:29). Everything, in all its exquisite and intricate detail – things that others may consider trivial but are important to us – is governed by God’s overruling Hand!

However tough the times may be, we should remember that God is good no matter the temporal outcome. Our purpose is not primarily for this world but in God. If we remain in His love, and keep the End in view, then we know that all things will work for our good: “Mark the perfect man; and behold the upright; for the END of that man is peace” (Psa.37:37 kjv).