For Good
There are a few verses in Scripture that seem to stand out in the collective consciousness of modern American Christianity. One of those is certainly Romans 8:28 – “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” Many of us know this verse by heart and have drawn great encouragement from it in times when the purposes of God seem hidden from us. Many of us have also probably seen this verse used out of context and either had to explain or have been very tempted to explain the fact that no, that doesn’t mean that life is always sunshine and rainbows when you’re a Christian. The point of this verse (and the wider passage in which it is found) is not that you will have no bad experiences or treatment in your life, but that God can even use the bad experiences and treatment to create good things and accomplish His will.
I recently rediscovered an outline of this verse by my friend and mentor, Mr. Clarence DeLoach, who breaks down the verse by phrases:
● “And we know” – the Certainty of God’s promises – We don’t just “think” or “wish” for God’s promise to be true; we know it!
● “that for those who love God” – the Condition of God’s promises – God’s promise to work things together for good is made to those who love and pursue Him in faith (compare Hebrews 11:6).
● “all things work together for good” – the Comfort of God’s promises – God’s comfort is not in the removal of evil but in His promise to transform even the evil of this life into His goodness which points us towards the next.
● “for those who are called according to His purpose” – the Comprehensiveness of God’s promises – All things are subject to the purposes of God, including all of our lives when we respond to His call in the Gospel.
One of the activities that our youth group has engaged in this summer has been a regular Bible study over coffee every other week. We call these our Q&A sessions because the main focus of the studies is to answer whatever questions the participants come with each time we meet. We’ve been able to dig deep into the word as a group and have come away with a few “I don’t knows” but several more questions answered and lessons learned. At our last study, this verse was brought up, as was the outline above. As we wrapped up the discussion of Romans 8:28, one of our younger members spoke up and said, “Wow, God really does love us, huh?”
Yes. Yes He does.
If only we could remember that! How much easier would it be to live in the perfect peace of God if we remembered His constant care and use of our circumstances to bring about His goodness? How much more vibrant would our congregations be if we weren’t as nervous to explore new ideas, try new things, and see how God used even our imperfect searching for Him to bring about His goodness? How much better would our communities and nations and world be if we stopped thinking about the what ifs of evangelism, realizing that all of those what ifs end with God bringing about His goodness?
The crux of the Gospel is – it must be – that God loves us very, very much. As such, the crux of our response to the Gospel is – it must be – that God loves us very, very much, and that we are seeking, imperfectly but boldly, to live in the comfort and the confidence of His love. Pray to Him and tell Him things about your life that you haven’t before. Try doing something to encourage your brethren and your community that you haven’t before. Share the Gospel with someone you haven’t before, in a way that you haven’t before, and with a joy that you haven’t before. God is with you, church! The God who binds the brokenhearted, who brings light out of darkness, has called you to work according to His purpose. Search for Him in faith and allow Him to use your life – all of your life- to bring about His goodness. It is when we search for Him that we will find Him, and it is in finding Him that we come to know that He loves us very, very much – for good.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” ~ Romans 8:31-32
AUTHOR: Luke Tatum
