Good morning, church.
In September 1541, after having been expelled from the city three years earlier, John Calvin
was asked to return to Geneva.
And on that first Sunday, back in the pulpit of St. Peter's, what do you think John Calvin
did amidst this city that had sent him away and now begged for him to come back to fix
all their problems?
It would have been a great opportunity for Calvin to score some points, wouldn't it have been?
You foolish Genevans, how dare you send me away and now grovel at my feet?
That's exactly what Calvin didn't do.
Instead, he picked up his public preaching ministry exactly where he had left off three
years earlier.
He had been preaching through the Psalms, and when he got back in the pulpit, he picked up
right in the next verse as if nothing had ever happened.
As if to show that he saw that there was nothing more important than his task of feeding God's
people from God's Word.
Today, as we've been saying, is the Sunday when churches all around the world are celebrating
the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
And among many things, the Reformation was a recovery of the Word of God.
So, in honor of the Reformation, we're going to follow John Calvin's lead this morning,
and we're just going to pick up with the next verse that we've been preaching through.
We're in Romans 8, and we're going to trust that God's Word is going to do His work.
Today, we come to Romans chapter 8, verse 28.
That's page 944 in the Pew Bible.
Romans 8, verse 28, page 944.
And I'm going to read this verse in its broader context, starting actually in verse 16 and
ending in verse 30, so we can really catch the scope of what Paul is saying here.
So, Romans 8, let's start in verse 16.
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children,
then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in
order that we may also be glorified with Him.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the
glory that is to be revealed to us.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected
it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and
obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until
now.
And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
For in this hope we were saved.
The hope that is seen is not hope.
For who hopes for what he sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with
groanings too deep for words.
And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes
for the saints according to the will of God.
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 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.
And those whom He predestined, He also called.
And those whom He called, He also justified.
And those whom He justified, He also glorified.
Let's pray together.
Father, we ask that You would give us, by Your Holy Spirit, hearts, ears, eyes, to see and
hear and to know what You are speaking to us through Your Word.
Amen.
Oh God, we pray that Your purposes would be accomplished in our time together this morning.
For Christ's sake, amen.
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've been seeing in the previous weeks that this whole section of Romans 8 that we just
read is meant to give us courage and confidence in the face of suffering.
Looking over this passage, we can see that Paul has shown us our future hope in verses
18 through 24.
The creation set free from its bondage to decay and made new.
Our own bodies set free from groaning in the resurrection.
And then last week, we saw that the groaning of creation and the groaning of our bodies is known
even to God as the Holy Spirit groans within us as He right now intercedes for us.
But here in verse 28, Paul moves from this inward work of the Holy Spirit within us outward
to the work of God right now in all things around us.
And we know, Paul says in verse 28, which is what he also said back in verse 22.
Did you catch that as we read it?
Verse 22 says,
For we know that the whole creation is groaning in the pains of childbirth.
We know creation is groaning and we are groaning within it.
But here in verse 28, we know something in addition to that, Paul says.
We know not just that creation is groaning, but that for those who love God, who are called
according to His purpose, we know all things work together for good.
Friends, here is a promise that for countless generations, the church has clung to and found
to be true.
And here is a promise that if you and I can grasp it and internalize it and cling to it,
it will be a comfort and a security and a foundation that will give us the greatest courage and confidence
through the darkest moments, through the deepest groanings.
How merciful is God to give us His Word, knowing that we need confidence and we need comfort.
And here this promise is given to us to do just that.
So to help us grasp, to help us internalize this promise this morning, what I want to do is unpack this promise
in sort of three steps.
So I want to take three angles on this promise in verse 28, and then we're going to conclude
by considering who this promise is for.
So first then, let's look at this promise.
What is it that we know here in verse 28?
What do we know that will give us such a security, such a ballast for life in this groaning creation?
First thing is that this promise says that it is God who works all things together for good.
We can know that God is at work no matter what circumstances we face.
Now, if you look again at the verse, you'll see that it literally says all things work together for good.
So you might think I'm sort of twisting Scripture right now by telling you that it's God who works all things.
But what does Paul actually mean here?
Does he mean that the events of your life just somehow in and of themselves magically happen to work together for good?
That the universe is conspiring for your happiness?
No.
It's quite clear for Paul, as for the rest of the Bible, that God is the one who is the real subject here.
In fact, if you look at the footnote in the ESV, or if you have the NIV, if you're reading that,
you'll see that some manuscripts and some translators have made what's implicit explicit.
It's God who is at work.
All things work together for good because God works them that way.
You see, there is a very personal, purposeful, passionate God at work in all things.
And contrary to popular spirituality, when you want something,
all the universe is not conspiring in helping you to achieve it.
No, what do we know?
We know that the creation is groaning.
It's eagerly longing to be set free from its bondage to corruption.
But in the midst of that groaning, God is at work.
He is not some far-off watchmaker who set the wheels of the universe spinning like some great machine
and now just watches it from a distance, uninvolved, detached.
No, what this verse is telling us is that God is intimately, actively, continuously at work.
One of the most enduring statements of faith to come out of the Reformation was the Heidelberg Catechism
written in 1563.
And this is how it speaks of this reality, this reality of God's providence.
Verse 27 of the Heidelberg Catechism says this,
what do you understand by the providence of God?
You have to love catechisms.
They ask these just simple questions, you know,
well, what's the providence of God?
Go, answer.
Well, thankfully, it gives us the answer because it's a catechism.
What do you understand by the providence of God?
And the answer is this.
It's the almighty and ever-present power of God by which God upholds, as with His hand,
heaven and earth and all creatures.
And so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years,
food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty,
all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but by His fatherly hand.
For my money, that's one of the most beautiful definitions of God's providence I've ever read.
Not by chance but by His fatherly hand.
You know, we may not ever know why, exactly, in the moment,
God allows certain things to happen in our lives.
Why this chronic sickness?
Why this hardship in my marriage?
Why this particular dream I've had has been shattered?
And the temptation is to think in those moments that God has abandoned you,
that it's all meaningless, that there's no purpose and there's no plan.
But our verse this morning stands as a bulwark against that particular form of unbelief,
saying that even though we may not know exactly why some things happen,
we can know that God is still at work,
that His fatherly hand is not tied behind His back,
that God is still the Almighty Creator and Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth,
that God has a purpose for our good,
even when we can't see it.
This is the first thing we know,
according to this promise, that God is at work.
Second, we know that God works all things together for our good.
Now stop for a moment and let that sink in.
All things.
In the 17th century, an English pastor named Thomas Watson
wrote an entire book on Romans 8.28,
the way only 17th century Puritans can do.
And he called that book a divine cordial.
Now it's usually published under the title,
All Things for Good.
And the first chapter in Watson's book is titled,
The Best Things Work for Good to the Godly.
Friends, have you considered for starters
that all things means all the good things in your life?
We often just take those things for granted.
Or we give ourselves the credit.
Or we just assume that that's how the world is supposed to work.
That's actually not the case.
Yes, this world was created very good.
But when sin entered the world,
creation was subjected to futility,
as verse 20 reminds us.
We Christians should not expect
that the world is going to be a nice, comfortable place.
So when events or circumstances happen to fall out beneficially for us,
even something as mundane as getting a regular paycheck
or having a church family to be a part of,
we must remember
that these are gifts of God's grace,
that God is at work to bring about these things.
These are not things we should take for granted
or give ourselves the credit for.
Instead, we should be responding with gratitude and joy to God.
But of course, all things includes not just the good circumstances,
but the bad as well.
Now, right up front, we have to be careful here.
You'll notice that Paul is not saying
that at the end of the day,
all things are good.
That's not what he's saying.
No, no.
Evil is still evil.
Injustice is still injustice.
Suffering is still suffering.
Sin is still sin.
All things are definitely in and of themselves not good.
But God in His infinite wisdom, power, and grace
works all things for good.
So we're not meant to take some weird pleasure in suffering
as if it's a good thing in and of itself.
We are meant to weep with those who weep
as well as rejoice with those who rejoice.
We're not supposed to run to suffering headlong
as if it's not really suffering,
and nor should we minimize the suffering of others,
perhaps by quoting this verse to them.
However, what this promise enables us to do
is to have courage and confidence
in the face of suffering when it comes.
We don't have to despair,
thinking that all is lost.
And we don't have to try to avoid suffering at all costs.
Rather, we can stand firm,
knowing that no matter what comes,
it can't ultimately thwart God's good purposes for me.
And in fact, this verse is saying something
even stronger than that, isn't it?
It's saying not just that suffering and hardship
can't thwart God's good purposes for me,
but that God will work even in my suffering
for my good.
He will take it up into His fatherly hands
and bring about my ultimate good.
The great Old Testament example of this
is Joseph in Genesis chapter 50.
If you remember that story,
you remember that his brothers sold him into slavery
out of jealousy and hatred,
leaving him functionally for dead.
And yet years later,
Joseph being reunited to his brothers
can say,
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.
Because Joseph ended up in Egypt
through his brother's cruelty,
he was able to rise to a position of authority
in the Egyptian empire
and preserve his family along with many others
from a devastating international famine.
And in preserving his family,
he preserves the promise of Abraham
that one day God would send a Savior for us all.
His brothers intended it for evil,
God meant it for good.
God works all things together for good,
the good and the bad events in our life.
That's the second thing we know according to this promise.
The third thing is this,
that God works all things together
for our good.
God isn't just at work in all things,
He's at work for our good.
But here we need to stop and ask,
what exactly do we mean by good?
Because we are very prone to define what's good
in very short-sighted ways.
Physical health,
financial well-being,
maybe relational fulfillment.
But how does God define what's good?
What is the ultimate and lasting good
to which He's taking us?
Well, verses 29 through 30 answer that question.
Did you catch it?
And at the center of those verses
is this,
conformity to the image of His Son.
The good that God will bend
heaven and earth to achieve,
the good towards which God
is providentially working
every good and bad thing in your life,
the good that expresses
His eternal purpose for you,
expressed and unfolded and revealed
in time and history is this,
that you would be conformed
to the image of His Son.
Now, if we put this in the context
of all of Romans,
this is what we see.
What does Romans teach us?
We read it earlier in Romans 3.
The good news is that through faith alone
you have been justified.
You've been given Jesus' righteous record
as a gift through the redemption
and propitiation of His blood.
Apart from your works,
through faith you share His legal status.
You are an adopted child of God,
an heir of God,
freely and wholly.
And now we see,
here in Romans 8,
that God is at work
in all things
to actually make you
and conform you
and shape and mold
and transform you
from the inside out
into the likeness of Jesus.
His purpose is at work
to make you what you are.
Do you see what that means?
Have you considered
that Jesus Christ,
while at the same time
being fully God,
is the most fully,
truly human being
who ever lived?
If you and I were to go out
this afternoon
and find a basketball court
in New Haven,
there probably will be
no one playing on it
because it's raining outside,
but let's pretend
it wasn't raining
and it wasn't cold.
And if we ask
some of those young players
who they wish they could be,
who do you think
they would say?
Steph Curry,
Kevin Durant,
LeBron James.
I mean,
imagine being able to play
like one of those guys.
LeBron James has like a 61%
field goal percentage
this season.
Imagine being able to make
six out of every ten
shots that you make.
They go in
every time.
Boom,
boom,
boom.
That's one mess.
Boom,
boom,
boom.
61% of the time.
I mean,
you might be good,
but you're not that good.
Imagine the freedom
and joy
of being that good.
Imagine how much fun
it must be
to play basketball
when you're LeBron James
or Steph Curry,
even if you get mad
and throw your mouth guard
at a ref every once in a while.
Now,
maybe basketball
isn't your thing,
but my bet is
you know what it's like
to long to be someone
you admire.
that musician
who performs
so effortlessly,
that work colleague
who always tops
last quarter's
performance marks,
that friend
who just seems
to have it all together
in all the ways
you don't.
But friends,
here in the gospel,
we see one
who doesn't just
excel in the court
or in the concert hall
or in the performance
review,
here is the one
who is not just
the true artist
or the true athlete.
Here is one
who is the true human
who lives life
at its best
always
and in every way.
Here is what you and I
were always meant to be
and what all our other
longings to be like
all those other people
are just the shadow of.
All those other longings
are just the shadow
of our deep heart longing
to be fully,
truly human,
to be like Him,
to know real freedom,
to know real joy.
So friends,
here is the promise
of verse 28,
that God is working
all things together
to make you like His Son,
to make you at long
last truly,
fully human,
to make you noble
and wise
and loving
and good
and strong
and joyful
and resilient
and kind,
to make you
into a fitting
and proper
heir
of the new creation
that God has in store
where we will reign
with Christ forever.
So you see,
God working all things
together for our good
doesn't mean that
we'll always see
some sort of reversal
of our bad circumstances
into good circumstances
in this life.
Rather,
many things that we suffer
will not contribute
to our material
or our physical good.
But all these things
will work
for our ultimate good.
They will refine
our faith.
They will strengthen
our hope.
They will forge
our likeness
to Jesus.
God isn't promising
that believers
are going to have
more comfortable lives
or experience
less bad events
than non-believers.
But this verse
is teaching us
that God will bring about
through those events
an even greater purpose
and outcome
that we will be like
the King.
We will be like
the one who is
most perfectly,
joyfully,
freely human.
That will be more
and more like Jesus.
So I wonder,
friend,
how do you define
the good in your life?
Do you define it
by the number
of close friends
that you have,
the number
of healthy children
that you have,
the financial security
that you've amassed,
the physical health
that you enjoy?
Or do you define
the good
as radiating
the character
of Christ
in all circumstances?
And don't you see
that that
is where your
real happiness is?
Jonathan Edwards
in one of the first
theological paragraphs
he ever penned
said that holiness,
Christ-likeness,
is like being a flower
in a field
with your petals
open to the sun,
releasing an aroma
and a fragrance
of joy
and sweetness,
of basking
in the pleasure
of being beautiful
in God's creation.
Don't you see
that that
is real lasting joy
that will stretch
into eternity?
And if you see that,
then don't you realize
that Romans 8.28
is God's promise
that He has our ultimate,
eternal happiness
in mind.
And that He
is using all things
to get us there,
to make us
like His Son
so that the glory
of the Son
can be displayed
like the firstborn
among many brothers
and sisters.
So this is what we know,
that God works
all things together
for good.
But now with the time
that we have left,
we have to ask the question,
who is this promise for?
Is this promise true
for everyone?
And if not,
how do we get in on it?
Because it sounds
pretty good.
Well, we see that
Romans 8.28
is not talking about
some superficial optimism
that everything tends
to everybody's good
in the end.
No, this promise
has a very definite scope.
It's for a particular people,
and the objects
of this promise,
the recipients,
the ones for whom
it is true,
are described here
in two ways.
And both of these ways
are ways of describing
genuine Christians,
but they each bring out
something very important.
What's the first thing
that we see in verse 28?
That this promise
is for those
who love God.
Now, as Paul has been saying
over and over again
in chapter 8,
a genuine Christian
is someone
in whom
the Holy Spirit dwells.
That's what he's just
been talking about
in verses 26 and 27.
And if you go all the way back
to Romans chapter 5,
Paul says that the Holy Spirit
is the one who comes
and pours the love of God
into our hearts.
And here in chapter 8,
verse 15,
it's the Holy Spirit
who causes us to cry,
Abba, Father,
in familial love to God.
And again,
right here in the immediate context,
verses 26 and 27,
it's the Holy Spirit
who intercedes for us
with God,
causing us to come to God
in faith and hope and love,
even when we don't have
the right words
to know how to pray.
And you see this
across Paul's writings.
In Galatians,
the very first expression
of the fruit of the Spirit
is love.
So love to God
is the distinguishing mark
of the Christian.
All who place their trust
in Christ
are filled with the Holy Spirit,
and because of the Holy Spirit,
we can at last
truly love God.
But why does Paul
choose this way
of describing
a Christian here?
Why not say
that God works all things
for those who trust in God
or for those
who hope in God?
Why specify
the love of God here?
Well, think about it this way.
Without the genuine love
for God
that comes from
the Holy Spirit,
it's hard to see
how all things
could work together
for our good.
How could that be?
One writer made
this observation.
He said,
outside of God,
we have the illusion
that we are self-made people
who are in control
of our lives.
When an unbelieving heart
experiences a string
of successes
and pleasures,
it only reinforces
that illusion
that we are in control,
that we've made ourselves.
And so it is
that even good things
can make the worst sins
in the human heart
grow
and take over
pride,
overconfidence,
self-righteousness.
In other words,
without real love for God,
even good circumstances
will produce terrible
spiritual fruit
in our lives.
not to mention
bad circumstances,
suffering,
which apart from
the love for God
can produce bitterness
and despair
and a victim mentality.
But if there is
genuine love for God
in our hearts,
then when good
circumstances come,
they won't reinforce
our pride
because we know
that all our good
comes as a gracious
gift of our loving God.
And when bad
circumstances come,
it will humble us
and increase
our dependency on God
and to long and hope
more fully
for His coming redemption.
So love for God
is a critical piece
in God working
all things for our good.
It's the right disposition
on our part
created by the Holy Spirit
for God to go about
this work in our hearts.
But that just presses
the question,
doesn't it?
Where does this love
come from?
You see,
Paul is not talking
about a love for God
that we whip up
in our own strength.
If that were true,
we'd all be goners
because, friends,
we know that even Christians
don't love God
as we should.
Nor is Paul saying
that the amount of good
that God promises
to work in our lives
depends on how much
we love God
from day to day.
It's not as if
you wake up in the morning
and you're only hitting
like a 4.5 out of 10
on the love for God scale,
so then God's probably
only going to work
some things together
for your good,
sort of.
It's not how it works.
When Paul says
those who love God,
he's talking about
a fundamental change
that has happened
when someone
becomes a Christian.
In Romans 5,
Paul says that we've gone
from enmity with God
to love for God,
but how does that happen?
The second phrase
in Romans 8.28
puts it this way,
we've been called
according to His purpose.
Christians are those
who love God
because God has loved us first
and because they've been called
according to His purpose.
Now, when Paul uses
the word call here,
he means something
much more
than just the general invitation
or call of the gospel
as in what I'm doing right now.
What I'm doing right now
is the general call
of the gospel.
I am telling you
that there is a God
who is holy
and just
and good
and who has made
each and every one of us
in His own image
to glorify Him
and love Him
and enjoy Him.
but because we have
rebelled against Him
and decided to find
our glory
and our enjoyment
in anything else but Him,
we stand under that
holy and good
God's just
wrath
for our sin.
But here, friends,
is the good news
that instead of judging us
for our sin,
God sends His own
Son
in love
to live a perfectly
sinless life
on our behalf
and to go
to the cross
to die
as a substitute
for us
in our place
bearing the wrath
that our sins deserve.
And on the third day,
Jesus rises
from the grave
demonstrating
that the penalty
that He paid
paid the price
in full
and that there's
nothing left
for you and I
that we owe.
There's nothing left
that we need to come up with
in order to win
God's favor.
All that we need to do
is turn
from our self-dependence
and depend on Christ alone.
Friends,
that is the gospel.
That is what Paul says
is the righteousness
from God
that is ripping history apart
and creating
a new people.
It's His power
for those who believe.
And this gospel
goes out to everyone
everywhere
with the call
to repent
and believe.
But friends,
that call
of the gospel,
that's not what Paul's
talking about here
in Romans 8, 28.
He's talking about
something
that God does,
not that we do.
The call of God
that Paul is talking about here
is what happens
when God takes
this message
of the gospel
and by the Spirit
works powerfully
in the hearts
of the listeners
to produce faith.
faith.
It's when the words
become real
to your heart
and your heart
is stirred up
to believe.
When suddenly
it's as if God Himself
is speaking to you
saying,
come to me
all you who labor
and are heavy laden
and I will give you rest.
It's as if the risen Christ
right now
is saying through my words,
turn
and come
and believe
the good news.
and you can't help
but respond.
Friends,
perhaps even now
God is causing you
to hear the message
of His Son
in that way.
You're starting
to see something
you've never seen before.
As you consider
Christ crucified
for your sins,
risen for your justification,
perhaps now you see
for the first time
what that is all
meant to demonstrate,
which is the love
of God for you.
That God shows
His love for us
and that while
we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
And if you see
the love of God
for you in Christ,
then put your trust
in Christ.
Later in Romans,
Paul will say this,
if you confess
with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart
that God raised Him
from the dead,
you will be saved.
For with the heart
one believes
and is justified
and with the mouth
one confesses and saves.
For the Scripture says
everyone who believes
in Him
will not be put to shame.
And friends,
if that's true of you
this morning,
if you've experienced
that effectual call
of God,
if you've turned
from trusting in yourself
to trusting in Jesus Christ
as Lord,
then the promise
of this verse
stands for you
and for all
who will believe
that all things
work together
for good.
After all,
how could they not?
Can God's purpose
be thwarted?
He has called us
according to His own purpose.
Can the purpose
of God
be stopped,
friends?
My purposes
are stopped
all the time,
especially because
I have three little children.
They never let my purposes
be enthwarted.
But thankfully, friends,
you and I
are not God.
The Almighty Maker
of heaven and earth,
His purpose
cannot be stopped.
His purpose
is to conform us
to the image
of His Son
so that Jesus
might be the firstborn
among many brothers
and sisters
so that Jesus
might be magnified
and known to be great
and seen
as glorious
in the midst
of a people
who are shaped
to look like Him.
And if this
is God's purpose,
how
will not
all things
work together
for this end?
The reason
we don't believe
this verse
is because
we don't believe
that God
is God.
How could
the great author
of all things
not bring
his story
to the conclusion
he has written?
It's like thinking
that Jane Austen
couldn't eventually
get Lizzie Bennet
and Darcy
together in the end.
How silly.
And how
will he not
arrange all things,
every detail
to that end?
Again,
Jonathan Edwards
put it this way
as a young man.
He said,
every atom
in the universe
is managed
by Christ
so as to be
most to the
advantage
of a Christian.
Every particle
of air
or every ray
of the sun
so that when
the Christian
comes to see
it in glory
he shall sit
and enjoy
all this vast
inheritance
with surprising,
amazing joy.
All things
work together
for good
for those
who are called
according to
his purpose.
How could
it not be so?
The king
of the universe
has died
and risen again
for you.
He has gone
into the groaning
and swallowed
it whole
in the resurrection
to make you
his own.
How will he not
then take all
things and turn
them to your good
so that you will
be like him
and enjoy him
forever?
Every atom
light
hearsay
and
turn
the
utes
then
up
in the
sea
and
use
enemies
into slut
of заним
hand
and
prevent
the
easy
power
and
lie
ways
to
point
so that
can
hurt
and
extend
spring
so