Gospel Prism

Introduction

Some people might have a problem with God’s sovereignty. But many people who DO believe that God is sovereign have a hard time truly believing that God is sovereignly good, especially during times of suffering and trial. And if you’re not thinking this now, you will one day, because there is not a person alive who will be kept from pain and loss, tragedy and suffering.

The problem is that those of us who believe in God’s sovereignty cannot imagine that God’s goodness can shine through such dark times as suffering and tragedy. But writer Philip Hughes put it this way: “That he-cares-not is just as unthinkable as that he-can- not.� (1) We cannot claim to believe in God’s sovereignty without also believing in His goodness, His love for us. He is a sovereignly good God. Paul’s message for us in Romans 8:28 is perhaps one of the most precious verses of the Bible for the Christian. But it is also one of the most difficult to embrace because at first glance, it seems so hard to grasp the reality of it. And yet, when you understand its power, you are freed to face all of life, both its joys and sorrows, knowing that truly ALL things work out for your good. So let’s delve into this text.

For Those Who Love God

First, Paul begins in the first part of the verse by saying, “And we know that for those who love God…� There is an assumption made here that you cannot miss: the promise of this verse is solely for those who love God. My question that I have then is, “What does it mean to love God?� I think Paul spends much of Romans describing this love for God by stating first what it means for God to love us. Last week I spent the whole message showing you that for God to love us even an iota is sheer grace. Remember Romans 1-3 is Paul’s way of saying God is rightfully angry at sinners like me and you who had no love for Him at all. God would be perfectly just in punishing everyone eternally, in light of this rebellion against Him. One person put it this way, “Anything this side of hell is pure grace.� (2) And yet as Romans 5:8 tells us, while we were sinners (people who had no love for God, who rebelled against him, who wanted someone other than God anything other than God in our lives), Jesus Christ, God’s own Son still died for us. Because of this work of God’s Son, Paul says in Romans 5:1 that we have peace with God. Thus, God does not love us in theory. As Paul says in Romans 5:8, he DEMONSTRATED this love. God does not simply speak words of promising to love us; He put it into action through the death of His Son.

But in light of this love, some of us have still doubted whether God really loves us, especially during times of trial. Usually this is because something we have asked of Him has not happened in the way we believed it should. We might be praying for the healing of a loved one and yet that person is not healed. You might have asked God for a job and the job has not come. You might have prayed for the salvation of someone you care about and yet this person still rejects the Lord. Or perhaps you have someone in your life who really causes you trouble, and yet, for some inexplicable reason that person is still that thorn in your side. During such times, let me tell you that you WILL be tempted to doubt God’s love for you. The reasoning usually goes like this, “God can do anything. I’m praying for something. God isn’t doing that something. Therefore, God must not love me because I know He certainly can do it.� But this is an age-old lie. When Satan was in the Garden with Eve, he never said to Eve, “Is God really able to keep you in His care?� That would never fly because rarely does a believer doubt God’s power. Instead, Satan asks Eve, “Did God actually say…� (Genesis 3:1). He was planting the seed that God doesn’t really care for or love Eve because He was hiding something from her. And this is the same temptation to us today when we face life’s troubles and joy. “Does God really love you?� Satan will ask. “If He does, then why doesn’t he give you what you ask for, you know He can do it. He must not really care about you. He must not love you. He must not be good after all.� This is the greatest temptation and Satan’s lie of lies. How do we respond to such a thing? How do we know Satan is truly lying, and that God does love us during such hardships in our lives?

We respond with the truth. We preach the Gospel to ourselves. We speak texts like 1 John 4:9-10 to our hearts: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.� The question is not does God truly love me when I struggles and hardship and suffering comes my way. The question is actually, “Do I believe that IN THIS the Love of God is revealed, He sent His Son?� My dear friends, the response of Romans 8:28 is the fight of faith. And without this fight we will be powerless in our lives as Christians. When you feel as though you are swamped over with anger towards God for your life’s situation, and you doubt His love, you must go back to the cross. In the cross God loved sinners. And who are sinners, I hope you remember what I said last week from Romans 1. Sinners are those who say to God, “God, you are not sufficient, not worthy of my praise and worship, not caring enough, not faithful enough, your gifts are lacking to get me through these tight spots, I cannot trust in you, I do not believe you are real or are able to save.� And yes, we all sin. But God has not withheld even His own perfect Son. No one has this much love for you, not your loved ones, and not me. I can give up my own life for your lives. But I don’t think I would substitute my son Jack’s life for yours as God the Father does for sinners. But even that analogy fails because you are my friends, my family. It would be like me sending Jack to die in the electric chair in place of the murderer who killed my whole family. Think about that for a moment. If I did that, you would think that that would be insane and ludicrous and unjust on my part. You would be outraged as to how I can show such mercy when I have been treated so terribly. If God then did this for us, how can we ever say that he does not love us? Loving God means loving Him because He has loved us first while we were sinners. But it doesn’t stop there.

All Things DO Work Together for Your Good

Second, Paul continues in the verse, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.â€? To get a picture of what Paul is referring to when he says “all things,â€? we need to take a look at what Paul previously wrote in Romans 8. In verse 17 Paul writes: “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.â€? Verse 18 also talks about our sufferings. Paul tells us in verse 20-21 that all of creation, including our physical bodies and the things we treasure in this world, are decaying. In verse 22 creation has the “painsâ€? of childbirth. Verse 23 says we “groan…inwardly.â€? Clearly from this text, when Paul is speaking about “all thingsâ€? in verse 28, he means especially that part of your life that is terribly difficult to bear. Some of you are undergoing some sort of trial, suffering, worry, or anxiety in your life and all of us will one day. It could be a chronic illness, or perhaps a loved one suffering, perhaps a parent or sibling whom you have prayed would turn to Christ and has yet to do so, perhaps financial concerns and worries, whatever it might be or will be in the future, can you say all things work for your good? Do you believe this to be true? Can this be true?

The answer is absolutely yes and we need not look further than Jesus Himself. John Piper makes an important observation that when we read the Gospel we should always read it backwards. What he means by this is “when you start reading one of the Gospels you already know how it ends—the death and resurrection of Jesus for our sins—and you should have that ending in mind with every verse that you read.� (3) This is because Jesus continually mentioned his death throughout his life. The disciples and his followers didn’t get it. After all, how could they? When Jesus continually mentioned that He must suffer and die for them to have life, they had no way to process such thoughts. God surely would never take evil such as that, all things such as a cross, blood, and the death of His Son, and use it for good. That seemed outlandish to them. But God had been doing that throughout the history of the world. God saved Israel from being wiped out of existence by raising up Joseph to be a Prime Minister of Egypt. Joseph would be the person who would devise a plan to save the world from famine. Without such a plan, Jacob and his sons would have certainly died. But it took Joseph’s false imprisonment and continual humiliation to get to the point of Prime Minster. It would take Pharaoh’s hardness of heart that would reveal God’s miraculous power to save Israel and show all the world that Yahweh was the Almighty God. It would take the death of Ruth’s husband Mahlon and Naomi’s husband Elimalech to leave Moab and go back to Israel. It took their widowhood and poverty to be taken in by Boaz to be married to bear a son who would be David’s great grandfather. It was this same David who committed adultery and murder with Bathsheba, through whom Solomon was born would continue David’s line to Jesus. I have left out a multitude of stories that all convey the same thing. God takes all things, even sins against Him, from those who love Him and ultimately uses it for their good. And this good is the salvation of souls through the work of God’s beloved Son Jesus. If God has done this throughout the Bible, and then reiterates this promise in Romans 8, can you believe that even your suffering can be used for your good? Can you trust that He loves you and has shown this to you without hesitation through the love revealed at the cross?

For the Christian, we must believe that there is a good purpose for trials. This is why this promise does not make sense to someone who does not trust in Christ. How can suffering and pain ever be a good thing to a person apart from a sovereign and good God? That would be impossible. And I understand that vantage point. If I did not believe in God, and I did not believe in heaven, then this earth would be all I have. Then surely, to have any pain in this life would only take away from what I have left to enjoy. And so the “all things� that Paul speaks of in Romans 8 is meant to keep us worshipping a good and sovereign God. Jerry Bridges illustrates this by telling the story of the Cecropia moth. (4) It struggles mightily to try to free itself from its cocoon. Someone watched the moth go through this struggle and in an attempt to aid the moth in its travails, he snipped the cocoon for it so it could make its way out easily. As soon as the moth came free, the wings shrived up. The moth would have been able to spread his wings and fly away quite freely in moments, but instead was doomed to crawl to its brief life. The fact is, it was in the struggle of freedom from the cocoon where the moth learned to thrive and be free. Without the struggle, its life was cut short and it was doomed even before it really began to live.

And it is in the struggle that we Christians grow as well. Jesus says in Luke 9:23, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, take up the cross daily, and follow me.� He also says in Matthew 16:24-25 that whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.� Finally in John 16:33, Jesus tells his disciples, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world.� Christians, as a believer and follower and disciple of Christ, you will have trouble. It is a fallacy to think you will not. But that adversity is exactly what helps you to understand God in ways you never could apart from it.

Some of you have been enduring different trials these past few months. Sometimes the trials come because of our own sinfulness. If you are self-centered and unforgiving in your marriage, for example, and you and your spouse are at wits end, and your marriage seems like it is on the road to divorce, then sin is the cause of such trials. But even in this state, God can still use the time for your good purposes. Some of you are facing the illnesses of loved ones in your family. Some of you have faced the death of your loved ones whether it is this past month or even years ago. And maybe you’ve wondered, “What good can come of this?�

The answer is that much good can come out of this if your heart is really as one who loves God in the way Paul writes in Romans 8:28. Here are some of the good things that come from even bad things as you love God:

1. Savoring God’s Word – Some of you have really struggled in your reading of God’s Word. Perhaps it is because you feel as though it doesn’t really make a difference in your life. But during times of suffering and trial, sometimes the Word is all you have to give you hope. When you are suffering, the Bible becomes so precious that it appears as though the words jump off the page. Martin Luther once said, “Were it not for tribulation I should not understand the Scriptures.� And often is the case where this savoring of God’s Word during these times is a springboard for a person’s love for God’s Word for a lifetime.

2. Unceasing Prayer – During this past month, I had far less desire to go into my car and turn on the news or listen to sports radio. My waking moments were often filled with thoughts of God and prayers for people and for my own soul. I couldn’t help but think about God and His goodness and it really did feel as though it was unceasing. Paul writes in 1 Thess 5:17-18, “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.� When you are struggling, often is the case that you realize only God truly understands. And so prayer becomes constant and unceasing.

3. Faithful Dependence – When everything works in the way you wish it to work, you rarely need to depend on anything, so you think. But for the Christian, this must never be so. Jesus says in John 15:5 that apart from him we can do nothing. And yet, we are continually tempted to try to do everything without Christ. We raise our children apart from an intentional dependence on Christ. We look for a spouse perhaps apart from a dependence on Christ. We try to set our priorities in work and lifestyle apart from Christ. Suffering and trials cause us once again to reset our dependency on the Lord. We begin to realize that He has always been faithful and we have tried to live apart from Him. Without trials and suffering, it could be very easy to slowly fade from our love for Christ. Thus, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 of his own suffering: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” It took Paul’s suffering to understand Christ’s grace and His power over Him, and that Paul could depend on that even through the pain.

4. Life’s Perspective – Sadly, we are a people of misplaced priorities. Think of what is important right now for you. We just played a volleyball game yesterday. We could have dwelt on losing that game. Those who played in the softball tourney might dwell on their loss. And we hear so often, “It’s just a game,� as if we’re trying to convince ourselves that it is true. There are many things in this world we can freely enjoy and prioritize. Christianity does not oppose games, investments, higher education, nice clothing, eating good food, technology, nice vacations, etc. But definitely, if we place our value and estimation of life on such things as an end, then we are in danger of losing such a perspective. Proverbs 3:5-6 says: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.� Leaning on our own understanding is not trusting in the Lord in all things. And when we do this, our perspective becomes skewed. We become more concerned about how we dress, what we drive, what our home looks like, how are kids behave, how our retirement will be, will we compete well, will we appear smart or foolish, how are rights are upheld, rather than do I trust God and His goodness. Trials and tribulation has a way of neutralizing those thoughts and stripping away the fluff to really see what is most important, that is, our relationship to God and His to us. And often, it is here, in the most darkest and loneliest of places, where we really begin to see the light of the cross and the power of the Gospel.

5. New Ministry - Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.� Wow, what a blessing. Surely here is a way God uses bad things for our good. He allows us to minister and care for others. Some of you, I know, have gone through some difficult circumstances. But when you have a Romans 8:28 perspective and you trust His goodness no matter what, God will use the comfort He brings to you through this text to care for others. I know that Jerry Bridges’ book, Trusting God, was written when his first wife was dying of cancer. It took that pain to write such a thing but it has spoken to my soul during hard times. And God wants to use you to care for others in ways you never could have before such suffering. I hope we will see more and more of our church coming up here and testifying before the whole church how God has given you comfort during those times. In that way, you will help those who are also and will also go through such times.

6. A Glorious Heaven – Paul writes in Philippians 3:14-15: “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.� We should be thinking about heaven in this way if we are growing in Christ. Paul later says we are citizens of heaven. And yet, we do not think of heaven as real, but usually an abstraction. But suffering, death, and trials make you think about heaven and long for it. The more we are sterilized from death the less we think about heaven. Those in the third world who face death and dying think and preach about heaven often. For them, heaven is quite tangible. And for the believer, heaven is a glorious place. So all things help us to view and long for a glorious heaven.

Thus, we cannot merely listen to Romans 8:28 and think it does not challenge us to live radically different. It certainly does that. John Piper writes: “What you will hear in Romans 8:28 is a battle cry. If all things work together for my good, then I cannot be ultimately defeated in the cause of Christ. This is a call to take risks to spread a passion for God’s supremacy in all things for the joy of all peoples. This is a call to go to a hard place or do a hard thing in the cause of love. This is call to spend yourself for Christ and his kingdom. This is a call to do something radical and crazy in the eyes of the world.� We cannot be defeated in Christ because as the rest of this chapter says in response to this wondrous verse: “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor 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� (Romans 8:37-39). God loves us this much even when all things do not work together in the way that we think they should. But we can rest assured that when we love God, ALL THINGS will ALWAYS work together for our good according to His purpose.

(1) Jerry Bridges, Trusting God, 136.
(2) Ibid., 140.
(3) http://www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/06/080606.html
(4) Jerry Bridges, Trusting God, 174.