This morning, we turn again to Romans 8, and this beautiful passage on the hope we have, even as we suffer in this world. Because we live in a sinful, fallen world, we endure suffering of many different kinds. We may endure the suffering of temptation and sin which creates strife and division. We may endure the suffering of disease, whether it be in the form of a pandemic, a cancer diagnosis, or an unexpected surgery. We may also face the suffering of persecution. While we don’t face persecution like those in other countries, I am afraid that it is becoming a more present reality for Christians in the USA. Just a little over a week ago, a man came to the potluck dinner at St. Stephen’s Episcopal church in Birmingham. Several of the church members who were attending (one being Bart Rainey, who some of you knew) invited him to sit at their table, while others offered to fix him a plate. Some moments later, the man stood up and shot the very people that had extended such kindness to him.
When faced with such senseless evil, it is very easy to lose hope. It is very easy to look at the circumstances of such a situation and determine that the world is just full of chaos. It is very easy to decide that God does not care about us. Even worse, it is easy to think that God has forsaken us, turned his back on us, or even purposed to destroy us. But, our passage today, from Rom. 8:26-30 reminds us that God has not forgotten or forsaken us. In this passage, Paul gives us another way that we can suffer with hope in this fallen world: we can suffer with hope because God has secured our salvation in the past, present, future. We find that security of salvation in three points that I want you to see from this passage today: The Work of the Spirit, the Weaving of all things for our good, and the Way of God in salvation.
First, let’s consider how God gives us hope in the present through work of the Spirit from verses 26-27. When we face suffering, especially if that suffering drags on for years or is even chronic, there is a real temptation to despair. Perhaps it is a terminal disease from which you have prayed time and again for deliverance. Perhaps it is the loss of a loved one that, even years later, brings you low in grief. Whatever the case, in that dark moment of the soul, we can be tempted to think that God has forgotten us, or that he does not love us anymore. We can feel unworthy to approach God because of this despair. Yet, in those moments Paul reminds us that the Holy Spirit is there to help us in our weakness. You see, God revels in our weakness. You may think that because of your ailment, you can no longer be effective for God. You may think that because you cannot get over your grief, that your faith is too weak for God. But it is in those very moments that God proves his love and power through the help of His Spirit. Paul says that the Spirit even prays for us when we can’t. We may not know the words to pray or how to pray, but the Spirit knows our hearts and the will of God, and he will intercede for us in our moments of despair.
Second, God gives us hope for the present and the future through the weaving of all things for our good. In verse 28, Paul reminds us that the sovereignty of God over all circumstances should bring us hope in our suffering. This beautiful sentence is jammed with meaning, so let’s try to understand it by breaking it down into its parts. First, notice the subject of this hopeful statement: “those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” You need to understand that this promise of God is made to those whom God loves and who have been called according to his purpose. In short, this promise only applies to those who are in Christ. For those who are outside of Christ, there is no hope that everything will work out for good. But, for those who believe in Jesus, there is a certainty that it will.
Next, let’s consider the action of this statement: “all things work together.” These words have fostered no shortage of debate over whether God causes evil things to come our way so that he might work them for his good, or does he allow them and then use them for our good. In this case, it’s pretty clear that Paul means to carry through an idea that he started back in verse 26 when he said that the Spirit helps us in our weakness. The phrase “work together” means to work with or work alongside of. In other words, just like the Spirit works within our hearts to intercede when we can’t pray, God also works our circumstances together for our good. In this, it’s important to understand that this is not a one-to-one working. It is not as though for every instance of suffering you should be able to find a corresponding and proportional good outcome. This is why I think this passage is a poor choice to offer someone who is in the moment of suffering. While it is true that God will take that moment of suffering and weave it together with all of the events of life so that the outcome will be good, it is not necessarily true that this one situation will have a silver lining. Nor should we feel it our obligation to help the sufferer find one.
Finally, notice the object of this statement: “all things work together for good.” Now, when we read the word “good”, we can be tempted to think in terms of temporal, earthly benefit. But again, this is not the idea of a one-to-one relationship between suffering and good. Rather, what Paul means is that God will weave together the suffering and pain into something beautiful. Our lives will be a picture of God’s grace and faithful presence, so that when we look back on our lives from our home in glory, we will see a marvelous painting of love and joy and peace. We will see the ways that God helped us through suffering. We will see how God turned those moments of despair into turning points of faith. And God will use all of it, the good, the bad, and the ugly – the moments of faithfulness mixed with sin and depression and failing, to bring about his good in us.
Lastly, I want you to see the hope for the future through God’s way of salvation. Verses 29 and 30 have some big concepts which tend to trip people up. But, if we keep our focus on the hope of God in suffering, we can see just how beautiful these concepts are. So, let’s take this statement one phrase at the time to understand how God’s way of salvation can give us hope. To start, remember, there is this group of people for whom God causes all things to work together for good. It’s natural to ask, “who are these people?” Paul starts to answer that question by saying they are “those whom he foreknew”. This word, “foreknew” means, quite simply, “to know beforehand.” Now, this isn’t the idea of “foresight”, as if God looked through space and time and saw those who would be his and he purposed to work things out for their good. No, the word foreknew is an intimate word. Peter uses it in 1 Pet. 1:20 to say that Jesus was foreknown before the foundations of the world. Paul isn’t saying that God knows events, like your moment of conversion. He’s not even saying that he knows your heart. He is saying that God knew YOU before the world ever began. Understand that you can have hope in suffering because God knew you before the world ever began. He knew your personality, he knew every hair on your head, he knew your every need, and he knew every circumstance you would ever face.
Second, these people who are foreknown are also “predestined to be conformed to the image of his son.” Again, we have a big word in “predestined”, and people tend to get pretty fired up over it. But the concept is pretty straightforward. Predestined means to determine or limit beforehand. It is always used in connection with God’s purpose of salvation. In Eph. 1:11, Paul says that we have been “predestined for adoption.” Here he says that we have been predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. So, before the world was ever created, God knew you and he purposed that you would be formed into Christ-likeness. In this moment, that might not feel like a reality. You might look at your life, the temptations with which you struggle, and think that there is no way you will ever conform to the image of the Son of God. But, God has determined it, and it will happen.
Third, these people who are foreknown and predestined are also called and justified. The word “called” relates to that moment in time when you heard the Gospel message and your heart was pricked to receive Christ as your savior. The word “justified” means to “declare righteous.” In that moment of conversion, when you placed your faith in Christ, God washed away your sin and gave you the righteousness of Christ so that you stand before him just as Christ does, holy and blameless.
Finally, these people who are foreknown, predestined, called, and justified will ultimately be glorified. The word “glorified” is connected to the resurrection of Jesus. In John 17:5, before his death and resurrection, Jesus prayed that God would glorify him with the glory they shared from the beginning. When Jesus was raised from the dead, he was raised in glory. In the same way, when Christ returns, we will be raised in glory. 1 Cor. 15:43 says that our bodies are sown in dishonor but it will be raised in glory.
Brothers and sisters, this is the hope that we have in suffering, that God has purposed our salvation from before the foundation of the world, that he will make us into the image of his son, no matter what suffering we may face in the present age, and he bring about a glorious resurrection for all who believe in him. This hope of salvation is greater than any momentary affliction we face. It is greater than the fear of persecution. Because it is greater than all those things, we can face them with confidence knowing that our eternal destiny is secure in Christ.
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