FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM (ROMANS 8:28-39)
Fred is 32 years old and he is still single. One day a friend asked, “Why aren’t you married? Can’t you find a woman who will be a good wife?” Fred replied, “Actually, I’ve found many women I wanted to marry, but when I bring them home to meet my parents, my mother doesn’t like them.”
His friend thinks for a moment and says, “I’ve got the perfect solution, just find a girl who’s just like your mother.” A few months later they meet again and his friend says, “Did you find the perfect girl? Did your mother like her?”
With a frown on his face, Fred answers, “Yes, I found the perfect girl. She was just like my mother. You were right, my mother liked her very much.” The friend said, “Then what’s the problem?” Fred replied, “My father doesn’t like her.”
There is a lot we do not know or like about suffering, especially why people suffer and why disasters happen, especially to us. One unsurprising thing for sure is that everyone has his or her fair share of it. People mistakenly believe that the Christian life a bed of roses with a happily ever after ending. Overzealous witnesses promises that much. The opposite is a more accurate portrayal of the Christianity Paul has in mind, where Christians in the first century invite enemies, hatred, persecution, discrimination and even martyrdom on themselves simply for wearing the name of Christ on their sleeves. This is the second most popular Pauline passage for many Christians.
What did the Lord promise us when we undergo suffering? What is the proof of His promise? Why does suffering often cause us to draw closer to God and not drift away from Him?
Nothing is More Purposeful Than the Love of God
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Rom 8:28-29)
An elderly lady was well-known for her faith and for her boldness in talking about it. She would stand on her front porch and shout “PRAISE THE LORD!” Next door to her lived an atheist who would get so angry at her proclamations he would shout, “There ain’t no Lord!!”
Hard times set in on the elderly lady, and she prayed for GOD to send her some assistance. She stood on her porch and shouted “PRAISE THE LORD. GOD I NEED FOOD!! I AM HAVING A HARD TIME. PLEASE LORD, SEND ME SOME GROCERIES!!” The next morning the lady went out on her porch and noted a large bag of groceries and shouted, “PRAISE THE LORD.”
The neighbor jumped from behind a bush and said, “Aha! I told you there was no Lord. I bought those groceries, God didn’t.” The lady started jumping up and down and clapping her hands and said, “PRAISE THE LORD. He not only sent me groceries, but He made the devil pay for them. Praise the Lord!”
The truth about Christianity is that God comes through when hardship breaks out. Yes, there is a purpose behind everything that happens, though we are less sure about its reason, solution or its explanation. I differentiate between looking back to its reason and looking forward to the purpose.
In Christianity we are not haunted or hogtied by Islam’s fatalism or Europe’s existentialism. The former says everything good and bad is from God and the latter says good and bad has no meaning. Christians believe God permits even the bad to happen, but He did not present, provide or perform them, or even prohibit them from happening. James 1:13 records, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.”
By faith, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him (v 28). What does that mean? Does it mean a free ride, a soft landing or a smooth passage is awaiting believers? Let us begin with the single Greek word “work.” Do not be misled by NIV’s translation. One of the misinterpretations and misunderstandings in Christianity is that God does everything for the believers. The believer can just sit back and watch the show, so to speak. That is hardly the case from this passage. The Greek for the verb “works” is “works together” as translated by KJV and NASB, or “sun-ergeo,” the precursor for the English word synergy – “syn” (sync) means “together,” and “ergeo” means “work,” as in “ergonomics.” It does not mean all things do not trouble, test and try you, that you are a puppet, a robot or a pawn, but that God will work in you and through you and with you to make things work for you. All things will join forces and act together to turn out for your good and that all things will work out fine, will fall into place and will serve its purpose. It doesn’t say God will “work for you,” but that He will “work for the good.” God, however, will work with you and even on you, but not for you during those times. It doesn’t even say for Tom, Dick sand Harry, but for “those who love Him.”
This word “work for” is used in four other instances in the Bible. When the disciples went out and preached everywhere, the Lord “worked with them” and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it (Mark 16:20). The resurrected Lord did not even go out with them and He did not work for them but he worked with them. Other translations are “join in the work” (1 Cor 16:16), “fellow workers” (2 Cor 6:1) and the classic passage about faith and actions “working together” (James 2:22).
Philip Yancey says, “I don’t think that God delivers us from suffering. He doesn’t give us some sort of little protective suit as a Christian so that we suffer less than other people. He does give us the resources of His Spirit and a kind of inner-peace that is unavailable to people who don’t turn to God in those moments.”
http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/yancey_3302.htm
It’s been said, “God did not promise a smooth sailing but rather a safe arrival.”
Do not get stuck on the word “predestined” (pro-orizo) or in the predestination argument. The word has nothing to do with fatalism. The line reads “‘predestined to be conformed’ to the likeness of his Son.” Again the pesky word “syn” word reappears in “sum-morphos” - jointly formed, figuratively meaning “similar.” This word occurs one other time in the Bible, translated as “transform” (Phil 3:21). All things work together to joint-transform you into “con-form” (“sum-morphos”) you to the likeness of His son. Just as Christ is the image of God (2 Cor 4:4, Col 1:15), we are to be more like Christ (Col 3:10), except that Christ “is” the image of God while we are to “conform to” the image of Jesus.
Nothing is More Precious Than the Love of God
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Rom 8:30-32)
Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four-year-old child whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.
Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”
God in Christ has given us the greatest gift and proof of all by His death on the cross. By giving his blood and life, He gave us the greatest testament of His love.
Verse 31 uses two prepositions for an interesting contrast. The preposition “for” (v 31) - if God is “for” us - should read “over” (huper), above, beyond – if God is “over” us. The word “against” (kata) frequently denotes opposition, distribution or intensity (Strong’s). How is God “for” us? He did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us all (v 32).
God’s ways are fair. He did not overturn, break or shortchange his moral law to make an exception for His Son. God is holy, righteous and just. The same word tells us He did not “spare” the natural branches, the Jews (Rom 11:21). Nor did He spare sinful angels but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment (2 Peter 2:4). He also did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah’s family (2 Peter 2:5). Since He could not turn a blind eye to the sins of the world, He did not spare His son and sacrificed Him for man’s sin.
Paul uses two stronger and sharper “give” words in verse 32 to describe Jesus’ sacrifice - none of them really means “give.” The first is not the regular word for “give” but “give up” – with a preposition attached to it. The meaning is yield up or hand over, the same word for Judas’ betrayal (Matt 26:16). The second “give” is “charizomai” from the word “charis” but usually translated for another type of giving – forgiving!
Nothing is More Powerful Than the Love of God
33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:33-39)
An engineer, after doing his internship with NASA in Houston, made a startling decision to change course and study medicine. Two decades removed from college, he shared his testimony in our church thanksgiving service:
“Passing the Oral Board is the culmination of 10 years of medical school, residency, and practice. If I were to include the college years and premed studies, the total would be 20 years. My decision to enter medicine in part was to follow Jesus, to heal the sick and to ease the suffering. As an anesthesiologist, I have the crucial role in putting patients to sleep and to revive them later. In Biblical times, this would be regarded as a supernatural power, performed only by Jesus Christ. Although the patients may not be aware of my presence during their surgery, I constantly monitor and watch over them, not just the operative part but the entire patient. This reminds me of how our Lord watches over each and every one of us, even though we may not be aware of His presence. I thank the Lord for giving me knowledge and skills to take care the weak and the sick. For Him, He is the true Healer and Life-Giver.”
There is always a person or two who questions you, but the important thing is who is qualified and worthy to press charges, judge cases and make intercession. Paul uses a slew of legal language to encourage downcast believers. “Bring charge” (v 33) is a legal term. Strong’s define the word “egkaleo” (v 33) as “to call in (as a debt or demand), i.e. bring to account (charge, criminate, etc.).” Apart from this verse, this word is found only in Acts, chronicling Paul’s passionate arguments against his enemies who wanted to find him guilty. The other six occurrences are translated as “press charges” (Acts 19:38), “being charged” (Acts 19:40) and “accusation” (Acts 23:28, 29, 26:2, 7). Paul uses the severest pressing argument by inserting the word “against.”
On the legal side, “justify” is Greek for kata-krino, means against and “krino” means judge. Krino (critic) by itself means judge or critic, but kata-krino, attaching the preposition “kata” or against, means sentence. It is the point of no return just as Jesus was condemned (Mark 10:33), a point of helplessness.
The last legal term “intercede” (entugchano) occurs five times in the Bible, thrice for “intercede” (Rom 8:27, 34 Heb 7:25), once for “petition” (Acts 25:24) and “appeal” (Rom 11:2).
The word “separate” (v 35) occurs six times in the Bible. In its strongest application, it is used for the bonds of marriage (Matt 19:6, Mark 10:9, 1 Cor 7:10). It makes its single appearance in the gospels when Jesus uttered, “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Matt 19:6)
Because He is the prosecuting attorney, court judge and defense lawyer, nothing can separate us from His love. Paul lists trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword. There’s nothing worse and nothing else after this list. By the way, lacking money is not your worse fear. Trouble is Greek for “tribulation” (thlipsis) – no rest. Hardship is anguish or distress in Greek – no quiet. Persecution is the intensity or “pressing on” of suffering – no stopping. Famine is no food. Nakedness is no clothing. Danger is no security and sword is no defense.
The traditional translation “more than conquerors” is awkward for the single Greek word that occurs just once in the Bible. The single Greek word “huper-nikao” comes from “huper” or “above, beyond, exceeding, more (than)” and “nikao,” the verb for “nike” or “conqueror, overcomer, victor.” So hupernikao “vanquish beyond, i.e. gain a decisive victory.” We will succeed, not barely survive. We will not merely challenge, but conquer. We are tested but we will triumph.
Conclusion: Nothing is more personal, permanent and passionate than God’s love. God gives us his very best, guides us in every way and guards us to the very end. Without his consent, not a hair of your head will perish. There is a lesson to be learned but not a lesson to be loved in all things. God did not promise a life without storms, gloom or downpour. But God did promise a rainbow at the end of the storm and a light at the end of the tunnel and a day of rejoicing after a night of mourning. (Ps 30:5)
