We’ve come to what many considered the most beautiful and encouraging part of the book of Romans.
As Christians who know God, do we feel safe and secure in life?
• Now that we are children of God, with the indwelling Holy Spirit in us and the glorious hope before us, do we feel secure? Are we assured of our security in Christ?
• The answer to these questions, that we are going to get from today’s passage, is YES, a definite YES despite the present sufferings and hardships.
We heard from last week’s message, Lester shared of our journey of sanctification in Christ which involves sufferings and much groanings. It is part of growing up.
• The creation is groaning, and we are groaning, longing for our adoption as sons of God and redemption of our bodies.
• We are waiting patiently for that day to come. It is our HOPE, Paul says.
• 8:18 “…the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (8:18)
• This outcome is not ‘hanging in the balance’, it is certain. God has already determined it. Our hope is sure. We wait patiently for that day to come.
Meanwhile, how do we endure the sufferings of this present time?
• This path of sanctification will involved sufferings, as Paul has said. Are we able to take the trials and persecutions well?
• Paul concludes with these convictions that we must hold on to. Let’s read.
Romans 8:28-30 ESV Our Security Is In God
28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29For 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. 30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
I summarised what Paul says in today’s passage in 3 P’s.
• As we wait patiently for that glorious hope, we trust in the providence of God, the purpose of God and the protection of God over our lives.
• Let us all be assured today, that we are in very safe hands, despite the sufferings.
WE TRUST IN HIS PROVIDENCE
God is sovereign. He is sovereignly in control. He is sovereignly active.
• God is not passive. He is orchestrating all things to work together for good.
• For good not only in general, which can be true, but here specifically Paul says for those who love God, for those who are called according to His purpose.
The Lord is watching over His own. Paul adds, for those whom God foreknew, predestined, called, justified and will one day be glorified.
• That’s us, the sons of God. If we are children of God, then this is true – God orchestrates all things to work together for our good.
• Not in some things but in all things because He is sovereignly in control over everything that happens in our lives.
God is not necessarily the cause of everything, surely not the evil deeds, or senseless tragedies caused by sinful men, or the disasters of a fallen world, but He allows them.
• He uses them to achieve His ultimate good, particularly so for His own.
Someone says, “When God puts His people into the furnace, He keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat.”
• He knows how long and how much. He is in absolute control at all times and we can trust Him.
• Charles Spurgeon: “The Refiner is never far from the mouth of the furnace when His gold is in the fire.” And remember He is not an arsonist but a Refiner.
The important thing is for us to learn the lesson God wants us to learn, to be aware of what He is teaching us in the trials.
• That’s how James puts it – James 1:2-4 (ESV) 2‘Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
[KJV patience, NIV perseverance, NASB endurance.] None of these can be produced without trials.
• We grow in maturity through trials and sufferings. We learn more from adversities than from comforts.
Can we just skip all these sufferings? Can we not go through the furnace of life?
• Then we won’t see pure gold. We won’t be, in the words of James, “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:4)
• We will miss the purifying work of God, that is our sanctification, which is His purpose.
By now, we can see that the GOOD that God is achieving for us is not about our comfort, success, happiness, health or prosperity.
• The good involves trials and tribulations, it can involve His testings and discipline.
• God’s good is defined by the context. His divine purpose is to conform us to the image of His Son.
This is the second conviction that sustains us through our present sufferings:
WE TRUST IN HIS PURPOSE
Paul says we are called according to His purpose. We are predestined to be conformed ot the image of Jesus Christ.
It is interesting to hear what Paul says when he shared about his conversion from Judaism to Christianity. He writes in Gal 1:14-16
“14And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles…”
• Paul was converted on the road to Damascus when God revealed His Son to him.
• But that wasn’t the time God chose him. It was already pre-determined long ago when God set him apart from his mother’s womb before he was born.
8:28-29 “28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29For 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.”
• God has a divine purpose and He is working in our lives towards the fulfilment of that purpose – to conform us to the image of His Son.
Therefore God will allow all things in our lives – including sufferings and trials – to work together towards that end.
• That’s why bad things can happen to good people. God allows and uses them.
• He is not always the cause of every one of them but He uses them to accomplish His purpose.
• The cross is one good example of this – cruel and evil but God achieved something gloriously eternal through it.
Why don’t God stop all pain and suffering now? The simple answer is, that’s not His purpose. It is not His will to end the suffering now. God’s goal is not our comfort but our character.
• As Paul has said in the last section, the creation’s groanings and our own groanings will have to continue for a while more as we wait patiently for the hope to come.
• When that time comes, we will be “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James); we will be glorified as sons of God.
We can trust in God’s sovereign work in our lives and His divine purpose for us.
• Paul went on to talk about God’s protective care for us. Let’s read on.
Romans 8:31-39 ESV Our Security is in God
31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He 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? 33Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written,
“For your sake, we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” [Psalm 44:22]
37No, in all these things 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.
WE TRUST IN HIS PROTECTION
Paul issued 4 rhetorical questions in a row and ends with “It is God who justifies.”
Firstly, God has already justified us.
• The One who alone qualifies to Judge has already passed the sentence in the highest court.
• When God justifies, there is no other place to go. No higher court, no court of appeal, no higher authority to whom our case can be brought.
• If God is for us, who can be against us? If God justifies us, who can condemn us?
Secondly, we have an Advocate in Jesus Christ, who died and was raised for our salvation, meaning He has paid the penalty of sin in full.
• And He is now at the right hand of God interceding for us. He is like a defence attorney speaking for us and defending us.
• This is the second time we read of someone interceding for us. Earlier we read of the Holy Spirit interceding for us (8:26-27).
• Can we not feel secured and safe when we have both the Spirit and Christ interceding for us, on this path of sanctification?
Finally, Paul asked, who can separate us from the love of Christ?
• Paul mentioned 7 forms of sufferings, all of which he had experienced (2 Cor 11:23-28). These are all real experiences of a servant of God.
• Paul quoted Psalm 44:22 to say that even faithful Christians can face hardships and dangers, even death.
If we are not careful, such afflictions can drive a wedge between us and God, especially so when we expect only the good things of life as Christians.
• We must be careful not to allow sufferings in life to cause us to doubt God’s love and His goodness, or question His power for not removing our pains.
Paul suffered more than anyone we know, and he is writing to tell us how we can know that God loves us even in a world of great sufferings.
• 8:38-39 says NOTHING can separate us from His love. Nothing in the natural realm and nothing in the supernatural realm.
• Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• Our security is not in a world in which no bad things can happen to us. Our security is in a God who is there for us no matter what happens.
• We don’t need to have all the answers; we just need to trust the One who has all the answers.
In the midst of all the turmoil we face today, remember our security is in God alone.
1. We can trust in His PROVIDENCE, for He is sovereign and actively working in our lives.
2. We can trust in His divine PURPOSE for us. Nothing can thwart His plan.
3. And we can rely on His PROTECTION over us.
Joni Eareckson Tada was paralyzed from the neck down in a diving accident at age 17. In the aftermath of the tragedy, she went into a deep depression and lost the will to live. She struggled through but eventually came back into fellowship with God.
She started a powerful ministry among disabled people and became an inspiration for many abled people too. Her life story was one of faith and victory, and not bitterness and despair because God has a divine purpose for her life.
Now in her sixties, she found out she has breast cancer. This was what she said,
“I’ve had a ministry to disabled people for many years. Now I can have a ministry to people with cancer!” Joni has learnt to see God’s divine purpose for her life.
Have you seen a video clip of a small cub being followed by a lion in the wild? The mountain lion spotted her prey and was drawing near. The little cub was oblivious to what was happening. Her life seems to be in great danger as the lion moves in for the kill. Watching it brings anxiety. Suddenly there came a roar and the lion shrinks back.
The camera then slowly draws back to reveal just behind the cub this huge, massive, mother bear, standing on her hind legs, almost twice the height of the cub, giving the lion her fiercest warning.
That’s where the roar comes from. All anxiety vanishes when we can see the full picture. The enemy is great but the unseen presence of God is greater. With the God Almighty with us, who can possibly be against us?
Let us face today’s sufferings with confidence and hope. We trust in God’s providence, divine purpose and His protective care over us.
• God is doing a good thing in us. We just need to wait patiently with faith and trust Him to lead us through.
• We will surely grow into the likeness of His Son and finish the race in victory, for we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
PRAYER:
Help us endure the present sufferings with faith and hope, knowing that you are watching and is in full control. You are working out your good will and purpose in ways that we might not understand.
Help us trust you and believe that you work all things for the good of those who loves you. Nothing is random or accidental. You planned it so that we can grow in the likeness of your Son Jesus.
Grant us the faith to see that and be at peace, going through the trials of life. We wait patiently Lord for the glorious hope we have in Christ.
We thank you for what you are doing today, in Jesus’ Name, we pray, AMEN.
[You can view the sermon with slides at https://tinyurl.com/KTCC-EnglishService.]
