Romans Series # 40 May 29, 2002
Title: 6 Reasons Christians Can Be Certain Of Heaven
Website: www.newlifeinchrist.info
Email: pastorsarver@yahoo.com
Introduction: Welcome to New Life in Christ. We are currently in Chapter 8 of Romans as we continue with message #40 of our verse-by-verse study of the Book of Romans.
Read Romans 8:28-30
Opening Prayer
Many of you probably remember the commercials for the Maytag Appliance Company, which featured the advertising icon known as the Maytag repairman. In the commercials the Maytag repairman was a lonely old man who hung around a dusty 50’s style repair shop. He was always reading magazines, bored, and unable to stay awake because Maytag appliances were so reliable that he had nothing to do.
I wondered if the advertisements were based on reality. Are Maytag products that reliable and dependable? Does the Maytag Company believe enough in its own product to back them up with realistic and firm guarantees? I did some research and found that Maytag appliances may not be as reliable as advertised. There were literally hundreds of complaints from consumers on the Internet about broken products from Maytag. I wondered what type of guarantee was given with the purchase of a Maytag appliance, so I went to the Maytag Web site and read the warranty. The first part of the warranty was fairly general in nature, so I read further down the page where I discovered sections entitled “exclusions” and “limitations.” Let me read a portion of the sections to you.
EXCLUSIONS
This Contract does not cover service for replacement of light bulbs, plastic, porcelain or enamel parts, exterior or interior finishes, knobs, dials or handles, trim and/or appearance parts or external accessory items such as water or electrical connections and venting equipment. This Contract does not cover service or replacements made necessary by any external cause including without limitation, rust, corrosion, fire, theft, Acts of Nature, negligence, misuse, abuse, alteration, installation, delivery, unauthorized repairs, power failure or shortage. In no event shall Maytag Appliances Sales Company be responsible for consequential or incidental damages, (including food loss) or damages due to delays or failure in furnishing parts or service for any reason beyond our control including, without limitation, strikes or other labor shortages, Act of Nature, failure of transportation, inability to secure fuel, goods, supplies or power at current prices or on account of shortages thereof.
LIMITATIONS
This Contract does not include preventive maintenance. Also, in order to receive services and parts under this Contract you are obligated to: Provide preventive maintenance in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions; Ensure that the product has been installed and operated in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions; and make your product readily available for service in your home. If you do not perform your obligations, the services will not be performed under this contract.
A guarantee with so many exclusions and limitations is hardly reassuring at all. I suppose we should not be surprised because most things in life do not come with genuine, ironclad guarantees. There is no guarantee that medical treatment or surgery will be successful. There is no guarantee that your marriage will endure the trials and temptations of life. There is no guarantee concerning your career or earthly future. Life is filled with uncertainty about most things, but there is one thing that is absolutely guaranteed. There’s one thing about which you can be absolutely certain and that one thing is your future in heaven. If you are Christian, you can be sure of eternal glory!
I. Christians can be certain of eternal glory because God is for us.
This is the primary emphasis of the latter half of Romans Chapter 8. Paul wants us to understand that God guarantees our future and that there is no fine print. To reassure Christians who were struggling and suffering, the Bible gives Christians 6 reasons we can be certain of our future in heaven. We looked at two of them last week.
1. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God’s Spirit prays for us perfectly.
2. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God is working in every Christian’s circumstances for the good.
This brings us to the third reason Christians can be certain of their future in heaven.
3. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God’s predetermined plan is that all Christians are glorified.
This point is the main emphasis of vs. 29, 30. Paul wants all Christians to know that God has already decided their future. He has predestined them to be glorified. Your relationship with God is not like a marital engagement they can be called off if things change. Your status as a child of God is not like that of a new employee on a 90-day probation period to see how things work out. Your trip to heaven is not like a modern day flight on airplane that is destined for Honolulu but diverted by bad weather to Los Angeles. Your relationship, position, and destination is certain because it is already planned by God, and nothing can foil his plans. God has a predetermined plan for you to be like Jesus, including sharing in his character and glory.
3. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God’s predetermined plan is that all Christians are glorified.
I wanted you to understand the overall encouraging point of these three verses before I got into the details. I wanted you to see that first because these verses have caused a lot of debate and controversy among Christians for many hundreds of years. I will briefly explain that debate, but do not miss the main point, which is to reassure Christians as to their future. We covered verse 28 last week so tonight I will start with verse 29.
Read Verse 29
“Those God foreknew he also predestined...” What is meant by the word “foreknew?” Some people believe that it means to choose ahead of time. In other words, God chose certain people to become Christians without any regard to any decision or action they would take. In this understanding, God arbitrarily chooses some people to be saved, draws them into becoming Christians by irresistible grace (explain) and then keeps them from ever turning away from Christ.
I understand that many genuine, intelligent and well meaning Christians hold to this understanding of God’s way of dealing with man, but I do not personally hold to this understanding because I do not believe the whole of the Bible supports this teaching. I do not believe that the word “foreknew” means to choose ahead of time but rather to “know” ahead of time. This is the literal meaning of the Greek word. This word is a compound of two Greek words. One word meaning “before or beforehand” and the second word of the compound word meaning “to know something.” The natural meaning of the word then is “to know something beforehand,” not to choose something beforehand. This same Greek word is used in other places in Scripture where it clearly means to know something before the present time, not to choose something ahead of time. One example of this can be found in 2 Peter 3:17.
Read 2 Peter 3:17
In essence, Peter is saying that since Believers already know beforehand about false teachers coming into the church, they should be alert. He clearly uses this word in the sense of knowing something before it takes place. I believe that the word “foreknew” in Romans 8:29 means that God knew ahead of time who would respond to the Holy Spirit’s drawing of them to Jesus with a faith.
Those who “God foreknew, he also predestined...” Predestined just means to determine beforehand. God has already decided or determined something to be true about believers before it takes place. What is it? What has God predetermined or predestined to be true for all Christians?
In Romans 8:29 is says, “(God) predestined (us) to be conformed to the likeness of his Son...” God has determined ahead of time that Christians will be like Jesus, no matter what! This means we will share in his character and in his glory. This is why we can be certain about heaven and future glory.
3. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God’s predetermined plan is that all Christians are glorified.
Regardless of our struggles or our suffering, regardless of our failures and faults, regardless of our trials and tribulations, God has already decided that all those who are trusting in Christ will be like Jesus and thus make it to glory. That’s a guarantee I can appreciate and be encouraged by!
We have been predestined to be like Jesus so “that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Firstborn here is figurative for having the highest place of honor. God’s plan is that Jesus has the highest place of honor in the great family of God.
Read Verse 30
Sometimes we act as though we are the ones responsible for our salvation, sanctification, and glorification. We get so focused on our struggles or successes that we do not focus on the fact that it is God who began this good work in us and it is God who will complete it. According to verse 30, who predestined us to be like Jesus? God! Who called us to a relationship with him through Jesus? God! Who justified us, making us holy and acceptable to him? God! If all this is true, then who can we count on to complete the work of bringing us to the point of being glorified? God! From start to finish our salvation is in God’s hands. Our future is not in our hands but in God’s hands. Our future is guaranteed because God is working in us. Our future is so certain that the Bible speaks of our future glorification in the past tense!
3. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God’s predetermined plan is that all Christians are glorified.
We’ve seen three reasons for this certainty, now let’s look at reason number 4 of the 7.
4. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God is for us and not against us.
Read Verses 31-33
In verse 31, Paul states the encouraging truth “If God is for us, who can be against us?" In other words, how can we lose if God is on our side? How can we be kept from future glory if God is for us? Obviously we can’t. Paul is not saying that no one or nothing is against or opposed to our success or victory. Satan with his temptations, the flesh with it’s weakness, this world what is attendant troubles, and even people are all against us at times, but since God is for us we are certain of the victory. God is greater than anything that is against us so we have nothing to fear!
Read Psalms 118:6
Now some people may have been saying to themselves, “Ok Paul I agree with you, If God is for me I cannot lose, but how do I know God is for me? How do I know that God will not change his mind and forsake me? Maybe God will get fed up with my failures and reject me?” In answer to these concerns and questions Paul basically says, “Use a little common sense!” In verse 32, Paul reminds the people that God “did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all...” Now common sense dictates that if God was willing to do that for us, won’t he “also along with him graciously give us all things?” In other words, since God has went to such great sacrifices in the past to save us, we can be certain that he will bring that work to a fulfillment. God is not investing in a losing cause! God’s love for us is not wishy-washy but certain. He proved his love for us on Calvary so we can be certain that nothing, absolutely nothing will keep him from completing his loving plans. Even when you struggle and fail, God still loves you and is thus still for you.
Illustration: A certain speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. "Who would like this $20 bill?" he asked. Hands started going up throughout the audience. He proceeded to crumple up the bill. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" The same hands went up in the air. "Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Again, hands went into the air.
"You have all learned a valuable lesson," the speaker said. "No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the foolish decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value in God’s eyes. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are priceless to him." Source: Unknown
Conclusion: Life doesn’t offer many real guarantees, but one thing every Christian is absolutely guaranteed is that they will be heaven. We’ve looked at 4 reasons of 6 that we can be so certain of this fact.
1. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God’s Spirit prays for us perfectly.
2. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God is working in every Christian’s circumstances for the good.
3. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God’s predetermined plan is that all Christians are glorified.
4. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God is for us and not against us.
Next week we will complete chapter 8 of Romans as we look at the last 2 reasons Christians can be sure of future glory.
Closing Prayer.
