All Things Work Together For Good

Romans 8:28-39
Today’s sermon is the last in series of three sermons from Romans chapter 8. In the first sermon we were reminded of our royal status as believers in Jesus: that we are God’s children. What amazing and wonderful news this is that, through faith in Jesus, we have become what God intended for all people from the beginning: sons and daughters of the living God of the universe who are loved with an everlasting love.

In our second sermon, we learned that God’s children are people of hope—that we can be certain that there is an eternal future for us (and for creation) that is unbroken by sin and death—confident that, “come what may” here on earth, eternal life lived in fellowship with God in a new heaven and a new earth is our eternal future.

Today’s sermon is about that time that lies between our adoption into God’s family and our ultimate restoration on the Last Day—it’s about our life right here and now and the challenges we face and the faith questions we have in the midst of those challenges. Questions such as…

If I really am God’s child and if I really do have a glorious eternal future ahead of me, why am I experiencing such hardship right now? What is God’s purpose in allowing difficulties into my life? Can I be confident that earthly troubles are not going to destroy my faith and I fail to reach heaven? God’s answer to these questions is that he is working ALL things for our eternal good. The Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write:

We know that- for those who love God -all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

How devoutly we believe these words when our life is filled with good things—how we struggle to believe them when it is difficult and hard things that fill our lives! But whether there are pleasant things or painful things, the promise of God is the same: in every moment and circumstance of our life, he is working for the good of his children.

But this promise applies only to those who are God’s children through faith in Jesus—whose lives are characterized by a love for God. Those who are God’s enemies-those who are living in open rebellion against God’s ways --can take no comfort from this wonderful promise-- for they are living at cross purposes with God.

God has created us and redeemed us for a single purpose: that we would be restored to a right relationship with him in time and eternity and live with him as his children. Everything he does and allows in our lives works to that good end so that we can be confident that-come what may-we WILL reach heaven. The Bible says:

Those whom God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

There are a number of theological words in these verses: predestined—justified, glorified—and we will talk about those in more detail in a moment—but what you need to know from these verses—the summary of what we’re going to talk about is this: God has always known you and loved you--and God will always love you-- and he has a perfect plan for your life so that you will remain his child for time and eternity.

God told Jeremiah, that before he formed him in his mother’s womb—he knew him—and that is true for you too. Before there was time—when there was simply the God WHO IS—you were already on his mind and in his heart. He called into being everything that exists out of love for you—to enjoy fellowship with you forever.

To achieve that goal, he predestined you—that is, he chose you in Christ to be his own- and designed a perfect plan for your life- so that everything that happened in your life would play a role in shaping you into the image of his only-begotten Son—so that you could enjoy the very same life with the Father that Jesus has.

A big part of that plan was accomplished when he called you into his family by the power of the Holy Spirit working in the Gospel. Maybe that happened when you were baptized—maybe it happened later in life through the preaching of the Gospel—but however and whenever it happened—God called you to trust in Jesus—and in that moment, God declared that you were right in his sight—justified by faith in the life, death, and resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ.

And having justified you in his sight, he prepared an eternal home for you in heaven where his life and presence and glory would shine upon you forever.

From everlasting to everlasting God has loved you and known you and he has done everything necessary to make you his own precious child for time and eternity. That is why we can be so certain that all things are working for our good—because God is for us and always has been and always will be. The Bible says: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

We may have our doubts about the “ALL” in “all things” that God chooses to work for our good. We would very much prefer to avoid hardship and suffering and the difficulties of life.

But there can be absolutely NO DOUBT that even in the midst of them, there is a God of love who is working for our good because his love stretches from eternity to eternity and standing right smack dab in the middle of God’s eternal love for you is the enduring sign of that love: his own Son’s death upon the cross. The Bible says:
God 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?

None of us can peer back into the hidden counsels of God or gaze into the future at the glory to come—they have to be revealed to us for they lie outside of time and space. But we can know—beyond any shadow of a doubt—in a concrete way—God’s attitude towards us because of the gift of his Son.

God himself—in the person of his Son Jesus—entered into time and space and took upon himself our own human flesh. He offered up upon the rough cross of Calvary the one perfect, fully sufficient sacrifice that has reconciled us to our heavenly Father—fulfilling the law’s demands and suffering the punishment for sin we deserved.

The person and work of Jesus—events of history and a real, living person-- are preached to us so that our ears can hear it and they are poured over us in the waters of Holy Baptism so that we can feel it and given to us in bread and wine so that we can taste it. Truly WE CAN taste and see that the Lord is good and his mercy endures forever.

And having given us the gift of his own Son—having bestowed his saving life upon us in Word and Sacrament—why on earth would God withhold even one good thing from us?! All things—all things have already been given to us in Jesus Christ.

Some of them we enjoy right now: forgiveness, peace with God, hope for the future, a family of fellow believers. Some of them we have to wait for: a new heaven and earth, bodies unencumbered with sickness and sorrow, and the end of death.

But having already given us the very best he can give in Jesus—we can be absolutely certain that God will not withhold a single good thing from us—no matter what the world, the devil, and our own flesh have to say about it. The Bible says:

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who 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.

When the Christian endures hard times and difficulties our spiritual enemies are right there tempting us to doubt the promises that God has made to us. The world ridicules for believing that there is a divine purpose and plan for our lives. The devil attacks our identity by tempting us to doubt we are God’s children because hardships have come into our lives. And our own sinful flesh rebels against the very idea that God can bring good things out of suffering.

But what are these spiritual enemies—with their temptations and accusations and condemnations-- compared to the verdict of Almighty God: that through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection we are indeed his children now and forever? Who can possibly condemn us when God has acquitted us—or dare to accuse us when Jesus is our defense?

The same One who died on the cross to forgive us and rose up from the grave to give us new life --has ascended to the Father’s right hand where he lives to be our advocate: holding up his once for all sacrifice as the enduring sign of our righteousness in God’s sight-- and beseeching his heavenly Father to bring us safely into the home he has prepared for us.

It is the eternal plans and purpose of our heavenly Father for our lives- and the work of his Son Jesus Christ for our salvation- that assures us that nothing, absolutely nothing—no matter how terrible, no matter how difficult, no matter how painful-- has the power to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Bible says:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

Hardship and difficulty and suffering are a possibility for the child of God and for many of God’s people it has been a reality. Paul quoted a psalm that was written nearly a thousand years before Christ about the suffering those believers were enduring—the church of Paul’s day was going through that same thing—and of course we’ve had our own share of life’s difficulties even as countless Christians still die for their faith.

But do these hardships have the ability to destroy Christ’s love for us? Can they undermine the Father’s plans for us? Will they separate us from God?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor 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.

What does it mean that we are MORE than conquerors? After all it certainly seems that we have our share of defeats: we give in to temptation—we are opposed by the unbelieving world—we have to endure hardship and suffering—and all of us will die one day if the Lord does not come first. Where is the victory in all this?
It is in Christ—the One who loved us and gave his life for us. It is his victory that makes us more than conquerors in our daily battles.

Jesus never gave in to temptation—not even once. Jesus defeated the devil’s angels again and again. Jesus healed the sick and fed the hungry. Jesus conquered death and the grave. The crucified, risen, ascended Christ rules heaven and earth at this very moment to bring us to himself and through faith in him—his victory is our own.

We are more than conquerors in the hardships of life because the victory that we possess is our Lord’s victory and nothing that we will ever face in this world is greater than his love for us.

His love chose us in eternity. His love rescued us from our sins and made us God’s children. His love has prepared a place for us where we will dwell eternally. And his love is still with us in this waiting time—this hoping time—working all things together for our good. Amen.