SERMON TITLE: All Things Working Together for Good
TEXT: Romans 8:28 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 3/7/21
You can find the sermon notes here.
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And the one thing I always want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshipping with us at our North Main campus or are joining us online — the one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and that I love you too.
Two weeks ago, we returned to the eighth chapter of Romans — a chapter that many believe to be the most important chapter in all of the Bible. And — that means — it’s taking us somewhere around twenty sermons to soak in the great truths and promises found here. And we made it halfway through the chapter last year and we’re gonna finish it this year.
And — today — we’re going to encounter a wonderful promise to us — God’s people — that should give us hope and comfort while also challenging all of us in our relationship with God.
What do I mean? Well, we live in a world where we’re told to take credit for things that go well in our life. That new car or new job. The promotion at work or that first place trophy. We’re in charge of our lives — we’re told — and if we want to experience good things — well we need to work hard and then enjoy the rewards of our labor. And — since we’re the one who’ve worked hard — we’re told to take credit for things that go well for us. But we’re also told that — when things don’t go our way — when we fail — well someone else is to blame — maybe even God.
Now — for sure — there’s nothing wrong with hard work. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be successful. What is wrong — however — is taking all the credit for the good things in your life while ignoring how others have helped you gain your success. And it’s also not good to ignore how we might have contributed to the times when things didn’t go our way.
But have you ever wondered why we do this — why do we take credit for the good in our lives and cast blame when things don’t go our way? Well we all believe — to a degree — that we’re in control of our lives and that other people are threats to our pursuit of what’s best for us. And — for many — even God is viewed as a threat. As someone has said, “Control is a drug and we’re all hooked.” (Kate Bowler)
But the Christian faith reveals to us a better way. For the gospel shows us that God is working out all things together for good in the lives of his people. And we’re to respond to God’s work with our own work — participating in what he is already doing. And even when not good things come into our lives — things the Bible describes as trials or struggles or our own rebellion — these not good things are used by God for our good. And this is great news! For though we want to believe that we’re in control of our lives — deep down — we know we’re not — we know we don’t have that kind of power or control. But here’s some fantastic news: God has that kind of power and is in control of all things. Thus we have an opportunity to trust him — and his working out of all things for our good — even when the things we’re experiencing are in and of themselves not good.
So let’s turn to our verse for today and see this great promise of our faith.
If you have your Bible please turn with me to Romans chapter 8. We’ll be looking at verse 28. Just one verse today. Here are the words found in Romans chapter 8 — verse 28.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 ESV)
Since we only have one verse today, let’s look at a few other translations of it so we better understand what this verse is telling us.
The New Living Translation says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 NLT)
The New International Version says, “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.” (Romans 8:28 NIV)
Now — before we get to the hope found in this verse — I want to give all of us a loving warning. A warning on how not to use this verse — for this is a verse that’s been used to unintentionally beat down on those who are in a season of suffering. The very first funeral I ever did — we’re talking nearly 15 years ago — was for a stillborn birth — a devastating experience I know folks in our congregation have experienced. The parents knew their daughter had major health complications and the doctors had given them — at most — the expectation of having a few hours with her if she survived birth. I remember getting the call — in fact — we had two stillborn births that week in the congregation. I remember pulling into their driveway and having no idea what to say or do. And this mom was devastated as she had — understandably so — put a lot of hope in having those few hours with her daughter. She didn’t expect anything more than that — but she had hoped for just a few hours with her baby girl. And when I walked through her front door — before I said anything to her — the first words out of her mouth to me were, “Pastor, I don’t want to hear any of that ‘God works all things together for good’ stuff right now. I just can’t take it.”
So my caution — to all of us — is to not use this verse — intentionally or not — as a weapon to beat down on those who are being beaten up by life. And — if you’re in a season where life’s beating you up — know that my hope is that you won’t leave here beat up even more but will find the sweet hope that’s offered to God’s people in the promise found in our verse. And if you’re not in a season of suffering, know that now’s the time to settle in your mind and heart whether or not you believe this verse. Because once suffering is upon you — well — that’s not the time to wrestle with whether you believe this truth or not. Your time to wrestle with this truth is now.
“But, Josh. You didn’t even say a word to her before she said don’t use this verse. So how has this verse been used to harm others?”
There are many ways we can abuse others by misusing this verse. So let’s see what this verse is teaching us and how we’re to live in response to the promise found in these words. We’ll do so by looking at who this promise is for and then we’ll look at the work that God is doing. Who are the recipients of this promise? And what’s the work that God is doing?
Let’s begin by looking at who this promise is for — the promise that God is working all things together for good — is a promise given to a specific people. Let’s read our verse again.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 ESV)
We just talked about some ways we might misuse this verse. One other way to misuse this verse is by quoting the “God is working out all things for good” part while leaving out the part about who the recipients are of this promise. So who’s this promise for? Is it a promise for all people? No. It’s for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. So let’s talk about these two things.
First, what does it mean to love God? Something interesting to consider is that Paul rarely speaks of Christians loving God. But — and I hope this is obvious — loving God is a prerequisite for experiencing the promise in our verse. Yet it’s also important to note that loving God is a qualification met by all who believe in Christ. Meaning Paul isn’t intending to suggest that there are some Christians who love God and other Christians who don’t. To be a Christian means that you do love God.
“Well OK. But what does it mean to love God? How does a person — who loves God — think, and speak, and behave? Hanson, if I say I love God, what should I expect of myself and what should others expect of me?” Great questions. Thanks for asking.
For starters, to love God means we have a spiritual thirst and hunger for God. Just as our physical bodies need food and water — thus we have a natural instinct that tells our brain — “you need to get a drink of water because you’re thirsty” — those who love God have a supernatural instinct built into us that thirsts for God — that hungers for communion with God.
This is similar to what David means when he writes, “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. 2 I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. 3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! 4 I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. 5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy. 6 I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night. 7 Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. 8 I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.” (Psalm 63:1-8 NLT)
To love God means we love what God loves and hate what he hates. It should be obvious to us that — to love God — means we should love what he loves and should seek to prioritize his values in our life. But what does God love? He loves his Son. He loves his Word to us — the Bible. He loves his people. He loves his people gathered together to worship him. He loves his creation. There’s much that God loves that we’re to love because we love him.
What about hating what God hates — that doesn’t sound too loving now does it? Yet — when Moses saw the people worshipping the golden calf — he threw down the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments on them. When David saw the giant — Goliath — not only taunting the Israelites, but arrogantly defying his God — David was moved to fight the Philistine. And Jesus — when he saw how the people had turned God’s house of prayer into a marketplace — well — he flipped over the tables and started chasing people out of the Temple with a whip. And this is the guy who said we’re to love our enemies.
Like David’s divinely inspired words in Psalm 139. “O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you? 22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies. (That’s some strong language, but then he says...) 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” (Psalm 139:21-24 NLT)
So how do we hate what God hates and still love our enemies — in such a way — that we can say to God, “And point out anything in me that offends you”?
We’re to love our enemies — in the sense — that we’re to pray and hope for their salvation and that God would be glorified in their life. But — in our love for God — we must not approve of — or treat lightly — their ungodly character and behavior. We should hate the sinful things they approve of and do while praying for their salvation and repentance — because we love them.
This leads us to another characteristic of those who love God. To love God means we desire to share the gospel with those who are lost. To love God means we desire to make his love — as displayed in life, death, and resurrection of Christ — known to those who have yet to believe in Jesus. Jesus came to seek and save those who were lost. He was moved with compassion for those who were confused and helpless — who are described as sheep without a shepherd. Thus to love God means we desire to share the news about Jesus with others.
The promise in our verse is for those who love God — and for those who are called by him.
So what does it mean to be called by God — the second qualification in our verse. And know that — one — these two qualifications are NOT meant to be pitted against each other — loving God and being called by him are not enemies. And — two — because of what follows in verses 29 and 30 — which we’ll look at in a few minutes — we know that this being called by God is the primary reason why we have confidence in knowing that all things are working together for our good. Meaning, we may doubt our love for God — or wonder if we’re loving him enough — but God calling us is something we have nothing to do with. This is a complete work of God that he does solely by himself — for he calls us according to his purpose.
And this truth completely revolutionizes the way we view the things we experience — both the good and the bad. As A.W. Tozer has said, “When I understand that everything happening to me is to make me more Christlike, it resolves a great deal of anxiety.” So — instead of allowing something like God calling us and working out things for our good — and debating about how this jives with our free will and all of that stuff — let’s soak in the comfort that’s offered to us here.
And if we’re aware — that God is using everything for our good and his goal of making us conformed to the image of his Son — we will make use of this supernatural weapon God’s placed in our hands to wage war against the anxieties of life — because we will “cast all of our cares upon him knowing — trusting — believing — that he — God — cares for us” and is using this moment — and all moments — for our good. We’ll know that the struggles we experience are not the result of God condemning us — for there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus — and instead we will see these struggles as instruments in the hands of God that he’s using to mold us to be like his Son.
And I know that — because we crave control and are addicted to it — this will be hard for some of us to step in to. To go beyond saying we trust God — but really leaning in against his love for us and his power to use everything in life for our good. But a great way to begin leaning in and trusting God is to ask “God, how are you using this situation in my life for my ultimate good?”
For example, the next time you find yourself annoyed or angry, see this as an opportunity to examine what’s going on in your heart rather than focusing on the external thing that’s making you angry. Ask God to show you how he wants to use this situation for your good because he is wanting to do something far more important in you than what’s happening to you.
“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. 4 “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.” (Matthew 5:3-4 MSG)
How crazy does that sound? You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope? Blessed when you feel you’ve lost what’s most dear to you? This is not how the world — or we — define blessed is it? To be blessed is to have everything you want, right? To have your dreams come true. But — if we’re leaning in to the promise of our verse — we see that to be blessed is to have more of God in our life — even if it means having less of ourselves — even the loss of our hopes and dreams. Truly being blessed is being embraced by the One who’s most dear to us — even if his embrace comes at the cost of something dear to us.
A way to summarize our verse in Romans 8 — which may be helpful — is this: We know that all things are working together for good for those of us who love God; and we know this is so because — we who love God — are also those who’ve been called by God to enter into a relationship with him — a call that has the end goal of molding us into the image of Christ and preparing us for being in the presence of our Heavenly Father for all eternity.”
So — being called — isn’t the idea of being given an invitation that we accept or reject. Being called — in our verse — is the idea of God effectively assembling people to be the recipients of his grace. Do we respond to his effectual call? Absolutely! We respond to his call by loving him! That’s why the promise — that all things are working together for good — is for those who are called by God and who love him. It’s both — not one or the other. And especially not one versus the other.
And notice that this is all in accordance with God’s purpose. His will. His plan that — through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son — the people of God would be called back to him.
And — those whom God has called — are those who love him. And those whom God has called aren’t free to decide whether to love God wholeheartedly or halfheartedly. For God demands — those he has called — to love him with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Why? Because God wholeheartedly loved us by sending Jesus — to fulfill on our behalf what we could not do on our own — the work of salvation.
And this leads us to the work that God is doing for those he has called according to his purpose and who have responded to his call in love. Our verse again says...
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 ESV)
Now — as I’ve said — God working all things together for our good doesn’t mean that “all things in and of themselves are good.” Paul’s not downplaying the suffering and hardships we experience due to sin — whether it be our sin, the sin of others, or the consequence of living in a sin-stained world. What he’s saying is that God — who is all-powerful and good and in control of all things — God is working out everything — he’s directing all events in life — ultimately towards the good of his people.
Think of some of the promises we have in Scripture that tell us of what God is doing on our behalf.
For example, because he cares for us he supplies us with all that we need. “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19 NLT)
He strengthens and protects us. “But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.” (2 Thessalonians 3:3 NET)
He empowers us. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7 NLT)
Or as Isaiah tells us, “We looked down on him, thought he was scum. But the fact is, it was our pains he carried — our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him — our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed. We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost. We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on him, on him.” (Isaiah 53:3b-6 MSG)
So — the work that God does on our behalf — includes things like supplying our needs, strengthening and protecting us, empowering us and sending his Son to die in our place for our sins.
Which leads us to another important question: What does the word “good” mean in our verse — all things work together for good?
Some immediately think of eternal good — meaning God’s using everything ultimately for our eternal good. Why do they think this? Because of the verses following ours — which we’ll look at in greater detail in coming weeks. But here’s our verse read with the verses that follow it.
And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30 NET)
The exclamation point of these verses is glorification. For those who love God — and are called by him — are those whom he foreknew — those he predestined — those he called — those he justified — those who will be glorified — meaning they will spend eternity in the presence of God. So there’s definitely a sense — here — in which the ultimate good — that God is working out for us — is our eternity with him.
Yet — if we remember the verses that came before our verse — we’ll recall things like the groaning we experience in these sin stained bodies and the intercession the Holy Spirit is doing on our behalf when we don’t know how to pray. So there’s also a sense in which — though our ultimate good is our eternity with our God — that — on the way to eternity — God is using all things to keep us on the path of salvation that leads to our glorification. Thus, nothing we experience in this life will go unused by God to guide us on our earthly pilgrimage of following our Savior on the path that leads to eternal life.
One quick example — from the Old Testament — that may make this clear. Many of you are familiar with the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis. He was his father’s favorite son. His dad gave him the coat of many colors. God had given Joseph dreams showing him that he’d be in charge of his brothers and parents. And all of this made his brothers jealous — so jealous they wanted to kill him, but — instead — they sold him into slavery.
As a slave, Joseph wound up in a man’s house and — at first — things went well for him. And then things didn’t go well when his master’s wife falsely accused him of rape. What reward did his innocence earn him? Time in prison. Years — in fact.
Years of hardship as a slave. Years of imprisonment. Years of not good things happening to a man who — when you read his story — yeah he’s not perfect — but he definitely hasn’t done anything to earn all of the bad stuff he experienced.
But the story of Joseph shows us how God works out all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. For Joseph eventually rises up to second in command of the nation of Egypt. And when a great famine occurs throughout the local lands — including where his family — who had betrayed him — lives — God uses Joseph to rescue an entire nation — and his family — from starvation.
And here’s how Joseph summed up his life — including all of the bad things that happened to him. To his brothers — who thought he was going to seek revenge once their dad had died — Joseph said, ““Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. 21 No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.” (Genesis 50:19b-21 NLT)
Joseph says, “All that’s happened to me — much of it wasn’t good, by the way — but all of it happened so that I would be in a position to save the lives of many people. And God was behind the scenes orchestrating it all.”
Similarly, though the religious leaders — and even Satan himself — thought they’d won as they murdered Jesus on the cross — they had no idea that God was working behind the scenes — orchestrating it all — so that through the death of Christ — and his resurrection three days later — the lives of many people would be saved.
You see, part of the reason why it’s so hard to see how God is working all things together for our good is because — in many ways — we’re looking at life through a magnifying glass. When you look through a magnifying glass, you can only see a very small portion of reality up close and you can’t see the whole picture through the magnifying glass at one time. And what God is doing is beyond the scope of what our “magnifying glass view” can see. Thus we must cling to the promise — in our verse — and set down our magnifying glass and look with our eyes of faith. Trusting that — if God could use all things in Joseph’s life — and especially if he could use the murder of his Son for our good — then he is certainly using all things in our life for our good and his glory.
Paul assumes that the Christians in Rome know this about God. That’s why he says...And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 ESV)
Do you know this? Do you believe this? Are you trusting in this great promise? That God is working out all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Paul knew this firsthand as someone who had experienced hardships and suffering and persecution and near death experiences over and over again because of his faith in Christ. And — yet — even with the suffering he experienced Paul knew that God was using all of it for his good. Joseph knew that God had used everything in his life for his good and for the salvation of many people. Our faith proclaims that God used everything in the life of Jesus ultimately for our eternal good. And the hope we’ve discovered today is that God has promised to us — to those who love him and have been called by him — he has promised that he is using everything in our lives for our good. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, help us to cling to this promise. To hold tightly to this promise. To determine right now to believe this promise and know it. That you are working out all things for the good of those who love you and are called according to your purpose. Not one moment in our life will go to waste. You will use all of it to make us more like Christ.
Spirit, we will waiver in our trust and belief and hope in this promise. So when we are weak in faith, may you stir in us supernatural trust and belief and hope in this promise. Especially so in those whom life right now is devastatingly hard.
And Jesus, we would have no hope without you giving up your life for our sake. What love you have for us. What a commitment to our good you’ve proven. May we receive the grace you offer to us. And it’s in your name that we pray all of these things. Amen.
Hopefully — as you came in — you grabbed one of these prepackaged communion cups. If you don’t have one — and would like one — raise your hand at this time and one of our ushers will get one to you.
But as we turn to the Lord’s Table, we’re reminded of the greatest gift God has given to us — as this is a meal of God’s love for us as displayed in the life and death of his Son.
On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:24b-26 ESV)
And with these words our Lord commands all believers to eat this bread and to drink this cup in true faith and in the confident hope of his return in glory. In this meal, God graciously declares to us that our sins have been completely forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. (Adapted from the Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 75, 80) Let’s pray.
Father, we give you thanks for your Son, Jesus. For his obedience and suffering during his life on earth, and for his giving up of his body and blood on the cross. Give us assurance that our sins are pardoned through his blood and may your perfect love drive out all fear. Fill our minds with your peace and turn our eyes to Heaven, where Christ is at your right hand interceding for us. Unite us with each other through your Spirit so that — together — we bless you with our lives until our Savior returns. Amen.
At this time, if you peel back the first layer of your communion packet, you’ll find a wafer. Take and eat — Christ’s body given for you.
And — now carefully peel back the second layer. Take and drink — Christ’s blood shed for you — feast on God’s grace.
Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, in your wisdom, you have made all things and you sustain them by your power. You formed us in your image, setting us in this world to love and serve you, and to live in peace with one another. When we rebelled against you — refusing to trust and obey you — you did not reject us, but still claimed us as your own. Then in the fullness of time, out of your great love for us, you sent your only Son to be one of us, to redeem us, to heal our brokenness, to cleanse us from our sin, and to defeat our greatest enemies of Satan, sin, death, and Hell. In Christ we see your promise to us — that for those who love you and are called according to your purpose — all things are working together for our good. And in response to this great promise, we now praise you in song together. Amen.
May you — in loving God and having been called according to his purpose — may you go knowing that he is working out all things together for your good. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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