All Things Work Together For Good

Jun 28, 2026

Linked Podcast:  After The Amen - Ep. 35

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Sometimes language cannot accurately describe our feelings. Sometimes our emotions are so strong that we can only express them through a wordless utterance. Maybe it's like a sigh. Or maybe it's even more of a groan. You know, like a oh there are times in our lives when we communicate with our mouths how we're feeling very, very clearly, but we never use words. I had a situation not too long ago where that was the case for me. Uh it's a longer story, I'll keep it short and sweet. It was a Tuesday. Tuesdays are busy for me here at work, and so I was rushing to get home after a busy day at work to scramble and get the kids in the car. I was taking half the kids to a baseball game for one of my sons. It was a doubleheader that night, while my wife had the other half of our family. She was off to another baseball game in a different town. My game was in Grand Blanc. And so I was driving there, I was on I-75, and right after I got past the Mount Morris exit, I heard a noise, and then my steering wheel kind of started to wiggle a little bit, and I realized I had blown a tire. So I pulled over on the side of I-75, and fortunately I have a spare in my car, so I began to change the tire and put the spare on there. Um I took the blown tire and I put it in the back of my car, and it smelled like burned rubber, but you know, it was what it was. Frustrating that it had a blown tire, but that's life. So head to the game, we get there, and uh the game starts. Again, it's a double header, but partway into the first game, we saw some pretty dark clouds come rolling in. And then in the horizon, you could kind of see that lightning was starting. And so, pretty soon, as the storm got closer to us, the ump naturally he paused the game, he called for a rain delay, and everyone quickly huddled underneath this pavilion. The pavilion was not large enough to really adequately fit all of us underneath, um, but we all huddled in there, and I was on the side where the storm was coming from. So me and the kids are there, we're we're huddled under this pavilion, and pretty soon it starts to rain, and then it starts to hail pretty violently, and it's not going vertical, right? It's going horizontal. So we're getting pelted. I kid you not, if I took a shower in my clothes for 10 minutes, I would not have been wetter than I was under that pavilion. Totally drenched, my kids drenched, all our stuff completely saturated. And so naturally, because the storm is pretty significant, they cancel the game, right? Partway through the first game, it's canceled, no doubleheader, the fields are saturated, it's time to go home. So we trudge over to the car, our stuff now full of mud at this point because it's a baseball field and it's all wet. We go to the car, I'm completely soaked, freezing. We put our stuff on the back of the car. My car now has a little donut on it, and that's what we were driving. And and so we sit in the car and for 45 minutes and freezing cold, soaking wet, we're smelling burned rubber all the way back to Frankamuth. That's my night. Quite the night. And I remember distinctly when I got into the car and sat down, and water was all over my car and all over me. I remember before I turned on the ignition, I let out a sound. The sound was this. I started the car. As I said, sometimes words cannot adequately describe our feelings. That night I was frustrated, that's for sure. I was exhausted. I was even a little bit overwhelmed by just the all the stuff that went on that night. And sometimes when we feel that way, we often make sounds that run far deeper than words. It's natural. You don't have to teach it, it's instinctual. That's just what we do. And while flat tires and getting soaked by a rainstorm, those would warrant a sigh. There are situations that happen in life where the groanings that we express run far deeper. When the diagnosis is cancer, when your marriage is crumbling, when you lose your job, when you have a child that is wayward, when you're battling loneliness. Perhaps when you're standing by the grave of someone that you love. In situations like these, we often express ourselves with groanings that are far deeper than words. It's all part of the fallen world that we're in. However, this morning, I want to encourage you with something. You see, despite our groanings, there is a hope that we can cling to. There is a promise that I believe that we can claim today. And if you're interested in seeing that promise for yourself, I want to invite you to open your Bibles to the book of Romans. We are in Romans chapter 8 today. Romans chapter 8. There is a beautiful promise for you today, I believe, if you're in Christ. And I want to encourage you to go ahead and check it out. Romans chapter 8. Uh, just a heads up, we open our Bible every Sunday here at Frank and Muth Bible Church. So if you're new here and you brought your Bible, great. If you didn't, we got you covered. We'll have the verses on the screen. We'll also uh have a seatback Bible somewhere in front of you. You're welcome to use that. If you don't own a Bible, take that Bible home. Uh also, if you are somebody who is looking for the book of Romans, it's in the New Testament. So three-quarters of the way in, you get the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Then you have a longer book, Acts. That's the second part to the Gospel of Luke. Then you have the book of Romans. If you hit first or second Corinthians, you went too far. Romans is where we're at. Romans 8 is where we're going to camp out today. And uh, and so that's that's what we're doing. If you've been with us in the last couple weeks, you know that we've been going through a series called Digging Deep. And the idea behind this series is we take some of your favorite Bible verses, some of the verses that maybe if you grew up in the church, you perhaps even memorize, you know really well. And we're digging deeply into these. And the reason we're doing this is because sometimes when we have verses that we're familiar with and we know really well, those verses that are familiar, they eventually become common. And when those things become common, we tend to overlook them. And so the goal of this series is not to overlook these verses, but to revisit them and to dig deeply to understand them in a far greater and more comprehensive way. Because sometimes the thing you need to hear is the thing you already know. And so that's hopefully, Lord willing, uh, going to be a blessing to you as we continue to go through the series. Today, we're in Romans 8. Romans 8, 28 is our verse. That's one of my favorite verses of all time. I learned this verse many years ago in the NIV, and the version that I learned is this. And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who've been called according to his purpose. So again, that's the NIV version. We're gonna look at this in the ESV. It's very, very similar. The only biggest distinction is that some of the order of the words in the verse are kind of moved around. But we're in the ESV, Romans 8.28, beautiful passage, wonderful promise. But as we get ready to jump in, as I often do, I want to establish some context for you. In fact, we're gonna have to do that even more today than we typically would to try to understand what Paul is saying in this verse. And so what I want to begin by doing is just talking about the book of Romans, just for a moment. Now, the book of Romans is an amazing book, and more than any other of the letters of Paul, this is probably the most thorough treatment that Paul gives to any of the churches as it relates to understanding the gospel. Paul unpacks the gospel uh in incredible depth in this book, and there's a reason for this. And so, to give the reason, let me give a little history for you. So the church began in Acts chapter 2. We know that followers of Jesus were empowered by the Spirit. The church was born in the city of Jerusalem, and in a short manner of time, pretty soon the gospel spilled beyond the borders of Jerusalem, and churches started popping up all around the ancient world. And one of the first places where the church really took root outside of Jerusalem was in the city of Rome. The Roman church was established very, very early in this Jesus movement, and the people who trusted in Christ and were part of that church, predominantly they were Jewish. And so these are people who had adhered to the Old Testament. They were Jewish people who were living in Rome. When they heard the gospel, they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, they believed he was God's Messiah, Israel's Messiah, and so they began to establish a church and begin to practice their faith and their adherence to the truth of the gospel in Jesus. However, the way they did it retained much of the things that you experience in Judaism. They were a Jewish church. And so there were distinctives, things about the flavor and style and atmosphere of the Jewish community that they continued to practice. So, for example, they they kept all the kosher laws. They also adhered to the Sabbath, and they also advocated for circumcision. That was part of the culture of the Jewish people in this church. And so practically, while it was a church, it was a Jewish church in Rome, predominantly. But something happened in AD 49 where the Emperor Claudius made an edict and he issued a decree that all the Jews needed to leave the city of Rome. And so this edict lasted for five long years. And that included the people who were part of this Jewish church in Rome. They had to leave the city. And so for the people who were there that were Gentiles, which was a minority, they remained while the Jewish people all left. And five years is a long time. And so over the course of five years, the church continued to grow, and more and more Gentiles now comprise that church. It was a Gentile church. And so at the end of five years, which is a long time, finally the Jewish Christians return to the city and they they stroll back into their church, and they're thinking that church is just going to be like it always was. All those same distinctives that they retained from their Jewish heritage, they thought that that would be part of the church, but all of a sudden they walk in and they go to the men's breakfast and someone's cooking up bacon. Now that's not actually a situation. I'm just giving you an example, right? Something like that would happen, and you're like, whoa, what's up with this bacon? We don't need bacon in this church. Well, they're like, well, well, now we do. And you notice how there begins to be these squabbling and these conflict. There's a church now that has the Jewish people that returned, the Gentiles are there, and with all these Jews and Gentiles, now there's becoming some division in the church. It's a fractured church that's struggling to find unity. Now, what's significant about this is that when Paul looked at the church at Rome, he thought to himself, well, man, this church, if this congregation could be unified, they would be the perfect congregation to really be a springboard for me to take the gospel into Spain. That was Paul's ambition, that he would take the gospel even further into Spain. And so he saw this church and he thought, man, if this church was healthy, if they were unified, they have so much potential to really help me. They could be a catalyst to enable me to continue my missionary endeavors to send the gospel to the ends of the earth. That was Paul's goal. And so he wanted the church to be unified. So he wrote the book of Romans to clearly explain the gospel, to tell this fractured church that the gospel is intended to make one new people. Despite their differences, Jews and Gentiles alike, all of us are justified by faith in Jesus. We're all united to Jesus, and consequently, regardless of our background, we're all united together. That's what the book of Romans is all about. Paul wrote this to unify the church so that way they could be a missionary sending platform for Paul. And so that's why he wrote the book. And so up to this point, up to Romans chapter eight, he's done a really good job unpacking all that. Romans chapters 1 through 8 is an incredible section of scripture. And we're in chapter 8. So let me just zoom into chapter 8 for a little bit. This is kind of the crescendo of Paul's argument in the beginning of the letter. Chapter 8 is one of my favorite chapters in all the Bible. It begins by Paul telling the church that there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Then Paul continues on and he says, Hey, we're also free from sin. We're no longer slaves to sin. He says, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death. You're no longer a slave to sin if you're a Christian. That's good news. He says, You're also no longer a slave to fear. That's what he tells us in the beginning of Romans chapter 8. And then he goes on to describe life and the Spirit. Now we have the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, and the Spirit who lives within us. He assures us that we are in fact children of God. It's a beautiful section. Romans chapter 8 begins that way, but now picking up in verse 18, Paul shifts and begins to unpack some other things. And this is really the section where our verse is going to be nestled today, and so we need to understand this section a little better. Let's pick up in verse 18. Notice what Paul says. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Now I want you to notice here, Paul is talking about two different realities for the church, two different realities for Christians, for followers of Jesus. The first reality is connected to the present time, and this present time, which means the life you live today, it's marked by sufferings. There may be some of you who entered into a relationship with Jesus with the hope that it would make your life a lot easier and a lot better. And it certainly blesses your life. If you're a Christian, there are blessings associated with being in Christ, but it doesn't always make your life easier. In fact, sometimes things get harder. If Jesus suffered, what makes us think that we are exempt from sufferings? Part of the life we live in today, this present time, it is marked by suffering. That's the first reality that Paul unpacks here. But notice the second reality. Not only do we focus on the present time, but now Paul focuses on the time in the age to come. In the age to come, there's coming a day when all creation will be made new. There's coming a day when we will be raised in glory. We'll talk more about that later. And that future is so incredible that Paul says it overshadows the sufferings that you experience in this present time. The way he says it is, he says, they're not worth comparing with the glory that's to be revealed in us. Your present suffering's not even worth comparison. It's far greater, far more supreme. And so Paul begins by talking about the dichotomy between two different realities, our life today, which is filled with suffering, and our life in the future, in the age to come, which is marked by glory. Paul begins to unpack these two things. This is our context for understanding our verse today. So that's really our foundation. So if you guys are ready, let's now dig deep. And so as we dig in, the first section I want to talk about, number one, is the groaning, the groaning. Now, if you've been with us for some of this series, you know that largely throughout the series, I focus my three points on the verse itself. For understanding Romans 8.28, I really felt the need to dig into a few things around the text also. So I want to look at just the verses that immediately precede Romans 8.28 because it really helps us understand the verse itself. So interesting here, if you look at the verses that come before Romans 8.28, Paul keeps repeating a word. Just a little helpful hint. When you study your Bible, look for repetition. That's always a very important feature in the biblical text. Paul repeats himself and he talks about groaning three different times. There are three characters in Romans 8 that are groaning in the text. And interestingly, the first character, Paul, uses personification, if you're familiar with that, right? So it's not an actual individual or character, but he applies these kind of personal characteristics to this and describes how all creation, right, who's not a person, but all creation, he says, is groaning. So notice the way that Paul says it here. He says this for we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. Now remember, the world that we live in today, this present creation, this is all operating under a curse. If you go back to the beginning of your Bible, remember how God creates everything, He creates humans, He gives them one command, right? One that's significant, right? You can eat from any tree in the garden. All of it's yours. But there's one tree in the middle, the tree of the knowledge and good of good and evil. Don't eat from that. The day you eat of it, you will surely die. Well, what do humans do? Well, they see that the food is good, the tree is good for food and pleasing to the eye, desirable for gaining wisdom, and so they take the fruit and they eat it. And in that moment, they eat the forbidden fruit, sin enters the world, and we see the consequences of humanity's sin. It doesn't just impact humans, it impacts all of creation. We live in a world that's now fallen. The way that's described for us in the early chapters of Genesis is now we're in a world that's filled with thorns and thistles. This creation has been subjected to futility. That's the language that Paul uses in this section here. Now, interestingly, that word futility, it's if you take, it's in Greek that Paul wrote this. If you take the book of Ecclesiastes and look at the Greek translation of Ecclesiastes, if you were with us, you remember we talked a lot about heavel. That's the Hebrew word that means meaningless and pointless, right? Heavel is this word that often we experience in life and we try to grab a hold of the world around us and it slips through our fingers. It's all heavel. Well, that word futility is how they translate the Greek version of the book of Ecclesiastes. It's the same word. Life is marked by futility, by heavel. This world that we're in, it's in bondage to decay because of the curse that's been brought about by our sin. And so, Paul, he talks about the pains of childbirth here very intentionally because he's bringing us back to Genesis 3. Remember, that was part of the curse, pains and childbearing. He brings us to Genesis 3 so that way we look and we understand that the world that we live in today is not the world as it should be. It's not the way it was originally created to be. This is a fallen world that now is cursed. That's the reality of the world that we're in. However, God has a plan for his creation. One day in the age to come, this present creation will be liberated, Paul says. It'll be set free from its bondage to decay, and it will be renewed. You see, these pains of childbearing, childbirth, these are not pains associated with death. These are pains associated with new life, new life that's coming into the world. So one day when Christ returns, he'll make all things new, he'll bring about this new creation, the earth will be reborn, and on that day, as it comes, creation waits till that day. It longs for that day, and it's groaning in these pains of childbirth until that day arrives. That's the idea. So creation is groaning. Creation is groaning. Then notice the next character that's groaning. Paul says this. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, those are Christians because we have the Holy Spirit. We groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. So not only is all creation groaning, but followers of Jesus, we are groaning inwardly as well as we await the future resurrection, the redemption of our new bodies. Now, this idea of groaning here, it gives us the sense of longing for something. It's the sense of waiting for the return of Christ and the fulfillment of all his promises. We experience this inward groaning as we wait. It's a desire for all the things that are wrong with the world to be set right. That's why we groan. As we live in the midst of a corrupted world, life is filled with suffering and hardships and challenges. That's why we groan. I open with my story about the groaning that I had because I had a car with a blown tire and I was soaking wet, getting in that car. That sigh, that groaning, that's just part of life in the fallen world. We're weary people, are we not? Are you a little overwhelmed sometimes? Are you burdened sometimes? We are weary people because we live in a world that's imperfect. We're burdened by the problems of the world, but those struggles will not last forever. That's the good news. No, we're waiting for the time. We groan inwardly now, but we await the day and the age to come where there's no more need for groaning, no more need for waiting, because what we're waiting for has arrived and it's perfect. So creation groans, we groan, then surprisingly, notice the third character who groans. It's the Spirit. Paul says, likewise, the spirit, that's the Holy Spirit, helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words, and he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. You see, because of our weaknesses, because of the present world that we live in, we often will find ourselves in difficult situations where we don't even have words to pray. We don't even know how to articulate what we're feeling, what we're burdened by. But you see, The Spirit who now dwells within us. He is our advocate. He intercedes for us and he prays on our behalf with groanings that are too deep for words. What Paul describes for us is amazing here. It's almost as if Paul is saying that our groans become the groans of the Spirit as he intercedes on our behalf. And so this is what Paul describes immediately before he gets to our verse, Romans 8.28. Creation groans. It's waiting for new creation. We groan, we're waiting for future resurrection. The Spirit groans as he intercedes on our behalf. And so groaning is part of the world that we live in. We live in a broken world and we're waiting for all things to be made right for future glory. So that's where we start. Number one, the groaning. But now as we lean into our verse, which comes on the heels of all that, what we're going to see, number two, is the guarantee. This is a promise. This verse is a promise that we can claim, that we can cling to. Look at Romans 8.28. I broke this into three different lines here. It says this and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Now here we have a promise. Now, Paul is writing this to the Romans. If you were with us last week, you know this is scripture, though. All scripture is what? Breathed out by God, 2 Timothy 3.16 says. So we're reading the words of Paul, writing to the church in Rome. These are the very words of God. So I would suggest to you that this is a promise not just from Paul, but a promise from God. Who is this promise for? That's the question. Well, lines 1 and 3 kind of answer that for us. Notice how he began, I'll start with the first line. He says, and we know, we know that for those who love God, this is who the promise is for. It's those who love God. Can I ask you, who are the ones who love God? We should be the ones who love God. Believers are people who love God. We are people who love him. We love him because he first loved us. Now, interesting here, if you kind of dig into the grammar here a little bit, this is a participle phrase when he says, those who love God. And this is something that's found in the present tense, which means it's an ongoing, unfolding activity here. This is not like love, love for God is not a set it and forget it thing. Oh, yeah, I love God in the past. That's great. No, if you're a Christian, we continue to love God throughout the duration of our life. We are people who love the Lord. We love God, and we're also the very same people who are described as those who are called according to his purpose. Now, the word called that's used here, this is a word, the technical term for this is effectual calling. So in light of God's sovereignty here, and Paul describes this as by saying, according to his purpose, God has called us to himself. He has called us into relationship with himself. He's called us into marvelous light. Those who are called by God are believers. If you're a Christian, you have been called by God. Now, one of the ways we understand how Paul is using this word is by seeing where else he uses it in this letter. Interestingly, if you look at the beginning of the letter, you don't have to turn there, but if you want to look at it, you can. I think it's verse 8. Paul begins with this customary introduction, and then he talks about the recipients of the letter, and there he says, to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints. So again, let me just remind you: if you're a Christian, you've been called by God. And once again, let me remind you: by Christian, I don't just mean someone who goes to church, someone who tries to follow the rules, someone who doesn't say cuss words. That doesn't make you a Christian. In fact, you don't make yourself a Christian. God is the one who's done the work for you. You don't make your way up to God. God came down in the person of Jesus. He died the death you deserve, he was raised for your salvation, and by grace and through faith, through trusting in Jesus, we receive the gift of salvation. That's what it means to be a Christian. It's a believer. And so believers are people who love God. Believers are people who've been called according to his purpose. And God calls you to himself, not so that you stay the same, but he has a plan for you. And in fact, he has a plan for you that extends into the age to come. And if you want to see what that plan is, we're going to look at the next verses in a moment. Just hang tight, though. We're not quite there. You'll see that. Before we move on, we know this is a promise, we know it's a guarantee for believers, for Christians, but what specifically is the guarantee? We'll look at the middle line now. All things work together for good. Now, this is a wonderful promise, is it not? But before we rush past it, let's slow down and try to understand exactly what Paul is saying in this letter. First of all, he begins by saying all things. Now, contextually, remember, we just talked about how life is filled with groanings. Our life in this present age is marked by suffering. So creation groans, we groan, the spirit groans on our behalf. Groaning is a byproduct of living in the fallen world. It's just part of what we do. Suffering is clearly in view when Paul describes all things, but I don't think all things is limited to just suffering. Paul uses a word here that opens the door wide to all aspects of our lives. So every joy you experience and every disappointment, that's included in all things. Every success and every loss, that's included in all things. Every season of blessing, every season of heartache, that's included in all things. These are all lumped together into all things. All the events of your life are included here. And so what's happening with these all things? Well, all things work. Now, what's implied here is not that the all things are doing the work. Implicit to this is that God is behind the scenes in all things doing this work. He is at work in and through all the events of your life. He's working something together. The word work here in Greek, once again, we have a present tense, so this is a continual thing. That's comforting for me because sometimes life is filled with all sorts of curveballs to me. But God actively at all times is working in my life. And he's working in your life. And he's working through all the events of your life, and he's working things together for an intended purpose. So what's the goal? What's God working all things together for? He's working all things together for good. For good. See, God is the one who's at work in all the circumstances of your life, the good stuff and the bad stuff. He's working it all together for good. Now let me remind you: there are times in life where we get to see that play out, and it's awesome. You ever have a moment in your life where like bad things continually happen or struggles or you don't really know what's going on? And then you kind of get to the end result and you're like, oh, that all makes sense. I see what God did here. That's really cool. You ever have that happen? That's happened to me. It's a wonderful blessing. Sometimes this plays out right before our eyes. The classic example comes from the life of Joseph. Now, Joseph is one of my favorite characters. He's my namesake, right? So I was named because of Joseph in the Bible. He's an amazing character. In fact, one of my favorite verses in the Bible is Genesis 39:6. It's this verse right here. Now, Joseph was well built and handsome. Wonderful verse, right? It's my life verse, in fact. I really appreciate this verse. So true. Joseph was a good guy, a great character. And if you know the story of Joseph, it looks like so much potential in life. Right? He's somebody who's prosperous and successful. And yet what happens to him? His brothers grow jealous because his father loves him more than them. And so they see him from a long way off when he's going to check on his brothers who are tending the flock. And they take him and they throw him in a pit, and they're gonna kill him. But what they actually do is they see an opportunity. There are people who are going by on their way to Egypt, and what they do is they sell their brother into slavery in Egypt, and they lie about the whole situation and say to their father that they take his coat that some animal must have killed him. And so Joseph is on his way into Egypt. He's a slave now. He ends up in the house of a guy named Potiphar. And you think in this moment that perhaps things are going to get better because Joseph is wise and he's prosperous, the Lord is with him, so things start to look like they're taking a turn. But Potiphar's wife notices Joseph and she's attracted to him and she makes advances toward him. And then he flees because he knows it's wrong. And she ends up being upset by that. So she lies and says that he actually was going after her. And so he's taken and he's thrown into prison now. Well, once again, because Joseph, the Lord is with him, he's prosperous, things start to look good for a moment. In fact, Joseph is thinking he can get out of prison because he has this ability to interpret dreams. The problem is, eventually the person who he helps out, he forgets all about him. And so Joseph is sitting there now in prison. And he looks back over the course of his life, and no doubt he's going, What on earth is happening? You know, I'm sold out by my brothers, tossed in a pit, sold into slavery, I'm lied about, I'm thrown in prison, then in prison, I'm forgotten, and now I'm just sitting here. What's going on? Well, we know amazingly, eventually Joseph gets out of prison. And what happens after he's out of prison? Well, he he rises miraculously to power in Egypt and he begins to interpret dreams. He knows a famine is coming, and so he puts in motion a plan to store up grain for the time of famine that's gonna go across the ancient world. And so his brothers, they begin to experience the famine and they begin to realize they're gonna starve to death. And so they hear about this ruler in Egypt who stored up grain, and so they head their way to Egypt, and there, they don't know it's him at first, but they encounter Joseph. And there they're asking for grain. And Joseph, in that moment, he looks at the situation and he realizes exactly why it all happened. He looks back at the course of his life and all the bad things that had happened, and he realizes that if all those bad things hadn't happened, he and his family would have died, they would have starved to death. And so looking at his brothers when they come before him asking for grain, in Genesis 50, 20, Joseph says these words What you meant for evil, God meant for good in the saving of many lives. We see an example in the story of Joseph of all these things being worked together for good. It's a classic example of the principle that's here in Romans 8.28 that God is working all things together for good. Joseph got to see the fruit of what God was working together. How cool is that? Another classic example of that is the gospel. Can I tell you, the worst thing the world has ever seen is the death of God's son? Jesus was sinless, he didn't deserve it. The worst thing the world ever saw was the death of God's son. How amazing is it that that event is also something that brought about the greatest good the world has ever seen. That's the salvation of God's people. We see Romans 8.28 played out in the gospel very, very clearly. So many times it's very cool when we get to look at a situation and go, oh, I see what God just did. That's great, that's awesome. But can I remind you that more often than not, we don't get that experience. We don't get to understand or see the end result more often than not. There are many times where we don't see what God is doing. Let me give an illustration. Anyone here remember Bob Ross? Classic. Love Bob Ross? This guy was great. Like if you're stressed out and you watch Bob Ross, you instantly just calm down. He's so mellow, right? So cool, so relaxed. Nothing ever bothers him. He's the guy who paints uh beautiful landscapes, right? So mountains and rivers and sunsets, and of course, he's the guy that paints those happy little trees. He can't forget the happy little trees. It's great. You ever watch like an episode of Bob Ross? And from the beginning, you begin watching him paint, and you're just mesmerized, like, oh, that's awesome. Whoa, that's so cool, looks so great. And then he gets to a point, sometimes halfway through the painting, where he does something interesting. Right, halfway through the painting, he'll take a brush loaded with paint and he'll drag it across the canvas, and in that moment you go, oh, oh no, Bob, you ruined it. Like that's totally wrong. That ever happened with you, or is it just me? All right. You look at it and you're like, Bob, no, no, no, no, no, it was perfect just as it was. What are you doing, Bob? But then you wait a few minutes and he keeps painting. And in a few moments, the dark streak becomes the shadow of a mountain. Or that dark streak becomes the trunk of a tree or the reflection of a lake. And the very thing that looked out of place is actually the thing that gives the painting its depth and beauty. That's often what our lives feel like. We often don't get to see the finished painting. We only see the canvas halfway through. That's life. We can see some of the beautiful brushstrokes that God paints, but we also see some dark ones too, the ones that make no sense. And in those moments, we're tempted to go, God, what are you doing in my life? Why am I going through this right now? Why is this happening to me? Can I remind you? Romans 8.28 reminds us that the canvas isn't finished. God is still painting, He is still working. And in through our lives, and in through all things. When Paul says all things work together for good, he's not necessarily saying an immediate good that we can look back and go, ah, there it is. No, in fact, contextually, Paul is talking about something that's beyond our horizon. He's talking about an ultimate good. You see, there is an ultimate good in the age to come that we've yet to see. And so now that we've looked at number one, the groaning, that's part of the life we're in today. Life is marked by groanings, by suffering, by struggles. That's part of life in the fallen world. Now that we've seen the guarantee, there's a promise that we can cling to as followers of Jesus, that through all the stuff you're facing today, God is working it all together for good. Now I want to finally unpack the third section, and that's the goal. What is God, what is this good God is bringing about? Well, notice the words that immediately follow Romans 8 28. He begins by saying this in verse 29 For those whom God, for 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. You see, part of the good that God is seeking to do in your life is he's conforming you more and more into the image of Jesus. He is making you like Christ. That's what God is working toward. He goes on to clarify and explain even further in verse 30 by saying this, and those whom he predestined, he also called. That's the same idea here that we just saw a moment ago about being called. Those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. Paul is describing this unbreakable chain about us, about believers. This is our trajectory. This is where we're headed. Uh it's what ultimately we're waiting for. In Christ, we've already been predestined. In Christ, we've already been called. We looked at that word. In Christ, we've already been justified. That means declared righteous by faith in Jesus. We're declared righteous. But interestingly, Paul also says, glorified in the past tense. Now, here's the thing that's strange about this: our glorification hasn't happened yet. The word glorified, it simply means what we're waiting for. It's that one day we're gonna be resurrected. We're gonna be given new bodies, incorruptible, just like there is in Jesus in a new creation. We're waiting for that day. That's what our glorification is. Interesting that Paul describes it in the past tense. Why would Paul describe a future event that hasn't happened in the past tense? I think he does it for a very important reason. You see, this promise in Romans 8.28 is so certain that when Paul speaks about our future, he talks about it as if it's already been completed. Because rest assured, God will certainly finish the good work that he started. That's the promise. It's so firm that Paul speaks of it in the past tense. God will accomplish his goal. One day God will deliver on all his promises. This creation will be set free from its bondage, and it will be made new, and you and I will be resurrected and glorified. We'll be made new just like Jesus. This is the ultimate good that God has in store for his people. And so, even though today life is filled with groaning, and I feel that. Do you feel that this morning? I shared my little story about the blown tire and being drenched with rain and the groanings, but I'm talking about like real groaning. Stuff that's far deeper than just that experience. You feel that? I I feel that when tragedy strikes? When there's heartache? When I'm struggling with obstacles and challenges, sufferings? Life is filled with groaning. Can I ask you, what's life like today for you? What's this season been like? Maybe the groanings you feel they run deep. Maybe it's marriage challenges, as I said earlier. Maybe maybe battling addictions. Maybe it's like strife in the family. Maybe there's challenges with your career. Maybe you're anxious about what's ahead. Or battling depression. I I don't know. There are all sorts of things that produce groaning within us. But can I remind you, in the midst of your groanings, there is a guarantee we can cling to. God is working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Beloved, this is a wonderful promise for believers, Christians. The big idea we see very simply this morning, it is this. Even in our groaning, God is working for our good. Do you believe that this morning? This is a promise. God's working all things together for good. I hope that you believe that. Can I remind you that we often don't get to see the end result of these things that he's working together for good? In fact, he's in the midst of painting, right? The canvas, it's only halfway through. Rest assured, it's gonna be a masterpiece. God is a master painter, he knows exactly what he's going to do. It's gonna be wonderful. And so this is a truth, a promise you can cling to. So, whatever you're facing today, whatever the all things you've been going through, blessings or hardship, challenges, trials, whatever it is, remember. In all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who've been called according to his purpose. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this amazing promise. This is something that I need to hear today, and no doubt many of us in the room do. God, I'm very impatient. I would love to just peek and see what the end result will be like. Because I can't even comprehend it. I can't fathom it. But Lord, I know that that's not how it works. You are not bound by time, but I am. And so, because of that, I am tasked to wait. All of us are. May we wait with faith, believing in your promises. May we wait with faithfulness, being obedient to what you call us to do. Lord, may we also wait with comfort to know that you have the whole end perfectly in mind. We don't see it, you do. And you are working all the things that are often challenging in our life together for good for us. So help us, Lord, to see that and believe that and claim that for ourselves, Lord. And for the person in the room who maybe is exploring faith, who's not a follower of your son Jesus, I pray that you would just reveal to them that their lives, their stories, they don't get to write them, they don't get to paint their own canvas, that there's so much about life that's outside of their control. I pray that you would open their eyes to the gospel, that they'd be drawn to you and repent of their sin and turn to your son Jesus in faith. We ask and pray that, Lord. Pray that your spirit would be drawing them to yourself. But Lord, thank you for this promise. I pray that we would just claim this for ourselves today. Maybe this is something that we just need to hear today. So we thank you. All things work together for good for those who love you and are called according to your purpose. Thank you for that promise. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

unknown 43:29

Amen.