Title: God Who Makes Good
The content is the food of our souls. Romans 8 is the food of the soul. The reason is verse 28 of today's text. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.” This is one of the most amazing promises in the Bible.
Dear saints, first of all, do you believe this promise is true? Have you never experienced it? Some of you do not think that these words are different in real life? Since it is contained in the Bible, the word of God, it is unconditional truth, but do you think it is an absurd question? But let's be honest. How many seeming contradictions in our lives? Couldn't something have happened to us that we couldn't possibly tolerate? There must have been sufferings and difficulties that were considered unjust. How did you react when something like that happened to you? "Okay, don't worry. Everything will be fine. Years are a thing." He may have tried to avoid and forget while saying that. Otherwise, there will be some who have not been able to tolerate what has happened to us and are still unable to do so. How should we understand and respond to the sorrows and pains of life that we have? Today's sermon is closely related to the fundamental question of life: suffering and the problem of suffering unjustly. One Christian answer to life's pain.
1. You must know that God works.
Romans 8:28 says, “All things work together for good.” It seems as if all things move automatically and work together to form a good. However, this thinking is wrong. To avoid this misunderstanding, many English translations translate that God works all things together for good.
Brothers and sisters, all things belong to God. There is such a thing as chance for man, but there is no such thing as chance for God. There are no exceptions in everything. Everything belongs to God and takes place under God's intervention. Everything happens under God's permission. Jesus Himself emphasized this in Matthew 10:29-31. Even a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without God's permission. He said that God's interest is even more special for the saints. “Even the hairs of your head have been numbered; you are of more value than many sparrows.” That's right. God intervenes in everything. He is especially interested in our work and works. Even the hairs on our heads interfere. God works on us to the extent that we know how many hairs are lost when we wash our hair this morning. We must know this for sure.
2. You must know that God works all things together for good.
Dear saints, I want you to pay attention to the word “everything” here. Everything is literally everything that happens to us. All of this, of course, includes good things for us. Including sloppy things. But it all includes things that have caused us pain, sorrow, and deep wounds. All kinds of pain and loss we have had. It is the hardship, anxiety, and worry that are internally unfairly suffered. It's violence for no reason. Economic hardship. Unexpected accidents, sickness and death. These things in themselves are not good for us. It is evil. But all of this happened for the sake of God's will for us, that is, for our salvation.
Dear saints, this means that all these things were accomplished according to God's plan, that is, according to His will. You may not understand why this is happening, but it is that God's will is being done in an orderly fashion. Why do I have to lose money, why do I have to get sick, why my beloved son was born with cerebral palsy and has to die after suffering only, why the business has to go bankrupt, why do I have to meet that person and get hurt like this, why unfairly You may not know what to write. Indeed, we may not even know how to understand and pray. It seems so shameful and unfair. It's weird when we see it. It never seems reasonable. But God is doing good things for us.
Perhaps after time passes and all the cases are resolved, we will come to know the meaning like Joseph. Ah, you will know that you have achieved good by working together. Of course, there are some things that we don't understand until the end. It is in heaven that Jesus will tell you why. Then you will understand everything.
3. We must know God's love.
The promise in Romans 8:28 is not a promise given to everyone. It is a promise given only to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. That is, those who love God and are called according to God's will know that all things work together for good. Those who love God are those who know God's love and believe in His love. Those who love God know that all that God has done for us is done out of love. We know that everything that has happened to us is the love of God.
Dear saints, if we are convinced that God has called us out of love, we will know that all things work together for good. Rather than asking why I have such an incurable disease, why I have such an accident, why do these things happen to me, and why do I have to suffer like this, everything that happens to me is a reflection of the love that the God of love has done for me for good. I hope you will confess that it is work. Believe that everything that happens to us is a revelation of God's love. Really, everything is God's love. Health, disease, success, failure, injustice, and unfair treatment are all gifts of God's love to us.
Dear brothers and sisters, we are called according to the will of God. Those who have received God's unconditional love. Therefore, we are lovers of God. All things work together for good for us. This is because the God of love is doing everything according to God's plan for our salvation. I want you to confess that everything is an expression of God's love. Then, even the harsh world will be a livable world. A difficult world is a beautiful world. I hope you will navigate your life while looking at this beautiful world where there are tears, sickness, death, failure, and setbacks.