The Great Eight - Pt 23

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 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. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 28-30 ESV).

Finally we have arrived at the center-point of the Great Eight! When it comes to the great promises of the Scripture there are not any bigger or more hopeful than the first verse of our reading today. We will need to take a few days to fully explore this verse and those that follow in amplification of this promise. It is nothing short of staggering in its declaration. The infinitely wise, infinitely powerful God pledges to make everything good to his people! Not just nice things, but horrible things, like tribulation and distress and peril and slaughter. And, “all things” means ALL things. Certainly we see a glimpse of this in the Old Testament. Here David, upon the completion of his palace and the beginning of peace in the United Kingdom of Israel, says: Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning (Psalm 30:5b ESV). With the same absolute assurance, the apostle 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 (v. 28). If you live inside this massive promise, your life too is as solid as the rock of Gibraltar. Nothing can blow you over inside the walls of this promise. Outside of this promise all is confusion and anxiety and fear and uncertainty and straw houses of deadening drugs and tin roofs of retirement plans and cardboard fortifications of anti-ballistic missiles and a thousand other substitutes. Once you walk through the door of love into the massive, unshakable promise of this promise everything changes. There comes into your life stability and depth and freedom. You simply can’t be blown over anymore. The confidence that a sovereign God governs for your good all the pain and all the pleasure that you will ever experience is an absolutely incomparable refuge and security and hope and power in your life. No promise in all of life, then or now, surpasses the height and breadth and weight of Romans 8:28. Last week we received the news of the death of one of the great preachers of any age, Billy Graham. Here’s what he said about this verse: All things are not good. It would be mockery to say that they are. The death of a child is not good. Cancer is not good, drug addiction is not good, war is not good, blasphemy is not good. In the chemistry of the cross God takes things that, in and of themselves, are bad, and He puts them together, much as a chemist might take chemicals that, in and of themselves, may be deleterious and mixes them to make a medicine that brings healing. This is the place for us to begin. Seize this promise and draw it into the very core of your being. It will transform your life entirely!