Many of our blog readers know Romans 8:28, God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. By faith, we claim that verse during difficult times. But we miss tremendous power to cope well with the trials that God ordains for us if we stop reading Romans 8 at vs 28. It is vs 29 that tells us what god’s purpose for us is: For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. God’s purpose is that we become Christ-like. Last week, we observed that our mission is first to love and enjoy God; we are called TO Christ. The second part of our mission is that we are called TO BE LIKE CHRIST--to be transformed into Christ' image in our heart attitudes. Let’s dig into these two verses from Romans 8 to find wisdom and strength for our mission, making four observations:
A. The project to conform us to the likeness of Christ is GOD’S project not ours. It is God who causes all things to work together for good. God’s sovereignty is further emphasized in verse 30: And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. It is God who predestines, God who calls, God who justifies, God who glorifies. We are his workmanship. Some of us grew up acknowledging this truth when we sang the old hymn in King James language that goes, Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way. Thou art the potter, I am the clay Mold me and make me after thy will, while I am waiting yielded and still.
He is the potter and we are the clay. But, quite honestly, part of the problem with trials and difficulties is that we are not yielded and still. And we don’t want God’s way; we want our way. We don’t want to yield to the sculptor’s chisel, because the trials that build our character hurt. By nature, we want our own way—nobody else’s, even God’s. Is it possible that you’ve been forgetting that you are not your own but were bought with the precious blood of Christ? I often do. Is it possible, that you need to stop squirming, and complaining, and resisting the Master Craftsman at work in your life, and yield to him as one who is quiet and still?
B. The second insight we find in this text is that God’s plan is TOTAL not partial. In ALL THINGS God works for the good. God is sovereign over every single detail of our lives. One theologian writes:
There is no will or act of creatures, men, angels, or demons that can do other than work for our good…..There is no phenomenon of nature, fire, flood, storm, earthquake that can work us ultimate ill. The law of gravity can not trip us up or have anything fall on us, unless it has first been sifted through the will of God and his purpose for our good. Every experience of our individual circumstances, whatever concerns us, humbles us, or forces us to rely on him who alone can satisfy—all things—work together for good. Otherwise the LORD would not permit them. (Donald Grey Barnhouse).
Wow. That word “all” means all. This sovereignty of God includes the way he created each of us through bringing together the unique combination of DNA from our mother and father to give us the abilities, lack of abilities, looks, intelligence, personality, we have. It includes placement in our specific family of origin, and the wounds to our hearts that resulted from the dysfunction in our homes. It includes the mistakes we’ve made. Even if it was a mistake, God, let us go ahead and make it—and if we’re yielded to him at a later date, he will weave that decision into his good purpose for our lives.
C. The third truth that empowers us when we hurt is this: God’s intent in our suffering is GOOD, not evil. In all things God works FOR THE GOOD of those who love God. Every bad thing that comes into our lives—pain, rejection, grief, sickness, injustice, frustration, God promises to turn to his good purposes. It is as if someone lunges at you with a dagger to harm you, but God, the Master Surgeon, redirects that blade with laser precision, right where he wants it to do surgery on your heart so that you be conformed to the image of Christ.
What makes God so great is not only that he is so good that he can not do evil; he is so good that he turns evil into good. The most heinous crime ever committed was the betrayal and murder of a perfect human being, Jesus Christ. Yet this greatest sin was what God used to accomplish the greatest blessing that has ever come to mankind—redemption through Christ’s death on the cross. The intent of Judas and the Sanhedrin was evil. God’s intent was good. Whatever comes, whether it just frustrates our goals, or creates heart-crushing grief, God has ordained for his good, ULTIMATE, purpose. Paul makes it clear that it can be seen as good only by those who love him and are called to his purpose.
D. God’s purpose is TRANSFORMING OUR CHARACTER, not helping us escape pain. God causes all things to work together for good TO THOSE WHO LOVE GOD, TO THOSE WHO ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE. One of the biggest differences between God and us is that we focus on the immediate; he focuses on the ultimate. To be honest, it’s hard to focus on the future when it hurts so much right now. I’m grateful that God understands this difficulty for us as humans. In his Word, he acknowledges, For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Heb 12:11).
Suffering doesn’t feel good in the present. What football player loves running hills or wind sprints? Not until October, when the defense is trying to protect a two- point lead in the fourth quarter is he glad for his conditioning. Do you know any troops who loved boot camp? The value of the pain that was part of disciplined training isn’t usually seen until real combat begins.
Our God is a superb coach. His focus is the Day when Jesus Christ will be revealed, when Jesus will place a victor’s crown on our heads and we will then put at his feet. It is a day that will continue into eternity. I believe that in some way, the degree to which we have been transformed to have Christ-like attitudes will determine our joy in eternity. It will be the joy of having honored Christ with our heart-attitudes but perhaps in some way it will also be the joy of seeing Christ’s glory more clearly. Perhaps the more we have learned to hate evil, the more Christ’s righteousness will fill us with joy. Perhaps the more we learn to love those who don’t deserve our love, the more our hearts will delight, eternally in Christ’s love for us, who hate God apart from his grace.
Romans 8:28-29 is just one of many texts in Scripture that reveal God’s purpose to make us Christ-like. For example, the result of the Holy Spirit’s work in us is changing our heart attitudes from evil ones (like sexual impurity, idolatry, jealously, envy, drunkenness etc.) to righteous ones (like, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.) Peter tells us, “Be holy because God is holy” (1 Pet 1:16). The Hebrews text above tells us that painful experiences yield the fruit of righteousness. Jesus said to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. There are many more similar texts. I labor this point for two reasons:
A) Widespread confusion over the word, righteous. To distinguish Christianity from the false teaching of Jewish leaders Paul argued that salvation is through faith alone and not by keeping the law. Paul used the word, “righteous,” to refer to justification i.e. “being declared righteous by God the judge” To some theologically inclined folks, calling believers to seek righteousness sounds like it is promoting works salvation, or legalism. But righteousness is also used in the NT for godly character. The chief NT theologian who calls believers to seek righteousness was named Jesus. He taught in Matthew 6:33 that our top priority was to seek righteousness in our own lives and throughout culture (which means standing up against racism and against the destruction of property.) Jesus taught (in the 4th beatitude) that one of the eight foundational heart attitudes that his followers were to embrace was to hunger and thirst for righteousness. He is not talking about justification but character.
B) The second reason I labor the point that Christians are to seek righteousness of character is this: knowing that becoming Christ-like is at the core of God’s purpose for us helps us see why God ordains so much pain in our lives. It doesn’t necessarily make it hurt less; but hope and emotional energy are kindled when we see a purpose for suffering. God’s purpose for his people has always been to set them free from the penalty, power and presence of sin, i.e. to make a righteous people for his own possession. This truth is clear in the great Isaiah 61 job description of the Messiah. Jesus cited part of it in his home-town synagogue as he launched his ministry. It is a wonderful picture of the gospel. Note that its end point is righteousness of character.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has annointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; THAT THEY MAY BE CALLED OAKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified (vs 1-3).
STEPS TO RESPOND TO TRIALS AND PAIN
1. Process the pain WITH Jesus, by pouring your heart out to him. He is your High Priest who does understand and feel every bit of your pain. Believing God intends your pain for good, never means, “bury it, suck it up and move on.” I am a far way from succeeding here; but I am trying to process my everyday frustrations with the Lord, because I’ve been convicted about my complaining attitude!
2. Identify whether or not you caused this pain to yourself. (In a sense all of us did, because our corporate sin in Adam brought all of the suffering of the world into it—but that is not the focus). If your discernment shows that this trial is your own fault, the pain fits the category of reproof: you are reaping what you sowed. Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is honored (Prov 13:18) How about this for bluntness, Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid (Prov 12:1). To illustrate:
- If you are angry with the slow driver in front of you, is the real problem that you didn’t leave enough time to reach your destination?
- If you are angry at your kids for their “attitude,” did you provoke their anger by carelessly speaking words to them that were harsh?
- Are you failing to experience the fruit of joy because you are worried about some things and need to rest more in the Lord?
- If you feel the pressure of not having enough money to pay the bills, could it be that you ignored God’s prompting not to buy that item you wanted?
3. Try to link your pain to a Christ-like attitude God could be building in you. I’ve tried to make the biblical case that God’s purpose, i.e. your mission, is to build Christ-like attitudes. But where do we begin? We are so far from being Christ-like! Begin by looking at your trials and pain. Let’s look at some examples:
a. If God wants to teach you agape love, he might:
- Put someone in your life whose behavior you find annoying
- Put someone in your life who is selfish and not meeting your needs
- Call you to agape love someone who doesn’t appreciate all you do for him
- Put someone in your life who is flat out hard to love.
b. If God wants to teach you godly humility (1st beatitude), he might:
- Let you fail, even though you’ve tried so hard to succeed for him
- Put you under so much pressure that you are forced to depend on Christ
- Give you some kind of handicap or weakness so you have to lean on Christ
- Show you how wrong some of your decisions have been though you were sure that you were right.
c. If God wants to teach you to mourn over sin's destruction (2nd beatitude), he might:
- Cause you to reap what you’ve sown, experiencing pain because of your sin
- Allow you to hurt your loved ones because of your sin
- Allow you to suffer because of other’s sin
- Allow your loved ones to suffer because of sin.
d. If God wants to teach you meekness (3rd beatitude), he might:
- Allow your reputation to be unfairly damaged
- Do something striking to awaken you to your self-centeredness
- Allow something valuable that belongs to you to be destroyed
- Put you in a situation where your personal rights are repeatedly violated.
God’s ultimate goal in creating us is for us to be conformed to the image of Christ. That is why all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. The painful trials of life are the chisel and file in the hand of the Master Sculptor. He loves us so much that he is all about shaping our inner man into the image of Christ. He wants to gaze into your soul and see his son, Jesus. And he knows that the more he can do that, the greater will be your joy, eternally.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
1. What parts of this episode most stood out to you?
2. Identify three trials or common sources of irritation in your life. Take each one through the three steps listed above. Renew your commitment to wanting to show Jesus’ character to the world.
