Daily Dose of the Word of God -Romans 8: 28-30

Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor

Transcript

Gregg DeMey  0:07  

Good morning and welcome to Elmhurst CRC's Daily Dose of the Word of God. This is Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor of the church and it's Thursday, June 12 - Sunday is coming. Today's Bible reading continues this week's texts from Romans, chapter 8.

Gregg DeMey  0:25  

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. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Gregg DeMey  0:52  

Romans 8: 28 is one of the most famous and oft-quoted verses of the Bible. "In all things, God works for the good of those who love him." I love it and I have mixed feelings about it. Mixed feelings because sometimes I hear somebody say these words at a funeral, at a wake, or when somebody's going through a really dark time. They're trying to say, "it's going to be okay,God is working in all things." That is true, but it's also difficult to hear those words if you're in a really dark place. The second reason I have ambivalent feelings is because the English version of this verse is actually a pretty lousy translation. English, unlike Greek, has a different word order and if I can suggest this as a better translation: "we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good." God is not the subject of the sentence in Greek and when we make God the one who is working in all things, it runs the risk of making God the author of the difficult or even evil circumstances - and that's not what Paul is trying to communicate. All things work together - it's a little bit different view of God, who's able to rework, recycle or redeem anything and everything that happens to his children in this broken world.

Gregg DeMey 2:11 

 
And then these verses say that God predestined us, called us, justified us, and will glorify us. Now God is outside of time, what is before and after to God? Causality from God's point of view doesn't work the same way. Did God choose you and then you responded to him? Or did you respond positively to Jesus and then God chose you based on your response? These questions don't even make sense from God's point of view -  they are one in the same. Being inside of time, it is hard for us to comprehend, but almighty God is the author of time and space, the architect of it. He is not not limited or defined by it. It is God's will and purpose outside of time, to predestine us, call us, justify us and glorify us. I like to think these as the dominoes of grace - once God's power gets this started, it is going to happen. If you desire to know Jesus more, if you desire to know God's word more deeply, if you desire to experience more of the wise counsel of the Holy Spirit, you can rest assured that these desires exist because of the power, foreknowledge, predestination and the love of God working on you. And if God loves you and you love God, you can be confident that indeed, all things will be working and woven together for your good.

Gregg DeMey  3:39  

Let's pray. Oh God, today, we surrender our lives and all the circumstances around us into your sovereign care. We trust that indeed you are at work in all of it, amen.