“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, NASB).
In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series of meditations on Romans 8:28 we established that we are broken people living in a broken world and God is redeeming us and all His creation. God’s redemptive plan for the created order is not an accident of creation but is God’s design, His eternal plan.
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, NASB).
In the first part of this meditation we established that God is Love but human beings are willful and rebellious. We are broken and God wants to fix us. So, our redemption IS God’s master plan. Redemption is the whole purpose behind the created order.
So why didn’t God just fix us so we didn’t need “fixing” in the first place? Romans 8:28 provides some clues that help us solve this theological perplexity…
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, NASB).
I’m one of those annoying people who always wants to know why! I don’t want just to know how, I want to know why!
Sometimes people have a different understanding of the God of the Old Testament than they do the God of the New Testament. And they may even question how people got “saved” before Jesus came to this world.
They may believe that people were saved in the Old Testament (or before the incarnation) by obeying the Mosaic Law or offering animal sacrifices. Some even say that God has saved people in different ways at different times.
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This came from the Lord; it is wonderful in our eyes” (Psalm 118:22-23, HCSB).
I am a member of a men’s Sunday School class attended by several business and professional men in the community.
I know what you are thinking. You guys just sit around and talk about sports, politics, and business and not much time is spent discussing the Sunday School lesson.
Not so with these guys! They study and discuss the lesson.
I remember one class where the Sunday School lesson was on the resurrection of Jesus and the men discussed how God seems to carry out His plans and purposes in the most unexpected ways. They observed that it was the women, not the apostles that were the first witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. It was shepherds, not the religious leaders whom God told about the birth of the Savior.
“Make sacred garments for Aaron that are glorious and for beautiful” (Exodus 28:2, NLT).
God commanded Moses to have the Israelites sew ornamental garments for the high priest to wear during the time he served in the tabernacle.
These garments were designed to be visually beautiful and appealing because the garments represented the glory of God, which is God’s Beauty.
“But Moses told the people, Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” (Exodus 14:13-14, NLT)
After Pharaoh let the Israelites go, he changed his mind yet again and ordered the Egyptian army to pursue Israel. The Egyptian army caught up to the Israelites while they were camped along the shore of the Red Sea.
As the Egyptians approached, the Israelites began to grumble and complain that they regretted leaving the slavery of Egypt. This complaint was to be a common one among the Israelites over the next forty years.
But in one of the great affirmations of faith in the Bible, Moses declared in these verses his confidence that God would rescue the people of Israel from the Egyptians.
In order for God to rescue them, the Israelites needed not let the approaching Egyptian army distract them from focusing on God and His deliverance.
The psalmist also assured us that when we turn our attention to thanking and obeying God and not to worrying about impending trouble, then God will come to our rescue: “Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory” (Psalm 50:14-15, NLT).
Make this your prayer in difficult times:
Heavenly Father,
Don’t let my problems distract me from calling on you for help and deliverance.
I will listen for your voice and in calmness I will see your approaching deliverance and my fears will be assuaged.
Rescue me from my trouble and I will give you glory.
Amen.
“Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels. Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, ‘It has come at last— salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night. And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.'” This passage from John’s revelation of the future indicates there is a rebellion against God that is of epochal or universal proportions. And this world and humanity are the battleground for this war. This passage explains that the dragon to which it refers is Satan and that he deceives the world and has a following of other angelic beings. Some interpret this time of the dragon’s defeat and ejection from heaven as referring to the incarnation, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Nevertheless, three principles arise from this passage that help explain the presence of evil in the created order:
Our ancestors effectively joined Satan’s rebellion and so by being born human we are co-conspirators in this rebellion. God’s justice system requires supreme restitution for the crime of rebellion, but Christ received the punishment for this high crime on behalf of all human beings. In other words, Christ has come to defeat the rebellion of Satan and those of humanity who join Satan in this rebellion against God’s Kingdom: “But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.” (I John 3:8). While the mastermind of this rebellion, Satan, has enjoined humanity in his sedition, is it the result of a cosmic error in planning by God? An unintended consequence of free will? Collateral damage to the created order? Absolutely not! The redemption of human beings has always been God’s plan since the creation of the world: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). The redemption of humanity is not to fix any galactic mistake or oversight God made in creation. We know from the biblical record and from our own human experience that we often learn best by learning from our mistakes. The biblical narrative is replete with well-intentioned and some not-so-well-intentioned people not obeying God. Regrettably, people often better understand God’s will by not doing it! Mercy is better received by those in need of it! John’s revelation clearly discloses that God wins! God ultimately defeats the evil that has infiltrated this world though He may allow it to reside for a time to advance His redemptive plan. God is almighty and His plan is supreme, even to the extent that He can use the evil acts committed by persons and even the devil himself to work His good purposes. It seems that God is best able to redeem people in a world that is occupied by evil.
“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” The Apostle John indicates that Christ is the prototype for our own resurrection. In other words, our resurrected bodies will take the same form as the resurrected Christ. Although Christ has been raised from the dead, we have not yet been raised. So we have hope for being resurrected from the dead and having resurrection bodies like Jesus, but, as John points out, “we are God’s children now.” So the redeemed of God have one foot in eternity and one foot in this present world. But the power of Christ’s resurrection is already at work to purify us so that we start becoming like Christ now: “And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (vs. 3). John goes on to say that God’s chidren do not make a practice of sinning (vs 4), but instead practice righteousness (vs. 7). You are enabled to practice righteousness because you are born of God and have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you and working through the Word of God to empower you to refrain from sinning and to practice righteousness (vs. 9-10).
“When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this.” This warning spoken by God through the prophet Ezekiel hardly seems fair. The formerly righteous person dies while the formerly wicked person lives! God explains His position on this matter in vs. 13-16. If a righteous person trusts in his own righteousness, which causes him to act unjustly, then none of his righteous acts matter and he is responsible for the injustice he has inflicted and he shall die. But if a wicked person repents and turns from her sin and begins to do what is just and right, then she shall live. God’s redemption is always tempered by divine justice. What matters is Who you trust in–yourself or God. The self-righteous person really only trusts in himself, not God. The penitent person no longer trusts in herself, but God. What matters in the end is what was the transforming effect of God’s redemption on your life? In fact, it is a matter of life or death!
Steve's Bible Meditations 