God works for our good

How His Sovereign Purpose is Our Ultimate Good

Text: Romans 8:26-29; Genesis 50:15-21

Romans 8:26–27 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 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.

As we move through the marvelous terrain Paul has mapped out for us in this chapter, we have come upon two stunning realities we never anticipated, which Paul uses as the foundation for our confident assurance and triumphant endurance!

First, we can rest in confident assurance when we don’t know what to pray because we know the Holy Spirit intercedes with God the Father on our behalf! (8:26-27; cf., 8:34). Second, we can endure triumphantly and joyfully even in the most excruciating circumstances and painful suffering because we know that God the Father is working with God the Holy Spirit on our behalf to use all things that happen to us and in us to bring about a particular good He intends for us (8:28-29).

Paul begins verse eight by emphatically stating that we know these realities – “And we know!” (8:28a) So, what is it that Paul says we know?

I. The __________ of this knowledge: What is this knowledge like?

A Deep Experiential Conviction
About things God has revealed to us in His Word.

II. The __________ of this Knowing: Who has received this knowledge?

They are in Christ Jesus – 8:1.
They are those who love God – 8:28
They are those who have been called by God according to His purpose – 8:28-29

Just as the kind of prayer Paul exhorts us to pray in 8:26-27 demands spiritual maturity from us, so this particular knowledge comes to those who are spiritually mature and have come to fully trust God to determine and define what is “the good” in all things and under all circumstances that touch their lives.

What keeps us from this kind of mature trust?

Unrestrained carnality – being driven by the desires of our flesh.
Spiritual immaturity – we don’t really know the Scriptures.
Sinful Attractions – we love and desire what God prohibits.
Idolatrous Affections – we look to others or to things to get what we should only seek from God. We elevate our plans and expectations above God and reduce Him to the One we turn to in order to procure the things we want or desire.

This is why Paul states that this promise is limited to those who “love God” – the idea here is not merely fond affection or personal affirmation of God, but a deep, committed, loyal love that values Him above anyone or anything in our lives. He doesn’t just matter more; He matters most!

III. The __________ of this knowledge: Who is working?

Question: Is there someone behind the scenes, not immediately visible, who is orchestrating and directing circumstances (πάντα συνεργεῖ) so that all things work together for good? If so, who? Are these random circumstances, or is there intentionality driving what happens around me and to me?

Answer: Paul gives us the answer in the verses before and after 8:28.

In verse 27, we learn that the Holy Spirit is going to God the Father with our groanings and longings when we don’t know what is “the necessary thing” to pray for in certain circumstances, and that the Spirit is interceding for us according to someone else’s will – God’s!
In verses 29-30, we discover that someone is foreknowing, predestinating, calling, justifying, and glorifying a people according to His purpose – and that someone is God!
Therefore, whoever is willing things in the lives of certain people in 8:27, and calling, justifying, and glorifying these same people in 8:29-30, is the very same One who is working all things around and within them for His purposes. And that person is God

He does this silently.
He does this sovereignly (Eph 1:11).
He does this constantly (present active indicative).
He does this cosmically (on a universal and cosmic scale).
He does this collaboratively – working together (συνεργέω) with someone or something. So who or what is God working with?

The Holy Spirit* – who has just been interceding with Him on our behalf in 9:27.

So just as God the Spirit is speaking to God the Father on our behalf, God the Father is working with God the Spirit on our behalf in response!

IV. The __________ of this Knowing: What exactly do we know?

What knowledge has been given to these people who love God and have been called according to His purpose?

God is working “all things” for His ultimate purpose.
1. He works through Suffering. (examples in vs. 35)
2. He works through Human Sinfulness (examples in vs 34)
  - Sins done against us (cf., Joseph).
  - Sins done by us (cf., David).
The ultimate purpose of God defines what is “good” (ἀγαθόν) in and for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
- There is a particular and very specific good that Paul has in mind in this verse, toward which God the Father and God the Spirit are working together, using all things around us and in us to bring this particular good about in us and through us.

This brings us to the main question Paul wants us to ask and answer: What constitutes “good,” and who gets to define it? There are only two ultimate answers to this question. Either we trust God to define what constitutes “good” according to His good pleasure and in line with His purposes, or we define it ourselves according to our own will and desires

V. The __________ of this knowledge: What are God’s ultimate purposes?

This text calls us to adjust our values, align our lives, and refocus our expectations to two purposes God has established for our lives.

“Good” is defined by the sanctifying purpose that He is working out in us (8:29a)
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,
- God the Father is working with God the Spirit to transform us so that we look like Christ; just as we bore the image of the “Man of Dust” (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the “Man from Heaven” (Christ) – 1 Cor 15:49.
- And the way he is doing it is by using all things that happen around us, to us, and within us to transform us into the image or likeness of the “Man from Heaven.”
“Good” is measured by the salvific purpose that He is working to bring about through us (8:29b)
. . . in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
- God is working to bring many sons to glory so that His Son can be the firstborn among many more who look like Him, belong to Him, love Him, and serve Him.

Joseph is one of the primary examples of a person who was called by God, loved by God, and ordained by God to accomplish an incredible mission that resulted in two massive blessings for the world:

He saved his own people (nation) from devastating famine.
He saved the nations of the world from that same famine.

But for most of his life (some twenty to thirty years), neither of these glorious purposes seemed remotely present in His life.
However, God was neither silent nor absent. His presence was orchestrating all the events that happened to Joseph, and His voice was heard in Pharaoh’s dream and in all that was said to Pharaoh about Joseph.
At the end of the story, we learn what God was really up to in all that happened to Joseph. After Joseph saved both His people and the world, His brothers came to him and said, “Please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father who did evil to you.” And Joseph said, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant it for evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today!” (Gen 50:17-20)

And this is exactly what God is doing in our lives today. Just as He used all the pain and affliction to prepare Joseph to be a gracious, kind, and good, albeit temporary, savior of the world, He is using all things to make us look like the true Savior of the World.

And just as He orchestrated all things to put Joseph in the exact right place where he could keep many people alive, God is using all the events and circumstances of your life to use you to bring many sons and daughters to life so that Jesus might be the firstborn and preeminent among many who are just like Him!

Conclusion:

So the question for each of us is this: Do we define what we consider “good” in these terms? Are these the two defining criteria by which we determine what is good? Or have we adopted an entirely different set of values and criteria to decide what is good for us?

In 8:26-27, we had to decide whether we were willing to trust the Holy Spirit to pray for us by asking God to bring about “the necessary thing” when we don’t know how or what to pray for.

In this text, we must determine whether we are willing to trust God to determine and define what is “the good” that will best accomplish His purposes in and through us. BUT this will demand a radical reorientation of our own purposes, desires, and definitions of what we think is “good.” We are going to have to align with God and His will rather than demanding that He align with our will and purpose.

Are you willing to let God the Father work with God the Holy Spirit to determine what is “good” in your life, so that His purpose, rather than your own, is accomplished in you and blessed by Him through you?

God works for our good

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