Do All Things Really Work Together for Good?
Does your story include pain, sorrow, suffering, tragedy, or disappointment? Sometimes things happen to us that we don’t see the good in at all. This message from our archives reveals what Romans 8:28 is all about, what “good” really means, and how God cares about your life.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Tony Higgins has been a follower of Christ for over 50 years, and serves on the Board of Faith Chapel. Through the years, he has also been both a student and leader in Bible studies. In his spare time, you’ll find him researching a new message, tinkering with computers, or spending time with his grandkids.
How To Make Sense of Romans 8:28
We want to look in Romans 8. Before we get started, we want to look at the background of who the passage was written to.
Romans is one of eight letters that was written by Paul for churches in the various regions and groups of Christians. It was for churches such as the church in Rome, the church at Corinth, but to others he says it was to the believers, not necessarily a church but a group of believers.
Martin Luther called Romans the “masterpiece of the New Testament”. From what we know about Romans, the church was consisting of a mix of Jews and gentiles. And one remarkable thing about the church at Rome was that some members had been witnesses to the events on the day of Pentecost. And so, without a doubt, they were enthusiastic about what they saw, and were anxious to share it with others. The letter Romans was written from Corinth before Paul had visited Rome, and he sent it via a woman by the name of Phoebe, who was a local Christian, and who happened to be going to Rome. Romans, as we know it, contains primarily the doctrine of salvation, it contains the sovereignty of God, judgment, spiritual growth, and the righteousness of God. Chapters 1 through 8 deal with the fundamentals and foundations of the Christian faith.
“But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:25-39, KJV).
These verses cover a lot of territory. In verse 25, it defines hope. Verses 26 through 27 tells us about the Holy Spirit. Verses 29 through 30 deal with the doctrine of election, a very significant, but often misunderstood part of salvation. Some say God’s already decided who can and can’t get saved, but that isn’t what that says, and it’s a powerful part of what salvation is about. Verses 31 and 32 tell us about God’s great love for us, and his willingness to care for us. The remaining verses describe how nothing can separate us from God’s great love, no matter what we face. And that’s our focus today. Our focus is on verses 28 and 31.
“28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
“31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:28, 31).
I was caught in a horrible car accident when I was in college. I nearly died and my girlfriend was killed. It was a terrible time and I didn’t understand why it was all happening. Things continued to get worse, not better. But through it all, God took care of me.
Sometimes things happen to us that we don’t see the good in at all. In our lifetime we may never see the good. And when you lose a loved one, it’s hard to say what good comes from that. But ultimately what Romans 8:28 tells us is that all things work together for good. And we need to understand what that means.
There are two key statements about this verse.
It is focused on believers only. It is not for unbelievers. Don’t quote this verse to unbelievers because they’ll think you’re crazy and won’t understand how something good can come from something bad. Perhaps even you’ve struggled with this.
The focus is not an isolated event in a believer’s life, but on the sum total of events. That’s why we can look at something tragic in a person’s life and say “there’s nothing good about that” but what this passage says, is that all things work together for good. And that’s what we need to understand today.
Sometimes there is something good that comes out of an event (such as a wake up, call for someone who turns their life over to Christ), but usually there’s no apparent good.
The car accident that happened to me was over 40 years ago. But, about 10 years ago, I ran into a young man who was in a similar circumstance that I experienced. He was distraught just like I was. I was able to sit with him and confidently tell him that God will get him through this. I could not have helped him through this time in his life if I had not gone through what I went through 40 years before. So, I did see some good come from what had happened despite all the tragedy I had experienced.
What it says, actually, is “all things work together for good.” All things. “All things” doesn’t leave anything out. It means everything. It means every aspect of your life. We run into situations that we wish we hadn’t gone through and if we could go back, we would prefer not to go through them, but this says all things work together for good. This tells us that God cares about every area of our lives. And that’s important to remember. It’s not over. God will get you through this.
God is not the source of the tragedies and disappointments that we encounter. But he knows about them, and he allows them. He allows them for a purpose because he’s ultimately shaping our lives.
Do you want to go to heaven? Are you ready to go to heaven?
As Christians, we need to be getting ready to meet our Savior and to go to be in heaven. And that’s what Romans 8:28 is all about. God is preparing us and getting us ready to be like Christ. If we’re going to be in heaven, in the presence of God Almighty, that’s what we need to be; we need to be like Christ. And so that’s what God is doing.
Work together is a single word in the Greek. It means to form something together from two elements that could not be created from any one element. Some people would say cake tastes heavenly. But if you walk in on someone who is in the middle of making a cake and they’ve got all the ingredients lined up, and then you step in and taste the ingredients before the cake is made, it doesn’t taste good. But if you wait until all the ingredients are put together in the right amount and in the right order you might say that it tastes divine or heavenly.
This idea of the cake being good only after all the pieces come together in the right way is an illustration of our lives. We have experiences that are not good, and are not pleasant; we don’t want to tell people how bad things are. But these all contribute to where we’re going.
God uses each event in our lives to bring us closer to him and, ultimately, to heaven. So, the question of the day is: what does “good” mean? For most of us, good usually means things like health, happiness, solid relationships, long life, money, food on the table, meaningful work, and a nice place to live. in general, we think “the good life” means a certain set of circumstances, which may be true in this life. But to understand what good means, we need to understand our relationship to God. How to find good for us is in verse 29.
“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).
That doesn’t mean God is going to make a decision for you that you’re going to be in or out of heaven. What this scripture is about is that God knows our very being. Before we were even created, he knew what our decision would be. God doesn’t force his will on us. It’s up to us to make the choice of whether we want to accept God’s gift of salvation or not, and what we want to do with it. We need to get intimately involved in the salvation process.
We need to get prepared to go to eternal life in heaven. The “good” here refers to the good gift of eternal life in heaven that God has promised us through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. When Paul says that all things work together for good, he’s not saying that the tragedies and heartaches of life will always produce a better set of circumstances. Often times they won’t. Sometimes it’ll get worse before it gets better. But God is not committed to making you “happy” and “successful”. God is committed to making you like his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And whatever it takes to make you more like Jesus is good. That’s what good means.
God is at work in us and through us, and by everything that comes to us, to transform us into the image of his son Jesus Christ. Does that include the worst things that happened to us? Yes. Does it include the things that hurt us deeply? Yes. Does it include the times that we are heartbroken? Yes. Does it include the times when we said? Yes. Does it include the times when we doubt God? Yes. He is always at work. He’s never deterred by anything, including us. Nothing happens to us outside of his control. There are no mistakes and no surprises.
“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
God is ultimately and intimately involved in your life if you will let him. And only to the degree that you will let him. If you don’t want to let him, he will not push himself on you. It’s up to you.
We are not our own. We have been bought with a price.
What do we learn from this verse?
God loves us. He loves us beyond our wildest imagination.
He is at work in our lives on a continual basis. He is working to perfect us, and to make us like his son Jesus Christ, so that we will be ready when the time for us to go to heaven comes.
He has an end in mind for us. That’s what we’re all waiting for. Nothing in this life compares to where we’re going, ultimately.
So, what is your story? Does it include pain, sorrow, suffering, tragedy, and disappointment? God is working to conform you into the image of his son.
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