Romans 8:28-30 (NIV)
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.

Let’s Break It Down …

• God is mentioned as being “at work in all things,” not “the cause of all things.”

• “In all things” includes bad things.

Romans 8:35 (NIV)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Break It Down Continued …

• “All things” don’t just “work out” for the good by themselves.

Genesis 1:1-2 (NIV)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep … .

Break It Down Continued …

• This doesn’t mean that “bad things” are really good things in disguise.

• “For the good” has more to do with shaping us in the image of Christ than shaping circumstances around our will.

Romans 8:28 (NIV)
… for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:29 (NIV)
… to be conformed to the image of his Son … .

This Expands Our Understanding Of Salvation

• Salvation isn’t simply being forgiven of your sins and going to heaven after you die.

• Salvation is being transformed into the image of Christ.

Romans 8:29 (NIV)
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son … .

Romans 8:28 (NIV)
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.

Romans 8:30 (NIV)
And those he predestined, he also called … .

Romans 8:30 (NIV)
And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified … .

Romans 8:30 (NIV)
And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Break It Down Continued …

• When discouraged over “bad things,” we must remember his purpose through “all things.”

• When discouraged over “bad things,” beware of settling for lesser purposes.

Communion

• Is there “tohu-bohu” (chaos/difficulty) in your past that God has since “worked for good?”

• If you or someone you love is in the middle of some tohu-bohu, is there any way you can see God at work in the middle of it?