Previous Lesson -- Next Lesson
1. God’s Plan of Salvation Acclaims our Forthcoming Glory (Romans 8:28-30)
ROMANS 8:28-29
28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Whoever knows God feels that he is omnipotent. Nothing happens in the world without his knowledge and will. He is the Almighty. However, we do not believe in predestination, as some religions do, because we know that the great God is our merciful Father, who continuously cares for us, and never harms, neglects, or leaves us. Therefore, we ask him to strengthen our trust in his love that our faith may not be removed in all troubles and persecutions. To confirm our trust in the love of God to us, Paul writes to us a series of confirmations of our personal salvation that we may neither doubt, nor be shaken.
God chose you before you were born, for you were a thought in his heart. He knew you before the foundation of the world. Thus, he knows the innermost recesses of your being, your nature, and your intents. Your relationship with God is deeper than you think. You are not foreign, but near and known to him. He waits for you, as the father waits for the return of his lost son. God longs for you more than you long for him.
The eternal God knew you before all the ages of the past. As for your future, he put a glorious aim before you, because he predestined you by the fullness of his divine will to be his son through Jesus Christ, who carried your sins, and overcame the body of your sin on the cross. In Christ alone, your choice is confirmed. Whoever holds fast to the reconciliation of the Son will never be moved, because the Holy One is faithful. Therefore, recognize that God has given an aim for your life, and predestined you to become glorious in the likeness of the image of Christ, who sits on the right hand of his Father. God does not want to have different ranks of sons, but he leads all to perfection in humility and meekness that you may deny yourself to walk as Christ walked on our earth.
ROMANS 8:30
30 Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified.
God has personalized the thoughts of his love, and has spoken to you in person.
Have you heard his voice deep in your heart? Has his calling penetrated into the hard innermost recesses of your being? Remember that God chose you while you were sinful, and he predestined you to be his child. He intended to renew you who are dead in pride and lusts that you might shine in purity, abstinence, truthfulness, and uprightness. There is no power in you for the holy life except the word of God, which works in you. Therefore read the Holy Bible continuously, for through these black letters God speaks directly to you.
God placed, in his friendly counsel, the foundation of the truth of your salvation, which cannot be moved by the complaints of the devil. Our righteous God justified you by the atoning death of his Son, and wiped out your sins all at once. Now you are righteous in Christ’s justification, and are considered pure in his redemption. So, when will you thank your Lord for the love he has bestowed on you? When will you believe in his guidance, and praise his faithful grace?
God, in his power, determined more than that for you. He gave you the element of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of his glorious life in you. Therefore, the glory of the essence of God is hidden in you today. As Christ appeared only to the eyes of believers, so his love, truth, and patience work in you. The Spirit of God himself will bear fruit in you with his virtues, if you abide in your Savior. Paul did not say that God would glorify you in the future, but by faith he confessed that he had glorified you in the past, for Paul was quite certain that Jesus is the author and perfecter of faith. Therefore, he who began salvation in your soul is faithful. He educates, strengthens, and perfects you only because of his own merit.
Do you have problems in life? Are you hungry, or sick? Are you looking for a job? Did you fail in school? All these matters are unimportant, for God is with you. He loves you, cares for you, and keeps you as the apple of his eye. He does not forget you, but he completes his plan to the end. The Holy One chose you yourself for adoption. So, deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow the Son of God from the cross to the tomb and then to glory, for all things work together for good to those who love God. Do you love him who loved you first?
PRAYER: O holy God, the Trinity in one, we worship you because you chose us, knew us from antiquity, and predestined us in Christ to wear the glory of his love. Who are we that you should choose us? Forgive us our sins, and open our ears that we may listen to your calling in the Holy Bible, accept our justification by the blood of your Son, and thank you for your faithful love. We believe in your guidance, and ask you to confirm us in assurance in the evil days that we may not be moved, but experience your Holy Spirit dwelling in us, as a guarantee of the glory to come.
QUESTION:
- Why do all things work together for good to those who love God?
All things work together for good to those who love God
(Romans 8:28)