God's Invincible Commitment to Your Good: Thoughts on Romans 8:28-39

Last week, we looked at how God takes us, spiritually dead and rebellious as we are, and gives us new life and desire for obedience in Christ. To close out these Advent thoughts, I'd like to call your attention to why God saves us so. What's the point of being a Christian? Is it so we won't go to hell and instead be with God in heaven forever? Or does God have a bigger plan in saving us?

The Goal of God's Saving Us

We find the answer in Romans 8:29. There, Paul says that we are "predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son." Ephesians 1:4 puts it this way: God "chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him." God, from before tiem began, set out to save a people and make them like Christ. He wants us to have Christ's attitude as our own (Philippians 2:5) and to love one another (John 13:34-35).

That's the goal of our salvation - to be like Christ. And God is absolutely committed to seeing this happen. Consider Romans 8:29-30: "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. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." Notice the progression here:

• the foreknown are predestined to Christ-likeness,
• the predestined are called,
• the called are justified,
• the justified are glorified.

The process of salvation begins with God's foreknowing and ends with God glorifying. And, from this passage, we see that nobody is lost along the way. God is irrevocably committed to conforming his own to Christ-likeness. In fact, the rest of the chapter builds on this assurance:

• God is on our side, so nothing can stand against us (Rom 8:31)
• God gave us the best he had-his own son. Surely he will give us everything else we need (Rom 8:32)
• God has declared us righteous, so no one can accuse us (Rom 8:33)
• Jesus dies, rose, ascended to heaven, and intercedes for us, so there are none left to condemn (Rom 8:34)
• In the face of hard times and even death, we are super-conquerors through Christ (Rom 8:35-37)
• Nothing in all of creation can separate us from God's invincible love (Rom 8:38-39)

God wants us to have an unshakable confidence in him, that he will indeed see us through all of the difficulties that we may face in this life. Things may hurt us, but they cannot destroy us. We cannot be cut off from our God who has adopted us as his own children. We can be confident that "that he who began a good work in [us] will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6)

God's Commitment to YOUR Good

All of this assurance stands underneath the promise of Romans 8:28: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

If you are a true Christian, this is God's promise to you. If you have, by faith, trusted in Christ alone to be set free from your sin and to be your Lord, God is irrevocably and invincibly committed to bring everything in your life out for good. It may not feel like it in the moments of intense pain and suffering, but God is fulfilling his desire to make you like Christ. And God cannot, does not, and will not fail in his mission.

So keep fighting. Fight sin that remains in your life. Fight the desire to lead a "comfortable" life. Fight the depression on the insanity that threatens to undo you. Fight the influences of the world that want to shut you up and shut you down. Fight, because the invincible God is on your side!