3 August 2014

A special promise

Romans 8:28 is a special promise to many Christians, and for good reasons. I remember my mother ‘giving’ it to me as I left home. It has been precious to me ever since – and I think I even understand it better now! It’s well worth chewing over every word or phrase: “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.”

We know. It’s not just a hunch or an inkling that we have; we can be sure of it, because God has said it and he has shown himself to be trustworthy.
All things. Not just some things, but all things: the things we like and the things we don’t, including the bad things that happen to us and the wrong that we do.

1. No-one less than the Creator of the universe is guaranteeing to do it.
2. He does it in our present experience, not only in the past (as a memory) or in the future (as a wish). It is constant.
3. To keep us from defining for ourselves what is good (which will be what we find pleasant), the following verse says it is “to be conformed to the likeness of [God’s] Son.”
   Called according to his purpose. If God’s promise depended on our love for him, we would have good reason to be nervous. This shows us it is far more securely grounded, and the next two verses demonstrate just how committed to his promise God is.