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Timothy 2:15)
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good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Romans by the Book Lesson
65
Welcome
back to HBS and I offer a special greeting to those who are visiting ministry for
the first time. I pray you’ll take the
time to see what we’re about and return often.
Let’s begin with a
short prayer
Lord, You know our hearts and our weaknesses;
You know we are diligently seeking Your truths daily and hiding them in
our hearts. We ask You now to speak to
us today through Your Word, teach us, inspire us; help us in our efforts to become more like Your Son, Jesus.
Amen
Please
open your Bible to Romans, 8; we’ll drop in at verse 28.
Let’s
read Scripture together.
Romans 8
28: And we know
that God causes all things to work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
29: For those whom
He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the
firstborn among many brethren;
30: and these whom
He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified;
and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
We
leave one sensitive subject (prayer) and prepare to embrace yet another. I’m referring to Predestination vs
Foreknowledge of course. At the moment I
can’t think of another church-related topic that has caused more anxiety, misunderstanding
and fractured faith this one. I know people
who have a negative attitude towards God concerning this topic and it’s all due
to the misinterpretation of this doctrine.
Before
we start, here are a few ground rules for the Bible student:
Always let Scripture interpret Scripture. Since the Bible is God’s Word it is capable
of interpreting itself.
Always interpret Scripture in a way that is consistent
throughout. Remember, God is never
inconsistent. His Word changes not.
Never take a phrase (verse) from Scripture out of
context, or out of the meaning of the sentence itself, and then claim that is a
truth from God.
While
I’m on this tract, did you know studies have shown that Scripture has been
written at the 6th grade level?
You know what this means, right?
All of us should be able to understand God’s Word. Ask yourself, isn’t this what He wants…
Before
we jump into the deep end of the pool regarding Election, Predestination, and
Foreknowledge I want to spend a few minutes talking about God’s sovereignty.
In
verse 28, our apostle Paul is saying that God the Father is sovereignly in
charge of all His creation. Which means,
all things are under His rule and His control; and nothing happens without His
direction or His permission – who works
all things after the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11b). In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ
controls human history based upon the sovereign design of the Father (Matthew
28:18).
I
begin with the Doctrine of God’s Sovereignty because this is foundational to
the Believer’s life. Ask yourself, were
He not sovereign, absolutely, could we trust Him implicitly, and believe His
promises? Could we depend on His
faithfulness?
As
we go about living our lives, walking by faith, we must firmly believe (know)
where we stand in relation to Him, trusting Him and His purpose, or our human nature, being what it is, will rise up and
resist conforming to His will (Romans 12:2).
We must recognize that He is not only with us, but that He has “infinite
power” and is controlling every situation in our lives. The Bible is filled with examples of these
type situations, but I have two in mind.
Digging Deeper
The
LORD told Moses, “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with
manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you
understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by
everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3)
From
this passage we learn that God was ultimately in control of this situation when
from the Israelites perspective the situation appeared to be “out-of-control;” and
then the Word of God is as essential to spiritual life as food is to physical
life. In the midst of the famine/hardship the
Israelites could not see a purpose let alone God’s purpose.
But
the LORD was in control.
Since
this is true, all things that happen
to us Believers i.e. distress, hardships, famine, peril, and persecution, are ordained
in such a way that they work together for
good to those who love God.
God never promised
us a Rose Garden!
During
a sermon not too long ago, a pastor said, “If you’re not currently enduring a
storm (trial) in your life, you should be preparing for one.”
As
we follow Jesus, we soon discover how “stormy” life can be. In Scripture, another name for storm is
“testing” and the point of the storm isn’t for us just to survive it but to
come through it with greater spiritual wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30), stronger
faith (Matthew 8: 5-10), and a greater trust in God (Isaiah 46:10).
God
intentionally “shakes” things up in our lives and for His purpose. He deliberately
takes us through the storms of life, but never leaves us, to expose our spiritual
weaknesses and in some cases our unbelief – deficiencies in these areas interfere
with His purpose in our lives (Mark
4:35-41).
This
brings me to example #2. Please turn to
Genesis, chapter 50.
This
is the story of Joseph. His envious
brothers planned to kill him. But they
sold him into slavery instead. Either
way, he was out of their lives for good…or so they thought. Some years later Joseph was appointed a ruler
in Egypt and eventually he and his brothers were reunited. At the
reunion his brothers were afraid because Joseph, in his position, held power
over them and they could be held accountable for their actions.
Genesis 50
19: But Joseph said
to them (his
brothers), “Do not be afraid, for am I
in God’s place?
20: “As for you, (read carefully) you meant evil against me, but (the sovereign) God
meant it for good in order to bring about this present
result, to preserve many people alive…
When
Joseph was being mistreated by his brothers, threatened with death, but then
sold as a slave into Egypt instead, you’d think his thoughts would circulate
around the word “revenge.” But you’d be
wrong. The circumstances that brought
him to this place were inconsequential. Joseph
was where God wanted him…for such a time as this (Esther 4:14). And Scripture says the LORD was with Joseph (Genesis
39:2) for he was a man of faith.
He “trusted”
the LORD to accomplish His purpose
through him. So, Joseph didn’t use the
power of his office or his influence to get even with his brothers. Instead of carting around the baggage of bitterness
and hatred, Joseph loved. He longed to be reunited with his family to bless
them as the LORD had blessed him.
We
too must understand that God is sovereign and therefore His purpose is sovereign. Whatever He sets Himself to do this He will accomplish. (Psalms 115:3; Psalms 135:6; Matthew 20:15).
He
permitted Satan to enter Eden to secure an apparent triumph there, and God
granted Satan leeway at Calvary, at the cross where Jesus died, but what appeared
to be a victory for Satan is but the means of securing the purpose of God…salvation for all those
who choose to believe.
So it goes with every calamity we Believers face, “but God meant it for good.”
Now
flip back to the book of Romans, please.
As I understand verse 28, God has promised all things to work together for good and there
are two descriptions of the recipients of this promise:
Those
who love God
Those
who are called according to
His purpose
So,
the question at hand is who are these recipients? Who are these that may stand and say with all
certainty that all the pain and suffering I’m enduring in this life is under
the sovereign control of God?
The
answer to this question is in the verse.
Paul defines the beneficiaries of this promise first by what they do
toward God, and second by what God did toward them.
First,
God causes all things to work together for good, “to those who love God.”
The
recipients are those people who
love God (1 John 4:19).
What
is the first and greatest commandment, my friends? “Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind…” (Matthew 22:36-40).
With
this truth in mind, let’s go to 1 Corinthians 2:9. but
just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,
AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART
OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
Since
love is a verb, how do we demonstrate our love
towards God?
We
can’t send flowers. Turn to John,
chapter 5.
John 5
24: “Truly,
truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes (trusts, obeys) Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into
judgment, but has passed out of death into life…
We
prove our love for God by believing Him (obeying).
Second,
the recipients of this promise are, “those
who are called according to His purpose.”
In
addition to loving God, the beneficiaries of this promise are also “called” according to His purpose?” These two items, loving God and called, go hand-in-hand.
But
what does it mean to be “called” by God? Several “opinions” currently exist as to the
meaning of this single word, but what does this book say?
Always let Scripture interpret Scripture. Since the Bible is God’s Word it is capable
of interpreting itself.
We’ll
put a bookmark here and I’ll answer this question next week.
See
you then.
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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