12/31/23 - God Is For Us - Romans 8:28-39 - Pastor Jason Fritz

In 1660 John Bunyon, the Puritan preacher and author was in deep depression until he began meditating on the words of our text this Sunday. He read this from Romans chapter 8, “If God is for us, who is against us?” 

 

The more he reflected on these words the more the clouds departed. All we have to do is look around us and see what’s happening in the world and it’s easy to become downhearted. Or we can look within and recognize life’s unwanted circumstances and this too can cause a downward spiral. It’s time to look up.

 

Romans chapter 8 contains what might be the most joy-filled, confident expressions in the entire Bible - and not just a few, but many in rapid succession beginning with one familiar to many Christians…

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 

 

The text doesn’t say all things are good because in fact, sometimes life brings us horrible situations. However, even in this God works the bad for good. The Greek words translated as ‘work together' form the foundation for the English word synergy. Synergy is when two or more things come together and produce something better than what each could do on it’s own. Still the question remains...

 

What exactly is meant by ‘good’? The ultimate good is revealed in the next verse...

 

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, Romans 8:29a

 

There it is. Did you catch it? The ultimate good for you and me is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. This doesn’t mean everything in this life will be easy. It means that God will use all things to produce Christ-likeness in you and this is what serves you best. So your present distresses should not be viewed as destructive. Pleasures, pains, suffering, heartache and disappointments are being used by God synergystically.

 

Sometimes we say, “Why is God allowing this to happen?” Paul reminds us that God gave us His best in Jesus so He won’t withold any good thing from us. This leads Paul to proclaim, "If God is for us, who can be against us!"