Romans 8:28-29. 28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29For 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.
Romans 8:28 has one of the greatest promises in all of the Bible in it – all things work together for good. Think about that for a minute. Only God can make a promise like this. Nobody else can tell you that they can turn everything into something good.
Why can God make such an incredible promise to us? Because Jesus is on the throne.
When Jesus ascended into Heaven, he was given the throne of the universe. He is in charge of everything. He rules over everything and controls everything for our benefit, for our good.
This does not mean that everything is good. Even with Jesus there are still really bad things that happen to us. In fact, Christians get all the same things in life that everybody else gets. The same sicknesses. The same broken bones. The same hurt feelings. The same bad grades. The same hard relationships. Being a Christian doesn’t make everything good, it makes everything bad become good. All of our wins and losses, our joys and sorrows, our successes and failures, our good decisions and our bad decisions, yes, even our sins are turned into something good. How? Again, because Jesus rules over everything. Because Jesus is on the throne.
And, like we learned yesterday, this is not just the throne of Heaven, but also the throne of our hearts. We are God’s temple, and God lives in us. Jesus lives in our heart. That means that Jesus rules over everything that happens to us, and he also rules over our hearts. Our hopes and dreams. Our desires and choices. Jesus is using everything to change what we want to be until we wholeheartedly want to be like him.
That’s the good!
All things work together for good. What is the good? The answer is in verse 29 – to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. The best thing that can ever happen to us is that we become more and more like Jesus. That is exactly what God is doing, making us all like Jesus Christ, the Son. God uses even bad things to make us good like him. Loving like him. Kind like him. Humble like him. Caring like him. Joyful like him.
We don’t know everything that will happen to us in this life, but we do know the final outcome – we become like Jesus! And if we know the outcome of our lives (we do), and if we know that Jesus is in control (he is), then everything you ever experience must lead to that final outcome – the conforming of our lives to Christ’s life.
This is the power and the promise of our ruling King at work. This is why we can trust him and declare him to be good in all things – because his goal for us is good. It is love, joy, and peace. This means that we no longer have to despair when things go bad. We no longer need to doubt God’s love for us. The cross proves his goodness and so does his place on the throne as ruler over all things.
You: Are you going through anything hard right now that makes you wonder if God is good?
You with Jesus: Can you see how Jesus uses hard things to make you more like him? Can you think of a recent example of this?
Prayer: Father, all your promises are great but this one is extra great. Not just because it’s so big but also because of its outcome – I will be like Jesus. Help me to claim this promise in each and every situation I face. Amen.
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