Romans 8: 28-30

SHAP July 30, 2023

St. Peter’s Watsons Bay

Our Heavenly Father – the great sovereign God of the universe who exists both within and without the constraints of time and space, knows what he is doing. 

Do you believe that?

That is the considered view of St. Paul – a Christ-follower who had endured persecution, privation, vilification, and hardship for the sake of the gospel of Jesus. 

[See II Corinthians 11:23-28. I have been in prison often. I have suffered terrible beatings. Again, and again I almost died. ²⁴ Five times the Jews gave me 39 strokes with a whip. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with sticks. Once they tried to kill me by throwing stones at me. Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. ²⁶ I have had to keep on the move. I have been in danger from rivers. I have been in danger from robbers. I have been in danger from my fellow Jews and in danger from Gentiles. I have been in danger in the city, in the country, and at sea. I have been in danger from people who pretended they were believers. ²⁷ I have worked very hard. Often, I have gone without sleep. I have been hungry and thirsty. Often, I have gone without food. I have been cold and naked. ²⁸ Besides everything else, every day I am concerned about all the churches. It is a very heavy load.]

And that was true of most of the Apostles – including John who was beheaded, and James who was impaled with a sword when Herod saw that his murderous actions were a guaranteed crowd pleaser (Acts 12:2)

Knowing this…and bearing the scars of imprisonment and mob violence on his own body – St. Paul, with unflinching conviction writes this,

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. Romans 8:28.

With certitude, St. Paul states that our Heavenly Father works in and through events and circumstances for his glory and for our ultimate benefit; that we might become more like his Son, the Lord Jesus (Romans 8:29) ….even if it means adversity and death.

Our Heavenly Father knows what he is doing. 

Again beloved, I ask, do you believe that?

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I am always so very heartened (challenged and chastened too) by Joseph’s confidence in God’s purposes when he confronts his murderous brothers in Genesis 50.

You will recall how, filled with loathing and contempt for their younger brother, the older fellows sold Joseph into slavery assuming they’d never see him again.

God so purposed events that Joseph became Prime Minister of Egypt and he eventually saved his own extended family from starvation.

In great fear and genuine repentance his brothers fell before Joseph and pleaded for mercy.

He says to them in reply,

Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So, then do not be afraid…  Genesis 50:19ff

That is, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purposes.

It is a brilliant statement of the relationship that our Heavenly Father has with his children.

He draws us to himself; we respond in loving obedience; he does not allow anything to befall us apart from that which will conform us to image of Jesus (Romans 8:29).

Our Heavenly Father knows what he is doing.

In the 1870’s, Horatio Spafford was a successful Chicago lawyer and a close friend of evangelist Dwight L. Moody.

Spafford had invested heavily in real estate, but the Chicago fire of 1871 wiped out his holdings. 

His little son had died shortly before the disaster. 

Spafford and his family desperately needed a rest so in 1873 he planned a trip to Europe with his wife and four daughters. 

While in Great Britain he also hoped to help Moody and Sankey with their evangelistic tour. 

Last minute business caused Spafford to delay his departure, but he sent his wife and four daughters on the S. S. Ville Du Havre as scheduled, promising to follow in a few days. 

On November 22 the ship was struck by the English ship Lochearn, and it sank in twelve minutes. 

Several days later the survivors landed at Cardiff, Wales, and Mrs. Spafford cabled her husband the brief message, “Saved alone.”

When Horatio Spafford made the ocean crossing to meet his grieving wife, he sailed near the place where his four precious daughters had drowned. 

There, in the midst of his sorrow, he wrote these unforgettable words (that we in this church sing to the Philip P. Bliss tune):

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, 
When sorrows like sea billows roll, 
whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, 
It is well, it is well, with my soul. 

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blessed assurance control, 
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, 
and hath shed His own blood for my soul. 

In the midst of very great pain, heartache and unanswered questions, Spafford’s confidence was in God. 

He knew – as evidenced by God’s mercy to him in Christ, that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Spafford lost his son, his livelihood, and his four daughters -yet with conviction he was able to declare, ‘it is well with my soul…’

Let us go to the text and see how God’s ‘soul salving’ plan is executed. 

Allow me read two useful versions – the NIV and the Message.

Romans 8:29-30 New International Version –

²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Romans 8:29-30 The Message (MSG)

^29-30 God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

So beloved, consider the extraordinary lengths to which God has gone to secure our eternity:

Those whom God knew (even prior to their physical birth), he identified – ahead of time, to share in the privilege of being enfolded into his family.

Then, in time, God called these people to repent and believe (the gospel). 

At that moment when they did in fact repent (when they turned from self-rule to Christ’s rule), they were ‘justified’. Romans 4 & 5.

That means that through Christ’s substitutionary death and victorious resurrection – those whom God chose and called to himself – those who responded in repentance and faith were ‘justified’ – they were declared ‘right’ and forgiven by God.

Through the life-giving work of the Spirit of God (Romans 8:11), the newly adopted child of God is conformed over time to the likeness of the Son of God.

The technical word is ‘sanctification’. 

It means to grow in holiness…to become more and more like Jesus, our ‘older brother’ (Hebrews 2).

And it is God’s holy people who will share in his glory [his presence] for all time.

We will see him face to face. Revelation 22:4

We’ll enter the new creation with new bodies freed from all that drags us down and holds us back; no more sin, no more sadness, no more disappointment, no more viral pandemics, no more unmet longings. Revelation 7:16ff.

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Yes, known, chosen, called, justified, glorified – so that we might be like Jesus, and in so doing we might know and enjoy God the Father for all eternity.

I put it to you sister and brothers that our Heavenly Father knows what he is doing.

Now, I am compelled to pause at this point and ask you this question: 

Are you able, with Horatio Spafford to declare with clarity and conviction, ‘whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul?

Are you certain that ‘having regarded [your] helpless estate Christ shed his own blood for [your] soul?

Have you responded in faith and obedience to Him who has known you for all time and has given his Son for you?

At this moment in time God is calling those whom he has called, to repent and believe.

Do please take action I urge you.

Do say ‘yes’ to Jesus – especially as together we move forward into a new and very uncertain future where the economy and western democracy and every other form of “ism” has been found wanting, if not bankrupt.

May we as a community of faith, South Head Anglican Church, demonstrate our trust in a God who works in and through the vagaries of this life to achieve his sovereign purposes, to conform us to the image of Christ, and to bring glory and honour to his name?

Here is how we might take action (all of us) in the words of this simple prayer:

Our great God and Heavenly Father,

Thank you for your love for me; you show it conclusively in Jesus’ death and resurrection. 

In these times of uncertainty and fear I entrust my life to you. 

I turn to you. 

You know what you are doing. Thank you.

Please conform me to the image of Jesus.

May I live for him. 

May I live like him.

Thank you for the glory of eternity that you have prepared.

Thank you for hearing and answering this prayer.

Amen.