Skip to main content

Whose Good?


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 for those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.  (Romans 8:28-30) 

                So often when people quote Romans 8:28, they use the NASB translation: And we know that God causes all things to work together for good.... They stop there, then they look at the circumstances. The death of a loved one? A child born with problems requiring repeated surgeries or a life with disabilities, perhaps requiring complete care for life? An abusive spouse? Abandonment? Natural disasters? An attack that leaves one physically or emotionally crippled? Cancer? Hunger and poverty? Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, ALS, Autism, HIV/AIDS? These horrible things are good? That's not what it says. These horrible things work together for good? That's not what it says.
          What it says is that for those who love God, for those who have been called according to His purpose, for those who God foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the likeness (image) of His Son, for these people God works in everything for their good. That good is not momentary enjoyment. It is conformation to the likeness of His Son. We tend to look at this verse in the light of our circumstances. I think God looks at it through in the light of our Christ-likeness.
        As Christians, we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. During Jesus' three-year ministry, He fed the hungry, healed the sick, the injured and the crippled;  and raised the dead. I don't recall reading about His ending anyone's physical poverty. Had these people or their relatives not suffered from these horrible things, I doubt they would have paid much attention to Jesus. I sometimes wonder whether we are actually harming the people we think we're helping as we seek to eliminate the circumstances though which God is working for their good.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more