If God Is For Us

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If God Is For Us

Romans 8:31-34

James C. Denison

For years now, Starbucks has been featuring “The Way I See It” quotes on some of their cups. Since I don’t drink coffee, I see them when people give their used cups to me. Recently a friend gave me this cup with a quote from Joel Stein, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times: “Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can’t wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but Heaven has to step it up a bit. They’re basically getting by because they only have to be better than Hell.”

We all go through days when Mr. Stein’s theology seems appropriate, when God and heaven bear little relevance to life on earth. When God doesn’t seem to answer our prayers or meet our needs or direct our days, when Sunday seems detached from Monday. But it’s not true. As we’ll see today, “God is for us.” Each of us, all of us. I can prove it to you this morning.

Hear the promise

Our text has just declared that God has called us, justified us, and glorified us. Now, “what shall we say in response to this?”

“If God is for us, who can be against us?”

“If” in the Greek should be translated “since” or “because.” You never need to wonder if God is for you. Psalm 46 begins: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (v. 1). The Psalmist rejoiced: “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6). God promises, “I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor” (Ezekiel 36:9).

Psalm 139 says: “How precious concerning me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand” (vs. 17-18). God thinks of you more often than the number of grains of sand in the world. In case you’re wondering, geologists estimate that the number is a one followed by 24 zeroes.

How do we know that he cares about us like this? “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (v. 32).

The cross was the idea of God. Jesus was the “lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). The Bible says that “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

This is true for us all, whatever our past sins might be: he “gave him up for us all.” As a result, we can know that our Father will “graciously give us all things.” If he would watch his Son die for us, what further proof do we need of his love and provision for us? We’ll come back to this fact in a moment.

Here’s the result: Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies” (v. 33). The world can accuse us of anything it wishes, but the highest court in the universe has already ruled in our favor. We have already been “justified,” our record expunged, our slate cleaned.

What’s more, “Christ Jesus, who died–more than that, who was raised to life–is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (v. 34). Jesus’ best friend later promised, “We have one who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1).

So we have the Father who sent his Son to die for us now sitting as the Judge of the court; we have his Son, who chose to die in our place, acting as our defense attorney. The verdict is certain, and victory is ours.

See the proof

It all centers on the cross, the event we will remember this Good Friday, the death Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to die.

Because your Father sent his Son to die in your place, you can know that he is on your side, no matter what. You can know that he is for you, no matter what. It’s all because of the cross.

Unfortunately, the event we remember again this year is so commonplace to us that it loses its power. We all know that “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16). We know all about the cross. Or at least we think we do.

The New Testament doesn’t tell us much about the way Jesus died. The Gospel writers say it very simply: “When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots” (Matthew 27:35). That’s because their readers were intimately, tragically familiar with what it meant for Jesus to die on a Roman cross. But we’re not. We’ve made the cross into jewelry on our necks and architecture on our steeples. We don’t know much about the singular event of human history. So let me tell you how it happened so long ago.

It was Maundy Thursday, and the soldiers dispatched a “detachment of soldiers” to arrest Jesus (John 18:3). “Detachment” translates speira, a military cohort of 400 to 600 soldiers.

They were accompanied by the same religious officials who would later act as Jesus’ judges, their presence proving their illegal partiality. The high priest was so close that his personal servant’s ear was cut off in the melee, but Jesus healed him. They bound Jesus, violating Jewish law which did not allow authorities to bind the prisoner unless he was attempting to flee the scene.

What followed was one of the most illegal trials in the history of jurisprudence. Jesus was tried at night, while Jewish law required that a trial must be begun in the daytime. He was deposed in private by Annas while the Supreme Court was assembling, though all proceedings were supposed to be conducted in public.

He could not be condemned on the first day of the trial, or on the basis of his own testimony, but both laws were broken when Jesus was found guilty of blasphemy that Maundy Thursday night.

Our Savior was then dragged to Pilate, the Roman governor of the region. Now the authorities illegally changed their charge from blasphemy, which Pilate would never have heard, to treason, which he must consider. Pilate found him innocent of all charges, but the religious authorities threatened to complain to Caesar that the governor had released a known insurrectionist. So Pilate caved to their demands and sentenced Jesus to be flogged and then crucified.

You’ve heard me and others try to describe the tortures of the cross: the nails through the wrists and feet, the thorns lacerating the scalp, the blood loss, exposure, and eventual suffocation which the victim suffered. But I cannot do his death justice. Another preacher, one far more empowered than I, described the cross six centuries before it happened. Here is what he saw:

Who has believed our message

and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

     and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

     nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men,

     a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Like one from whom men hide their faces

     he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities

     and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered him stricken by God,

     smitten by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

     he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,

     and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

     each of us has turned to his own way;

and the LORD has laid on him

     the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted,

     yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

     and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,

     so he did not open his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

     And who can speak of his descendants?

For he was cut off from the land of the living;

     for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

     and with the rich in his death,

though he had done no violence,

     nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,

     and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,

he will see his offspring and prolong his days,

     and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

After the suffering of his soul,

     he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied;

by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,

     and he will bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,

     and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death,

     and was numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many,

     and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53

Conclusion

Good Friday was that day when it seemed that God was most absent from our world, when he turned his face on his own Son and his back on his creation. But it wasn’t so. From the blackest day came the brightest hope. At the cross, our Father proved his love for his children, now and forever.

Now, what causes you to wonder if God is on your side? What trouble, trauma, guilt or fear has led you to question his love for you? You do not know all the ways God is redeeming your struggles in the present, making you more like Christ and using you for his glory. You do not know all the ways God is redeeming your pain for eternity, but one day you will. In the meantime, when it is hardest to believe that God is on your side, remember the cross.

A few years ago I was speaking at Huntsville. Afterwards, the pastor and warden of the prison invited me on a tour of the facility. The warden was a good and godly man, a true follower of Jesus who did his work as a ministry unto the Lord. He took us through the cell blocks, the prison yard, the chapel, the cafeteria. Then we came to the execution chamber. As long as I live, I will never forget the experience.

We passed holding cells where the condemned are taken before they die. A telephone sits on a table outside, in case the governor calls to delay or commute the execution. When it doesn’t ring, at midnight the prisoner is taken from the cell down a short hallway through a door into the execution room.

Its cinder block walls are painted green. There is a table in the center, much like what you see in a doctor’s office, except that it has arms which extend on each side. The prisoner is strapped to this table, his arms tied to the extensions. An IV is started in his right arm, its tubes snaking from the table to the wall on his right and through to the room on the other side where the doctor waits to administer the lethal drugs. Then the curtains to his left are drawn back so the families can watch through plate glass window.

At the appointed moment, the drugs are injected into the IVs and into the prisoner. A few moments later, on a bed shaped like a cross, he dies.

When I stood in that room, an image of Ryan or Craig strapped to that execution bed flashed through my mind. Tears filled my eyes and grief pierced my soul. If at the last moment, just as one of my sons was about to die, that godly warden had stepped in and put his son in my son’s place, choosing to watch him die so my son could live, I would never, ever wonder if he was on my side, if he loved me.

Would you?

More Than Conquerors

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More Than Conquerors

Romans 8:35-39

James C. Denison

This week a dear friend told me a story which immediately became my Easter sermon introduction. It seems that a Middle Eastern sheik grew old and temperamental. One day, on an angry whim, he condemned his longtime personal servant to death. The man was led to the execution platform, bound to the post, the hatchet raised. The sheik asked his onetime friend if he had anything to say.

The man quickly replied: “If you will spare my life for one year, I will teach your white stallion to talk. If at the end of that year I fail, you may boil me in oil.” The sheik considered the offer. He loved his white stallion above all his other possessions, wives, family, friends. So he said, “I have always wanted to talk to that horse. You seem sincere. I cannot see what I have to lose.” So he granted the man his request.

As the man walked away, a friend came up to him and said, “Are you crazy? Being boiled in oil is much worse than beheading. Do you realize what you’ve done?” The condemned man replied, “Let’s think about this for a moment. A year is a long time. The sheik once loved me–he may love me again. War may come and the sheik will forget about me. In a year the sheik may die. I may die. The horse may die. And who knows? The horse may learn to talk.”

Easter was like that for me growing up–a wonderful story I hoped was true. What do we have to lose by coming to the celebration today? Glorious music; beautiful services; no persecution for attending worship; no real down side. An annual tradition with your family and friends. And who knows? It may be true after all.

I have been sent by God today to tell you that it is true, and to show you why an empty tomb still matters. Why it matters more than any event in human history, in fact. Why it is the only hope you have for life and life eternal. Why an empty tomb makes you more than a conqueror right now. This is the best news in human history. It is a great privilege for me to share it with you today.

How we know that God loves us

We have been traveling through Romans 8 this spring, culminating on Easter Sunday with my favorite paragraph in the word of God. I first learned it in the King James Version when I was in high school. I didn’t try to memorize it–one day I realized that I could quote it. I have been quoting it ever since.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” The Greek can be translated, “What can put a space between us and the love of Christ? Now Paul gives us seven options. Remember that seven is the biblical number for completeness. The apostle’s list spans the entire spectrum of enemies which can attack us:

“Trouble” translates thlipsis, the crushing weight used to grind grain into flour; it could be rendered “pressure.” What pressure do you find yourself under today?

“Hardship” translates the Greek for “a narrow place.” What is squeezing you this morning? What problem has you trapped, stuck?

“Persecution” was the common lot for followers of Jesus in the Roman Empire.

“Famine” often resulted from persecution. Christians lost their jobs, were driven from their homes, had no relationship with their families. They could easily starve to death.

“Nakedness” points to the person who is so poor he cannot afford anything more than the most basic underwear and clothing; truly and terribly impoverished.

“Danger” means to be exposed to peril of any kind.

“Sword” refers to the dagger used by assassins, and points to sudden ambush and murder.

Granted, in this world “we face death all day long” and are considered by the world to be no better than “sheep to be slaughtered” (v. 36). We might say, “cows to be butchered.” Paul includes himself in the “we”–every believer is subject to these trials and tests.

But here’s the remarkable good news: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (v. 37).

“No” is the strongest kind of denial.

“In all these things”–not despite them but in their midst.

“More than conquerors” translates “hyper-conquerors.” The Caesars gained their power by conquering their enemies; now we conquer them.

“Through him who loved us”–past event with ongoing relevance. He loved us and loves us today. Because of his love for us, we are more than conquerors.

Now the climax: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (vs. 38-39).

Ten is the other biblical number for completion. Here Paul cites every possible force which could defeat us:

“I am convinced,” absolutely persuaded.

Neither “death” in all its tortured forms; nor “life” with all its problems.

Neither “angels” who, according to Jewish legend, resented humans and their salvation; nor “demons,” fallen angels.

Neither “the present nor the future, nor any powers”–anything that can happen to us today or tomorrow.

“Neither height nor depth”–a reference to the stars at their zenith and lowest points in the sky, thus all the created universe.

“Nor anything else in all creation”–including all that exists in all the universe.

None of this can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing can make God love you any more than he already does, or any less. It would not be long before Roman Christians would face the full hatred of the Empire. Their blood would stain the Colosseum’s sandy floor; they would be eaten by beasts, torn apart by wild animals, slaughtered by gladiators, used as human torches to light Nero’s garden parties at night.

Whatever part of the Roman Empire has found you today, you are more than a conqueror through him who loved us. No matter what has you worried, burdened, upset, fearful, ashamed, stressed, anxious–it cannot keep God from loving you. Nothing in all of creation can.

This is the promise we can claim today.

Why we know that God loves us

So we are promised that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. This is the only the last of the remarkable promises of Romans 8.

Here we learn that there is no condemnation for us (v. 1); we are set free from the law of sin and death (v. 2); the Spirit of God lives in us (v. 9); we are the much-loved children of God (vs. 15-17); the present sufferings cannot begin to compare with the glory to be revealed (v.18); God is redeeming all that he allows to make us more like Jesus (vs. 28-29); he spared not his only Son, for he will give us all we need (v. 32).

Now, how do we know that any of this is true? That these promises are not religious superstition and wishful thinking? Because of the fact of the resurrection. Here’s why.

Death is the great enemy. The mortality rate is still 100 percent. No human has conquered it; no one can.

Ever since Juan Ponce de Leon came to Florida seeking the fountain of youth in 1513, we’ve sought it. We spend $9.4 billion on cosmetic surgery every year, more than $6 billion on diets and diet products.

But we begin to die from the moment we are born. You and I are one day closer to death now than we have ever been. Death is the unconquerable enemy of life. No one has the power to defeat it.

No one except God. The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that God has power over death–that he can defeat the grave, destroy its shackles, and free its prisoner.

When Jesus came out of that tomb on Easter Sunday morning, shoving aside the rock as a pebble before the Rock of Ages, he proved that God is the Lord of the universe, the One with the power over all the universe.

If he has power over death, he has power over “trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword.” He has power over death and life, angels and demons, the present and the future, height and depth, and all creation.

He has the power to keep his promises. Power to set us free from sin and death; power to reward present suffering with future paradise; power to redeem all he permits; power to make us more than conquerors. We know it is true because of Easter. If he could defeat the grave, he can do anything at all.

And defeat the grave he did. Easter is not something that may be true–it is an absolute fact of history. I won’t take the time to show you all the evidence in the case for Easter, but remember at least the short version:

We know Jesus existed without even opening a New Testament: from the witness of Suetonius, Mara bar Serapion, Pliny the Younger, Josephus, and Tacitus we can prove that Jesus of Nazareth lived, that he was crucified by Pontius Pilatus, and that his followers believed him to have been raised from the grave and worshiped him as God.

We have no explanation for the empty tomb except the resurrection. The Christians didn’t steal the body and then die for a lie; the authorities didn’t take it, for they would have produced it; the disciples didn’t go to the wrong tomb, for the Romans would have shown them the right tomb. And Jesus didn’t swoon on the cross, survive three days in an air-tight burial shroud, shove aside the stone, walk through locked doors, and do the greatest high jump in history at the ascension.

We have no explanation for the transformed and empowered lives of the disciples except that they met the risen Christ. When I wondered in college if it was all true, if Christianity was worth my life, it was the fact of Easter that brought me back. It is the fact of Easter that keeps me preaching this book. It is the fact of Easter that makes Christianity true and Jesus worth my life.

Conclusion

And it is the fact of Easter that proves the relevance of God’s love for you today. If he can defeat death, what can’t he do for you? What problem can’t he help you solve? What sin can’t he forgive? What burden can’t he lift? What future can’t he see? What can’t he do for you today? He promises that nothing can separate you from his love. And Easter proves that he keeps his promises.

Today is the best day of the year to give him your life. Not just your Easter Sunday or worship attendance or occasional time in Bible study and prayer. Not just your belief in him–your life entrusted to him. The Easter Christ wants to empower you, use you, guide you, bless you. He wants to make you more than a conqueror. But he can use only what you’ll give him, and bless only what you’ll put into his hands.

If your relationship with Jesus is only for Easter, you’re missing the best parts. You’re missing all he wants to do with and for and through and in and by your life. Easter proves that he is worthy of your trust and your life. Give them both to him today.

On Thursday, as I was praying about this Easter message, I sensed the Spirit’s direction to close in a very different way than I had planned.

I had a wonderful story which I don’t get to tell today. There is no pain like that of an undelivered address–maybe next year. Instead, I feel myself under order to call you on this Easter Sunday to the highest and greatest commitment of faith I have discovered outside the pages of Scripture.

These words challenge and inspire me every time I consider them. They were sent to me years ago, and immediately arrested and captured me. They were found in the journal of a young pastor in Zimbabwe who was martyred for his faith. I have shared them often since I first received them, and have been led by the Holy Spirit to share them with you today.

Let’s make this confession ours right now:

I am part of the “Fellowship of the Unashamed.” I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I’ve stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by his presence, lean by faith, love by patience, live by prayer, and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, let up, or slow up ’til I’ve preached up, prayed up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go ’til He comes, give ’til I drop, preach ’til all know, and work ’til He stops.

And when He comes to get His own, He’ll have no problems recognizing me—my colors will be clear.

Amen?

Redeemed For a Reason

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Redeemed For a Reason

Romans 8:28-30

James C. Denison

According to this week’s news reports, you had better not die in southwest France. The village in question has run out of space in the local cemetery. So the mayor has told his residents, “All persons not having a plot in the cemetery and wishing to be buried are forbidden from dying in the parish.” He adds, “Offenders will be severely punished.” You’ve been warned.

There are some things you can’t do much about. Whether you’re happy, sad, or indifferent about this week’s election results in Texas and elsewhere, there’s not a lot about the presidential primaries you can change today. Economists are debating whether we’re in a recession, heading into one, or avoiding one, but most of us don’t get a vote on the question.

It is frustrating to live with circumstances beyond your control. A boss you can’t fire; a health condition you can’t heal; a struggle in your family you can’t solve, a temptation you can’t defeat. As time goes on you begin to wonder if things will ever get better, if there’s a reason for any of this and a purpose on the other side.

Today’s text tells us that we are more than conquerors in the hardest places of life. We will learn again this week that God redeems all he allows. We will learn why, for what purpose, to what end. And we will choose whether or not to cooperate. I hope you’ll choose wisely. What struggle do you need God to redeem this morning?

What is God’s purpose for you?

Let’s walk through our passage, one of the most popular and misunderstood statements in all the New Testament.

Paul begins: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (v. 28a). “We know” is a traditional Jewish formula for introducing conventional wisdom. What follows is a certainty for all believers, no matter our circumstances or difficulties. This passage applies to every one of us today.

Once before, Paul used this phrase: “we know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (v. 22). There are two certainties in Romans 8: suffering and redemption. We all suffer, and God will redeem that suffering for his purposes.

“In all things God works for the good of those who love him,” we’re promised. “In all things,” the apostle promises. No exceptions are listed. Paul does not claim that all things are good, but that God works for good in all things.

Jesus wept at Lazarus’ grave because his death was not good, but God used it for good when he raised him back to life. Our Savior cried out in pain and abandonment from the cross because his separation from his Father was not good, but God used it for the good of our salvation.

In “all things God works.” It is not our responsibility to redeem our situation, but God’s. The Greek for “works” is sunergei, meaning “to work together” or “make something in combination.” The events themselves are not good, but when God works them together they produce a good we could never have imagined.

Pike Wisner and I discussed this week an analogy for Paul’s claim. Imagine baking a cake. You wouldn’t want to eat flour, or shortening, or raw eggs. In fact, you couldn’t imagine that they would ever be edible. Only someone who knows about baking would see the way they could “work together” for something good. When a pastry chef takes these disparate and unappetizing ingredients and mixes them in the right way, in the right proportions, for the right time, then bakes them in the right temperature, a cake emerges from the oven. That’s what God is doing with the flour and raw eggs of your life.

In all things God is working “for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

He works “for the good” because he must. Our God is “holy, holy, holy” (Revelation 4:8; Isaiah 6:3). This is how we know that he redeems all he allows–his character requires it. He never makes a mistake. He must always do the right thing. He must always work for our glory and his good.

He does this for “those who love him.” It is not that he likes Christians better than non-Christians, but that he can give only what we will receive. If we will not accept his forgiving grace by trusting Christ as our Lord, he cannot forgive us and save us. If we will not accept his Spirit into our lives by becoming Christians, his Spirit cannot redeem and transform us.

I can do things for my children that I cannot do for yours. I can discipline my sons in ways I cannot discipline yours. I can teach and mentor and help mold their character in ways I cannot with yours, or you with mine. So it is with the Father and his children.

When we “love him” as his children, we are “called according to his purpose.” “Purpose” translates the Greek word for “design” or “plan.” What is this plan, toward which God is redeeming all that he allows?

Verse 29: “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.”

“Those God foreknew” points to the fact that God is not bound by time. He knows what we will do before we do. This doesn’t mean that he chooses for us. I watched you sit in your pews this morning, but I didn’t assign them to you. God is the Great I Am (Exodus 3:14), and is able to see tomorrow as we are to see today. He “foreknows” all that we will do, for he sees us do it.

Those he foreknew “he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” “Predestined” means to choose, to plan, to purpose beforehand. He has always wanted all of us to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4), for he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

In this case, his plan for our lives is that we “be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” “Conform” means to “make with” or “mold.” He wants us to be like Jesus. He wants us to manifest the character of Christ. What does this mean?

It means that we obey our Father like the One who prayed, “Not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).

It means that we commune with our Father like the One who got up “very early in the morning, while it was still dark” and “went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35).

It means that we refuse sin like the One who said, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only'” (Matthew 4:10).

It means that we forgive our enemies like the One who prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

It means that we serve our friends like the One who washed his disciples’ feet and told us, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:15).

God wants Jesus to be “the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29). “Firstborn” in the Jewish culture meant the preeminent one; we are to imitate him as members of his family, showing the world Christ in us. How are you measuring up?

How can you cooperate?

It is God’s intention to redeem all he permits by using it to make you more like Jesus: more obedient, prayerful, holy, forgiving, and servant-hearted. How can you cooperate?

First, become the child of God. You cannot be like Jesus your brother until you have his Father as your Father. If you do, here’s what God has already done for you:

He “foreknew” you, knowing before time began that you would be here. He “predestined” you, choosing you to be like his Son. Then he “called” you when the Spirit convicted you of your sin and led you to faith in Christ. He “justified” you, cleansing you from all your failures and mistakes so that it is “just if I’d” never sinned. And he “glorified” you as the child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (v. 30). Become the child of God today.

Second, make his purpose yours. Decide that you will measure success by Christ-likeness, not by performance or possessions or popularity. Not your church by buildings and budgets and baptisms. Measure your life and congregation by the degree to which we are more like Jesus than we were last month and last year. Make this your North on the compass, your non-negotiable mission in life. The next time someone asks you what you want to do with your life, say “I want to be more like Jesus.”

Why? Because your Father knows what is best for you, and he says that this is your highest and best purpose in life. Being like Christ is what you were made and redeemed to do. I have found this fact to be absolutely true in my life. When I am seeking to imitate Jesus, there is a peace and purpose to my life which is missing every other time.

If I preach this sermon to perform or impress you, there’s no joy in it. If I preach to serve you like Jesus, there’s joy in every moment.

When I submit to the temptations of the enemy, there’s dissonance and pain in my soul. When I obey God’s will like Jesus, there’s victory in Jesus.

When I judge or criticize those who hurt me or disagree with me, there’s bitterness in my spirit. When I forgive like Jesus, there’s release and freedom.

When I do my work in my ability, I become tired or bored or dissatisfied. When I seek the Father’s presence like Jesus, there’s power for all he asks and more.

So become the child of God, and make his purpose yours. Third, ask how every experience can make you more Christ-like. This is how God redeems all he permits–by using it to mold you into the image of Jesus. Ask how he is doing this with everything that happens to you, and choose to cooperate with him. When people hurt you, choose to forgive like Jesus. When you’re tempted, choose to be godly like Jesus. When you’re hurting, choose to trust your Father like Jesus. Ask how you can be more like Jesus, and you will be.

Conclusion

So don’t give up, however hard life gets. God redeems all he allows, to make you more like Jesus. Someone told me this week that if the mountain was smooth, we’d have no handholds to climb it to the heavens.

I’m reading John Grisham’s latest novel, The Appeal. Grisham is a modern day phenomenon. His books have sold millions of copies, and movies made from them have made millions of dollars more. This Baptist Sunday school teacher and lawyer writes books his children can read and his mother can endorse. And he does it all in the context of a living faith in Jesus.

But it wasn’t easy. Grisham wrote his first novel, A Time To Kill, at night and on weekends while working as a lawyer in Mississippi. No one would publish it–no one. He finally paid to have it published himself, and sold copies out of the trunk of his Volvo. His garage was filled with unsold copies. But then his second book, The Firm, became a success and the rest is history.

Henry Ford went broke five times before he finally succeeded. Eighteen publishers turned down Richard Bach’s book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, before Macmillan published it and it sold seven million copies in five years.

Richard Hooker worked for seven years on his war novel M*A*S*H only to have it rejected by 21 publishers. He finally decided to publish it himself. It became a runaway best-seller, and led to a blockbuster movie and a highly successful TV series.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach: “Quitters Never Win–Winners Never Quit.” The coach was a better theologian than he knew.

Your Father redeems all he allows, to make you more like Jesus. This is the promise of God.

Redeemed For a Reason

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Redeemed For a Reason

Romans 8:28-30

James C. Denison

According to this week’s news reports, you had better not die in southwest France. The village in question has run out of space in the local cemetery. So the mayor has told his residents, “All persons not having a plot in the cemetery and wishing to be buried are forbidden from dying in the parish.” He adds, “Offenders will be severely punished.” You’ve been warned.

There are some things you can’t do much about. Whether you’re happy, sad, or indifferent about this week’s election results in Texas and elsewhere, there’s not a lot about the presidential primaries you can change today. Economists are debating whether we’re in a recession, heading into one, or avoiding one, but most of us don’t get a vote on the question.

It is frustrating to live with circumstances beyond your control. A boss you can’t fire; a health condition you can’t heal; a struggle in your family you can’t solve, a temptation you can’t defeat. As time goes on you begin to wonder if things will ever get better, if there’s a reason for any of this and a purpose on the other side.

Today’s text tells us that we are more than conquerors in the hardest places of life. We will learn again this week that God redeems all he allows. We will learn why, for what purpose, to what end. And we will choose whether or not to cooperate. I hope you’ll choose wisely. What struggle do you need God to redeem this morning?

What is God’s purpose for you?

Let’s walk through our passage, one of the most popular and misunderstood statements in all the New Testament.

Paul begins: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (v. 28a). “We know” is a traditional Jewish formula for introducing conventional wisdom. What follows is a certainty for all believers, no matter our circumstances or difficulties. This passage applies to every one of us today.

Once before, Paul used this phrase: “we know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (v. 22). There are two certainties in Romans 8: suffering and redemption. We all suffer, and God will redeem that suffering for his purposes.

“In all things God works for the good of those who love him,” we’re promised. “In all things,” the apostle promises. No exceptions are listed. Paul does not claim that all things are good, but that God works for good in all things.

Jesus wept at Lazarus’ grave because his death was not good, but God used it for good when he raised him back to life. Our Savior cried out in pain and abandonment from the cross because his separation from his Father was not good, but God used it for the good of our salvation.

In “all things God works.” It is not our responsibility to redeem our situation, but God’s. The Greek for “works” is sunergei, meaning “to work together” or “make something in combination.” The events themselves are not good, but when God works them together they produce a good we could never have imagined.

Pike Wisner and I discussed this week an analogy for Paul’s claim. Imagine baking a cake. You wouldn’t want to eat flour, or shortening, or raw eggs. In fact, you couldn’t imagine that they would ever be edible. Only someone who knows about baking would see the way they could “work together” for something good. When a pastry chef takes these disparate and unappetizing ingredients and mixes them in the right way, in the right proportions, for the right time, then bakes them in the right temperature, a cake emerges from the oven. That’s what God is doing with the flour and raw eggs of your life.

In all things God is working “for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

He works “for the good” because he must. Our God is “holy, holy, holy” (Revelation 4:8; Isaiah 6:3). This is how we know that he redeems all he allows–his character requires it. He never makes a mistake. He must always do the right thing. He must always work for our glory and his good.

He does this for “those who love him.” It is not that he likes Christians better than non-Christians, but that he can give only what we will receive. If we will not accept his forgiving grace by trusting Christ as our Lord, he cannot forgive us and save us. If we will not accept his Spirit into our lives by becoming Christians, his Spirit cannot redeem and transform us.

I can do things for my children that I cannot do for yours. I can discipline my sons in ways I cannot discipline yours. I can teach and mentor and help mold their character in ways I cannot with yours, or you with mine. So it is with the Father and his children.

When we “love him” as his children, we are “called according to his purpose.” “Purpose” translates the Greek word for “design” or “plan.” What is this plan, toward which God is redeeming all that he allows?

Verse 29: “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.”

“Those God foreknew” points to the fact that God is not bound by time. He knows what we will do before we do. This doesn’t mean that he chooses for us. I watched you sit in your pews this morning, but I didn’t assign them to you. God is the Great I Am (Exodus 3:14), and is able to see tomorrow as we are to see today. He “foreknows” all that we will do, for he sees us do it.

Those he foreknew “he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” “Predestined” means to choose, to plan, to purpose beforehand. He has always wanted all of us to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4), for he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

In this case, his plan for our lives is that we “be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” “Conform” means to “make with” or “mold.” He wants us to be like Jesus. He wants us to manifest the character of Christ. What does this mean?

It means that we obey our Father like the One who prayed, “Not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).

It means that we commune with our Father like the One who got up “very early in the morning, while it was still dark” and “went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35).

It means that we refuse sin like the One who said, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only'” (Matthew 4:10).

It means that we forgive our enemies like the One who prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

It means that we serve our friends like the One who washed his disciples’ feet and told us, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:15).

God wants Jesus to be “the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29). “Firstborn” in the Jewish culture meant the preeminent one; we are to imitate him as members of his family, showing the world Christ in us. How are you measuring up?

How can you cooperate?

It is God’s intention to redeem all he permits by using it to make you more like Jesus: more obedient, prayerful, holy, forgiving, and servant-hearted. How can you cooperate?

First, become the child of God. You cannot be like Jesus your brother until you have his Father as your Father. If you do, here’s what God has already done for you:

He “foreknew” you, knowing before time began that you would be here. He “predestined” you, choosing you to be like his Son. Then he “called” you when the Spirit convicted you of your sin and led you to faith in Christ. He “justified” you, cleansing you from all your failures and mistakes so that it is “just if I’d” never sinned. And he “glorified” you as the child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (v. 30). Become the child of God today.

Second, make his purpose yours. Decide that you will measure success by Christ-likeness, not by performance or possessions or popularity. Not your church by buildings and budgets and baptisms. Measure your life and congregation by the degree to which we are more like Jesus than we were last month and last year. Make this your North on the compass, your non-negotiable mission in life. The next time someone asks you what you want to do with your life, say “I want to be more like Jesus.”

Why? Because your Father knows what is best for you, and he says that this is your highest and best purpose in life. Being like Christ is what you were made and redeemed to do. I have found this fact to be absolutely true in my life. When I am seeking to imitate Jesus, there is a peace and purpose to my life which is missing every other time.

If I preach this sermon to perform or impress you, there’s no joy in it. If I preach to serve you like Jesus, there’s joy in every moment.

When I submit to the temptations of the enemy, there’s dissonance and pain in my soul. When I obey God’s will like Jesus, there’s victory in Jesus.

When I judge or criticize those who hurt me or disagree with me, there’s bitterness in my spirit. When I forgive like Jesus, there’s release and freedom.

When I do my work in my ability, I become tired or bored or dissatisfied. When I seek the Father’s presence like Jesus, there’s power for all he asks and more.

So become the child of God, and make his purpose yours. Third, ask how every experience can make you more Christ-like. This is how God redeems all he permits–by using it to mold you into the image of Jesus. Ask how he is doing this with everything that happens to you, and choose to cooperate with him. When people hurt you, choose to forgive like Jesus. When you’re tempted, choose to be godly like Jesus. When you’re hurting, choose to trust your Father like Jesus. Ask how you can be more like Jesus, and you will be.

Conclusion

So don’t give up, however hard life gets. God redeems all he allows, to make you more like Jesus. Someone told me this week that if the mountain was smooth, we’d have no handholds to climb it to the heavens.

I’m reading John Grisham’s latest novel, The Appeal. Grisham is a modern day phenomenon. His books have sold millions of copies, and movies made from them have made millions of dollars more. This Baptist Sunday school teacher and lawyer writes books his children can read and his mother can endorse. And he does it all in the context of a living faith in Jesus.

But it wasn’t easy. Grisham wrote his first novel, A Time To Kill, at night and on weekends while working as a lawyer in Mississippi. No one would publish it–no one. He finally paid to have it published himself, and sold copies out of the trunk of his Volvo. His garage was filled with unsold copies. But then his second book, The Firm, became a success and the rest is history.

Henry Ford went broke five times before he finally succeeded. Eighteen publishers turned down Richard Bach’s book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, before Macmillan published it and it sold seven million copies in five years.

Richard Hooker worked for seven years on his war novel M*A*S*H only to have it rejected by 21 publishers. He finally decided to publish it himself. It became a runaway best-seller, and led to a blockbuster movie and a highly successful TV series.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach: “Quitters Never Win–Winners Never Quit.” The coach was a better theologian than he knew.

Your Father redeems all he allows, to make you more like Jesus. This is the promise of God.

Unlocking the Throne Room

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Unlocking the Throne Room

Romans 8:26-27

James C. Denison

I hate flying. I am “altitudinally challenged.” I don’t just dislike the experience mildly. As a child, I was made to fly with my family on a friend’s private plane. I threw up, and a pattern was established. I could be the John Madden of theology–if someone would give me a Greyhound bus to travel the country, I would never set foot in another plane. How I would travel overseas, I haven’t figured out yet.

The reason is simple: I want to know why something is true before I trust it with my life. And I have no idea how a mega-ton metal monstrosity can get up to 30,000 feet and stay there.

As a small boy, I wanted to fly more than anything else in the world. I used to lay in the grass and stare into the blue sky, jealous of the birds and clouds and Superman. I once carved a set of wings out of cardboard, taped them on my arms, climbed to the roof of our house and jumped. Fortunately, it was a one-story house. I still remember how that episode ended, and fear the same result every time I step onto an airplane.

It would help greatly if I understood the principles of flight. If I knew why and how an airplane lifts off the ground and stays in the air, I would probably be able to look out the window of my aisle and stop digging my fingernails into the armrest. The more vital the subject, the more knowing why comes before knowing how for many of us.

Today Romans 8 brings us to the topic of prayer. We’re going to learn the good news that the Holy Spirit prays for us when we pray, and that his prayers are always answered. This fact provides us the opportunity to ask hard questions about one of the most significant aspects of Christian spirituality, and learn to be more than conquerors in prayer today.

Why do you need to learn to pray more effectively this morning?

Answers to prayer

Before we get to our questions about prayer, let’s begin with the clear fact before us.

Our text begins, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.” The apostle has just described our hope in heaven–now he shows us our hope on earth. “Weakness” can be connected to the problems of life, but in this context it relates more to our weakness, our problems with prayer. We’ll return to these in a moment.

Whatever your questions or issues with prayer, the Spirit is living in your life and is ready to “help” you. The Greek word means “to lend a hand” or “come to the aid.” It conveys the idea of helping someone carry a burden.

Why do we need his help? Because “we do not know what we ought to pray for.”

“We” includes us all, even the greatest Apostle in Christian history.

Paul knows that we will all pray, but that we do not know how to pray effectively. We are like children who do not know what is best for us or what to ask from our Father. We don’t know the future, or much about the present. We don’t know whether this new job is best for us, or whether we should marry this person, or whether it is best that we be healed of this disease or helped out of this financial struggle. None of us knows.

So when we pray, “the Spirit himself intercedes for us.” The same Spirit who created the universe (Genesis 1:2), who raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11) and empowered the apostles to change the world, prays for us.

He “intercedes”–the word means to plead on behalf of another. It describes someone who rescues a person in need by advocating his cause before the authorities. He does this for “us,” for all of us, without exception.

His prayers are greater than our comprehension, “groans that words cannot express.” He is not limited to our finite minds and understanding when he prays for us.

And his prayers are always effective, because he “intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” God can only answer prayer in accordance with his will. The holy, righteous God of love cannot and will not give us better than the best. He will not give us what we ask for if it violates his will for his glory and our good.

The Bible promises that “if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14). But we must pray according to his will. We don’t often know how to do this, but the Spirit doesn’t have that problem. As we pray, he prays for us. And his prayers always reflect the will of God, so they are always answered by God.

This is incredible good news.

Jesus “always lives to intercede” for us (Hebrews 7:25). He “is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:34). He is praying for you at this very moment.

Now we learn that the Spirit helps us when we pray by praying for us as well. If you could have the holiest, most godly person you’ve ever known pray for you at all times and intercede whenever you pray, what person would you choose? The Father has provided even more for us, tasking his Son and Spirit with praying for you and me.

And when we pray and the Spirit prays for us, his prayers are always heard and answered.

Questions about prayer

This is wonderful good news, but it is also perplexing news. If the Spirit always prays for us when we pray, and his prayers are always heard, why is it that our prayers seem sometimes not to be heard or answered?

And why should I pray at all? Matthew 6:8 says that “your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” I’m not informing the omniscient Lord of the universe when I pray to him. Why pray, then?

Does my prayer motivate God to do something he would not have? If so, am I talking God into doing the right thing? If not, what is the point of praying?

And what about intercessory prayer and free will? Why should I pray for people to become Christians or make good decisions, if God honors their freedom and is not going to force them to trust or obey him? Let’s take our questions in order.

First, why are our prayers sometimes not answered as we pray them? Because God will always give us what we ask for or whatever is best.

Jesus taught us to pray to “our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). He is the Father–we are the children. And as our text states, we don’t always know what is best for us. Billy Graham writes in his autobiography that he was devastated when the girl he loved rejected his proposal of marriage, and couldn’t understand why God hadn’t answered his prayers. Then he met Ruth Bell and the rest is history.

Why does God sometimes heal people when we pray for them and sometimes not? The Spirit helps us pray by interceding for us in accordance with God’s will. If it is best that people be healed, they will be. If it’s best that they go to heaven rather than staying on earth, one second on the other side they’ll be forever glad God answered our prayer as he did.

That’s incredibly hard for us to understand or appreciate, but it results from the fact that God always gives us what we ask or whatever is best. One day we’ll understand why this was for his greatest glory and our greatest good.

Remember when Paul prayed three times that God would remove his “thorn in the flesh,” but was refused three times. God gave him what was even better, teaching him the critical truth that his power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). God always gives us what we ask or whatever is best.

And know that he has all of eternity to hear and answer your prayers. He is not bound by time as we are. Six billion people could be praying to him at this moment, but he has forever to hear and respond to each and every request. So “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and know that God will always answer your prayer in whatever way is best. Always.

Second, why work at praying? If Jesus is praying for me all the time, and if the Spirit prays whenever I pray, why work at prayer myself? Why not pray generically and routinely and trust the Spirit to do all the heavy lifting?

Because prayer positions me to receive what God’s grace wants to give but cannot unless I’ll receive it. We didn’t build this sanctuary, and most of us had nothing to do with paying for it. But we must come inside it to receive the benefits it provides. God will honor our freedom, and will not force his grace into our lives. Presents must be opened. God wants to lead us, forgive us, and use us, but we must receive such mercy. We do so in prayer.

And prayer is the way God shapes our souls. When we pray the Spirit works on us, molding us into the image of Jesus. He transforms us, but only when we are connected with him in prayer.

We do not pray to inform God but to receive from God and to be with God. These reasons are enough to call us all to a life of prayer.

Third, what about intercession and freedom? Why pray for lost people to be saved, if God will never violate their free will? Why pray for a Christian to repent of sin or take a step of faith or change behavior in any way, if God has limited himself to the freedom he gave them in Christ?

When we pray, God does all he can to answer our prayer short of violating that freedom. If you pray for a lost person to come to Christ, God will bring Christians across his path, place Christian influence before him, and convict him by the work of his Spirit. And he will use you to answer your prayer. He will not violate the person’s freedom, but he will do everything else he can to bring him to faith.

It is the same when we pray for anyone’s behavior to change. God does all he can short of dishonoring their free will to answer our prayer in whatever way is best. So intercede for lost people to become Christians and for Christians to become Christ-like disciples, and know that your prayers are cooperating with God in shaping eternity.

Conclusion

To recap: When you pray, the Spirit helps you by interceding for you in accordance with God’s will–and his prayers on your behalf are always answered.

So pray continually, knowing that God will always give you what is best. Prayer positions you to receive his grace as his Spirit molds you into the image of Jesus. God will do everything short of violating human freedom to answer your prayers for yourself and others. And eternity will be different because you prayed.

Ask the Spirit to fill, control, and empower you every day. Ask him to teach you to pray and trust him to intercede as you pray. And he will, always.

R. A. Torrey was pastor of Moody Church in Chicago before embarking on a global evangelistic ministry which saw more than 102,000 people accept Christ in just the first eighteen months. He knew something about ministry and the power of God.

He said, “If anyone should ask me, ‘What is the great secret of holy living?’ I would say at once, ‘Living in the Holy Spirit.’ If anyone should ask me, ‘What is the great secret of effective service for Jesus Christ,’ I should reply at once, ‘Serving in the Holy Spirit.’ If anyone should ask me, ‘What is the one greatest secret of profitable Bible study?’ I would reply, ‘Studying in the Holy Spirit.’ And if anyone should ask me, what was the one great all-inclusive secret of prevailing prayer, I should reply, ‘Praying in the Holy Spirit.’ It is the prayer that the Holy Spirit inspires that God the Father answers” (R. A. Torrey, The Power of Prayer and the Prayer of Power [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971 (1924)] 137).

Israel’s Prime Minister Menachem Begin was visiting President Ronald Reagan in the White House, when he noticed a gold phone on the president’s desk.

“What is that for?” he asked. “It’s my direct line to God,” Reagan replied. “How much does it cost to make a call?” Begin wanted to know. “Ten thousand dollars, but it’s worth every cent.”

Later in the year Reagan was in Begin’s office in Israel. He saw a gold phone on the prime minister’s desk. “What is that for?” he asked. “It’s my direct line to God.” “How much does it cost to make a call?” “Ten cents–it’s a local call.”

Your next call is free. The Lord of the universe is waiting on the other end of the line. Why do you need to pick up the phone this morning?