all things work together for good

God Meant It For Good.

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When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. – Genesis 50:15-21 ESV

Jacob dies and immediately his sons begin to worry. They fear that Joseph, who they sold into slavery and who now rules over them as the second-most powerful man in Egypt, will take revenge on them now that their father is gone. They assume he was only biding his time until Jacob was out of the picture. They wrongly believe that Joseph, out of love and respect for their father, had been unwilling to give his brothers what they deserved. But now that he was gone, all bets were off. Or so they thought. They even concoct a story saying that, on his deathbed, Jacob had given them a message to give to Joseph. It was Jacob’s dying wish that Joseph forgive his brothers for their sin against them. Nowhere else in the text does Moses record that this conversation ever happened between Jacob and his sons, so we can assume that it was a fabrication, a lie concocted by Joseph’s brothers in an attempt to save their own necks from the hatred they believed Joseph still harbored for them. But they were in for a pleasant surprise.

Joseph, displaying a profound grasp on the doctrine of the sovereignty of God, tells his brothers they have nothing to fear. First of all, Joseph assuages their concerns by letting them know that revenge is the prerogative and purview of God. Even if he was still angry with them, Joseph knew he had no right to enact judgment or to seek revenge on his brothers. In asking the rhetorical question, “am I in the place of God?” (Genesis 50:19 ESV), Joseph reveals his understanding of and respect for God’s rule and reign over any and all. He portrays a humble and quiet confidence in God’s unwavering rule over the affairs of his life. During his forced exile from his family, Joseph had been able to see first-hand the remarkable proof of God’s providence in so many ways. Enough time had passed that any lingering anger against his bothers or desire to seek revenge had been replaced by a peace with his circumstances that came from a growing trust in God’s providence. God was in control. So much so that, in Joseph’s estimation, what his brothers had meant for evil, God had intended for good. This is one of the most powerful statements regarding God’s providence found anywhere in the Scriptures.

“Behind all the events and human plans recounted in the story of Joseph lies the unchanging plan of God. It is the same plan introduced from the very beginning of the book where God looks out at what he has just created for man and sees that ‘it is good’ (tob, 1:4-31). Through his dealings with the patriarchs and Joseph, God had continued to bring about his good plan. He had remained faithful to his purposes, and it is the point of this narrative to show that his people can continue to trust him and to believe 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).” – John H. Sailhamer, “Genesis,” in Genesis-Numbers, vol. 2 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary

With the simple words, “God meant it for good,” Joseph spoke volumes concerning the rule and reign of God over the affairs of men. He does not excuse his brothers’ actions, but instead clearly states that what they had done to him was intended by them for his harm, not his good. Their intentions had been evil. But God, as part of His divine plan, had hijacked their intentions, redeeming their sinful actions to accomplish holy and righteous will. The Hebrew word Moses used is chashab and it carries the idea of a carefully calculated plan or intention. Sick and tired of their Joseph’s favored position with their father and his dreams and visions of superiority, the brothers had “devised” a plan to rid themselves of Joseph once and for all. But God had bigger and better plans. It had been His plan all along that the descendants of Abraham would end up in Egypt. Years earlier He had told Abraham, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13 ESV). God had intended it all for good. Every bit of it. From Joseph’s undeserved betrayal by his brothers to his false arrest and imprisonment. The events of Joseph’s life were not the result of fate or chance. He had not been the lucky winner of the lottery of life. He had been under the sovereign control of an all-powerful, all-knowing God who had a plan in place long before Joseph or his brothers had been born.

Joseph had developed an expanded vision of the affairs of life. He had learned to look beyond the immediate circumstances and view things from a divine perspective. Which is what led him to say that God had intended, planned, and orchestrated Joseph’s life,  “to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20 ESV). Joseph knew it was about much more than him. His life had a God-ordained purpose that was far greater and bigger than his own success or failure. This wasn’t about his personal comfort or convenience. It had little to do with Joseph’s position or prominence, except for the fact that God was using Joseph’s rise to power to “preserve the lives of many people.”

As Christians, when we read Paul’s words in Romans, “all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 ESV), we tend to have a bit of skepticism about them. We silently doubt whether they are really true. We wonder if ALL things really do work together for good. We question whether we have ever seen Paul’s words proven true in our own lives. But the problem seems to be that we want to define what “good” means. We want to dictate to God what it is we want Him to accomplish in and through our lives. And we demand that any good He brings about must be to our advantage and within our lifetime. It must be according to our terms. But Joseph knew better. He had learned that God’s will was far greater than his own. He had ascertained that the ways of God sometimes entailed difficulty, betrayal, disappointment, awkward moments of seeming abandonment by God and prolonged periods of waiting. But God was always at work. His divine plan was always active and moving towards its ultimate conclusion. All things really do work together for good. But sometimes that good is not what we might expect. It might not always come about when or how we want it to. God’s definition of good was about far more than good things happening in Joseph’s life. Joseph’s rise to power was not about his own comfort and convenience. It had a much more expansive and far-reaching purpose behind it. Joseph understood and accepted his role in God’s sovereign, providential plan. He was content to be used by God, leaving the definition of “good” up to God. He was fully confident that his life was in God’s hands and that anything and everything that had or would happen to him was within the will of God. God had a greater good in mind. He had a bigger plan in place. His will was not limited to the days of Joseph’s life or the land of Egypt. It went well beyond the sons of Jacob and the tribes of Israel. God had a plan to bless all the nations of the earth and to bring salvation from something far more devastating than a famine. God had in mind the sins of mankind and the salvation of the world in mind. And all that He has done or will do is intended for good.

And We Know…

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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 ESV

This is one of the most frequently quoted verses in the Bible; but, sadly, it is too often one of the most misquoted and misused verses in the Bible. It seems to be the one verse we all bring up when we encounter someone who is struggling or suffering. We reach into our Bible Band-aid Box and pull out what we hope will be something to soothe the pain of our brother or sister in Christ. The problem is that this verse can end up sounding hollow and empty when quoted to someone who is knee-deep in difficulty. What it says may be true, but that doesn’t mean that it will bring comfort to the individual who is smack-dab in the middle of a difficult situation. While we may mean well when we throw around this verse like some kind of secret elixir or cure-all, we can actually end up aggravating rather than alleviating someone’s pain and suffering. Our efforts can do more harm than good.

Part of the problem is that we lift this verse out of its context. Paul has been talking about “the sufferings of this present time” (Romans 8:18 ESV). He describes us as groaning inwardly “as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:24 ESV). He tells us we are weak and do not know what or how to pray. But he says, “The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26 ESV). We are surrounded by suffering. We have to constantly battle our own sin nature and “put to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13 ESV). We have to remind ourselves daily that we are children of God and heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16). And our very existence as sons and daughters of God puts us at odds with this world and with Satan, the prince of this world. And while “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18 ESV), they are still real and difficult to handle at times.

But as we suffer and pray, struggling with uncertainty and seeking to understand God’s will in all that is going on around us, Paul tells us “we know…” We know what? That “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28 NLT). This does not mean that everything works out perfectly. It does not mean that God removes all our pain, heals all our diseases, or eliminates all our suffering. It means that our pain, sickness and suffering have a divine purpose behind them, because God is in control. He is sovereign. This is not to say that He is the cause behind our pain, sickness and suffering, but that God is not thwarted by or somehow limited by them when it comes to accomplishing His good in our lives.

The phrase “all things work together” is all-encompassing. It means ALL things – the good, the bad and the ugly. We may not understand how good can come out of the bad experiences of life, but the Holy Spirit is there to remind us that God is sovereignly at work in our lives, using each and every moment of life to accomplish His divine will. There is a story in the Old Testament that speaks of this very truth. Joseph had been sold into slavery by his own brothers. They hated him and were jealous of him, so they pawned him off on some slave traders then told Joseph’s father that his son was dead. Joseph ended up as a slave in Egypt. His life is one of constant ups and downs. There are incredible highs followed by unbelievable lows. At one point he gets falsely accused and imprisoned. But the next thing he knows, he finds himself occupying the second-highest position in the land, subject only to Pharaoh himself. And when his brothers arrive in town and discover that their long-lost brother is not only alive, but in a position to punish them for all they did to him, they panic. But Joseph tells them, “now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life” (Genesis 45:5 ESV). He surprises them by saying, “it was not you who sent me here, but God” (Genesis 45:8 ESV). And then he drops the bombshell, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20 ESV).

God had worked “all things” together for good – not only for Joseph, but for the people of God. He took all the bad things that happened in Joseph’s life and used them to accomplish His divine will. God didn’t just turn Joseph’s apparent bad luck into good luck. He orchestrated the whole affair, having sent Joseph ahead of time into Egypt in order to preserve life. And everything that happened from the moment Joseph arrived in Egypt was part of God’s plan. But sometimes we don’t see His plan until we have the opportunity to look back in retrospect. It’s then that we perceive the sovereign hand of God in our lives.

You see, God had a bigger plan in store for Joseph and for the people of Israel. And He has a bigger plan in mind than just our own comfort and personal convenience. God is pushing all things toward the ultimate fulfillment of His divine plan for mankind. Yes, we must suffer for this present time. But there is a time coming when all our suffering will make sense to us. Yes, we have to live in these bodies of flesh, but there is a day coming when we will receive new bodies. Yes, we have a lot to cry about right now, but we have been promised an eternity with no more tears, sorrow or pain. Yes, we have to daily struggle against our sin nature, but there is a time coming when sin will be no more. All things will work together for good. If not in this life, in the one to come. There is a reason for our suffering. There is a purpose behind our pain. And if nothing else, it should drive us to Him for comfort and teach us to trust Him for a good and godly outcome.

Romans 8:18-30

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In the Meantime.

Romans 8:18-30

And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. – Romans 8:23 NLT

As believers, we live in what Paul Tripp refers to as “The Gospel Gap.” it’s his simple, yet memorable way of referring to that somewhat mysterious and sometimes confusing period of time that began at the point of our salvation and will end with our future glorification, when we die or when Jesus comes to take us home. As believers, we tend to put a great deal of weight on those two ends of the spiritual spectrum – our salvation and glorification – while minimizing what is commonly referred to as our sanctification – the ongoing transformation of our lives into the image of Jesus Christ. We had nothing to do with our salvation and we will play no part in our future glorification. And the reality is, we have nothing to do with our growth in Christ-likeness – our sanctification. It is all a work of God. What happened in the past, at our salvation, was the gracious gift of God, provided by the death of Jesus Christ, His Son. What will happen in the future will also be an incredible gift from our heavenly Father, in fulfillment of His Son’s promise to go and prepare a place for us. Eternal life is the ultimate outcome of our faith in Jesus Christ, and it awaits us in the future.

So Paul reminds us that “what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later” (Romans 8:18 NLT). In that one sentence, Paul sums up the reality of life as a believer. We suffer NOW. But there is something glorious that is coming LATER. There is a future day coming when “God will reveal who his children really are (Romans 8:19 NLT). What we look like, act like, feel like and think like NOW, is nothing compared to what we will truly be in the FUTURE. Our transformation or sanctification will one day be complete and we will be glorified. As God’s children, we will experience “glorious freedom from death and decay” (Romans 8:21 NLT). Our bodies will “be released from sin and suffering” (Romans 8:23 NLT). So in the meantime, we “wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us” (Romans 8:23 NLT). This is the hope that was given to us at our salvation. There is a glorious future in store for us. But again, in the meantime, we groan. We suffer. We wait patiently and confidently. Or do we? Oh, most of us groan and suffer quite well. We have that part down. But it’s the waiting patiently and confidently that throws most of us for a loop. We struggle with the here and now. We wrestle with the circumstances of life and wonder how in the world our faith in Christ can make a difference in this lifetime. Our salvation becomes a distant memory and, our future glorification, a nebulous, difficult-to-comprehend hope. When we read the well-known words of Paul in verse 28, we roll our eyes and shake our heads, questioning the validity and veracity of his statement. “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:23 NLT). Really? EVERYTHING? For our good?

This verse reeks of the here-and-now. It is all about life in the Gospel Gap. It gives us a way of looking at life and interpreting the circumstances of life as we experience our ongoing conformity to the Son of God. God called us at salvation with a distinct purpose in mind. And it was NOT just to take us to heaven! If that had been His purpose, He would have done so at the point He saved us. But instead, He left us here. Why? Because His purpose was that we “become like His Son” (Romans 8:29 NLT). God had a plan for us, and that plan included our salvation, our future glorification, and our ongoing sanctification as we live out our lives on this planet in the meantime. But we need to know that God is using any and everything in our lives – the good, the bad, the ugly – to transform us into the likeness of Christ. He causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God – in other words, us. God can use our mistakes. God can use our hurts. God can use our darkest moments and brightest days to conform us into the image of His Son. He can use tragedies and victories, gains and losses, joy and sorrow, to achieve His ongoing purpose in our lives – our sanctification. He has given us His Spirit to assist us, comfort us, convict us and guide us. The Spirit intercedes for us, prays on behalf of us, and constantly seeks to motivate us toward our pursuit of God’s purpose for us – our spiritual transformation into the image of His Son. If God plans on completing His work in our lives by someday glorifying us and establishing us as permanent residents in His heavenly Kingdom, then we have to trust that what He is doing here on this earth is part of His divine plan for us – regardless of how it looks or feels. Paul encouraged the believers in Philippi, “that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6 NLT). God finishes what He starts. He completes what He begins. Our time on this planet has a rhyme and reason behind it. There is method to God’s seeming madness as we suffer and struggle our way through this life. He is at work in our life, just as much now as He was at our salvation. His purpose is just as clear now as it was when He saved us. He is constantly, faithfully, and lovingly making us more and more like His Son, with each passing day. And some day He will complete His work project in our lives. But in the meantime, we must learn to wait patiently and confidently.

Father, I want to learn to wait patiently and confidently. I lose hope far too often and easily. I run out of steam. I get confused by the circumstances of life and end up seeing them as setbacks, rather than as opportunities and the tools You are using to transform me into the likeness of Christ. Give me the perspective Paul had. Let Romans 8:28 become a verse that I cling to and hope in. Continue to show me the reality of the statement that You really do cause all things in my life to be instruments for good and opportunities for my ongoing transformation. Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org