Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Good morning.
[00:00:08] My name is Jesse, one of the pastors here at Emmanuel Fellowship Church. So thank you for being here. We're excited to worship with you today. Happy Father's day to all the fathers in the room.
[00:00:21] As a father myself, it's one of those days that just bears a lot of weight and fun and a lot of different things altogether because parenting children is a lot of work and a lot of responsibility, but it's also a lot of fun and a joy. So a couple of my kids are here. Are you listening?
[00:00:50] All right, so we're going to be continuing in our summer seeker series where we're going through some of the key passages in the book of Romans, and we're answering some of these questions that often come up for both believers and non believers. Today we're going to be looking at Romans, chapter eight, verses 28 through 39. If you want to go ahead and turn there in your bibles, by the way, if you don't have a Bible, we have them available, hopefully in each row. They're under some of the chairs, so you can grab one of those. If you don't own a copy of the Bible, please take that home or come and talk to me or one of the other pastors. We'd be happy to make sure that you have a copy of scripture to take home with you.
[00:01:37] Let me go ahead and pray for us and we'll jump into this.
[00:01:43] Jesus, thank you so much for your love. God, we thank you that you love us. We thank you that we can sing and talk and listen to testimonies and look at your word. And we see a consistent theme throughout all of it. That you love us.
[00:02:04] That you love us so much.
[00:02:08] Jesus, I pray that you would open up our hearts, that you would speak through me, that we would be able to understand your love in a new way this morning.
[00:02:23] Amen.
[00:02:26] All right, so today we're going to be talking about this question. How can I know I'm secure in God's love?
[00:02:35] This is one of those questions that I think the answer is pretty obvious, especially as you look at the testimonies that we've heard, the songs that are being sung, and this passage that we're going to read today, the answer is pretty much there in your face, but it's still one that is worth us talking about because I think each one of us has doubts and questions that tend to creep in.
[00:03:06] So we're going to go ahead and split this passage today up into three sections. So let's go ahead and start with the first section. This is Romans, chapter eight, verses 28 through 30.
[00:03:22] It says, we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
[00:03:31] For those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined he also called. And those he called he also justified. And those he justified, he also glorified.
[00:03:53] So here in this passage, the apostle Paul summarizes a lot of what he has said so far throughout the book of Romans. And we're going to camp here for a bit, because what Paul says here is key to understanding the rest of the passage.
[00:04:08] Paul gives us some very important facts and truths about who God is and about how he works through us for salvation. So we're going to key in on a couple of these things.
[00:04:20] If you weren't here or didn't listen to Pastor Craig's sermon last week, I would encourage you to go back and listen to it, because in this book, in the book of Romans, Paul really is building a consistent chain of thought. Each new passage is really built upon the ones that come before it.
[00:04:38] So this is a direct follow up to Craig's sermon from last week.
[00:04:44] And last week Craig answered the question, does God have a plan for this messy, broken world?
[00:04:52] His answer from that text was, yes, God does have a plan for this messy, broken world. And that plan is to glorify us through the salvation of Jesus Christ and through that, restore all of creation to glory.
[00:05:10] And here in our passage, Paul is going to have a direct follow up to that thought.
[00:05:17] And he says a couple of things in these verses. He says that we can know that all things work together for the good of those who love God.
[00:05:27] He also says that those who love God are called according to his purpose.
[00:05:32] We also see that it is God's purpose to work for good through the lives of those whom he has called to love him.
[00:05:41] Then we see that Paul uses several important phrases here about God that tell us some things about who God is. He says that God foreknew us. He also says that God predestined us.
[00:05:55] Finally, Paul says that God's son is the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
[00:06:01] There's a lot there. So let's do some work to try to break this down and organize it.
[00:06:08] So what does Paul mean? That we can know that all things work together for the good of those who love God. It's a direct follow up to Craig's sermon from last week. I think you could rephrase it to say that because we can trust God. When he says that his plan is to glorify us and restore creation, then we know that everything that's happening in our lives is for that eventual plan. Our glorification, which means that everything that happens in our lives is working towards that goal, and that goal is good. Our glorification is good because we are being remade into the image of Jesus Christ, and he is good.
[00:06:52] This means that we can know that everything that's happening in our lives is for a good purpose, because God is using it to remake us into Jesus image.
[00:07:04] Now, that doesn't discount the fact that each one of us goes through some extremely hard things in our lives.
[00:07:13] But what Paul is saying is that we can trust that God is working in our lives through those hard circumstances, through the things that we face, to shape us into the image of Christ, and that is for our good.
[00:07:33] The second thing that Paul gives us here is he said that God foreknows people. He said God predestines people. He says things work according to his purposes, and he calls people for specific reasons.
[00:07:49] There's a lot to unpack there. But really, all put together, this is a theological concept that we call God's sovereignty.
[00:07:59] In other words, God is sovereign over all things. What that means is that he has the power, knowledge, wisdom, and authority to do anything that he chooses within his creation.
[00:08:13] Let me say that again. God has the power, knowledge, wisdom and authority to do anything that he chooses to do within his creation.
[00:08:26] Now, some of you, some of us might have some red flags going up in our heads with the idea of God's sovereignty. This is one of those things that is a hot topic, especially for non believers, but also for people within the church. There's sometimes disagreement about what it means and the idea of there being a all powerful, all knowing divine creator.
[00:08:54] But what I think can't be disputed is that the Bible clearly portrays a God who is sovereign, all powerful, all knowing, and fully in control over all things.
[00:09:07] Now, does that mean that we don't have any choices or responsibility?
[00:09:12] Of course not. The Bible also shows us that God made us to make choices and that we are to be held responsible for the choices that we make.
[00:09:25] How do those two ideas fit together?
[00:09:28] If God is sovereign and in control of all things, how do we also have the ability to make choices?
[00:09:35] Doesn't he already know what we're going to choose? If he controls all things, doesn't that mean that he made me make the choices that I'm making.
[00:09:45] There can be a lot of complexity and confusion in this topic, but yes and no. Yes, God already knows the choices you're going to make, but no, he doesn't force you to make those choices.
[00:10:01] This is the thing about God's sovereignty. He has the ability to do anything he chooses within his creation. His creation can work however he wants it to.
[00:10:12] And how he wanted it to work is that you would have agency. You would have the ability to make your own choices and be held responsible for those choices.
[00:10:24] Why did God make things that way? I think it's because of his love. He loves you and he wants you to love him in return. Love is not just an emotional feeling that we have. Love is a specific choice. We choose to love people. God wants us to choose to love him.
[00:10:44] He didn't want to create a bunch of slaves that would be forced to love him. Instead, he wanted to create a family, a people for his own possession, people that would choose to love him in return.
[00:10:57] Does he know what our choices will be? Yes, he created time. He's outside of time. He doesn't experience it the same way we do. He knows all things, and so he knows what choices we're going to make.
[00:11:12] This isn't a sermon about God's sovereignty, but I think Paul presents this as something that is very important. It's key for us to understand the idea of God's love and whether we are secure in God's love.
[00:11:29] If you have questions about God's sovereignty, if this is something that trips you up or is something that you just want more information about, please, I would love to talk to you about it. I'm sure any of our pastors would love to sit down and talk to you about God's sovereignty, both in the large scale of theology and what it means, but also in the small scale of how God's sovereignty directly impacts you and how you make choices and are held responsible for those choices.
[00:12:00] But what I want us to focus on for this sermon, I don't want us to get lost in this big, grand idea that God is huge and sovereign and other. I want us to focus in on what Paul actually communicates about God here.
[00:12:16] What Paul is communicating about God is actually an incredibly intimate, personal concept. The text says that God foreknew us.
[00:12:26] This isn't just some lofty, fancy way of saying that God knows everything. It's actually a deeply personal term.
[00:12:35] The word here that they're using is this idea of new, this word that means God knew you before you even began. And this is a concept in scripture that talks about this deeply intimate personal connection. Usually it's used referring to a husband and a wife in the way that they know each other.
[00:13:00] Another way that we could say this word is that God for loved you.
[00:13:06] He chose you from before the world began.
[00:13:10] He knew you. He knows you more intimately than anyone else does.
[00:13:21] And I think this is leading us into the third thing we learn about God from this passage. And it isn't directly stated in this section, although it's stated multiple times in our overall passage. But the entire set of verses is just saturated in the love of God.
[00:13:40] Scripture tells us, why do we love God? We love because he first loved us.
[00:13:46] It's one John 419, why do all things work together for the good of those who love God? Because he loves us. And he is directly, intimately, personally working in your life for your good.
[00:14:01] It says, he fore, loved and foreknew you. He predestined you. He is personally transforming you into the image of Jesus Christ. And it's all because he loves you.
[00:14:14] He loves you.
[00:14:17] This is where we need to camp ourselves in order to answer the question today. Because in order to answer the question, if we are secure in God's love, we have to understand who God is and how much he loves us.
[00:14:32] If we don't understand the love of God, then how can we know if we're secure in his love?
[00:14:46] The truths that we see in scripture are that God created you because he loves you.
[00:14:53] Scripture says that he personally fashioned you. In your mother's womb, he formed together your physical matter. He created your personality, your strengths, your weaknesses. He created who you are.
[00:15:06] All throughout your life, he has watched over you. He has helped you. He has been there right alongside you.
[00:15:14] Throughout your life. He's been there if you wanted him, waiting for you to choose to love him in return.
[00:15:21] And despite the fact that we choose our sin and turn away from him, he still chose to become a human in Jesus Christ, live a perfect life, die the death that our choices have made us deserve, and then offer us the rewards of his obedient life.
[00:15:39] Each one of us makes the choice to turn away from God. Each one of us has done that throughout our lives. We've turned away from God. We've rejected his offer of love. We chose selfishness. We tried to elevate ourselves into his place. But God loves us too much to let us fully face the consequences of those choices.
[00:16:01] He decided to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to give us another chance.
[00:16:08] He wants us to be free of the enslaving bonds of our sin, to be free of the weight of our bad choices, and to be free to choose to love him in response to his love.
[00:16:23] And this leads us into the fourth thing I think we learned about God from this passage is that he wants to save us.
[00:16:31] He purposed salvation.
[00:16:34] He's the one driving the process of salvation.
[00:16:38] God doesn't just let us into his club because we happen to do the right things. He for loved you. He chose you. And when you chose to turn away from him and reject him, he chose to come down and take the consequences of your rejection upon himself and offer salvation to you.
[00:16:57] This is an active process from God to you. We don't worship a God who created things and set them in motion a long time ago and then went off to heaven to sit and wait and see what happens. He is actively working in each one of our lives to save you, to shape you into the image of Jesus Christ, to work in your life for good.
[00:17:24] And this leads us into salvation. Paul clearly lays out God's plan of salvation here. He is actively working this in our lives. We see that God predestines us to be conformed to the image of his son, Jesus Christ. This means that before you existed, he already planned for good for you. He planned that Jesus, who lived a holy life and deserved eternal reward, would gift his life and reward to you.
[00:17:55] If you are saved, then when God looks at you, he sees the holiness and righteousness of Jesus upon you, not the sin that your life has produced.
[00:18:06] That's what the predestination means. He pre planned all of this for you.
[00:18:12] And then at some point in your life, God calls you.
[00:18:19] He extends his hand of love to you.
[00:18:23] He offers you the work of Jesus Christ to give you his righteousness and salvation.
[00:18:29] And you then have a choice. Do you accept Jesus work of salvation on your behalf?
[00:18:35] And this is a real choice each one of us has to make.
[00:18:40] Are we going to accept Jesus love, turn away from our sin, repent and turn to Jesus?
[00:18:48] And then this plan of salvation continues. Once you choose to accept Jesus love, to love him in return, he then justifies you. This is a fancy word that means he takes the consequences of your sin upon himself. He paid for them with his death on the cross, and he gives you his righteousness, the reward of his holy life, restoring your relationship with God and bringing you into his family.
[00:19:16] And then finally he glorifies you. This is what Craig talked about last week in his sermon. This is the point of salvation that is happening and hasn't happened yet. God is actively working glorification in your heart. He is actively working to transform you into the image of Jesus Christ. And eventually Jesus will return and you will be made fully perfect. You'll receive your fully glorified and perfected body, and then you will live with him forever in the new creation that will be perfect as he is perfect and as you will be perfect.
[00:19:55] This is a lot, but these are the building blocks that Paul uses to start to answer our question.
[00:20:03] How can I know I'm secure in God's love?
[00:20:06] Well, it certainly helps to know who God is and to know that he loves me and how big that love is.
[00:20:13] It helps to know that he is sovereign and actively working his love in my heart.
[00:20:19] But I know for myself, and I'm sure for many of us, it doesn't fully answer the question because we still have doubts.
[00:20:29] Isn't there an opposition?
[00:20:32] What about my own weakness?
[00:20:35] What about the fact that I fail all the time to love him?
[00:20:39] What about all those terrible, hard things that continue to happen in our lives?
[00:20:45] Sometimes it feels like just talking about God's love is a bit cheap because I know that I'm not good at loving him in return.
[00:20:54] It's not that God's love is cheap, but it feels like it ignores the hardships that we face, the reality of our own failures.
[00:21:03] And that's not even just to mention the doubts that we all have, whether it's just these natural doubts and skepticism or even intrusive thoughts that continue to whisper into our minds that we aren't good enough.
[00:21:21] Well, we're going to address those. We still have two more sections of this passage in Romans, so let's jump into that.
[00:21:30] Let's read the next section, verses 31 through 37.
[00:21:35] Paul says, what then are we to say about these things?
[00:21:39] The truth that he's just given us? What are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare his own son, but offered him up for us all. How will he not also with him, grant us everything?
[00:21:56] Who can bring an accusation against God's elect? God is the one who justifies.
[00:22:02] Who is the one who condemns Christ? Jesus is the one who died, but even more has been raised. He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.
[00:22:13] Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine, or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, because of you, we are being put to death. All day long we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
[00:22:39] Whew.
[00:22:42] Guys, this passage is very clear.
[00:22:45] It doesn't need a lot of interpretation.
[00:22:48] Let's just stew in this for a minute.
[00:22:53] Like I said already, I think if we're honest with ourselves, most of us have at least a small bit of doubt in our minds.
[00:23:01] I know for myself sometimes the gift that I've been given seems too good to be true.
[00:23:10] Free righteousness and eternal life simply for accepting Jesus gift.
[00:23:20] Who would go through so much pain and struggle for me?
[00:23:24] Why me?
[00:23:26] I'm nothing special. Especially because I know my own sin and that I constantly reject him.
[00:23:34] Why would he do all this for me?
[00:23:36] Why would he continue to offer his love to me time and time again?
[00:23:42] And not just that, surely I'm going to screw it up somehow, or surely there's something out there that's going to eventually pull me away from him. Some enemy or these hard circumstances that we face.
[00:24:00] Sometimes we doubt and we think, surely this can't be real.
[00:24:10] But guys, God is very clear in this passage. Just read this list of promises.
[00:24:16] Who can bring an accusation against those that God chooses, this sovereign God who created all things, who is powerful and wise and knowledgeable and good and loves us. Apparently no one can, not any opposition, not even ourselves.
[00:24:36] Because it is this sovereign, all powerful God who is the one who justifies us, who can condemn us, not any enemy, not even ourselves. Because Jesus Christ himself took all of our sin and all the consequences for them. He died and paid the price for all of our guilt and shame. And furthermore, he was raised from the dead. And now he sits at the right hand of God. If there is ever any need to remind him that Jesus already earned a perfect righteousness and he gave that to you.
[00:25:10] What a ridiculous truth.
[00:25:15] It says, if God is for us, who can be against us?
[00:25:20] The text says, he did not even spare his own son, but gave him up for us all.
[00:25:27] This is so intense.
[00:25:30] God gave his own son for you.
[00:25:34] In Matthew, chapter 18, Jesus tells this story of a shepherd and his lost sheep.
[00:25:41] He says, what do you think? If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, won't he leave the 99 on the hillside and go and search for the stray? And if he finds it truly, I tell you, he rejoices over that sheep more than over the 99 that did not go astray. In the same way, it is not the will of your father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
[00:26:02] If I were listening to that story, I would go, wait a minute, Jesus. If I were a shepherd and I had 100 sheep and one of them left, I would not leave the 99 to go search after the one. Are you crazy?
[00:26:14] But the truth is, Jesus is telling this story about himself. He loves you enough that he would leave everything to come and find you. That's exactly what he did. He went to extreme lengths to show you his love.
[00:26:31] He was willing. God was willing to send his son to be sacrificed. Jesus was willing to become a human, to come and die, to take all the punishment for your sins.
[00:26:43] That was the length that Jesus was willing to go for you.
[00:26:51] If you don't take anything else away from this sermon, please remember that God loves you this much.
[00:27:01] If you're a person who struggles with self hatred or self doubt, this is the truth you need to hear today. Your value is not determined by what you think about yourself. Your value is not determined by your successes or your failures. Your value is determined by what someone else was willing to pay for you by the highest bidder. And Jesus was willing to pay everything for you.
[00:27:25] He left everything to come and find you. This isn't some general you. It's talking about you sitting there in that seat. Jesus paid everything for you.
[00:27:39] And what can separate you from Jesus love?
[00:27:43] Can sickness or trouble or depression or persecution or hunger or need or danger or injury or even death separate you from the love of Jesus Christ?
[00:27:54] Paul says, no, these things are hard. Our lives are hard. We face these things that are tough, but they pale in comparison to Jesus love for you.
[00:28:07] Nothing can separate you from the love of Jesus Christ.
[00:28:11] What about the opposition? What about the devil? Doesn't scripture say that he's out there prowling around like a lion, looking for someone to devour?
[00:28:19] Jesus answers this question clearly. In John, chapter ten, verses 27 30, he says, my sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. And I and the father are one.
[00:28:44] When we see that God is sovereign, he is powerful over all things, this means he is greater than any opposition. Jesus is greater than any opposition. And their hold on you is too strong for anyone to pull you out.
[00:29:02] Getting worked up?
[00:29:06] Listen, I think we've answered the question. How can I know I'm secure in God's love. Paul gives us the answer here in verses 38 and 39. Let's read it, he says, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[00:29:35] You can know you are secure in God's love because his love is so big. His love is so vast, it's bigger than anything you could ever possibly face.
[00:29:46] He went to extreme lengths to show that love to you.
[00:29:51] His love for you is so great that he created you with care and purpose. He specifically formed you in your mother's womb, crafting you with love.
[00:30:02] His love for you was so great that even when you rejected him and turned away in your sin, he wasnt content to let you sit there and face the consequences of your rejection of him.
[00:30:13] He came down in the form of Jesus Christ. He became a human. He lived a perfect life and died the death that was meant for you, taking the consequences of your sin and rebellion on his own shoulders, because his love for you is that great.
[00:30:28] His love for you is so great that he wasn't content to just have you not face the consequences of your sin. But he rose from the dead and he created a new life. He created this new way of living, inviting you into his family that is built on his love and his purpose.
[00:30:48] His love is so ridiculous that he wasn't content to just let you live and die in this new way. But he actually restored you to right standing with God the father so that you could live eternally with them in glory.
[00:31:03] He loved you so much that he is going to come back and personally give you this new body and usher you into this new creation where you will have a perfected, glorified body in order to be able to spend eternity in his love.
[00:31:21] That is how much Jesus loves you.
[00:31:25] And what can anybody do in the face of that love?
[00:31:30] If you're a believer in this room, what you can do is just accept it and love Jesus in return.
[00:31:39] He deserves it, he's worth it.
[00:31:43] And his love is enough to carry you through anything that we face in this life.
[00:31:50] If you're in this room and you aren't a believer, I would simply ask you to think about his love.
[00:31:57] Does it sound too good to be true?
[00:32:00] It is incredibly good, but it's also true.
[00:32:05] He just is that good and loving, and he wants you to experience that love.
[00:32:12] All you have to do is accept it.
[00:32:15] Admit that you're a sinner, turn away from it and give it to him and allow his love to pour over you, to carry you into his family, to give you his righteousness, and to live together with him in this eternity of getting to experience his love.
[00:32:35] I'm going to pray for us. And I'm going to pray this prayer that Paul prays over the church in Ephesus, in Ephesians, chapter three. Or pray this over us.
[00:32:54] Paul says, for this reason I kneel before the father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that he may grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
[00:33:14] I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in his love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God's love, and to know Christ's love that surpasses knowledge so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
[00:33:33] Now, to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
[00:33:50] Church. There's not a huge application section. I don't think we need to spend time reflecting. Just either accept Jesus love or not.
[00:34:01] That's it. We're going to spend some time taking communion. So band, if you want to come back up, if you have your communion elements, go ahead and get them ready. If you don't, then somebody will bring them forward for you, I think.
[00:34:18] Kurt, you got it.
[00:34:20] Go ahead and raise your hand if you need those elements. Kurt will bring them up for you.
[00:34:34] This morning we are talking about the love of God in several different unique ways.
[00:34:42] We're singing about the love of God. You just heard the love of God from scripture. We heard testimonies about the love of God. And now we're going to experience the love of God in a real experiential way.
[00:34:56] This thing that we do with the silly little wafer and the tiny bit of juice is meant to be a ritual, a reminder of the love of Jesus Christ for you.
[00:35:10] This bread represents his body that was broken for you. He came down, took on flesh in order that that flesh would be destroyed for you.
[00:35:22] This juice represents Jesus blood.
[00:35:27] He came down and became a human who had blood and organs and all these things that we have in order that that blood could be poured out for you.
[00:35:39] Jesus set up this to remind you to remember his love, to remember the things that he's done for you.
[00:35:49] So that's why we do this.
[00:35:52] The night that Jesus was going to be betrayed, he gathered his closest friends together and he shared this meal with them, this Passover meal.
[00:36:05] And he took the bread and he broke it and he passed it around and he said, this is my body which is broken for you. Church, take and eat.
[00:36:26] Then after the meal, he poured the cup and he passed it around and he said, this is my blood which is poured out for you to represent the new covenant of grace. He invites you into this new covenant of grace with his blood. Church, take and drink.
[00:36:48] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:36:52] Thank you for your love.
[00:36:54] Your love is incredible.
[00:36:57] Please, please allow us to open our hearts and experience your love this morning.
[00:37:06] Jesus, help us to respond to you in love as we sing.
[00:37:12] Let's respond to Jesus in love.
