God's Unshakable Love (Romans 8:26-39)

Our gospel reading this morning is from Matthew chapter 13, verses 31 to 33, and then continuing at verse 44.

Matthew 13:31–33

Jesus put another parable before them saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is larger than all the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.

He told them another parable.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up.

Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Again the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea, and gathered fish of every kind.

When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers, but threw away the bad.

So it will be at the end of the age.

The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace.

In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Friends, let us confess our faith in the ancient words of the Apostles' Creed.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into the dead.

On the third day he rose again.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Amen.

Friends, let's take a moment and let's pause.

And in silence, let's wait upon the Lord.

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve.

Pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy, for giving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

Amen.

We can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

That's how the message translation translates Romans 8, 28.

We're probably familiar with this verse.

God works all things for good for the sake of those who love him.

All things.

What does that mean?

Well, last week we've continued our series on the book of Romans.

We've been walking through the lectionary readings as they've been coming to us and exploring Paul's great exposition, his uh great magnum opus of the gospel.

What does it mean that we are truly, fully, completely saved in Christ?

God has taken us from death and brought us into new life in Him.

He's taken us from Adam, and now through baptism and through faith and through the union of the Holy Spirit, we now have a hope for eternal life.

But just like we explored last week, that doesn't mean that we're without groaning, does it?

Creation groans.

Creation longs for that day when salvation will finally, fully, completely be realized.

And creation, which has been subject to futility and sin, will be renewed and restored along the lines that God has always intended for it.

Creation groans, and we groan too.

We groan when we encounter injustice.

We groan when we encounter sin because we long for that day when the redemption of our bodies, the full adoption as sons and daughters of the Most High, will be completely fully realized in his kingdom.

We long for that day when wrongs will ultimately be made right, when all things are renewed and restored.

We groan for that day.

And so we concluded last week on a note of holy patience.

That's the call.

Those of us who groan, creation groans, we groan.

We wait with holy patience, not with a delusional denial of the reality of suffering, not by diminishing suffering, but by acknowledging suffering.

But nevertheless, having a confidence in the trustworthy character of God and of his promises, and having an enduring and persevering hope, enduring and persevering steadfastness, knowing that God will accomplish what he has promised for us and to us.

And so holy patience can sound like something that we're called to do, like we're pulling up our bootstraps and gritting our teeth and making and trudging our way through this suffering.

And yet, as Paul turns his attention to the triune work of God, Spirit, Father, and Son, in our passage, he wants us to know that holy patience is not something that we're thrown back on ourselves to have, that we're told to try harder with.

No, holy patience is something that is nurtured and sustained and characterized by our God's good grace.

Our God is at work to sustain our holy patience.

He's at work in calling us.

So what sustains our holy patience in the midst of suffering, in the midst of this very real Psalm 44 side of eternity that we're in, where we experience tribulation, where we experience difficulty, pain, suffering, what sustains us?

God's unshakable love sustains our holy patience chiefly in his calling and in his cross.

So let's dive in to our book of Romans this morning.

Let's see just why we can be so sure that God works in every detail in our life of love for Him.

Let's dive in this morning.

We know that Paul has written this letter to a very divided church, a church that's figuring out how to reconcile its Jewish Christians with Gentile Christians with very different ideas of what it means to practice their new faith in Christ.

And now Paul wants us to realize that we are all united by the gospel.

We are all united by the cross of Christ.

We are all united by the Father's unshakable love in his calling.

So Paul writes these words.

So this is Bucky here.

Bucky is is about eight weeks old.

He won't stop meowing or hissing, but we we suspect that in time he'll you know he'll come to get to know us and maybe get over that.

But um, but for the time being, we're doing our best to uh to build this relationship with Bucky.

Bucky was born in a in a thanks for that, Rachel.

I think we can we can do that.

So um Bucky was born in in uh a barn of a friend of ours outside of Hanover, and uh and they've been kind of keeping an eye on these cats for the last number of weeks.

And knowing that we just love cats and we love animals, Rachel and I both uh since you know, once since we got married, we talked about you know having a house full of little creatures that um you know that make all these kind of funky smells.

We just we love these uh we we love this little guy.

And so because we love cats, they gave us a call and they said we're wondering if you'd be interested.

So we made the trip on Friday, we picked this little guy up and we've brought him to our home, and he's still figuring out what he thinks about that.

Bucky's our second cat.

We have we have another cat.

Uh her name is is Mo.

And uh Mo, you've some of you might have met Mo or seen Mo through our big bay window.

Mo has a very different story of how she came to live with us.

We met we first met Mo in Texas when Rachel and I were out for an evening walk, and Mo decided to follow us home, and when we made it to the exterior door of our apartment, Mo tried to dart right in as though there's Mo right here.

Mo tried to dart right in as if to say, I've decided that you guys get to take care of me now.

I've decided that this is where I live now, you guys get to feed me.

You know, I I wonder if from Mo's perspective, there's a there's there's a strong sense of I've decided to live here.

Whereas from Bucky's perspective, there's almost a sort of these guys decided to take me home, and truthfully, Bucky's not sure what what he thinks about that at this point.

We're gonna get there.

But what's true in for both Mo's case and Bucky's case is that before any decision was made on their part, whether a decision was made at all, but whether there was a decision made on their part, Rachel and I decided that we want to be a house with cats in it.

We decided we want to be a house with pets in it.

It was our love for pets that was the first decision.

That was the priority of our decision.

And even if Mo decided I'm gonna live here now, it was our decision that preceded hers.

And whether or not Moe or Bucky has figured out what he thinks about it, our decision to bring him home pre will precede his decision to stay here.

And yes, he will decide to stay here.

That's what's gonna happen.

Well, maybe you can see where I'm going with this.

Sometimes we have this debate.

We go back and forth about the nature of our conversion.

Did I choose Jesus or did God in Christ choose me?

Sometimes this can become a very spicy debate.

And those who are a little more theologically inclined will know that Calvinists tend to uh, well, well, they'll emphasize God's sovereignty in our salvation, whereas a so-called Arminian camp, named after Jacobus Arminius in the 16th century, will uh emphasize our choice, our free choice to choose to follow after Jesus and place our faith in him.

Some Christians who fall along those lines would go so far as to say, I don't believe in predestination, because predestination means I didn't choose Christ.

And the nature of being saved is that I chose to put my faith in Jesus.

Now, when we look at our reading in Romans today, when we consider what it means that God has called us to himself in Christ, we cannot avoid this term predestination because it is a biblical doctrine.

The Bible teaches that before we ever had a thought to choose Christ, to choose to follow Jesus, God in Christ had chosen us since before the foundation of the world is what Paul will write to the Ephesian church.

Did we choose God or did God choose us in Christ?

The answer is yes.

I don't think the two contradict one another.

But what we recognize is that chronologically, and the priority of decision is God's decision to choose us in Christ.

God has chosen to bring us into his household of salvation.

So chapter 8, verse 29, Paul writes this: those whom God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom he predestined, he also called.

Those who called, he justified, and those he justified, he finally glorified.

So the key word here is foreknew.

That's not just saying that God has a future knowledge of who's going to choose him in Christ, that's true.

But it also means that God has taken the initiative to call people to himself in Christ.

It's a decision towards a personal relationship and care for us, such that before we ever chose God in Christ, he has chosen us since before the foundation of the world.

Now, when we look at our gospel reading, Matthew 13, we read about the kingdom of heaven being like fish and nets and good fish being sorted from bad fish.

A very quick, um a very quick disagreement or very quick um objection to the doctrine of predestination is this.

If God has chosen some, then there are others he hasn't chosen, and that seems like a very cruel thing indeed.

Now the truth is, friends, when we get talking about this, we get talking about the glorious mystery of God's hidden will, his mysterious, almighty wisdom, that we can only hope to glimpse in our human finitude and in what he's revealed to us.

I want to say there's good reason for us to trust him, and I don't believe that God is cruel.

It is a wonderful, marvelous act of grace to choose any of us and call us into salvation, we rebellious and sinful creatures.

And yet, God, I believe, in Christ has called all people to himself by the cross.

And yet there will be those who respond faithfully to that call of God's election, and there will be those who are sorted by the angels, as those who've rejected, who've resisted, who've put up self-will and barriers of rebellion and self-justification.

That means that they will not receive this gift of God's grace in Christ.

See, God's election points us back to the history of Israel, God's people in the Old Testament.

Romans chapter 11, just a few chapters after this one, Paul will use this same word, um, he'll talk this same word of foreknowing in reference, um, pardon me, he'll use this word steadfast love, uh, which is a reference to God's election, his eternal will for his people, in reference to his people Israel.

Romans 11 · chapter mention

God has made a commitment to save his people.

God has made a covenant commitment to his people and will not abandon him.

And Paul's point is no matter how rebellious his people get, God's faithfulness remains.

God remains faithful.

God continues to summon his people in repentance and in renewal back to himself.

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew, not on the basis of their works, not because they strived and earned it, but simply on the basis of his grace.

Before we ever chose God, God in Christ has chosen us and called us to himself.

And that's a glorious thing, friends.

That is something we can count on, that's something we can bank on, that's something that gives us great confidence and assurance.

And why is that?

That's because that's because if we're honest with ourselves, I think if I'm honest with myself, my will is a very fickle thing.

If my salvation rests on me choosing God, then my salvation might, well, it might flicker to and fro on any given day.

When my heart chases after this idol, my heart chases after this goal, and it runs away from the Lord.

God in Christ has chosen me since before the foundation of the world.

He's chosen you who've placed your faith in him.

And that means that his decision has priority.

That means you are secure in his almighty hand.

And that means that you have a hope to share in Christ's future glory.

You have a hope to be conformed to the image of his son, is what Paul writes in chapter 8.

You've been predestined and called.

You've been justified, you're no longer condemned.

And finally, you have a hope to share in Christ's glory.

So, friends, God's call to us in Christ means that we have a share, we have an inheritance in the kingdom.

It means that we can rest secured.

It's not permission to a lazy kind of sinfulness as though anything will sort of go, I'm secure in God.

No, this is this is grace that transforms us.

This is grace that calls us to discipleship.

This is grace that calls us to be renewed and conformed to the image of Christ out of an overflow of love and gratitude.

It's assurance.

So, did I choose Jesus or did God in Jesus choose me?

The answer is simply yes.

But we recognize that assurance doesn't come from my decision to choose God in Christ, it comes from God's decision to choose me in Christ, since before the foundation of the world, and that's why my hero Martin Luther can write that predestination is a wonderfully sweet thing for those who have the Spirit.

For those who are indwelt by the empowering presence of God, for those for whom the Spirit is interceding on their behalf, we can cry Abba Father, knowing his fatherly kindness, knowing that his fatherly paternal care has called us since before we were even born.

He has committed himself to love us.

I mean, that's true for parents, isn't it?

We who've been born, we who've have perhaps you have children of your own.

Since before those kids were ever born, you committed yourself to loving them, didn't you?

There is nothing this child was going to do ever that was going to separate them from your love.

And that is the decision that God has made towards his people.

He will forever committed to loving, steadfastly loving his people in Christ.

And friends, if we ever need proof for that, if we ever need proof of that sustaining hope that God has chosen us in Christ, we look only to the cross to see his full love being put on display, God's unshakable love put on display in Christ's cross.

Look at verse 31.

Paul writes this.

That's Paul reflecting on chapters 5 to 8, by the way, but especially as he concludes this section of chapter 8.

What do we say to all these things?

What do we say to the fact that God has justified us, that God's promised us this renewed salvation, that we have assurance in his decision for us?

If God is for us, Paul asks, who can be against us?

That's a rhetorical question.

Who's ever going to pull us out of God's hand?

He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Paul points us right back to the earliest chapters of Romans here, where God's righteousness has been revealed, but his righteousness has been revealed as condemnation for those who are in sin, those who are in Adam.

And we are powerless to perform good works, to earn our salvation and get ourselves out of this predicament.

We are weak.

We are helpless.

We need power that is greater than ourselves to overcome this body of sin and death.

And so we come to the cross.

The Father who did not spare his son but gave him us, who gave him up for us all.

At the cross, we see Jesus Christ who died on our behalf, who died the death of condemnation that we deserved, who took our sin and the power of our sin upon himself to put it to death and to break it on our behalf.

So that we can have hope that we are truly, completely justified.

We who have put our faith in Christ are just.

Justified and have peace with God through Jesus Christ.

That's Romans 5:1.

Romans 5:1

Jesus joins himself to humanity to suffer our condemnation and God's wrath on our behalf, so that by his resurrection we can share the hope of a renewed, eternal life and redemption.

Christ Jesus was raised, Paul writes in verse 34.

And in verse 32, he asks, how will he not also with him, how will God not also with him graciously give us all things?

If Christ Jesus has been raised, the first fruits of those who have been raised from the dead, then we can bank on the fact that we too will be raised with him to that hope.

We can bank on the fact that we are justified, that there is no one who can stand before the great judge who has acquitted us in Christ and pronounce condemnation.

Because we who are in Christ are secure.

The Father has chosen and committed to love us since before the foundation of the world.

We're going nowhere.

We are held secure in his hand.

There is nothing in heaven and earth that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That makes us more than conquerors, or literally super conquerors, overcomers.

We've overcome anything that can get between us and the love of God in Christ.

That's a hope that can sustain us, even in the midst of suffering, with holy patience.

Because we know that God's steadfast love will not fail, that God has chosen us since before all creation and chosen to love us and committed himself to us and to our salvation.

And the cross is proof that God has revealed his love and his covenant faithfulness to all people.

And he calls people to himself to respond to that grace that he so eagerly wants to give us.

Now we can truly practice holy patience.

Not a sort of self-willed gritting our teeth, bearing it, but an endurance, a perseverance, a steadfastness, a faithfulness based on the faithfulness and steadfastness of our God.

Suddenly this can reposture our Christian discipleship, can't it?

Suddenly it can reposture our prayer.

Because this becomes less about us striving to do it and more of us resting in this certain promise of God.

We can even bank on the fact that the Spirit is interceding on our behalf.

Did you catch that in verse 26?

The Spirit who groans for us with groans deeper than words can express.

Do you struggle to find words to express the prayers of your heart?

And I do all the time.

Words fail me sometimes.

And in those times where I can be nothing but silent, I can rest assured that the Spirit Himself is interceding for me with these groans, with these deeper than deep sighs, with these deeper-than-deep cries on my behalf.

The women in um uh our women's Bible study looked at Psalm 13 this week.

Psalm 13 is a powerful Psalm that asks, How long, O Lord?

These are the kind of cries that we're talking about.

The Spirit cries on our behalf, how long, O Lord, with cries deeper than words can express.

The Spirit longs for that day when we'll be truly, fully, completely brought into the kingdom of our Heavenly Father through the cross of Christ.

So now we can be silent, knowing that the Spirit intercedes for us.

Now we can trust that God's promise holds true no matter what, on our very worst day, when the Psalm 44 reality comes crashing down on us on this side of eternity, we can hold hope against hope that ultimately God will hold us steadfast and hold us secure in his fatherly love.

Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, danger, nakedness, sword, none of these things can get between us and the love that God has for us in Christ.

Friends, this is the pearl of great value.

This is what we bank on.

This is what we bet the farm on.

This is what we bank our whole life on.

This promise that God will not abandon us in Christ.

We have been called and chosen according to his grace that he's revealed to us in Christ.

God's unshakable love is the only thing that can sustain our holy patience even in the midst of suffering.

Endurance and perseverance comes from a confidence in God's promise to hold us fast, to keep us into that day where his kingdom will be revealed.

That's the Father's love for us.

That's the Father's calling for us through the cross of Christ.

And so now we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of our love for God is worked into something good.

That's what we desire, isn't it?

That's the ultimate good, the good of the kingdom.

Friends, let's with holy patience grasp onto this promise and wait for the kingdom.

So, Heavenly Father, thank you that you have called us in Christ to yourself.

Thank you that your fatherly kindness renews us, transforms us, makes us conform to the image of Christ, which is the humanity we were always meant to share, humanity that's been marred by sin.

Thank you, Lord, that we can hold hope against hope that you will not abandon us nor forsake us, that you've called us to yourself, that you have chosen us for yourself.

Even before we chose to say yes to you, Lord, you and Christ have said yes to us, and we can bank on that even on our worst day.

So, Father, renew us.

Posture us with holy patience to wait for that day, to anticipate that day when your promises will be made sight.

All this we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.