Romans 8:28-30
When Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life...” he was setting out to influence our route-choice through life. He was pretty specific about this, “The road that leads to destruction is broad, and most people hurtle along it blindly”, he said, “But the path that leads to life is narrow, you have to look for it, and not many find it”. According to Jesus, the wise man is one who, “Listens to my teaching and obeys me”. There is an urgent need to make a choice... which road will you go down?
Yet there was a moment when Jesus took his disciples aside and confided in them, “You did not choose me”, he said, “But I chose you...”
If you find that puzzling, try this for size:
Romans 8:28-30
Life is hard, and it often seems chaotic. Bad things happen to good people and we don’t know why. So it is good to know that “All things work together for good”, that is comforting to know. But Paul is telling us something else here, that he chose you to become like his Son, and that he called you to come to him.
So who chooses who and what does this all mean?
For some it is obvious: God is the one who drives the growth of his church, we can and should do nothing to make this happen, leave evangelism to God. We must pray but do nothing else. For others it is a threat and needs a contorted explanation: before time began God could see those who would turn to Christ, so he chose them on that basis. In this view, everything depends on us, so we pray and work like beavers to achieve the salvation of the world. Christians have argued about this for centuries!
Who chooses who, and what does this all mean?
Comfort
Let’s start with the comfort these versed are meant to bring (28). This is one of the great verses of Romans and it means simply that God is committed to those that are committed to him; it means that the apparent chaos of everyday life is not random but under the sovereign control of Almighty God. As someone once sang, “Don’t worry about a thing... ‘cos every little thing’s gonna be alright”.
This is neatly illustrated in the story of Joseph; a guy whose life fell appart in a spectacular way. Here's his evaluation of it all:
Genesis 50:20
Tragedy always comes suddenly. We are not prepared for it and it leaves us stunned and our faith is often shaken, we ask God “Why?” We need to let this verse sink deep into our hearts so that we are not blown away by tragedy.
Sometimes disaster happens slowly... like a train crash happening in slow motion before our eyes. We watch but can do nothing to stop it: the world financial crisis, the creeping progress of a disease, a business that is just not going to succeed.
Before any of this happens we need this verse to sink deeply into our psyche; whatever happens, we are safe.
We need to learn to take the long view. That is what Jeremiah told God’s people facing exile and slavery in a foreign land (Jeremiah 29:11).
Trust him, no matter what happens.
But how do we know this is true?
The sovereign God
Paul goes on to tell us how we can be confident of this (29-30). God is totally sovereign over everything: he really is in control. Paul tells us that God saw the whole of history in advance... so nothing escaped his notice, and he did not fail to take any event into account. You don’t know what is coming but he does, and he is ready for it.
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He knew you before you knew him (and he still loves you)
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He chose you before time began
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Your destiny is to become like God’s Son – Jesus Christ
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He called you to come to Christ – you answered that call
He has promised you his glory – that your destiny is tied in with his, one day you will share his holiness, perfection and his beauty.
Is this too good to be true? Yes, it is! How can sinful, polluted human beings like us expect to enjoy the perfection of heaven? The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to insert a little detail into this verse... “He gave them right standing with himself”. We were in the wrong and God put us in the right! Check these out...
Romans 3:21-23
Romans 5:1-2
You get the drift, don’t you? Jesus death has made it possible. When we trust him we are bound to him for eternity. You will share his glory!
Sovereignty and responsibility
But did I choose Him or did he choose me? What is going on?
Is it all up to God who has made his choice and is totally sovereign over human history? God’s sovereignty is a comfort. But this can lead to fatalism: I have no say in the matter, I can’t be expected to turn to Jesus and there is nothing to do but let fate take its course.
Or is it all up to me, I have freewill. This is good because it leaves me with freewill, but it also saddles me with a huge psychological burden: In that case I had better commit every minute to reaching the lost because every soul that fails to trust in Christ is my personal responsibility!
Here’s the key: you have to listen to the Bible in stereo, not mono!
Here’s another key: when you deal with something (someone) deep and mysterious you have to be prepared for a paradox or two.
God chose you AND you chose him: both are true at the same time.
This means that I am free – I have responsibility and the dignity of choice: this is how god made us to be.
It also means that God is totally sovereign and he gets the glory for what happens.
Paradox and tension
People who study complex and fundamental forces of nature are used to things that seem contradictory; light behaves like a wave and a particle, even though it can't be both!
The deeper you go into the fabric of the universe, the more mysterious the place becomes. The nature of God is as deep as you can go, so expect to encounter paradox – unexpected and strange situations where two apparently contradictory ideas are true.
Try these for size:
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Controlled by the Spirit and Self Controlled - both?
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Eternal security no-matter-what and my need to persevere in order to be saved
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God’s choice of me and my choice of him
Now, why has God left things like this? Because Christians are at their best when they learn to enjoy paradox – we relax and bathe in the wonder of the God who is master of everything and yet chooses to reveal himself to us. We expect loose ends and we are not bothered by them in the least!
Mind you, Christians are often at their worst when they cannot do this and emphasize one thing over another: things go very wrong unless we hold these realities in tension.
Tension is healthy!
Because...
We enjoy our security in God and we carry real responsibility to believe the gospel for ourselves and tell it to others.
We enjoy his sovereignty over every situation: all things will work together for good.
We enjoy freedom and security when we share our faith. One of the reasons so many of us keep schtum is the fear that we will say something wrong. Of course you will get it all wrong: if God wanted someone who would always get it right he would send an angel or a machine! But he sent you... relax!
We enjoy being on God’s team... you are a key player but he is the manager. So we pray – as though it all depended on God, and we play – as though it all depended on us!
Wonderful!
So you have a choice to make...