The passage in Romans 8:28 is very familiar to most believers, but I fear verse 29, which actually gives definition to the previous one, is oftentimes slighted. Let's look at it.
"And we know that all things work together for GOOD to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be CONFORMED to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." (emphases mine)
Those who love God because He first loved them, as seen in 1 John 4:10, have been called according to His singular purpose as seen in verse 29. It is that we become more and more like the Lord Jesus in the way we think, the way we behave, and the way we talk.
Every event and circumstance of the believer's life is righteously administrated by the sovereign Lord. In those times of difficulty and trial, we are to model our thoughts, actions and words after those of Christ, Whom the writer of Hebrews explains is the express image of the Father in human flesh. God is working in the lives of His children, according to Philippians 2:13, to will (desire) and to do (ability) His good pleasure, which is conformity to Christ. (parentheses mine)
When the character and nature of God is evident in our lives, as revealed in Christ, according to God's Holy Word, our eternal good and His eternal glory are simultaneously accomplished, even in the midst of great trials, as we fully rely on His grace. To the extent that we fully submit our will to His will and live in loving obedience to His Word, we will know the victorious joy and perfect peace that He graciously provides His blood-bought children.
(c) 1984 NACollins MAY PRINT (1) COPY FOR PERSONAL USE from Meditations on God's Word in Times of Trial
"And we know that all things work together for GOOD to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be CONFORMED to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." (emphases mine)
Those who love God because He first loved them, as seen in 1 John 4:10, have been called according to His singular purpose as seen in verse 29. It is that we become more and more like the Lord Jesus in the way we think, the way we behave, and the way we talk.
Every event and circumstance of the believer's life is righteously administrated by the sovereign Lord. In those times of difficulty and trial, we are to model our thoughts, actions and words after those of Christ, Whom the writer of Hebrews explains is the express image of the Father in human flesh. God is working in the lives of His children, according to Philippians 2:13, to will (desire) and to do (ability) His good pleasure, which is conformity to Christ. (parentheses mine)
When the character and nature of God is evident in our lives, as revealed in Christ, according to God's Holy Word, our eternal good and His eternal glory are simultaneously accomplished, even in the midst of great trials, as we fully rely on His grace. To the extent that we fully submit our will to His will and live in loving obedience to His Word, we will know the victorious joy and perfect peace that He graciously provides His blood-bought children.
(c) 1984 NACollins MAY PRINT (1) COPY FOR PERSONAL USE from Meditations on God's Word in Times of Trial
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