Romans 8:28 says, “We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to the purpose.” In Greek the word translated “all things” refers to all matters, all persons, and all things. God the Father is sovereign and He arranges everything. He knows what we need. In His sovereignty, He causes all things, all matters, and all persons to work together for good to those who love Him and who have been called by Him to the end that He may fulfill His purpose.
God has determined our destiny beforehand, and this destiny cannot be fulfilled without the divine arrangement that causes all things to work together for us. Our destiny is to be conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God (Rom. 8:29). We are not yet fully in the image of the firstborn Son of God, but God the Father is causing all things to work together for good so that His purpose of having many sons conformed to the image of the firstborn Son may be fulfilled.
God’s intention is to bring us into full sonship, so we need to grow. No doubt growth comes from inward nourishment, but this nourishment needs the coordination of the outward environment. Here is the need of God’s sovereignty to arrange our environment that all things may work together for our good according to His purpose.
John 16:23b; Matthew 6:6; Luke 18:7-8; James 5:14-16; Philippians 4:6-7; and Revelation 6:10-11 and 8:3-5, indicate strongly that God answers the believers’ prayers. Answering our prayers involves a lot of doings in God’s work for our good. Hence it is also an item of God’s work in His New Testament economy.
Romans 16:20 says, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” This promise indicates that God is working to crush our enemy Satan under our feet. Though this is something negative, it is still an item of God’s work for us in His new dispensation for the accomplishment of His eternal plan that He may have a complete manifestation for His eternal expression.
Hebrews 11:10 tells us that God is the Architect and Maker of the holy city, the New Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22a; Rev. 21:2). This indicates that God is the Builder of the New Jerusalem. This building work of God began in perfecting the Old Testament saints, beginning with the patriarchs in the old dispensation. It continues more intensively in producing the matured believers in the new dispensation. Actually the entire Bible is a full record of God’s work in building the New Jerusalem as His complete manifestation for His full expression in eternity, throughout all the dispensations in the old creation: the dispensation of the patriarchs, the dispensation of law, the dispensation of grace, and the dispensation of the kingdom. The New Jerusalem is a composition of all the perfected saints of the Old Testament and all the matured believers of the New Testament. This is the greatest among the works of God for the accomplishment of His eternal economy, the great part of which is being carried out in the New Testament dispensation.
Revelation 1:1 speaks of the “revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to Him to show to His slaves what must swiftly take place.” As a conclusion of the divine revelation in the Holy Scripture, God gave Christ this last revelation concerning the three categories of people in the universe: the church, Israel, and the world. The church is under the heavenly Christ’s discipline and perfection that it may usher in the kingdom of God and of Christ and be consummated in the New Jerusalem for God’s expression in eternity. Israel is under God’s sovereign care that it may also be consummated in the New Jerusalem for God’s eternal manifestation. The world is absolutely under God’s judgment that it may be brought to its ultimate destiny- the eternal perdition in the lake of fire.
Home | First | Prev | Next