God’s Second Greatest Gift

Next week is Christmas Sunday in our church, and like thousands of other pastors around the world, I will be bringing a special message on God’s greatest gift of all—a gift the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:15 called “God’s indescribable gift,” the gift of Jesus Christ.

But today’s message is about God’s second greatest gift—a gift that is not available to everyone, but only those who have received God’s greatest gift, the Lord Jesus Christ. This second greatest gift is a promise reserved for those who are part of God’s forever family. It is a promise that Christians have clung to in times of uncertainty, confusion, and tremendous loss.

You can probably recite it with me. It’s Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Although many believe that this is the greatest promise in the Bible, it is the most misunderstood and misapplied promise in all of the Bible as well.

1. The Context of the Promise

Before we can appreciate and appropriate the greatest promise in the Bible, it is important to understand the setting in which this jewel of Scripture is found.

Paul has been writing of the great inheritance that is coming to those of us who belong to Christ Jesus. We are fellow heirs with Christ of all of God’s wealth, verse 17 says. But before we receive our inheritance, we experience suffering in this life, just as Jesus Christ did.

Because of the curse that Adam’s sin brought into the world, all creation, as well as all of us who are children of God, groans in this present world, as we await the return of Jesus Christ. The sicknesses, the temptations, the imperfect relationships, and the persecution that characterize our present existence are very real, but they are light and momentary compared to the reward that awaits us.

But one of the consequences of being trapped in this imperfect body is that we have a limited understanding and ability to pray as we should. 

The truth is, there is only one way to know God’s will for sure in matters like this—after it has already happened. God’s will is most clearly seen in the rearview mirror. That is why Paul says here we do NOT know how to pray, because we do not really know for sure what God’s will is.  Fortunately, the Holy Spirit prays for us according to God’s perfect will.

But even though we cannot know before the fact God’s specific will in every circumstance, Paul tells us what we CAN know for sure. 

2. The Content of This Promise (Romans 8:28)

This promise is not claiming that all things are good or that we can see the good in all things. 

The promise is claiming that: 

• God has a purpose for your life.
• God’s purpose for your life includes all things.
• God is in control of all that happens to you.

3. The Condition of the Promise

• The Condition Stated (Romans 8:28)

Paul says this promise is not for everyone; it is only for those who love God and are therefore called to his purpose. In our minds, there are a multitude of different kinds of people in the world: there are good Christians, carnal Christians, good atheists and evil atheists, church attenders and non church attenders, Jews, Hindus, and Muslims.

But to God, there are only two kinds of people in the world: saved and lost, those headed for heaven and those headed for hell, and as Paul says here, those who love God and those who hate God. There is no middle ground. If you are a Christian, you love God with all of your heart. And if you love God with all of your heart, you keep His commandments.

Nothing characterizes a Christian more than a genuine love for God and the desire to follow His commands. So, Paul says, the only people who have the assurance that God is guiding their lives are those who are properly related to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Why? Because they are the ones who have been called for a special purpose. And that introduces, beginning in verse 29, what some of God’s five golden links in the chain of salvation are.

• The Condition Explained (Romans 8:29-30)

Time does not permit going into detail about each of these words; we will do so when we get to chapter nine. But just look at the progression of God’s plan for your life. 

First, God foreknew you. That word ”foreknew” means much more than to know something ahead of time. It means that for those of you who are Christians, before you ever drew your first breath, God set his affection on you, not because of anything you did or would do, but just because of His love and mercy.

God’s choosing to love you and save you was not some arbitrary or capricious choice on his part, but according to Ephesians 1:11, it was according to his divine purpose, which we will never understand.  

After God set His affection on you, He predestined you—that is, He marked out a particular destiny for your life. 

And after that, He called you. There is a point in time when you were called to faith in Christ.

And when you responded by faith in Christ, He justified you and declared you not guilty.

And one day, God will glorify you. That is, He will give you that brand new body that is made in the likeness of Jesus Christ, and you shall be like Him. Interestingly, that word “glorified” is in the past tense, signifying that in God’s mind it has already taken place. That is how certain His plan and ultimate purpose for your life is. 

God is not bound by time as we are. He already sees us as we shall one day be: perfect, forgiven, glorified. Everything in our life, Paul says, is moving us to that ultimate end. And nothing is going to thwart God’s plan for your life.

Paul is saying in this passage that although the individual trials and apparent tragedies in life are bitter, God perfectly blends all the good things, the hard things, and the tragic things in our lives together for good, to mold us into the image of His Son. That’s the greatest promise in all of the Bible.