LOVED BY GOD

Background Passage: ROMANS 8:28-39

Lesson Passage:ROMANS 8:28-39

BIBLICAL TRUTH: CHRISTIANS CAN TRUST GOD WHATEVER THE CIRCUMSTANCES BECAUSE HIS LOVE FOR THEM IS ETERNAL AND HE ALWAYS SEEKS THEIR ULTIMATE GOOD.

KEY BIBLE VERSE: ROMANS 8:28

Bob's congregation faced some tough days ahead. One winter day, fire destroyed the church's worship center that had been built only a few years earlier. Along with the building, the fire demolished the congregation's enthusiasm about the future. Many people were bewildered that God would allow such an awful thing to happen to their church.

The next Sunday the brokenhearted congregation gathered for worship at a high-school gymnasium. When Bob stood to preach, he talked about trusting God in the tough times. He began the sermon by saying, “I have observed two kinds of Christians in my life. Some Christians trust God only if He gives them what they think is best. But other Christians trust God no matter what happens to them.”

Then he asked, “Which kind of Christian are you?”

How would you answer bob's question? How can a Christian trust God no matter what? Paul helped us find an answer to this question. In the portion of his letter to the Roman Christians that will be explored in this session, Paul wrote about God's love for the people He saved through Christ. What he wrote will encourage you to trust God in the tough times that come your way.

You will discover that you can count on Him to be at work in your life for the good of your spiritual growth.

BACKGROUND PASSAGE OVERVIEW

Christians can rest assured that God is working in the ups and downs we face. We can trust Him to be at work in all of our experiences for the good of our spiritual growth. We are people who love God and are called to live out His purpose for us. Long before we knew God, He knew us and determined that we should resemble His Son. That's why He invested so much in us when He saved us.

How do we respond to God's goodness toward us? Everything He has done for us shows us that He loves us. Since He loves us so much and helps us in our struggles, what harmful thing is capable of standing against us? God expressed His love by offering His Son as a sacrifice to pay the high price of our salvation. What would prevent Him from giving us whatever we need for the good of our growth as Christians?

Such demonstrations of His love for us raise other questions. Who is capable of bringing a charge against a Christian? God is certainly not going to accuse us. Quite to the contrary, He justifies us. If He does not accuse us, no one else is capable of doing it either. Also, who would dare to condemn a believer? Christ would not condemn us. He sits at the right hand of God, interceding for us.

Who or what would be able to pull us away from the love of Christ? Granted, we will face adversities. God's people have always endured adversities because they gave themselves to Him. But adversities will not defeat us. We will have victory over them. All of the items that usually have power over us will never be able to build a wall between us and Christ's love for us.

STUDY QUESTIONS 1.Why did Paul underscore the actions God took on our behalf? (8:30)
2.What does the assurance that God is with us prompt us to do? (8:31)
3.What did Paul mean when he said that Christ intercedes for us? (8:34)
4. Why did Paul quote Psalm 44:22? (8:36)

GOD'S WORK: NO WORRIES (ROMANS 8:28-30)

Romans 8 28 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.
29 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.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

VERSE 28 ~ This verse has been a favorite for generations of Christians. In writing it, Paul encouraged us to trust God and not to worry in the ups and downs we encounter. All things include the many heartbreaking struggles as well as the heart-leaping victories we experience as we serve the Lord. He will make sure that all of our experiences—good and bad—will not be wasted. Moreover, He will work in the situations we encounter for the good of our growth in Him.

Christians are described in two ways. First, we are people who love God. That's a fitting description of our response to God for saving us and making us right with Him. Second, we are people who are called. God had a divine purpose in mind for us when He saved us. And He called us to live out His purpose as Christians.

VERSE 29 ~ For centuries Bible scholars have pondered words such as foreknew and predestined. Indeed, the words have vast implications for our understanding of salvation. Essentially, they suggest that even before the world was on God's mind, our salvation was on His mind.

After saving us, He had in mind our spiritual growth as Christians. He intends for us to grow toward maturity so we will resemble His Son. That's why we can trust God to be working in our circumstances for the good of our growth in Christ. He expects us to reflect the character of His Son in our lives.

VERSE 30 ~ We can be sure that God will finish the work He started in us. Notice the actions He took on our behalf: He predestined, called, and justified us. These extraordinary actions portray the unsurpassed investment God had already made in us. (See study question 1) Also, Paul said that God glorified us. Paul reflected his certainty of our future by referring to our glorification as if it had already happened..

GOD'S LOVE: NO DOUBTS (ROMANS 8:31-32)

31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? .

VERSE 31 ~ Because God has done so much for us and has saved us, we know that we can trust Him in our struggles. We can count on Him to continue to work in the tough times we face as Christians. Such a reassuring promise is completely dependable when we reflect on His involvement in these things. Included in that phrase are the struggles we deal with as we serve Christ ans the matters connected with what God has done to save us and to claim us as His children.

When we reflect on how God has worked in the good and bad aspects of our lives, we know that God is for us. That assurance prompts us to raise the question Paul asked about who is against us. (See study question 2) Of course, we know that the world is filled with plenty of God's enemies who are always trying to defeat us because we belong to Him. But they will not be successful because God is on our side. Moreover, He is leading us, directing our paths, and providing us with the resources we need to be victorious as we serve Him.

VERSE 32 ~ After Paul raised the question about who would be against us, he moved on to another important question. It's a question about God's investment in our lives. Think about what He has already done for us in saving us. Instead of sparing His own Son, God offered Him up as a sacrifice for our sin.

God's gift of salvation came to us all at an incredible price to Him. Since God gave so much to save us, even allowing His Son to die for us, we can rest assured that He will give us everything we need to live as people who belong to Him. We have absolutely no reason to think that His love for us would allow Him to do anything less.

CHRIST'S WORK: NO CHARGES (ROMANS 8:33-34)

33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

VERSE 33 ~ In light of the reality that God would not withhold anything from His children, Paul raised another question. It resembles a question that would be brought up in a courtroom setting in which one person brings an accusation against his or her opponent. In this case, the question is being raised about God's elect—the people He has saved through Jesus Christ.

Is anyone capable of bringing a charge against one of the persons God saved? God certainly is not going to accuse us. On the contrary, He justifies us and makes us right with Him. In such a relationship, He would never justify His children and accuse them at the same time. And since God justified us through Christ as does not bring a charge against us, neither can anyone else. Any would-be accuser would be silenced in the face of God's justification..

VERSE 34 ~ If no one is capable of bringing a charge against a believer, then no one is able to condemn any believer either. God's Son, Christ Jesus, certainly doesn't condemn us. Instead, He intercedes for us. Jesus speaks to the Father on our behalf. (See study question 3) Christ would never intercede for us and condemn us at the same time. And if He does not condemn us, no one else can condemn us.

Paul went into quite a bit of detail in his description of what Christ did for us to save us. First, Christ died, but the story didn't end there. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, our relationship with Him would be meaningless. It would only be a relationship with memories of Him. But because of His resurrection, we have a relationship with a living Savior who has the power to work in us.

And Christ speaks to God the Father on our behalf. Christ intercedes for us as He sits at the Father's right hand. The Father and the Son share an intimate relationship that benefits us.

CHRISTS LOVE: NO SEPARATION (ROMANS 8:35-39)

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. .

VERSES 35-36 ~ Throughout these verses, the message of encouragement is crystal clear. Absolutely no one is capable of doing anything that would pull us away from the love of Christ. Although the enemies of God may try, they will not be successful at building a wall between us and the love our Lord has for us. As we have seen, His love has been demonstrated in a variety of ways. The ultimate expression of His love is His death and resurrection.

What Christ did on the cross and in the empty tomb diminished the distance between Him and the individuals who received His gift of salvation. As Paul affirmed, absolutely nothing and no one can separate us from Him. Even so, Paul quoted Psalm 44:22 to remind Christians that God's people have always faced hardships because of our relationship with Him. (See study question 4) The hardships could take the form of death itself at the hands of people who treat Christians as nothing more than lambs to be slaughtered.

VERSE 37 ~ The hardships, however, don't get the best of us. On the contrary, they work in our favor. Instead of being defeated, we can count on Christ to enable us to be more than victorious in our struggles. His love for us compels Him to work in us as we face adversity, to give us victory in Him. .

VERSES 38-39 ~ Notice that Paul identified 10 items that tend to have enormous power in our lives. Yet none of the items, taken together or separately, have the power to wrench us away from God's love. And as Paul has said many times before, the centerpiece of God's loving act of grace toward us is Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, we can trust God to help us in our adversities so that nothing will come between us and Christ's love.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Paul expressed simply but eloquently the reassuring truth that God loves every person He saved in Christ. Paul also showed that God's love would not6 allow anything to separate Him from His children. Therefore, you can trust God to be at work positively in your life as you handle the ups and downs that come your way. How can you put your trust in God to work in the situations you face?

First, agree with Paul that God can be trusted. Affirm with Paul that God has our spiritual growth in mind as He helps us through the tough times we face. Such as affirmation can give you the assurance that God will work in all of our situations for the good of our walk with Christ.

Second, isolate a tough situation you are facing right now. It could be a situation that involves your relationship with God, with someone else, with yourself, or with your possessions. Or it could be a situation that involves a combination of factors. Once you have isolated the situation, factor God's involvement into it. Make a commitment to trust God to be working through the situation for the good of your growth in Christ.