God is Not Your Problem

*Notes prepared for Bible study, and some thoughts*

Romans 8:29-30 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. 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.

In light of our preceding study topics, this passage is a power-packed summary. Alot more was packed into the six days of creation than we assume: beside putting together water molecules, marsupials, and the human genome, God was devising the plan to redeem this creation. God's omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence are all exercised in this plan - he already has known who will come to him in faith, and so he has given us a destiny ("an expected end"). In fulfillment of said destiny, (nothing more or less than unity with Himself in perfect joy), he has called us, justified us, and glorified us. In God's "real time," it is all a done deal, and it only remains to see His plan worked out in the temporal scope of human, corporeal existence.

Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.

-->Worth pointing out: Paul uses the analogy of adoption to describe our connection with God through faith. In the Graeco-Roman world, adoption was a legally binding contract, which was considered unbreakable by either the adoptive parent or the adopted child. Picture: complete security in the continuance of the contracted relationship.

Ephesians 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. -->Another legal analogy, this one giving assurance of benefit: An inheritance is only obtained, or activated, upon the death of the one who has made his will known. With Christ's substitutionary death, it became possible for everyone to claim his redemption from sin through the shedding of Christ's sinless blood. If you are a believer, you have inherited eternal life in Christ, right now!

I John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. --> As the son is like the father, the offspring of any species grows to resemble the parent, so we will be recognizable as being of Christ, in Christ, when we are in his presence in glory at last.

Seeking to live in the balance of grace and faith, we confront the hard questions thrust at us by a fallen world: Where is God? Isn't He in control? How did He let this happen? Just what is God's plan for my life? How can this work out for good?
The short answers: God is on high, God is holding you together right now...yes, His hand is on the wheel. Things happen outside of God's perfect will because there are other influences in the game - that of the devil, who wants to destroy us all; that of everybody else's free will; and of course, your own heart within you. God's plan is to conform you into the image of his Son, so that you are fitted for eternal life and the pleasures He has in store for us evermore. Every person who comes to Jesus, who says to God, "Yes, I want you to do this work of conforming in me," wears his own shoes on the journey. (Yes, we are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord, but it is always a unity of individuals -- a university. Unity in Christ is NOT being dissolved into an indistinct solution, as the Buddhist doctrine holds that souls are dissolved into the cosmos. We are not going to be extinguished, but we are meant to put on immortality.) So if you love Him, and will let Him, God will work this out for your benefit, in a unique way. We can fill volumes with testimonies of how God has worked things out for good, but we cannot predict a pattern He must always use.

The entire Bible is the account, as far as we can apprehend, of all that God has done to see His plan worked out-
He make the plan.
He made the world, and the fullness thereof.
He gave us the gift of choosing between trusting Him, which would bring life, and refusing to trust, which results in death.
He made every effort conceivable to help us to know Him -
He ordained sacrifice, showing us His righteousness.
He judged the earth by drowning it, executing His justice.
He called one man and one woman to found a nation who should exhibit the blessing or discipline of a heavenly Father.
He revealed His holiness in the law.
He showed His empathy by the Incarnation, stepping into His own creation to demonstrate how to live in the midst of labor, sweat, hunger, thirst, grief, anger, ingratitude, and betrayal.
He showed his love and compassion by his self-sacrifice at Calvary.
He then defeated death by rising again, and dispelled the fear of mortality.
He sent His Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us until we leave this body.

...........What has God NOT done for you?

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

God's position and attitude towards you are clear: He fully intends to walk with you as not even a parent or a spouse could, carrying you through the trials and helping you escape the devil's snares. To demonstrate His good intentions, He has given you the Holy Spirit, to produce in you and in your life all those spiritual fruits which will in turn 'infect' others with life. You have been planted, as a believer, with the seeds of holiness: the potential to develop love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

The only thing that can stand in the way, is you. Not the devil, he was defeated at the Cross. Not the people who wrong you because they listened to the devil. All of that has no more power over you than you give it. If anything keeps you from rest and joy and growth in the LORD, it cannot be charged to Him who has completed the work. He is not your problem...you are.