God’s Plan
Romans 8:28-39[1]
Most of us have some kind of idea about God’s plan
for our lives. We know that there are some things we just cannot control, and
it’s a comfort for us to believe that God has already planned something good
for us. Unfortunately, I think that we often turn that trust in God’s
faithfulness and love into a kind of “destiny” that we think is unavoidable.
And at its worst, it becomes a way to let ourselves off the hook for choices we
make. The notion that God has all the specifics of our lives already laid out
is one that may assure us when life gets difficult, but it doesn’t fit well
with the fact that we are all have the freedom and the awesome responsibility
to make our choices in life.
As I reflect on my experience with “God’s Plan,” I
would say two things about it: first, I’ve only been able to see God’s plan as
I’ve looked back over my life. I’ve never been able to discern God’s plan in
advance. I don’t think any of us has that ability. It’s just not given to us.
The second thing is that when I look back over my life, I don’t see God’s plan
so much in specific choices, but rather in the broad strokes. In good times and
in not-so-good times, I see God working in my life for good, working through my
life for his purposes.
I think that’s the point St. Paul is trying to make
in our lesson from Romans for today. Paul says that “God’s Plan” is to work in
our lives to change us all to become more and more like Jesus (Rom. 8:29). And
he says that God carries out that project by choosing, calling, justifying and
glorifying fallen humankind. Now, when we think of “choosing,” we might worry
that this means God chooses some and rejects others, and maybe that means God
doesn’t choose me. But I think it’s important to ask, “Whom does God choose?”
Well, according to Paul, God “chose us in Christ before the foundation of the
world” (Eph. 1:4). I think that means God chose Jesus, and in choosing Jesus, God
chooses us all (Eph. 1:4).[2]
If we have any lingering doubts about God’s plan in
all of this, I think it’s even more important to ask, “Whom does God justify?” This
is one of Paul’s favorite concepts for salvation. In his letter to the Romans,
Paul says a lot about whom God justifies. At one point he says that God justifies
the “ungodly” (Rom. 4:5). In fact, it might be more precise to say that God
justifies the “godless”! That should shock and surprise us a bit. Even with all
our theology of grace, we still think that we have to do something special or
be someone special in order to “merit” salvation. I guess the way to put it is
this: if God justifies the godless, whom does God not justify?
What St. Paul is saying here is that God’s “plan”
or “purpose” for us is expressed in choosing, saving, and changing us all. And
just to make sure we don’t miss the point, he reminds us that there is nothing
in all creation that can ever separate us from the love God has given us in
Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:38-39). Again, some might quibble here—they may say that
nothing in all creation can separate us, but we can separate ourselves by our
own refusal to take the step of faith. I think once more it’s a matter of
asking the right question: Is our willfulness more powerful than God’s love and
grace? Maybe in the short run, but ultimately, I think not!
I’m fully
convinced that Paul believed God’s “plan” is to reconcile the entire created
order and restore it to its rightful place in obedience to Christ (Eph. 1:10).[3] There
will come a time when “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil. 2:10-11). Paul’s gospel is a gospel of grace—of receiving
something undeserved. It is a gospel about the God who loves us
unconditionally, the God who accepts us completely, the God who above all else
is and forever remains for us. At the outset of this lesson, Paul emphasizes
that God is for us. If there’s any doubt about that, all we have to do is
remember that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus. And Paul says that
in that act of self-giving, God has already given us “everything else” (Rom
8:32).
If I would say anything about “God’s Plan” for our
lives, I would say it is to love us, to accept us, to draw us into a
relationship with himself. And beyond that, God’s plan is that our relationship
with God would make change us from the inside out so that we more and more live
like Jesus did. As we do that, we are carrying out “God’s Plan” by sharing with
others the acceptance, the love, and the mercy he has given us. If there’s any
“destiny” that God has for us, I think it’s to live fully in the love of God
and to share that love freely and joyfully with others.
[1] ©
2020 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm Ph. D. on 7/26/2020 at
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2] Perhaps
the most famous advocate of this view is Karl Barth, in Church Dogmatics, 2.2, 115-17.
See also ibid., 59-60, 101,
103-105.
[3]
The PCUSA Confession of 1967 puts it this way: “It is the will of God that his
purpose for human life shall be fulfilled under the rule of Christ.”
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