Are we here for a purpose?

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So here we are at the end of the first decade of this third millennium. These last ten years have flown by. The river of life flows fast. But we need to know: Are we here for a purpose? That’s my title. And to explore that, I’d like you please to turn to Romans 8:28-39. You’ll find that passage on p1135 in the bibles in the pews. These verses pose four further questions to believers.

But before we get to those let me tell you about a TV programme I remember seeing. It featured a talented young British rock climber. He was in Yosemite National Park, in the west of the USA. He’d gone there to climb some exceptionally difficult routes.

We saw him attempting to climb a long slab of overhanging rock at a great height. He was upside down the whole way, almost as if climbing across a ceiling. If he had anywhere to put his feet at all, they were continually slipping, leaving him hanging by his hands. Sometimes he was just holding on by his fingers. Sometimes he would jam his hand into a crack and swing from it.

It was obvious that he was finding the going intensely difficult. His face was often contorted with the effort and struggle of it all. Things were not going as smoothly as he had hoped. His frustration was frequently boiling over and he would cry out at his failure to make progress. What is more, again and again he lost his grip altogether, and simply fell.

But however many times he fell, he knew that he’d make it to the end eventually. His frustrations went hand in hand with confidence. And it was obvious that he was relishing the whole experience. How come?

Two reasons. For one thing, he was on the end of a rope that was firmly held by his climbing companion. Every time he totally lost control and fell, the rope took his weight and he was hauled back up to try again. And for another thing, when he finally slogged his way to the end of the climb, the views were utterly spectacular. All through the climb, he had those views to look forward to.

He knew that he was safe during the climb, however hard he found it. So he wasn’t in any serious danger. And he knew his destination was worth the effort. Because of his own mistakes, and because of the sheer difficulty of the climb, it was a painful struggle. But it was secure. And it was exhilarating.

What God tells us in the words of the apostle Paul in this passage made me think of that climber. Paul has come to the climax of his teaching in these first 8 chapters of Romans. He is addressing believers – men and women, Jews and Gentiles, who had faith in Jesus Christ as the Saviour and Lord of the world. He’s been spelling out how Christ has rescued them from sin and death. And he’s been talking about what life as a believer is like.

He’s made quite clear that the life of faith is a struggle. It’s a struggle with sin. So he says in 7:21:

When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

And in v 24 he cries out in frustration:

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Living by faith involves struggling with sin. And the life of faith is also a struggle with suffering. So earlier in this chapter, in vv 17-18, he speaks of how believers are to “share in [Christ’s] sufferings”, and speaking of Christians in general he talks of what he calls “our present sufferings”.

Believers struggle with sin even though they are no longer enslaved by it. And they struggle with suffering. And it all gives rise to a kind of silent scream in the believer’s heart. As he puts it in 8:23:

… we ourselves … groan inwardly …

But of course that’s not even half the story. Because not only do believers groan inside. They also rejoice. 5:2-3:

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings…

And in 7:25:

Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So why the joy? That’s what he’s been spelling out in these chapters, and that’s what he sums up in these verses. Paul here gives answers to four questions for believers. Together they give the reason why rejoicing ultimately overwhelms struggle in the life of the believer. The first is this:


First, WHAT IS GOD’S PLAN FOR US? (vv 28-30)

Answer: Glory. That’s what’s in store. Look at verses 28-30:

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who live him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

What is God’s purpose for us? What’s the destination that he’s got in store for us? At the end of the line is glorification. What does that mean? It means both being like Jesus, and being with Jesus. Believers (v 29) will be “conformed to the likeness of [God’s] Son”. We will be changed into the people we were created to be. Jesus is the pattern and the prototype. No more sin that sickens the heart. Imagine that! The sinful nature within us that kicks and claws against all that is good and holy and pure will be finally and utterly destroyed. The character and goodness, the love and virtue of Jesus will be ours. We will be like him.

And that will be so that (v 29) “he might be the firstborn among many brothers”. God’s plan is for a massive family of brothers and sisters, with Jesus there at the heart of it. He will be our brother. We will know him and be known by him, face to face. That will be unimaginable glory.

That’s God’s plan and purpose. But can we be sure that what God purposes and plans will become reality?

After all, human plans are very uncertain things. Why? Because so many things are out of our control. That’s the reality that we live with.

Human plans are no more than uncertain intentions. But divine plans are quite different. If God plans that something will happen, we can know for certain that it will. Why? Because God doesn’t change his mind about where he’s going. And because nothing is outside of God’s control.

So if God tells us that his plan is that believers will be like Jesus and will be with him in glory for all eternity, we can know for certain that’s going to happen.

What God plans, happens. That’s the point of verses 28-30. All things in the end work for the good of the believer. They don’t necessarily work to bring about our plans. And they certainly don’t always work for our ease and comfort. That’s exactly why we need this reassurance. But even what look to us to be major detours in our lives, or serious disappointments, or disasters are all caught up in God’s great plan to make us like Jesus and to bring us to glory.

Hence this unbreakable chain of salvation that Paul spells out in vv 29-30:

29For those God foreknew he also predestined … 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Foreknowledge is so much more than merely knowing the numbers that are going to come up on the lottery. It is God’s intimate personal knowledge of believers before they are even twinkles in their parents’ eyes. It is the way he chooses to set his love upon them.

Predestination is God’s unchallengeable determination and plan to save his people.

God’s calling of people is when his plans for them swing into action and the gospel breaks through into their lives.

Justification is a word that comes from the law court. It is God’s announcement now that believers are acquitted of all sin and rebellion because God the judge no longer looks at them but at Jesus who is their representative and substitute.

Glorification, as we’ve seen, is making believers like Jesus and bringing them into his presence and into his family for all eternity, so that we are his co-heirs and share in his glory.

What has God got planned for believers? He knows and loves them in Christ before they even exist; he calls them to himself through the good news of Jesus; he acquits them because of Jesus and his death on the cross; and he brings them to glory with Jesus.

Foreknowledge; predestination; calling; justification; glorification. That is the strong chain of salvation that secures believers however often they fall. And it is seeing that chain fixed to us that gives believers cause for rejoicing, come what may. Are you a believer? If so, do you see that chain fixed fast to you?

You may sometimes feel like the hundreds of people in Cumbria during the flooding who had to be rescued by Sea King helicopters and RNLI lifeboats. They were stuck. They could do nothing but hang on and hope. But they were taken to safety. That is what the chain of salvation does for the believer.

So how do we react to God’s plan? Verse 31:

What, then, shall we say in response to this?

What are the implications of these things for us? That’s what Paul wants to bring home to our hearts in these closing words of his explanation of the gospel in Romans 1-8. He wants us to feel the impact of the good news of Jesus in the very core of our being. So our second question is this:


Secondly, WHO CAN DESTROY US? (vv 31-32)

Answer: no one. Take a look at verses 31-32:

31…If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

We’ve heard about God’s plans for us. They’re summed up in those four fantastic words: God is for us. God is on our side. Or rather, he’s made sure that we are on his side. So what chance do the believer’s enemies have? None. Who can be against us?

Now that might sound as if Paul is saying that the believer won’t have any enemies. But surely that’s not what he means. Paul of all people was very well aware that as soon as you line up on the side of the gospel, you put yourself in the firing line of a host of enemies of the gospel. Some of them are supernatural. Some of them are human.

Satan and all his demons are entrenched in their hatred of Christ and of all who belong to him.

And Satan has his allies amongst men and women. Paul himself says in Philippians 3:18:

…many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

No, it’s not that believers have no enemies. We’re surrounded by them. There are many ‘against us’ in that sense. But the question is: what can they do to us? What will be the outcome of the struggle? Will we be overcome? Can they destroy us? No! However many there are ranged against us, God plus one is an unassailable majority.

A bridegroom vows to his bride on their wedding day:

All I am I give to you, and all I have I share with you.

It’s the first part of that vow that’s amazing, not the second. If you’re prepared to give your very self to someone for life, then there’s no problem with your bank balance and your CD collection. They’re easy. God has given us his Son. A share in his eternal kingdom follows naturally.

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Who do you fear? If you’re a believer, then there’s no need. Who can destroy us? No one.


Thirdly, WHO CAN CONDEMN US? (vv 33-34)

Answer: no one. Verses 33-34 this time:

33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

The issue here is that believers have sinned and still do sin. We are guilty of a capital offence. We have committed treason against the King of Kings. We have disobeyed his laws and again and again we still do. So how can we expect glory rather than death? How can we be confident of acquittal?

Believers face three different parties who might want to condemn them. First there is Satan again. He’s always whispering in our ears: “Look at what you’ve done. How can you possibly be forgiven for that? That same old sin. You’ve really blown it this time. There’s no hope for you.” Then there’s the cynics who sneer at the failures of believers and say “Call yourself a Christian?” And last but not least, we can find that we accuse ourselves: “Look at what I’ve done. I can’t possible be acceptable to God. I’ve blown it this time. How can I call myself a Christian?”

Satan, cynics and themselves: all three can be keen to condemn. But there’s one simple truth that makes all three irrelevant: none of them is the Judge. It is the Judge who acquits or condemns. God is the Judge. The Judge has acquitted believers. And Jesus his Son has dealt with our sin. He has taken our place. He’s already paid the penalty. And he represents us in court. He died; he rose again; he ascended; he intercedes for us. We are free. We are forgiven. No one can take that away.

Who can destroy us? No one. Who can condemn us? No one. Then finally, pulling together all that Paul has been saying:


Fourthly, WHO OR WHAT CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST? (vv 35-39)

Answer: absolutely nothing and absolutely no one. From verse 35:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger of sword?

Now Paul really knows what he’s talking about here. Every one of the things in that list he’d already experienced in the course of his ministry except the last – the sword. That was yet to come. Almost certainly it was the sword that ended Paul’s life when he was beheaded because of his faith in Jesus. He goes on:

As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered’.

What he’s quoting there is Psalm 44. It’s a believer’s prayer. So the ‘you’ is God. ‘For God’s sake we face death all day long’. It’s an honest acknowledgment of the intense and tough pressures that God’s people face in every age. But it’s a Psalm that is confident of God’s final victory, however hard things may be at the moment. So, picking up that theme, Paul answers his own question. Shall all these sufferings separate us from Christ’s love? Verses 37-39:

37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You can’t get more comprehensive than that. There is nothing that can cut off the believer from all benefits of the cross, or from the guidance and comfort and teaching of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, or from an eternal future face-to-face with Jesus. Nothing.

Imagine for a moment your worst nightmare: the one thing that you dread more than anything else in the world. Then take it one step further. Imagine that it actually happens. Who knows, it may do some day. Then know this: in it all, Christ will never leave you; Christ will never let you go; Christ will bring you through. It will not separate you from Christ’s love.

If you are a believer you are roped to Christ like that climber was roped to his companion. You will certainly struggle. You may fall again and again. But you’ll always be safe; he’ll get you there in the end; and the destination is glorious.

As we come to the end of the first decade of this third millennium, we need to know: Are we here for a purpose? Yes, we are.
What is God’s purpose for us? Glory.
Who can destroy us? No one.
Who can condemn us? No one.
Who or what can separate us from the love of Christ? Nothing and no one.



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