Desiring God Blog's David Mathis is referring to Romans 8:32: "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" He writes:
- At the center of God's magnificent Himalayan promises is his pledge to work all things -- especially life's most difficult things -- for the good of his people (verses 28-30; 35-39). These promises are so huge that they are hard to believe.
Is God really working all my worst circumstances for my good? Yes! That's what Romans 8:32 is saying. And it's doing so by reasoning from the gospel to God's goodness in all things.
Here's how it works. First, Paul recounts the gospel: "[God] did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all..." God gave his Son for us sinners. That's the good news -- the central truth of Christianity. This is what we believe to be saved, and this is what we keep believing to stay saved.
Then Paul reasons from this gospel to God's goodness toward us in all our deepest pain: "...how will he not, also with him, graciously give us all things?"
It's a rhetorical question—what Paul means is that God will most certainly give us all things for our good. Not only will he supply all our ultimate needs, but he will bring into our lives only the things that are for our good.
Do we believe that God gave his Son? Do we believe the gospel? Then we are free to believe -- really believe -- that God will work all things for our good.
That's the logic of Romans 8:32. That's Mount Everest. Giving his Son was the hard thing; making every painful trial in our lives work for our good is easy. May God give us the grace to trust him in our trials.
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