All Things for My Good?Näide

In Romans 8, Paul tells us that God works all things for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. Why? Because God predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son. So that Jesus might be the firstborn among brothers. Paul then explains how God accomplishes this: God predestines, calls, justifies, and glorifies.

You see, God doesn't work all things for my good because the universe revolves around my throne. He works all things for the good of those(the Church) who love Him to conform them (His bride) to the image of Jesus. From the garden in the beginning, we were meant to be, or predestined to be, image bearers. Jesus is on the throne, and God is working everything, even the bad, so that we might be conformed to the image of His Son.

In Matthew chapter 22, Jesus tells a parable about a wedding feast. In this story, the King predetermined or planned a party for his son. “The Kingdom of Heaven,” Jesus said, “is compared to a King who made a wedding feast for his son.” We can assume everything was planned - the food, the entertainment, and even what the guests would wear. Just like God predestined us to be conformed to the image of Christ, the King pre-planned what every guest who answered the call would experience and receive.

“Predestine” is not the big scary church word we make it out to be. It simply means to determine in advance the outcome or series of events. Just like a wedding planner predetermines an agenda of events for those in attendance, so too God predestined, before the foundation of the world, an agenda for those who answer the call and enter His Kingdom through Jesus. And this outcome is that we would be conformed to the image of Jesus: image bearers.