What Does It Really Mean? Romans 8:28

In this episode, Kevin breaks down the passage Romans 8:28 to reveal that God's ultimate purpose transcends our immediate desires, aiming for a greater good that aligns with His divine plan.

Transcript

Kevin (00:01.218)
What's up family? Kevin here. I don't know what it is about at the gym, but something happens to me when I'm at the gym, regardless of what machine I'm on, what workout I'm doing. God has his way of really downloading things to me in the gym in this episode or whatever this is. This breakdown is absolutely evidence of that. I was at the gym just working out and I was flipping through social media between sets and as God mentioned,

Romans 818 and it's a famous scripture and it says, what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory that he will reveal in us later. So this is obviously Paul in the book of Romans, but then it led me to keep reading and the more I read, the more I got into different things in scripture. Then of course I got to Romans 828, that famous scripture. And when I read the entire passage, light bulb went off in my mind.

And I was like, wow, I see these scriptures so much more differently. And of course it made me decide to do an episode. Now this is not a typical episode. This is really more me teaching and I may do more of these in the future. As a matter of fact, if you enjoy this particular breakdown and you have a scripture or thought you may want me to break down, you want to see discussed or broken down, leave it in the comment section or another script. I have a couple in mind I want to talk about, but

This one just jumped out off the page of me. So what I want to do in this episode slash teaching, whatever this is, I'm going to break down that Romans 8 28 because again, it's one of those scriptures that we see on bumper stickers, on t-shirts, and it's one that you probably, one of your pet scriptures. And it's a great text to know that God says in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Who wouldn't want to hear that? God's going to work out great things for you, that he know all things, that he know the plans he has for you. Great, great scripture. But what I want to do is break down and maybe it'll give some depth to it that maybe you hadn't considered because yes, strictly on the surface. Verse 28, all things God works for the good of those who love him. Most of us fixate on that part. And then the second part,

Kevin (02:26.338)
We kind of know, but we don't really talk about. And that's the part we miss that gives us some depth that we probably miss. The part where it says, who have been called according to his purposes. Now, of course, the billion dollar question is, what is his purposes? What are the purposes we've been called for? See, that's the part we miss. So what I want to do, and this is not going to be very long, because it's just a breakdown of this particular scripture, a good

exegesis, we got to go up above 28. So we're not going to start at 28. We're going to go up to verse 18. Right? So if we go up to verse 18, this is what it says. So let's go to start verse 18. And the scripture says, yet what we suffer now is nothing compared. Let me go back.

Kevin (03:25.87)
So now we're gonna go up to verse 18. So now when we go up to verse 18, so what we're gonna do, we're gonna start at verse 18. Okay, again, we're gonna do a bit of what.

So in order to do great exegesis of this text, we're not going to just focus on 28. We got to go above 28. You go to verse 18, because remember the book of Romans written by Paul was written to a church in Rome that had both Jew and Gentile Christian believers. Now the whole book talks about Paul trying to justify that neither side is better than the other, that Christianity, the faith is for all people regardless of

whether you are of Abraham or if you are of your Gentile. There is no difference, right? So just keeping that in mind. So this is what Paul is trying to accomplish in this letter to the Church of Rome. But we're going to start off from 2018. We're to go up to verse 18. And this is what it says. So starting at verse 18, yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later for all creation.

is waiting eagerly for the future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against his will, all creation was subjected to God's curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time." So let's focus on that part. So that first part is saying, first of all, that

We as Christians, when we go through our situations, because I know about you, but I know for me, when you look at the world, you ever had those moments where you're like, Jesus, come back now. it's just, the world is so evil. The world is so corrupt. It seems like even the church is corrupt. The church seems like it just bent on being worldly. And it seems as if there's no hope. Now, why do we have that perspective? Because as the scripture we just read says that the world creation,

Kevin (05:38.511)
First of all, creation also wants to hurry up for Jesus to return. So there's this angst. There's this struggle inside a believer. And Paul talked about it in other scriptures when he said that I would leave, I would love to leave and go with me to the Lord, but there's work here that needs to be done. If I have to stay here to bring others to Christ, I'll do that if I have to suffer being here. But the scripture we just read up until verse 22 talks about how the world

creation is suffering and moaning and groaning. And we as Christians also have a desire to be with the Lord. We have a desire in us. The Holy Spirit is a little bit, we're going to talk about that a little bit later in the script, in the, the clap. And we're going to talk about a little bit later in the episode. How the Holy Spirit also is a little bit of heaven in us and give us a taste of that. now because we've tasted a little bit of what heaven's going to be like.

or we were ready for the whole thing. It's almost as like, you know, when you go to a restaurant, they give you an appetizer. An appetizer, what? What's your appetite gets you ready for the full course meal. So the Holy Spirit in a sense is kind of like a heavenly appetizer, giving us a taste of the full course, which would be heaven. But the point is, scripture is saying here,

that we struggle to because we want to we want to be in heaven. We want to get out of this world. We want to get out of the struggle and the strain and the frustration. So sometimes it can be really, really hard. And it says here that we the creation looks forward to that day. And you and I also look forward to that day. Verse 22, it says that creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up into the present time.

So I'm just setting the stage. Now we're going to go, we're going to get to 28, but we got to set the stage. So again, Paul is setting the stage about the world and having Holy Spirit and how we also desire to have the Holy Spirit. We already, we don't, we also desire to be with the Lord. We want to hurry up and leave this place and be with God. Cause we see how great God is just opposed with the evil in the world. So that's going to verse 22.

Kevin (07:59.799)
Now let's keep going. Let's go to verse 23. We kind of just alluded to it. Verse 23 says, and we believers also grown, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste, here it is, of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We too wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us. When we were given this hope, we were saved.

If we already have something, we don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't have, we must wait patiently and confidently. So it goes again, what I'm saying. So now God has given us the Holy Spirit. So now we're waiting, we're eager. We're saying, my gosh, our bodies decay. As you get older, you lose your hair, your health declines and all those things. And no one likes to get old. Your body gets frail and brittle. You can't see as well. You can't hear as well.

These are all things that come with life. This is something because our bodies, this flesh isn't meant for eternity. So our spirit, especially with the Holy Spirit, like I'm ready to get out of this. I'm ready to get my new body. As the scripture says, the body, promised us. But look at what it says also. When we have something, when we hope for it, we have to wait patiently and confidently. The key to this is hope. And the first passage we just read in this part.

The key I want you to remember in the first two sections we just read is hope. That hope is something that you are anticipating happening. You believe this is going to happen. You have hope in something that hasn't happened yet. You don't have hope in something that's already happened, like the scripture says. But it says here, and this is a challenge, we must wait for it patiently, as the scripture says, and confidently. That's where the problem is. That's the trauma. That's

the issue because we are ready to go now. We don't want to go through the situations. We don't want to go through the pain. We don't want to get older. We don't want to. It says in the scripture we are earlier. Creation is groaning and we are groaning. The Holy Spirit in us is groaning and desiring to be fully with the Lord. As the scripture said, we get our full bodies because I don't know about you, but you know, I'm not as young as I used to be.

Kevin (10:25.302)
I go to the gym, I work out, but I'm trying to stay healthy at my age because I'm not as healthy as I was 10, 15, 20 years ago. So that's going to happen to all of us. And part of that is because our bodies are destined to decay because our bodies are destined to be here for eternity. At least not this body. Scripture we just read talks about how we're going to get new bodies. So again, God's creation was subject to the curse. Our bodies are subject to

the curse. So again, here's the word, the consistent theme, hope. We're hoping and waiting for God to come back and give us our new bodies as we say in the scripture. So now we'll get our full adoption rights to what God is going to give us. It's almost like, and we're adults, we can talk about this. It's like if you're, and it's a good analogy, being married, you're engaged.

So now you're engaged and you can't wait for the ceremony. You can't wait for the honeymoon. So now you can fully enjoy your significant other. Now you and your wife or your husband can come together as one. We are perpetually right now in the betrothed stage. We're hoping and waiting for the time when the bridegroom will come and now we can consummate that marriage, so to speak. So again, trust me, it's to make sense. I'm going to...

So just stick with me. So the hope is the consistent theme as we get to 28. Cause as we just read, now we're waiting, we're desiring the Holy Spirit is in us and he's telling us how we should be looking forward to the new bodies and the new life we're going to have in Christ. So now let's pick up in verse 26. There's another script we use out of text a lot. And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.

For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father knows that with what knows all hearts, no, no, let me go.

Kevin (12:37.55)
So now we're going to go back, now we're going to go to verse 26. Let's see what it says. Again, keeping the whole idea of hope and waiting and trusting, right? Because there's a level of struggle and we get weak and frustrated and waiting because we're ready for our new bodies. We're ready for God to give us what he promises. Again, remember when we see the Holy Spirit, as the Bible says, that's a deposit for our salvation. So we know we're for it to happen.

Keep that in mind again, that consistent thing with hope, right? Let's go to verse 26. And it says, the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. The Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. So if we stop at verse 26, think about what they're saying. Usually, and I was guilty of this, and this is what jumped out at me when I was doing my research at the gym.

We look at the Holy Spirit in a seating for us in the context of life, in the context of what I want here. Maybe I've been praying for something that I want that God doesn't want me to have. Maybe my motives aren't pure. Maybe my desires are off-culture. So we've thought, and I know me, this is me, the Holy Spirit, okay, you pray for the things that I should want. So yes, I'm asking for this car.

but maybe I should want this car, I should want that car. I've been praying for this particular position, but maybe the Holy Spirit says, no, no, no, Kevin, you don't want this position, this is the one you want. And that's true, but this is the part we're missing. Consider the theme. I'm struggling because of my hope. I'm waiting for God to do this now. So when he's interceding for us, he's not interceding for us to give us what we want.

He's to see the, for us to give us the continued hope to wait for him to give us to continue desire that says, I know Kevin's tired. He's waiting for you to come, but give him strength to keep waiting, help him to not be weary in waiting, help him to not give up in the waiting process and turn away. God give him strength, give her courage, give her the impetus to sense that the hope is not lost that. Yes, it seems dark.

Kevin (15:03.168)
And yes, he's getting older. Yes, she's getting older. Yes, it seems like the world is getting worse, but help him to hold on to his hope that what I promised him as a new body in a new earth, in a new everything, that's still going to come. Cause remember, we're not living for this world anyway. We're in this world to bring others out of this world so we can join them and God in the new heaven.

in the new earth. So now you see where we're going with this. The hope is not just about what's going on here. It's a bigger picture, right? So when the Holy Spirit is interceding for us, it's not just for the tangible things here. It's to help us to continue to believe in the hope of what he's going to do, which is the reason why Paul wrote this letter to the church room.

in the first place. Now how do I know that's true? Let's pick up in verse 27. And the father who knows all hearts knows what the spirit is saying for the spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. You see that? It says it pleads for us in harmony with God's will. Now we just established what's God's will for us to be with him.

for us to be in paradise with him. Ultimately, God's will is not just for you and I to have a great life here. God's will is for us to be with him forever. And look at  the Spirit, the scripture said, verse 27. It says, Spirit pleads with him. Now, think about that. If all I'm asking for is just something here, that may not necessarily necessitate

plea. But when it says he pleads for us, it's like, Lord, please keep Kevin strong. Please keep Susie strong. Please keep Jack's faith strong. Please help him or her to endure. So now that we've said all of that and we're seeing the context of everything that God is trying to do, now let's go to verse 28.

Kevin (17:31.767)
Now verse 28, the famous scripture, and the first thing is it says, and we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. What's his purpose? His purpose is for us to ultimately be with us. So it says he causes all the things to work together. That means the things that we're asking for,

working together with the things the Holy Spirit is doing for us, because we don't even know what to pray for. We don't know how to pray for hope to continue. We don't know how to pray for strength to endure. We don't know how to pray that even though we're going to have trials and tribulations to continue to have hope. So he's saying all those things, the groanings of nature, the groanings inside of us, the desires of the hope, the Holy Spirit interceding for us. All those things.

work together for our good, because we love the Lord and are called according to his purpose for them. Now, let's take it a step further, because we read before 28, right? Let's go to 29. Look at what 29 says. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his son, so that his son would be among the first born of many brothers and sisters.

Now you see, that's the purpose. So we're saying God calls all things work together for the good of those. We are not just talking about the good of us, the things we want that we think are good. The good of us who love God and are called according to his purpose. And it says here again, that word and brings it in conjunction. Verse 28, sounds simple, goes in conjunction with 27. Cause 27, it says that

The spirit pleased for us in harmony with God's will and because we see that, right? The spirit pleased for us and it says, and in addition to that, God causes everything to work together. All the things we go through, all the situations we strive through, everything that we go through is not just for you and I to get the good here. God's ultimate purpose is not just to bless you and I here.

Kevin (19:56.771)
God's ultimate purpose, as we just read in verse 29, is to be the first fruit like his son Jesus. Jesus was the first one to die and to be resurrected. So we're the next in line after him. That's the purpose. So when we see that God called us according to his purpose, that's his ultimate purpose. It's more.

than just a simple case of God working out this situation for my good at work. God working out this situation in my relationship. God working out this situation in my career. Those things are all part of a small part of the bigger thing. So now when you read Romans 8 28 and you think about him working all things together for your good, remember the second part. The good is not your good. It's the good.

according to his purpose. So hopefully, and this came to me again, I was at the gym and I just really felt compelled to just break this down and share it. Hopefully this is something you learned like I did. Cause as I read the scriptures, it like it jumped off the page. So hopefully this is something that give you a little bit more insight to the scripture. Hopefully I did it some justice, but if there are any other scriptures that you can think of that maybe that I

popular scriptures or something you're confused about. And trust me, I believe this is the first of many episodes I may do with not a podcast per se. It's just a teaching breakdown of scriptures. I've done these before, but I felt kind of again, the gym. just gave it to me and I feel like to do it. So hopefully this gave you a little bit more insight on the scripture and you can use it and have the right perspective and see it bigger than just the mere good things that we believe.

God wants to do with us here. His purpose is bigger than earth. His purpose is that we are with him in the new earth and not just this earth. So thank you for watching and listening. I hope this blessed you. like always, like I say, make sure your life shines brightest for the Lord Jesus Christ beyond the benediction. Until next time, be