Chapter 5
The Plan of God
Having seen that God is the Supreme Ruler of the universe and as such is the final and absolute authority, we now consider the plan that God has revealed to man. The very existence of the Bible shows that God has desires and plans for man and for His creation. The pages of Scripture express this plan that has been progressively revealed over many centuries starting with Adam.
Making a plan is inseparable from making choices. When we plan a vacation, the choice must be made as to where we will go—thus eliminating certain localities—and how we will get there—picking certain modes of transportation over others. Decisions must be made as to what clothing will be taken along, etc. A plan necessitates choices.
The Bible is a lengthy revelation of the choices that God has made with reference to His universe. It is our responsibility to identify them and align our will with them. This is where we relate to the whole concept of the sovereignty of God.
God is the Supreme Ruler of the universe, and as such He has a plan for the universe that reflects certain values and preferences. It is of great importance that God has not hidden this plan from us but has given us a written revelation of it in the Old and New Testaments.
God Always Acts in Character
Any discussion of what God does must be set against the background of who God is. God never acts out of character. This leads us to the point that God’s plan is in perfect harmony with His character. This means His plan will not contain anything that is unwise, unjust, unloving, or in any other way contrary to His makeup. Since we live in a world of men and women who frequently act contrary to righteousness and justice (including ourselves), we must carefully align our mentality with the truth about God and His actions.
Hebrews 6:18 says, “it is impossible for God to lie.” This is certainly not a limitation on God, but it is an affirmation of His absolute faithfulness and veracity.
If we look at the justice and righteousness of God, we can immediately see why God could not save apart from the cross. For this reason, God does not have a plan that bypasses the cross in the program of salvation.
Since God is all-powerful, sovereign, and unchangeable, we may also say that God has only one plan. There is no “plan A” and another “plan B.” As human beings, we must have alternatives to our plans because we cannot control circumstances. We have all made plans that came to nothing because of circumstances that we could not control. That is not so with God.
Man’s Will and God’s Plan
God’s plan does not suppress man’s capacity to choose. The capacity to make good choices is, as a matter of fact, part of God’s plan. This does not mean that God has no concern about our choices. He may even bring certain circumstances to bear that will influence our choice in the right direction.
Occasionally one hears the statement, “God does not coerce the human will.” This is one of those statements that contain some truth and also some error. The truth is that God allows us to will. The error is that God is therefore passive toward that will. That we are both free to will and that God brings influences to bear on that will can be seen in several cases.
First, we can see it in the experience of the psalmist. Psalm 119:67 says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Thy word.” He then extols the goodness of God in afflicting him because it brought him to obedience. God was far from passive toward the psalmist’s wanderings and brought events to bear to influence him toward obedience.
The whole concept of discipline in the Christian life is evidence that God moves toward the believer in such a way that his choices will be the right ones. At the same time, the believer may resist God’s discipline; and who has not done so?
Second, we could look at the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, residing in every genuine believer, is continually prodding us in the direction of obedience. Whenever we read the Word of God, we find God urging us, commanding us, and encouraging us to actions that are in line with His will. God does not suppress our will, but neither is He passive to a will that is contrary to His. (John 14:16-17, 16:7-15, Galatians 5:16-18)
The Choices of God
One need not read very far into the Old Testament to find out that God has made certain choices and expressions of His purposes and intents. God chose Abraham when there were others around who might have been selected. God chose the nation of Israel as His chosen people. Jacob had twelve sons; God picked Judah. Germane to an understanding of any part of the Word of God is the truth that God makes sovereign choices. They are always made in line with His love, His righteousness, His justice, and His faithfulness.
It is our privilege to possess the Word of God that tells us of these choices, learn what they are, and submit our wills to them.
God’s Choices Are Revealed in Divine Revelation
Since God desires the willing submission of His creatures to His will, He has not hidden His desires and wishes. This is the value of the Word of God. It is a clear expression of the will of God for individual believers, for the nation of Israel, and for all of human history.
Because of our sin natures, we always have a tendency to think that God’s will may be something less than perfectly good. We must identify this sinful tendency and deny it continually. No good can possibly come to the universe apart from submission to the perfect will of God.
The Truth of Romans 8:28
The context of Romans 8:28 is a world of sin and suffering. In Romans 8:18, we have reference to the “sufferings of this present time.” Verse 20 speaks of creation as “subjected to futility,” and 8:22 speaks of the “groaning” of creation, of believers, and of the Holy Spirit.
We can, in no sense of the word, control the groans that surround us, but we can and must control our responses to these things. Romans 8:28 is the doctrine that makes this all possible.
This familiar verse starts with the words “we know.” Paul used this expression over two dozen times to express a truth that was well-known among believers. It stands in an emphatic position in the sentence to indicate that the context is not one of weak uncertainty but of absolute confidence.
Translating Romans 8:28 Correctly
For KJV users, the issue centers on the words “all things work together.” Only two Greek words are involved. The word for “all things” is panta. Its form is a neuter plural nominative or accusative. This means it could be the subject of the verb or the object of the verb.
The verb is sunergei, which is a present singular and thus “he, she, or it works together.” The best translation, therefore, is to make the subject of the verb He, and thus a reference to God, and make panta the object of the verb.
Thus, our translation would read, “We know that He works all things together for our good.” The point is that God is the One who can and, as a matter of fact, does work all circumstances together for the good of His children. This teaches the personal involvement of God in the lives of His children.
Some Greek texts actually have the word God in them, serving as the subject of the verb. They would read, “God works all things together….”
The expression “for good” indicates the direction God makes events take. We must, however, have a proper understanding of what good is. We must define it as God defines it, not as humanity defines it.
God is the only source of absolute good. He, therefore, must be the definer of what good is. This underscores a mistake we all too often make. We select what we think is good and then expect God to agree. We forget that we are sinners, and only the objective statements in Scripture can tell us what is good and what is not. The Word of God not only communicates to us the solutions to human problems, but it tells in great detail precisely what those problems are. God’s word, as always, is our source of insight and understanding.
The Believer from Two Viewpoints
From the human side, Paul is looking at those “who love God” and from the divine side, they are those “who are called according to His purpose.”
The word purpose here is important for two reasons. First, it is the key to the following verses that tell us what that purpose is. Second, its meaning is very clear. It means a thought or plan before, a preselected purpose, an intelligent design. God’s intelligent design is unfolded in the following verses as well as in the rest of the Bible.
The stress of the verb in Romans 8:28 is the divine ability to take a multitude of events and blend them into something that may be called good in the fullest sense of the word.
A Cup of Flour for Lunch?
On the kitchen counter lies a garlic bud, a stick of butter, salt, pepper, some flour, etc. None of these alone would make a pleasant meal. Imagine eating a stick of butter or a tablespoon of pepper. Put these items in the hands of good cooks and they will mix, blend, cook, simmer, bake, etc., until a delectable product emerges.
This is what Romans 8:28 is teaching. God takes all the events of life and blends them into something very beautiful. If we understand this, we will view all of the events of life in a unique way. His sovereign ability to do this becomes a source of stability and assurance no matter what may come our way. This does not mean, of course, that when we sin God will cancel consequences for our actions.
The believer who does not understand and believe this truth can only behold the unpleasant, irksome, and often unhappy events of life and display all kinds of human viewpoint responses and reactions that destroy all possibility of Christlikeness.
The instructed believer, on the other hand, sees the same unpleasant events and yet beholds the master hand of God in them. They are all viewed as part of the good and gracious plan of God designed to make the believer like Himself.
The Romans 8:28 Mentality in Joseph
Three Lessons from the Life of Joseph
The first great doctrine taught by the life of Joseph as narrated in Genesis 37-50 is that the sovereignty of God does not contradict the responsibility of man. This is seen in Genesis 41:28-36. Here, God announces the inevitability of seven years of famine. This was the irreversible, sovereign declaration of God. This revelation, however, does not make Joseph shrug his shoulders and say, “Whatever will be will be.” Instead, he responds with preparation, and for seven good years makes ready great provision of stored food. The sovereignty of God spurred him to action.
The second truth taught by this Genesis story shows the personal involvement of God in the lives of His children who are in the midst of a set of distasteful circumstances not of their own choosing. Joseph did not choose to be sold into Egypt. He had no control whatsoever over the actions of his brothers. Many of the sufferings of life are due to our own bad choices, but not all of them. Joseph is an excellent example of how we should react to these circumstances.
Joseph’s mother died when he was barely sixteen; this was not because of any choice of his. Genesis 37:4 records the hatred of his brothers. Why did they hate him? Because Jacob chose Joseph as the son on whom he desired to bestow special favor. The choice of Jacob followed by the sinful reactions of his brothers equaled the circumstances Joseph found himself in. Circumstances of this nature continued until he was thirty years of age.
The third truth revolves around the fact that, though Joseph did not choose the circumstances in which he found himself, he was fully responsible for his reactions to all these things. No abuse ever inflicted upon us can hurt us nearly as much as our non-Christian response to it. Many people who have been sinned against respond with bitterness and hatred and find themselves spending a lifetime with the horrible consequences of this human viewpoint reaction.
The Basis of Joseph’s Reactions to Being Sinned Against
First of all, Joseph recognized that God was personally involved with him in the midst of all of these circumstances. Genesis 39 makes this very clear, “And the LORD was with Joseph… (39:2), “the LORD was with him…” (39:3), “The LORD was with Joseph…” (39:21), “the LORD was with him…” (39:23). This is all he needed—the presence of God is the protection of God.
Second, Joseph had a Romans 8:28 kind of viewpoint. Genesis 45:4-8 reveals this clearly when he informs his brothers “do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” Joseph saw past the mistreatment and was able to observe how God was working all of these circumstances together for something good. As a matter of fact, this working will be the salvation of the nation of Israel!
No matter what circumstances a believer finds himself in, he is always fully and completely responsible for reacting to them with divine viewpoint reactions. This may be a hard lesson to learn, but there can be no spiritual maturity of any sort until we learn this lesson thoroughly.
The Romans 8:28 Mentality - A New Testament Example
Paul spent four years in a Roman jail. These were years of horrible physical circumstances. He was mistreated in many ways and jailed unjustly. His repeated appeals for legal justice are recorded in the latter part of the book of Acts.
It is highly significant, however, that the three most Christological books, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, were written during this period. It was in the midst of the most discouraging circumstances that Paul came to his greatest understanding of the person of Jesus Christ.
The mental attitude that made this possible is expressed in Philippians 1:12, “Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel….”
Two expressions in this verse are very important. First, Paul speaks of “my circumstances.” This translates three words in the Greek—a word for things followed by a preposition meaning down and then the object me. Paul is referring to “the things that have come down on me.” What were these things? They were unjust imprisonment, restriction of his right to move about freely, plus all of the discomforts of a Roman jail. The result? Instead of hindering the gospel as they were intended to do, they have really furthered it as the following verses teach.
The lesson is simple. What people intended for evil and harm, God brought together for good. This is Romans 8:28 in operation. Paul’s stability is rooted in an understanding of this truth.