What If It All Works Out?
Friday Highlight – What If It All Works Out?
I love coffee shops. I love the sights, smells, sounds, and I just love being around people. I was recently sitting at one that had art from local artists hanging all over the walls, and while it was beautiful, much of it clearly came from a secular worldview. One such piece caught my eye: It’s an old front page of a newspaper with these words boldly plastered across the front: WHAT IF IT ALL WORKS OUT?
When I saw these words, I couldn’t help but think of Romans 8, arguably the greatest chapter in the Bible. It’s an incredible description of the believer’s status before the Father because of the work of Christ. In chapters 1-7, Paul paints a pretty grim picture of life before Christ: We were fools (1:22), dishonorable (1:26), filled with all manner of unrighteousness (1:29), under God’s judgment (2:2), deserving of God’s wrath (2:5), and ultimately dead in our sin (5:12). These chapters are clear: life without Christ is hopeless. Without Christ, we can say with Paul, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (7:24) But then comes chapter 8, and it’s like seeing a sunrise after the darkest night:
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)
There is now–now!–no condemnation for you if you’re in Christ. You’ve been set free from sin and death! You’ll be raised from the dead like Jesus (8:11)! This incredible news is rooted in the believer’s union with Christ, and it stands in sharp contrast to the previous 7 chapters. If you are in Christ, you get every hope-filled promise in chapter 8. One such promise, and the one that addresses the coffee shop art piece, is found in verses 18-30. Verses 19-23 especially hit the nail on the head:
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:19-23)
Eager longing. Do you feel it? That’s what drove the artist to create that piece. He or she is looking at the world–represented by the newspaper–and feeling hopeless. They’re longing for a better world. They’re longing for everything to be ok. Romans 8 tells us what the whole world has been longing for, like a woman in labor, since the Garden of Eden: the revealing of the sons of God (v 19), freedom from bondage (v 21), adoption as sons (v 23), the redemption of our bodies (v 23). What’s more, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (v 28).
That’s an incredible promise, and it gives incredible hope. “All things?” Really?? Really. But again, that hope is only rooted in the believer’s union with Christ. We can’t gain any blessing on our own. We have no hope on our own. We can’t even pray on our own (v 26). The only way to receive the blessings of chapter 8 is to be found in Christ. For those not in Christ, they’re still groaning with eager longing for something they can’t quite name. They know a better world is out there somewhere, but they can’t quite see how to get there. That’s what the artist is expressing. But if you’re in Christ, you know exactly what you’re longing for and how to get there. You’re longing for glory, and this glory can only be found in Jesus Christ. It’s ok to groan, but as a Christian, you can groan with hope.
I don’t know if the creator of the coffee shop art piece is in Christ or not. I don’t know if they know what they’re longing for or not. I don’t know what they’re rooting their hope in. But I do know that if you’re in Christ, you can look backward at his victory over sin and death, then look forward and say with full confidence in God’s indestructible promises: It will all work out.