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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
The past is, from a purely human viewpoint, the best predictor of the future. In the world in which we live, the future of things (such as housing sales, the weather, a baseball team's performance, entertainers, automobile reliability, human behavior, etc., etc.) that matter to us are predicted using the past.
The past is not a perfect predictor, but it is the best that we have. The disclaimer that appears on investment portfolios (“Past performance not a guarantee of future performance”) spells out in no uncertain terms the uncertainty of using the past to predict the future. Also, the tiny print that appears on TV ads for the latest weight loss scheme that says, “These results may not be typical; your results may vary,” - we all know how true these statements are. I actually think that the best predictor of a stock's performance is whether I buy it or not; if I buy, it is certain to go down!
Nevertheless, the past is still the best predictor that we have of the future. We rely on it to direct much of our lives. Paul knew this to be the case when they told the Romans about the continuing actions of God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Son – continuing actions in working all things together for their good. How could they, the Roman believers, be assured that Heaven was working continually as Paul declared on their behalf? The answer is in the text (as was pointed out in yesterday's message) and it is introduced by the little word, for!
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Romans 8.28-30; emphasis mine, jeb). We know the present and the future with God, because of what He has done in the past, and there is no uncertainty about this! With God there is no variableness nor even a shadow of turning; He has “constancy of purpose” beyond all human resolve, expectations, or abilities.
So what did God do (past tense) that would cause Paul's readers to know with certainty that He was working all things to their good (present and continuing tense)? The answer is right there in the text; He foreknew, He predestined, He called, He justified, and He glorified. We will briefly address these actions in the remaining message in this miniseries, but suffice it for now simply to affirm that these actions – these past actions – were predictors of the future; because God had done these things in the past, it was certain that He would continue to work for the believer's good in the future. These past actions are but a summary-view of God's actions in eternity past as well as in the previous dispensations (the Patriarchy and Mosaic); His plans and His actions for man had always been to create and have him as His adoring freewill creature! Sin was an issue for certain, but in His foreknowledge and love, God made provisions to deal with that eventuality. His purpose was and is to have free moral creatures to love, adore, and praise Him!
Burton Coffman writes in his commentary: “God destined people to be conformed to the image of his Son, the meaning being obviously this that the destiny of every man ever born on earth was that he should obey God and be conformed to the image of God's Son. 'Destined' has special reference to the plan of God, his intention, the objective he had in view when man was created.” (1)
Questions:
1. Make your own list of things (2 or 3 things) that you think will happen (future) based on what has happened in the past?
2. How sure are you of the future from the things you just listed?
3. Make a brief list (3 or 4 things) that God did (past) to demonstrate His love for you?
4. Are these things a predictor of how God will act in the future? How good a predictor are they? Are they more reliable that the things in the first list you made? Why or why not?
Notes: (1) Burton Coffman's Commentaries are temporarily not availble on Studylight.org pending a new agreement with Abilene Christian University (ACU) Press.
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