“And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 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 (Romans 8:27-29).”
Because
Christ knows the Mind of the Spirit and He is making intercession for
us according to the Will of God, “we know that all things are
working together… according to His purpose.” And to leave no
doubt as to the purpose, we are told that the purpose is “to be
conformed to the image of His Son.” Christ as All in All.
We
frequently quote these verses and interpret them to mean that no
matter what happens, good or bad, God is going to make it all work
out for our good, and it will all turn out right in the end. That is
not what Paul is saying at all. What he is telling us is that all
things are moving in relation to God’s purpose of summing up
everything into Christ. God’s End is Christ as All in All.
Everything in heaven and on earth is moving in relation to this.
So
in Romans we are told that God is “working all things together…
according to His Purpose” and in Ephesians we are told that God is
“working all things after the counsel of His own will.” The key
phrase here is “all things”. How do we judge if a thing is of God
or not? We need only determine its relationship to the one thing.
Either it is in harmony with the one thing or it is one of the “many
things” which may be good, spiritual, or moral, but does nothing to
move us towards God’s eternal purpose.
From
http://theschoolofchrist.org/
and the writings of Chip Brogden,
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/one-thing-is-needed.html
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