²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

according to His purpose [plan].

God’s purpose involves His ultimate plan for creation. God will gather together believers, called the church. This purpose can only be fulfilled through His Son because of the fall of mankind. The Son will present this group to the Father as a glory to His name.

If God called us according to His purpose, He must have a plan for our lives. From God’s point of view His purpose is absolute; there are no contingencies in His plan. (His monitoring of all second causes is within that plan.)

PRINCIPLE:

God’s plan for our lives is comprehensive, including adversity.

APPLICATION:

God put a messenger of Satan into the Corinthian church to humble Paul. There was a renegade leader in the church who opposed the apostle. God permitted this individual in Paul’s life to keep him from pride. Paul prayed three times that God would deal with this person in the church, but God said that His grace was sufficient for this protagonist. Paul responded that he would boast about his weaknesses, the insults, and the undermining of this individual in order that the power of God might rest on him. He accepted the idea that when he was weak, then he was strong (2 Co 12:9-10). God’s grace was sufficient to deal with this adversary in his life.

Since God is eternal, all knowing, and all powerful, He could have made a world where there was no evil, no Satan, no trouble. However, since God has an eternal plan that includes “all things,” all problems are part of that plan. God is perfectly holy; thus, with perfect judgment He allowed whatever is in the world.