Life can be bittersweet. Even in the bitter, horrific things that happen in our lives, God can still add sweetness. He can use the unthinkable to draw us near to Him. He moves in mysterious ways.
Romans 8:28 is in the context of bitterness. Paul had endured many sufferings and had written this letter to suffering Christians.
Why does a good God allow bitterness? In the beginning, there was no bitterness; all was good. Yet sin brought in bitterness. When sin entered, death followed. Death is unnatural. We live in a world that is bitter because of sin.
Yet the end doesn't lie there. There is a sweetness in God's mercy. Before the foundation of the world, He planned for His Son to come. Death would not reign supreme. Christ would Himself become sin for our sake.
God can use bitterness to wake us up. There are many examples in the Bible of God turning the bitter into sweet. Joseph was sold into slavery, yet ended up saving his family from famine. Paul was a bitter Pharisee, yet ended up becoming an apostle of Christ when God opened His eyes.
God uses bitterness to also sanctify us. Life doesn't become bitterless once you are a Christian. He still uses these bitter things for our good.
Finally, Romans 8:28 is for Christians. It is for those who love God, those who are called according to His purpose. And His great purpose is that we should be holy and without blame before Him, that we would be conformed to the image of His son.
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Ryan Case has a passion to see the lost ushered into the Kingdom of God, as well as to see Christ's redeemed grow in all knowledge and grace. His 'heroes of the faith' include John Piper, D.A. Carson, and C.H. Spurgeon. Ryan graduated from the Toronto Baptist Seminary and was...
