To Him be Glory Forever; Romans 11:36

Romans 11:36

    For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

   

The study of the things of God leads naturally to the praise of God.

That’s what Paul has done here.

Up to this point in Romans, Paul has studied and presented the great things of God. He has taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ; He has laid out the doctrine of justification, that we are not good enough for God, but God has made us good, justified us because of Jesus; He told about the peace that is ours because of this Gospel and justification, that God, who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all will also, with Jesus, graciously give us all things (Romans 8:32); He talked about faith, which comes as gift from hearing the Gospel of Christ (Romans 10:17) and He expounded on God’s heart’s desire, that He wants all to be saved, Jew and Gentile alike, all. To Him be glory forever!

Much of these things Paul described and taught are different than expected. These things are not what we’d have guessed. God gave up His Son to save sinners? Who would have expected such a thing? And the humble means by which God does His glorious works:  the poor manger bed in Bethlehem where the King of the Universe was born; the ugly cross of Calvary where the greatest love was given. The ordinariness of water applied for the glorious promises of baptism. It seems strange the way God works.

These verses in Romans 11 are words of praise for exactly those strange ways of God. Romans 11:33

    “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”

God’s ways of doing things are unsearchable and inscrutable. And it’s not just that God’s ways are beyond our abilities to understand and reason it all out.  There’s more to it than just that God’s works are surpassingly greater than our reasonable attempts to understand them. The ways of God are contrary to our ways. They are uninviting to our natural reason.

Martin Luther taught about this describing it as “the Theology of the Cross”. It’s about this surprising truth that the ugliness and humiliation of Jesus’ cross is actually the point of His greatest glory and love. Luther said, “Although the works of God always seem unattractive and appear evil, they are nevertheless really eternal merits.” (Luther’s Works, vol 31, page 44)

So now, someone in the midst of the most horrible things life can offer has to wrestle with this Theology of the Cross. God’s ways seem unattractive. They appear evil. Why is God doing this to me? Why does He allow my loved one to suffer? Why has He left me with this loss? How can this be love?

Luther’s teaching is that God brings low, so He can exalt. He brings us to the point of despair that we might trust nothing else but Him.

Further Luther would teach us that when our reason and God’s word clash and disagree, faith must abandon reason and cling to God alone. This is necessary for salvation. Human reason says that there must be things I can do that will make God happy. Your reason urges you to trust yourself and your works. It makes sense that God likes good people, so the mixed up human reason says, I am pretty good. God gotta like me. Who wouldn’t like me? This faulty reasoning leads you away from repenting and away from faith in Christ’s forgiveness.

Romans 11:35

    "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?"

When we hear that question, we have to admit: No one.

God doesn’t owe you or me anything. But in the mystery of His inscrutable ways, He shows mercy, He forgives and He saves.

These mysterious ways of God, His unsearchable, inscrutable ways, show that God is God. We are not God, He is. We are not in charge, He is.

Romans 11:36

    For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory

God is God and so He is not compelled by any force or power beyond Himself. He can do whatever He wants. So when reason starts to say, “Why is God doing this? He shouldn’t be doing that. He should be doing better things for me.” Then you must abandon reason, and submit to God’s inscrutable ways. God can do whatever He wants.

And here’s the thing, you know what God wants? He wants to save you. He wants you to repent and turn to Him. He wants you to trust and love Him. And that trust and love leads you to praise Him, to praise Him with your words and with your thoughts and attitude and praise Him with your life of service to Him and to others.

Romans 11:36

    For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.