The Final Answer to All Our Questions



And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28 teaches that God himself—not a neat explanation of every hardship—is the Christian’s final answer in suffering. 

  • Written amid the outbreak of World War II, the sermon moves from the mystery of war and personal tragedy 
  • to the assurance that God works all things for the good 
  • of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

Biblical truths

God is sovereign over all circumstances. 

  • Nothing in life—including war, loss, illness, or unanswered prayer—falls outside God’s wise rule. 
  • Hope is grounded in God’s sovereignty, holiness, providence, and wisdom 
  • rather than in human ability to understand every event.

God is personally good and faithful. 
  • The promise of Romans 8:28 is not that every event is itself good, 
  • but that God actively works in and through all things for the ultimate good of his people. 
  • This applies to believers facing dark and incomprehensible trials:
  • God remains their God, loves them, and will never forsake them.
The promise belongs to those who love God. 
  • Romans 8:28 is addressed to “those who love God” and are “called according to his purpose.” 
  •  It is a comfort for Christians, not a general promise that every painful event will automatically produce a beneficial outcome for everyone.
Suffering can expose sin and drive us back to God. 
  • Hardship, including war, can be seen as a context in which people may recognize human folly, sin, and dependence on God. 
  • Like the prodigal son, suffering can awaken a person to return to the Father.
God’s ultimate good is Christlike transformation. 
  • In the wider context of Romans 8:28–30, God’s “good” includes conforming believers to the image of his Son. 
  • The final purpose is not merely comfort or improved circumstances, but salvation, holiness, and glorification in Christ.
Salvation is secure because it rests on God’s purpose. 
  • Romans 8:28 is connected with the “unbreakable chain” of Romans 8:29–30: foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification. 
  • True believers’ final security rests not in their own strength but in God’s complete saving work.
Christ is the ground of assurance. 
  • Romans 8:28 ends with Romans 8:32: 
  • if God did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for us all, 
  • he will surely give his people what they need. 
  • The cross is the decisive evidence that God’s love and purposes can be trusted when life is hardest.

The central answer

  • The “final answer” is therefore not a complete explanation of why God permits every tragedy. 
  • It is the gospel truth that, for those who belong to Christ, God is sovereign, wise, loving, and committed to their eternal good; 
  • he can be trusted even when his providence cannot be fully understood.
Q & A

Why does God allow war and tragedy?
  • Sin has real consequences, and 
  • God’s ways are often beyond full human understanding.
Has God abandoned believers in hardship?
  • No; he remains present, loving, and faithful to those who are his.
What good can come from suffering?
  • God uses all things to shape believers into Christ’s likeness and bring them to glory. 
How can Christians have assurance?
  • Because salvation is God’s work, 
  • secured through Christ and 
  • carried to completion by him.
Romans 8:28 calls Christians 
  • to trust God’s character and redemptive purpose 
  • more than they demand an explanation for every painful event.
My Notes from "The Final Answer to All Our Questions" in the book The Christ-Centered Preaching of Martyn Lloyd-Jones

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