Apparently it didn’t happen. That is according to the website, 15 Things You Were Taught in School That Are Total Lies. An apple did not fall on Sir Isaac Newton’s head thus helping him discover gravity. (It was there all along.)
The grain of truth in that account is that the fruit was part of the development of his theory. Evidently as he sat in a garden, he would often wonder why an apple fell perpendicularly to the ground rather than sideways or upwards.
That hardly casts doubt on any and all education. Contrary to popular belief or internet surveys, school is not bad. Teachers impart essential facts.
It is good to remind ourselves that there is nothing false in the Bible. We don’t have to scratch our heads in wonder. It is all true because it is God’s Word. Everything—from beginning to end. We would do well to echo the prayer of the psalmist: “Give me understanding” (Ps 119:34).
So if God tells us, we trust him. God cannot and does not lie. Therefore, we are positive. We know. We know God’s sure promise of good and God’s certain path to glory. We read from …
Romans 8:28-30
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of all,
You don’t have to be the inventor of calculus or even a student of it to understand that apples fall from a limb to the earth. If you extend your arm and drop an apple, it would not be a matter of, “I suppose” or “I suspect that it will descend to the floor.” (If only all science experiments were that easy.) We know.
That goes for what God states in Scripture. It is not, “we want” or “we wish.” It is …
We Know
1. God’s sure promise of good (28)
2. God’s certain path to glory (29,30)
1. God’s sure promise of good (28)
Our promises can be fickle. We make them, but we do not always keep them. A father can say to his son, “We will go out for lunch tomorrow to your favorite restaurant,” but something may interfere or interrupt that outing. And it doesn’t happen. And then we can get skeptical and cynical about every assurance from everybody. Not when it comes to our God. We know God’s sure promise of good.
We are headed to heaven. It is a place that is beyond compare—so great and so grand (Ro 8:18). There are so many reminders that this is not it right now. It is not right here. We groan because of things like sickness and stress, disaster and even death (Ro 8:23) and many other troubles and tribulations until we enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). But we are not alone. The Holy Spirit prays for us (Ro 8:26).
And our God cares for us. That is not something that we have to guess about, but can be glad about. Paul recalls that for us. “We know” (Ro 8:28)—just like we know that apples fall down. “We know that in all things God works for the good” (Ro 8:28).
We can pick that promise apart. “All things” (Ro 8:28). Not many or most, some or several. It comes down to that three letter word—all. All things.
That includes what we consider good in our minds. We perhaps forget that too easily. When life is going well, do we ask: “Why am I so happy?” Or “Why am I so healthy?” That is God working—showering and sending blessings on us. Those things work for our good.
That covers what we call bad in our opinion. That is usually what we think of—the hurt or the heartache. Typically it sounds like this: Why this? What that? Why them? But we know God’s sure promise of good—no matter what the situation or the circumstance. We may not get it, but we grab that. That is God, who is all-knowing and all-powerful, continually working it out like the parts of a car engine operate in sync as the vehicle moves along the road. Those things work for our good too.
That is the case as Paul puts it for “those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Ro 8:28). That might cause us to pause because our love for God is not always strong. But this is not dependent on us as if we have to drum that love up. But “we love because he first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). Our love is a response to his love which moved him to send his Son to save us (Jn 3:16). And he has invited us into his family like a neighbor asks you over for supper—summoning us from the darkness of sin to the light of salvation (1 Pe 2:9).
“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Ro 8:28). Isn’t it easier to acknowledge that in the lives of others?
[When Joseph’s brother’s sold him into slavery because they disliked him (That is putting it mildly.), God was with Joseph—in Potiphar’s house, in a local prison, and in a government position. God had a plan—for good. The Lord saved many lives during the famine as well as the kept alive the family of the Messiah (Ge 50:20).
When his good friend Lazarus died, Jesus brought him out of the tomb (Jn 11). God had a plan—for good. He glorified Jesus.
[Slide 12] And on that Friday outside of Jerusalem, Jesus was crucified. It was a dark day. But God had a plan—for good. He put our sin on Jesus so that he could pay for them all.
“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Ro 8:28). We can admit in our own life—even in the midst of an individual challenge when our question is “what about this?” or in the middle of an important change when our concern is “what about that?”. Satan wants us to focus on the pain, not the promise. If you go to an art museum, you need to stand back to take in the whole image instead of staring at the corner of a painting. Otherwise you will miss the beauty of the portrait. We remember what God states and realize that is what God does. We know God’s sure promise of good. He pulls us closer rather than pushes us away because he is good (Ps 106:1). It is only good all the time.
2. God’s certain path to glory (29,30)
Our paths may be faulty. Even if father and son strap on the seatbelt to make their way to the restaurant of choice and turn off the wrong exit, there will be no wings for dinner. Not with our God. There is nothing that gets in the way. We know God’s certain path to glory.
And God links it all together in a seamless chain—one event after another. And it stretches from eternity to eternity. And they are all a reality.
“For those God foreknew” (Ro 8:29). Before the creation of the world, God had an intimate knowledge of us. It is not like I know the current president of the United States. But how I know those in my family. And with God it carries the concept of approval and acceptance—not because of what we would do for him in life, but what he would do for us in Jesus. Long before we could lift a finger or plead our case, God did it all and placed his claim on us. That is grace.
Those are the very ones whom God “also predestined” (Ro 8:29). God put a boundary around us like we put a fence around the field out back. It bears repeating: Not because we would be sinless (he was aware that we would be sinful), but because of our sinless Substitute, Jesus. It was also not because we would come to faith, but because he would bring us to faith. That we are his sons and daughters is unmerited and undeserved (Eph 1:4,5; 2:8,9). It was that great mercy that Solomon recognized in his family history: “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day” (1 Kg 3:6).
And why did God select us? “To be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Ro 8:29). The sons of God have the same blessings as the Son of God. Our Brother Jesus—the first in a long line of siblings—made that possible. We have righteousness that never fails and life that never ends. And one day he “will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body” (Php 3:21).
Paul continues the unbroken sequence: “And those he predestined (he reuses that verb from before), he also called” (Ro 8:30). The Holy Spirit used Word and sacrament to create faith in our hearts. The same means by which he keeps us in that faith.
“Those he called, he also justified” (Ro 8:30). As Paul often does, he takes us to a courtroom. The evidence is dreadful. We confess it. As the gavel comes down, our head goes down. But the verdict is wonderful. God lifts it our eyes to the cross where Jesus shouldered our guilt and shed his blood. And God clears our account of all sin. It is indisputable because Jesus rose from the dead. We are right with God (Ro 3:21ff; 4:25).
There is one more connection in the series. “Those he justified, he also glorified” (Ro 8:30). Up to this point, it has made sense. All those events have been in the past—foreknew, predestined, called, justified. But now glorified? That lies in the future. Heaven is ours right now. But the full realization is yet to be. But that is what is so significant, if not special. From God’s perspective it is as good as done. We are glorified at the moment. Jesus will return one day to take us to the place that he has prepared (Jn 14:2,3). On judgment day, there will be a separation of believers and unbelievers, “the wicked from the righteous”—like good and bad fish in Jesus’ parable (Mt 13:47-52). And we will be with the Lord forever. We know about God’s certain path to glory. It is only good for all time.
When I saw that there was a fabrication with Sir Isaac Newton supposedly taught still, I was hoping that the fruit was wrong. For the sake of a joke, I was wanting it to be a fig rather than an apple. Like “fig newton.” Even though we are not a scientist or a mathematician, we know about gravity. Things are drawn to the earth. More important we know God’s sure promise of good on earth and his certain path to glory in heaven. Yes, we know that it shall be so. Amen.
To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen (Ro 16:27).
August 13, 2017
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