From, Through, For (And what happens when we emphasize one over the others)

Romans 11:36 is one of those verses I come back to over and over again:

“For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

The verse is nestled between the first part of Romans, which focuses on who our sovereign God is and what He’s done, and the second part of Romans, which describes how we live in response.

Paul pauses between those two sections of thought to marvel – and this is what spills out. 

This awe-inspiring truth that all things are from, through, and for our glorious God is a short, simple statement of what everything is all about. 

——-

From: God is the source of all things; what do we have that we didn’t receive?

Through: God is one who sustains, equips, and guides us in living for Him; we can do nothing apart from Him.

For: God is worthy of all praise and glory in everything we do; His purposes define everything.

——-

Reflecting on this recently, it occurred to me that when we overlook or under-emphasize any of these three anchors connecting what we believe with how we live, we struggle.

For example, when….

We remember the “From” and the “Through”, but Forget the “For”

• We thank God for what He gives us but don’t surrender the results or give the glory to Him in the end
• We use God’s good gifts, and even ask God for help, to accomplish our own purposes and achieve our own gains
• We are aimless in our faith, always asking God for more and seeking His help but without eternal perspective to give us direction

We remember the “Through” and the “For”, but Forget the “From”

• We ask God to help us glorify Him using things that are not good gifts from Him, like by lying, cheating, being greedy, etc. 
• We use fake fruit of the spirit, forcing ourselves to act loving, patient, etc., in order to think we are obeying and glorifying God.
• We ignore our limits, overdoing it in the name of Jesus as if He’ll just have to sustain us because we’re working for Him. 

We remember the “From” and the “For”, but Forget the “Through”

• We do not ask God for help, but try to live lives that glorify Him using the gifts He’s given us in our own strength
• We care more about good results and using our God-given gifts than displaying the godly attitude the Holy Spirit convicts us about inside
• We try to engineer our faith, turning God’s word and times of worship into rituals instead of being open to the Holy Spirit’s work

But When We Remember the “From,” “Through” and “For”

• We can rely on God in all things
• We can rejoice in the whole trinity, more accurately understanding the nature and character of the One we worship
• We develop a genuine, living, active faith that seeks His kingdom first

May we remember and cling to this anchoring, glorious truth – “For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

This post may also be shared on #RechargeWednesday.