He knows. Romans 8:26-30 Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ “groan” because of the suffering we endure in the body and what we see going on all around us in this ungodly age. This is both positive and negative. The Holy Spirit within us assures us of glory ahead while making us conscious of sin and suffering around us and within us. That is a motivating factor in our life and witness for the Lord and it is also why we anticipate the imminent return of our Lord Jesus and the resurrection of a changed body. This brings a quiet holy joy to our souls while we live in a disquieted and uncertain time.
V.26. There is a sense in which we are linked with the groaning creation because of our ignorance. We just don't know what to pray for at times, and even how to pray. Our need is great as we look around us and ahead into the unknown events of each day. Our very inability to express or define our requests may frustrate us and make us despair of the value of prayer - until we understand! Within us, the Holy Spirit enters into the essence of that which we cannot describe and, on our behalf, addresses that great need with total understanding. Even further, He knows all the ramifications associated with our prayers, and with urgency and depth of feeling, He takes our case personally to the throne of God.
How great is the impact of knowing that God the Holy Spirit prays for us when we pray! With a holy urgency that is expressed beyond words human beings use to express themselves, the Holy Spirit knows what the will of God is at all times and prays “according to the will of God.” What a relief that is! He helps us in our infirmities; He helps us in the word of God; He helps us when our heart condemns us; He helps us when we have burdens to bear.
V.27. The Father, who searches our hearts and knows the Holy Spirit is groaning for a saint, knows exactly what the Spirit means when He is presenting our case according to God. We are so limited that we don't even know all that our prayer means, but the Spirit does and intercedes according to God's nature, according to our real needs, according to what is involved in the dangers or blessings of our requests, and according to the results. Then we know that God knows and we can rest in that assurance. We are sure the outcome will be for good.
V.28. This does not mean that all things will make us happy, but that they will be "for good" to fulfill God's purpose. The long-range results of things may never be known by us, but we know God has a purpose for the little things and big things, seen or unseen, sweet or bitter, peaceful or adversarial. Whatever they are, we can trust God to work out of life's events, exactly what He wants. Everything God does is for the good of those who love Him. The work, plans, and intercession of the Holy Spirit are all combined for our good. It may be for our temporal good, but we know for a certainty that it is for our spiritual and eternal good. Some things for our good are open and identifiable and others may be indirectly and unknowingly done for our good.
There is a divine purpose behind the actions of God on our behalf. God’s plans for our happiness and holiness are orderly and function in an orderly way. He knows us and created us to be for His glory and to share that glory with Him. The reason we are saved is first, He predestinated us to be conformed to Christ-likeness. Not only has God’s love been demonstrated to us, but His likeness has been made alive in us. We have been planned for and then called through the preaching of the Gospel. It is not our responsibility to know whether we have been elected, or even why. It is enough to know that we are expected to repent of our sins and believe the Gospel.
V.29. When we are "called according to His purpose," it does not mean we have been given an invitation to participate in what God is doing. Rather, it refers to us being objects of God's will. This calling goes way back to the sovereign electing grace of God. God has an eternal purpose and we who love Him are in that realm of His will to be accomplished in us and through us. His purpose has to do with a decision God made to accomplish an objective He has. His purpose is not affected by the circumstances of life that may fall upon me or any of those He has called. He will carry through to completion what He has purposed. We are not asked to consent to His will in this scripture. We are told what will happen through those who love God. He chose us for this, and by taking the offer of salvation presented in the Gospel, we find ourselves in the realm of His purpose.
V.30. God knew us way before we were born. He knew what we would be and do and believe. The point being that He knew us personally. The reaction of the person does not affect the purpose of God for that person. When we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are justified freely by His grace to be conformed to the image of His Son. He intends us to be like Jesus and so called us to Himself through the Gospel telling us of the sacrifice of Christ and the redemption His precious blood has paid for. We are forgiven of our sins and justified before God. Being glorified is as sure as the other links in this chain of divine work on our behalf. Glorification is as good as done because we share eternal life now and forever with our Lord.
His method of reaching the person and putting them on the road of His purpose was through the presentation of the Gospel. It was true that He knew us so foreordained conformity of us to the image of Christ. He saw us in the past in Christ and sees us in the present and future in Christ. With the closest possible link, we find ourselves connected to the "First-born among many brethren."
God, who made this plan in which we have a part, called us into being. When He did that, He counted us righteous, justified before Him (this is not justification by faith). He also lets us see the conclusion of this great process and purpose by assuring us that we are glorified in our connection with Christ, even though this has not yet been seen. We know this is all true because He knows this from His eternal perspective. It is an accomplished purpose that is being worked out in His people now. What a standing we have! What an assurance! What a purpose! What a future!