Understanding God's Sovereignty Amidst Evil and Suffering
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"One of the, I think, favorite justifications for biblical skeptics and theological liberals' inability to accept the Scripture is they cannot resolve the issue of God being good, loving, wise, kind, powerful, and the world being dominated by evil in all kinds of forms. Syllogism might go a little bit like this: 'The biblical God is loving, the biblical God is good, the biblical God is holy, the biblical God is wise, the biblical God is all powerful. Massive evil exists in the world. Therefore, the biblical God does not exist.'" [00:01:38]
"Now, there are several ways to break down evil, just to give you some categories to think about it. First of all, let's talk about natural evil, or maybe you like the word 'calamity.' We're not talking about moral evil, first of all. We're talking about the presence of that which is dangerous, destructive, and deadly, which is a reflection of that which is most emblematic of sin, which is decay and death." [00:07:12]
"There is, secondly, moral evil. Moral evil is personal, internal, spiritual, wickedness, sin, transgression. This dominates the human race. And I'm not just talking about moral evil like you heard in those presidential kind of discussions on television. I'm not talking about what goes on in Darfur. We all know that's evil at massive proportions. But this kind of moral evil is so pervasive, it's in every single human heart and is a dominating and controlling force." [00:12:52]
"Thirdly, there is supernatural evil. There is not only the evil that is in the heart of man, but there is a force of demonic beings that are as old as their creation, which would have been around the time of the creation of everything else, who are spiritual entities, who by disposition and nature, spiritual nature, are corrupt. They are evil spirits. They are liars and deceivers." [00:14:31]
"God is absolutely sovereign, meaning He's absolutely in charge of everything…everything. He controls everything. He created everything out of nothing, He controls everything, and He will consummate everything. He is governing history in every minute detail. There's not one molecule in the universe that's out of line with His purposes." [00:19:48]
"God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass. Yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second-hand causes taken away. Sinfulness proceeds only from the creature, and not from God, who, being most holy and righteous, neither can be the author and approver of sin." [00:45:14]
"Therefore, the existence of evil is, in the end, to the praise of His glory. And if you answer this question right, my friend, it will take you to heights of worship that you would never be able to experience if you don't answer it correctly, because you have a diminished God. The reason God ordained evil is for His own glory." [00:46:44]
"Perhaps the greatest illustration of this is to understand that the greatest evil the world ever did, the murder of Jesus, the greatest evil that men ever did, the crucifixion of the Son of God, was in fact, was in fact ordained by God Himself. Acts 2:22, 'Men of Israel,' says Peter, 'listen to these words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know.'" [00:56:52]
"God puts His righteousness on display by the way He confronts and deals with sin, and that becomes the very essence of heavenly worship. Perhaps the greatest illustration of this is to understand that the greatest evil the world ever did, the murder of Jesus, the greatest evil that men ever did, the crucifixion of the Son of God, was in fact, was in fact ordained by God Himself." [00:56:52]
"Let God be God and worship Him for the sovereign that He is, unfolding the glory of His own nature through wrath and mercy, which necessitate evil. This is our God. I'll tell you this. I don't want to live in a world where evil controls God. No such world exists, but that's the choice you have. You either believe in the God who is in complete control of evil, or you believe evil is in control of God, and He's reacting to it the best He can." [01:02:27]
"We worship You, Lord, with thanksgiving. These things, in many ways, are simple to understand and yet mysterious to us. But there is no mystery about the purpose You had to demonstrate, demonstrate Your righteousness, demonstrate Your love, demonstrate Your wrath, demonstrate Your mercy, demonstrate forever Your glory through allowing evil in this world and through triumphing over it." [01:03:39]
"And Lord, if we thought for a moment that You were not in control of evil, we would have no guarantee that it wouldn't appear again in heaven. And heaven wouldn't be the heaven of Scripture where there is no sin and no corruption and no death. You are in control of it and when its day is done and You have made your demonstration complete, we will live forever in the glories of the new heaven and the new earth where evil will never ever exist again because You are the Sovereign." [01:04:18]
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"Now, there are several ways to break down evil, just to give you some categories to think about it. First of all, let's talk about natural evil, or maybe you like the word 'calamity.' We're not talking about moral evil, first of all. We're talking about the presence of that which is dangerous, destructive, and deadly, which is a reflection of that which is most emblematic of sin, which is decay and death." [00:07:12]
"There is, secondly, moral evil. Moral evil is personal, internal, spiritual, wickedness, sin, transgression. This dominates the human race. And I'm not just talking about moral evil like you heard in those presidential kind of discussions on television. I'm not talking about what goes on in Darfur. We all know that's evil at massive proportions. But this kind of moral evil is so pervasive, it's in every single human heart and is a dominating and controlling force." [00:12:52]
"Thirdly, there is supernatural evil. There is not only the evil that is in the heart of man, but there is a force of demonic beings that are as old as their creation, which would have been around the time of the creation of everything else, who are spiritual entities, who by disposition and nature, spiritual nature, are corrupt. They are evil spirits. They are liars and deceivers." [00:14:31]
"God is absolutely sovereign, meaning He's absolutely in charge of everything…everything. He controls everything. He created everything out of nothing, He controls everything, and He will consummate everything. He is governing history in every minute detail. There's not one molecule in the universe that's out of line with His purposes." [00:19:48]
"God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass. Yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second-hand causes taken away. Sinfulness proceeds only from the creature, and not from God, who, being most holy and righteous, neither can be the author and approver of sin." [00:45:14]
"Therefore, the existence of evil is, in the end, to the praise of His glory. And if you answer this question right, my friend, it will take you to heights of worship that you would never be able to experience if you don't answer it correctly, because you have a diminished God. The reason God ordained evil is for His own glory." [00:46:44]
"Perhaps the greatest illustration of this is to understand that the greatest evil the world ever did, the murder of Jesus, the greatest evil that men ever did, the crucifixion of the Son of God, was in fact, was in fact ordained by God Himself. Acts 2:22, 'Men of Israel,' says Peter, 'listen to these words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know.'" [00:56:52]
"God puts His righteousness on display by the way He confronts and deals with sin, and that becomes the very essence of heavenly worship. Perhaps the greatest illustration of this is to understand that the greatest evil the world ever did, the murder of Jesus, the greatest evil that men ever did, the crucifixion of the Son of God, was in fact, was in fact ordained by God Himself." [00:56:52]
"Let God be God and worship Him for the sovereign that He is, unfolding the glory of His own nature through wrath and mercy, which necessitate evil. This is our God. I'll tell you this. I don't want to live in a world where evil controls God. No such world exists, but that's the choice you have. You either believe in the God who is in complete control of evil, or you believe evil is in control of God, and He's reacting to it the best He can." [01:02:27]
"We worship You, Lord, with thanksgiving. These things, in many ways, are simple to understand and yet mysterious to us. But there is no mystery about the purpose You had to demonstrate, demonstrate Your righteousness, demonstrate Your love, demonstrate Your wrath, demonstrate Your mercy, demonstrate forever Your glory through allowing evil in this world and through triumphing over it." [01:03:39]
"And Lord, if we thought for a moment that You were not in control of evil, we would have no guarantee that it wouldn't appear again in heaven. And heaven wouldn't be the heaven of Scripture where there is no sin and no corruption and no death. You are in control of it and when its day is done and You have made your demonstration complete, we will live forever in the glories of the new heaven and the new earth where evil will never ever exist again because You are the Sovereign." [01:04:18]
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