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THE SOVEREIGN DECISION OF GOD
IN ALLOWING EVIL & |
This was originally an e-mail message sent to a Brother in Christ in response to questions he had regarding the Sovereignty of God in allowing evil to exist and some interpretation questions he had regarding seeming contradictory statements of the Bible.
I really appreciate you posting your questions, but I wanted to go
over a few more points with you, if you don't mind? I am rather enjoying
our conversation and I feel it is being done in the nature of a good
spirit. I do not think you are mocking the Bible or trying to belittle
its truths, but I think you have some genuine concerns about
"how" to interpret seeming contradictions of the Bible.
> I believe that God's Word is the truth.
> But we have to admit that the Bible
> contains many contradicting statements.
The first step in understanding God's Word is that the Bible cannot be
the absolute Truth from God if it is full of contradictions. One thing
that has helped me in understanding more difficult questions is what
somebody once taught me, that all truth is parallel. In other words, all
of God's Word runs the same direction and never crosses itself at any
point. If the Bible contradicts itself as you say, then the Bible cannot
be trusted as the Truth. The truth can never contradict itself. To
contradict literally means to speak against itself. If the Bible is
contradictory, then God's Kingdom would have to be divide against
itself, being both a Kingdom of truth and lies. Jesus said that no
Kingdom divided against itself will remain permanent, but God's Kingdom
is forever, therefore we must conclude that the Kingdom of God is built
on non-contradictory statements and that there is thus no division in
the Kingdom of God.
2 Pet 1:20-21
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy in Scripture ever came
from the prophets themselves or because they wanted to prophesy. It was
the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God. (NLT)
If we do not believe the Bible as the authoritative guide to truth, then
really we can have no basis for faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.
> Solomon wrote in Proverbs 16:4,
> "The LORD has made all for Himself,
> yes, even the wicked for the day of doom." (NKJ)
>
> Does God create wicked people?
> If yes, then why?
Isa 45:7
7 I am the one who creates the light and makes the darkness. I am the
one
who sends good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does
these things. (NLT)
Not only does God say that He is the one who made wicked people, but it
also says in Isaiah 45:7 that He created the darkness. Does this mean
that wickedness and sin have their origin in God? Is God the author of
confusion creating both light and darkness to contradict one another? We
must remember that in Matthew 12:25, Jesus said, "Every
kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city
or house divided against itself will not stand."
In John 8:44 we find that Satan is the father (or origin) of evil
things, murder, hatred of the truth, and that he is a liar and the
father (origin) of lies. James 1:13-14 states that God is never even
tempted to commit an act of evil, nor does he tempt others, but others
are tempted to commit the act when they are lured or drawn away by their
own desires.
In the book of Job, we find out that Satan cannot do anything without
God's permission. If anything every happens, good or bad, it has to be
done with God's foreknowledge of the event. The Bible says that God is
so mindful of His creation that not even a sparrow can fall without His
consent, and He states that we are much more valuable than birds. (Matt
10:29-31)
Since God cannot commit or even conceive of thinking about committing an
act of evil, as stated in James 1:13-14, then we must conclude that God
sovereignly allowed evil to come into existence BY HIS PERMISSION. He
allowed evil people to exist for a purpose, and part of that purpose, as
Solomon stated, is to demonstrate His wrath upon the wicked for the
choices they've made and to demonstrate the great mercy He has on us who
are saved for not demonstrating on us the wrath we deserved without the
sacrificial life of our Lord and Savior setting us free from the bondage
of eternal separation from God.
So a more accurate question for our understanding would be, why does God
allow evil to happen? Why did God create Satan knowing Satan would
eventually fall and create Adam knowing beforehand that Adam would fall
prey to sin?
God makes no excuses for Himself. He created evil not by committing evil
or by tempting or forcing others to commit evil, but God created evil by
Sovereignly allowing evil to come into existence. God created the wicked
by Sovereignly allowing evil to come into the existence of His creation
by creating humans (and angels for that matter) as free moral agents
capable of choosing on their own to follow their own desires instead of
obeying God, Who did not choose for them to commit evil by forcing them
through His sovereign power, but they completely did this of their own
volition without any help from God. Otherwise God would have to be at
least the co-author of evil. God did not choose or force evil upon
mankind by His Sovereign hand, but rather Perfect Loved allowed others
to make their own decision.
Perfect Love allowed His creation, both angels and humans, to have their
own desires, their own feelings, their own emotions, and their own
creative ability to think. He did this even though it exposed Him to the
vulnerability of mankind and angels ignoring Him as their creator and
choosing to act independently of His will and best interest for them.
There was no fault in the design or in the Designer, it was purely the
motive of Lucifer and the desire of man to have "more" than
God created for them to have, instead of being thankful and content with
what God had given them.
God is blamed for not making people robots or programming them like
computers to do only His will. God gives humanity the gift that makes
them like Him, created as individuals in His image, free thinking moral
beings able to think and act without being forced and God is accused of
being the author of sin and the reason or cause behind all of humanities
suffering. If God "forced" all people to do only His will,
then God would fit into the category of "Evil Dictator". Men
are not "forced" to do only good and God is accused of being
evil because He doesn't "force" us to do the right thing?
Everybody wants to blame God as if He were the origin of sin because
humanity doesn't want to take responsibility or blame for its own
actions. We ask God how He could let an innocent young girl be raped,
molested, and murdered and God from His throne asks, "How could
you, o' man, allow yourselves to become so separated from your Creator
that humanity could commit such acts without even a drop of
remorse?"
People would rather plea temporary insanity or claim some faulty
hereditary trait as the cause of their own evil instead of admitting
their own guilt and owning up to their own part they played in willingly
committing their own actions.
God's Sovereignty did not "force" the evil of humanity, evil
for humanity was decided upon by man, not God. It was God who told man
how to refrain from evil and how to stay morally pure forever, but it
was man who rejected and still rejects God's commandments and acts on
his own, independent and not forced like an emotionless inanimate robot
made to do only good.
Robots and computers programmed to give a desired response through no
will of their own are incapable of loving back. Love is an act of the
will independent of coercion or force, therefore, in order for God to
have a "loving" relationship with His creation, He had to
create humanity and the angels the way He did. The potential for evil or
acting independently of God's will and desire existed as a result, but
that was a choice God, in His Perfect Love, was willing to make even
knowing that mankind would eventually fail.
1 Pet 1:18-20
For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you
inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold
or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the
sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him for this purpose long
before the world began, but now in these final days, he was sent to the
earth for all to see. And he did this for you. (NLT)
Isn't it nice to know that even before man was even created, even
before Lucifer became the father of darkness, God was already planning
the arrival of God our Savior? Perfect Love created a being with its own
will so that His creation could truly love, independent of force or
coercion, but knowing their weaknesses already, He made a plan so that
He could still have an eternal loving relationship with His creation. He
would send His Son to become human like them, and He would trade
suffering the penalty of their own sins for His divine nature and
strength to live Holy and Righteous with Him forever. Our sin cost His
Son death to redeem us, but in return God's Love for His creation gives
us Eternal Life instead of the death and eternal separation from Him we
deserve. It would be like telling the worse murderer on death row,
"I am going to be executed by cruel torture for you and even though
you are the one guilty for murdering those people, I am not only going
to suffer the death penalty for you, but when you get out of prison in a
little while I have TEN MILLION DOLLARS waiting for you to live it up
the rest of your life."
We accuse God (because He says He is sovereign) of being the cause for
the hideous acts of men, but not once has any man given his life a
ransom or suffered the torturous death Jesus did for those who deserve
eternal damnation for their deeds. God allows certain things to happen
to certain people, and He stops them from happening to others, all
according to His perfect plan. He allowed His Son to innocently be
brutally tortured for people who didn't even deserve it, but He loved
them so much.
Is God evil for allowing innocent people to be murdered like His Son or
some child who has done no wrong? Is He evil if somebody else's child
gets hit by a car and dies and another person's child survives with only
a few bumps and scrapes? Is He the reason sin and death and suffering
entered humanity? Is He the one to blame for His own Son having to die
on the cross because He sovereignly created men with the ability to
choose for the purpose of them choosing to love, but instead they
rebelled and did things on their own? They perverted their own capacity
to love and instead used their own creative ability to choose to do the
opposite of good instead. They perverted their own desires by desiring
the will of self above the will of Perfect Love that would preserve and
protect humanity from death and suffering forever.
If God is the author or even the co-author of evil, then His Son (as the
Creator; John 1:3) would have deserved the punishment He faced on our
behalf and God would also be forced to leave Him in the grave, that is
if we believe there is any justice in God at all.
But the resurrection of Jesus Christ proves His innocence of committing
evil. Satan has been falsely accusing God as being the origin of sin
from the beginning, so that men will turn their anger toward God instead
of turning their anger toward their own sin and repent and turn to Him
for forgiveness. They blame God's sovereignty for humanities suffering
instead of their own choices they make daily. Are we accusing God of not
keeping a careful watch over His creation because He allows sin to run
its own course and does not stop some particular catastrophe or evil
event? Maybe He allows such hideous events to take place to show us the
monstrosity we as humanity have allowed ourselves to become? Maybe He
wants us to fall down on our faces and cry out to Him to change us to
become loving beings like He is?
If we try to understand His Sovereignty in creating evil and allowing
wicked people to exist apart from full understanding of His Loving
Nature, then we end up falsely accusing God or accusing God of working
against Himself by being both for good and for evil. To be the creator
of light and darkness appears to be contradictory, but in view of who He
is it is a perfectly good explanation of how evil came into existence.
His love created individuals with freedom and a will of their own, both
angels and men, that both angels and men might willing love their
Father, not the Heavenly Dictator. He Sovereignly created evil or
allowed it to come into existence by lovingly creating creatures that
could choose to love Him independent of force. Countries go to war
against other countries to fight for freedom and independence, but Satan
has so twisted the truth about God's sovereignty in allowing evil that
we want to hate and blame God for creating us independent and free moral
agents, fully capable of choosing and maintaining righteousness all
along.
God clearly hides His truth in a mystery so that apart from intimately
knowing Him, you can never really understand the truth about what He
says.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Randy Muse
[ original message sent to list ]
----- Original Message -----
From: "Salt As Is"
To: Randy Muse
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2002 1:18 PM
Subject: Re: Good Question...
> >God has promised in His Word that He would provide all of
> >our needs, according to His riches in Glory. We can thank
> >Him for that, unless you think He is a liar in His word
> >when it comes to those who may be less fortunate than us?
>
> I believe that God's Word is the truth.
> But we have to admit that the Bible
> contains many contradicting statements.
> Therefore I think the Bible is like a huge puzzle.
> Actually it is not a paradox, but a big picture.
> I cannot see all of the picture, because I
> don't understand how all the parts fit together.
> We have to put the parts together, that is,
> we have to think in order to understand God's message.
> Our job is to think.
>
> I was thinking a lot, and I couldn't come to a conclusion.
> This is why I decided to post some of my questions here.
>
> >I thank Him that His Word is true, even
> >if it doesn't appear to be in the natural.
>
> I think, the statements of the Bible are simple
> and should be obvious. However, if they are not obvious,
> then we must search for the answer. Until I find
> contradictions in the Bible, my understanding of the
> Bible is shallow, because I don't see the big picture.
>
> I have another question:
>
> Solomon wrote in Proverbs 16:4,
> "The LORD has made all for Himself,
> yes, even the wicked for the day of doom." (NKJ)
>
> Does God create wicked people?
> If yes, then why?
>
> "HAS MADE"
> So, this was happening in the past?
> God did make wicked people in the past,
> but He doesn't do it anymore?
>
> Wicked people are not good anyway.
>
> Genesis states that God created everything GOOD,
> but Solomon wrote that God did create wicked people.
> This seems to be a big contradiction.
>
> I think that we have free will;
> we choose to be good or bad.
> God originally created man to be good.
>
> I cannot believe that it is God who designates wicked
> positions to people. I cannot believe that God purposely
> selects people and assigns bad roles and future for them.
> I originally believe that God is good.
>
> I wonder why did Solomon wrote Proverbs 16:4?
> By writing this, he completely messed up my theology.
>
> >We cannot blame God or say He is just to some and unjust
> >to others when circumstances may be happening because of
> >the condition of one's own heart.
>
> I know that God is just. God is fair.
> But I also believe that when we interpret the Bible,
> we must not forget the reality.
>
> When you write an answer to me, consider reality too.
>
> If the Bible says that bricks fall up, but
> the reality shows that bricks fall down, then
> there is a contradiction.
> We must not forget to use our common sense and logic.
>
> If we experience that bricks fall down, then
> we cannot teach others that bricks fall up just because
> the Bible says so. Unbelievers and even some believers
> would think we are fools.
>
> We NEED explanation!
> We NEED to understand the conditions and reasons.
>
> If the Bible says that bricks fall up, then we know
> that we must accept that fact, but since we know that
> the reality is usually different, we have to EXPLAIN
> why the Bible is not a paradox.
>
> If bricks fall up according to the Bible, then...
>
> We have to explain WHEN does this apply.
> We have to explain WHY is this true.
> We have to explain HOW OFTEN can this happen.
> We have to explain HOW is it possible.
> ...
>
> --------------------------------------
>
> >The Bible says that God is not a respecter of persons.
> >Do you believe that?
>
> Yes, I do.
>
>
> Thank you for your Emails!
