1 / 14

God’s Sovereignty

God’s Sovereignty. And the Existence of Evil. Recap from 2 weeks ago. War in us as believers: Romans 7:15-21 God’s wisdom always wins: 1 Corinthians 1:25 Our hearts are deceitful: Jeremiah 17:9 We must renew our minds: Romans 12:2. The Nature of Our Reality.

kera
Download Presentation

God’s Sovereignty

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. God’s Sovereignty And the Existence of Evil

  2. Recap from 2 weeks ago • War in us as believers: Romans 7:15-21 • God’s wisdom always wins: 1 Corinthians 1:25 • Our hearts are deceitful: Jeremiah 17:9 • We must renew our minds: Romans 12:2

  3. The Nature of Our Reality • Jesus sustains everything: Hebrews 1:3 • God actively controls His creation • Star movement (Job 38:32) • Weather (Matthew 5:45) • Feeding animals (Matthew 6:26) • Plant growth (Matthew 6:28-30) • Animal death (Matthew 10:29) • “Random” chance (Proverbs 16:33)

  4. God’s Control of Humanity • When & where nations exist: Acts 17:26 • Who rules the nations: Romans 13:1 • Decisions of rulers: Proverbs 21:1 • Birth and death of people: Job 12:10 • People’s handicaps: Exodus 4:11 • People’s prosperity: 1 Samuel 2:6-7 • People’s words and actions: Proverbs 16:1, Jeremiah 10:23

  5. Then why is there evil? • Many of us have heard, asked or been exposed to this question. • Underlying assumption: God’s sovereignty and evil’s existence contradict each other • Is this assumption accurate?

  6. Natural Evil vs. Moral Evil • Natural evil does not involve direct human actions • Jonah 1:4 • Joshua 10:11 • Zechariah 14:17 • Exodus 9:8 • Genesis 6-9 • God is in control of all of this

  7. Moral Evil • Moral evil = sin, a transgression of God’s law • Does God ordain that men will sin? • First understand: • Everything God does is righteous and just • Deuteronomy 32:3-4 • Psalm 145:17

  8. Moral Evil • This same God did all this: • Sent evil spirits to torment King Saul (1 Samuel 16:14, 18:10, 19:9) • Sent an evil spirit to cause a war between King Abimelech and the men of Shechem, resulting in Abimelech’s death (Judges 9:22-57) • Sent a lying spirit to cause Ahab’s prophets to lie to him (1 Kings 22:19-23)

  9. Moral Evil • God controls Satan and his demons • Job 1-2 • 2 Corinthians 12:7 • Mark 1:27 & Luke 4:36

  10. Moral Evil • So, does God ordain sin? • Leviticus 6:2-7 & 1 Kings 22:23 • Genesis 12:3 & Psalm 105:25 • Exodus 5:1 & Exodus 4:21 • 2 Samuel 24:10 & 2 Samuel 24:1

  11. Moral Evil • What about James 1:13? • The structure of the Greek is properly rendered “and He Himselfdoesn’t tempt anyone” • Satan is the active agent in temptation (Acts 5:1-3, Matthew 4:1-11, Genesis 3:1-6) • God controls Satan • Compare 2 Samuel 24 & 1 Chronicles 21

  12. Why? • Everything exists for His glory (Isaiah 43:7) • God demonstrates His glory to us (Romans 9:23) through the greatest act of love (John 15:13) • God determined to do this before creating anything (1 Peter 1:18-20) • But without sin, there is no need for sacrifice. Jesus could be our sacrifice because He was without sin (2 Corinthians 5:21)

  13. Can a good God do all this? • Everything God does is perfect and just. (Deuteronomy 32:3-4 & Psalm 145:17) • Evil is not good. This would be a contradiction. Evil is evil and sin is sin. • God ordaining the beginning and continued existence of evil and sin is good and necessary.

  14. Next Steps • Memorize Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

More Related