Our Executive Pastor preached a great sermon this past week related to the sovereignty of God. This issue of God's sovereignty has been at the center of debate among Christians for many centuries. In one sense, to be a monotheist of any kind requires a belief in the sovereignty of that Deity. By definition, belief in the existence of only one God implies that no one else is equal to that Deity. But what exactly do we mean by "sovereign"?
Does God literally "cause" everything to happen in this universe? Is evil, sickness, pain and suffering the result of God "causing" it? Or does God "allow" it, while ultimately still guiding the events of the universe toward an appointed end? Certainly God is never surprised or caught of guard by anything. That would be "open theism" - a position I unequivocally reject. But when we say that God is "in control" - what do we really mean? Without clarification, the words "in control" might imply that God is pulling the strings that force babies to die in genocides, or mothers to be raped and die of AIDS, or disabled people to suffer unthinkably.
I believe that God is sovereign. He can do whatever He wills - however and whenever He wills for it to occur. He is "free" in the truest sense of the word - able to act entirely in and of Himself without any influence to hinder or interrupt Him. I think most Christians would agree with this. But is agreeing that God CAN and daily DOES intervene sovereignly in His cosmos necessarily synonymous with believing that He "causes" evil, pain and suffering? For purposes of clarification, would a better term be that God is "in charge"? Those are just a few incomplete thoughts and questions I have on the matter. I'm interested to know...what do YOU think? I'm pretty sure we can solve this in no time if you'll contribute your thoughts (wink, wink)! Please chime in.... :)
It all comes back to free will. In order for us as humans to have complete free will, God allows us and Satan to do anything we want. The purpose being because God wants us to chose to follow him.
ReplyDeleteIn your last blog post about health care reformation, you said: "One of the dilemmas of living in a sinful world is that we are often forced to chose between the good of the whole versus the good of the few... selfishness and sometimes laziness keeps that equitable sharing from happening."
I believe you were right when you said this, but humans can also chose evil under the pretense of good or just flat out chose evil. God's sovereingty is not affected by our ability to chose good or evil, it merely means that God is God; that he is capable of completey understanding us and completely loving us and completely able to use any situation that we chose for his design and purposes.