Systematic Theology (part 28)

Providence, Evil, and Free Will

Last week we looked at providence and we looked at various aspects of providence. So let me give you remind you with some of the definitions that we used. One of the definitions we said was God is continually involved with all Created things in such a way that one he keeps them existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them.

So all that he created they he sustains them with the way that he made them. Number two He cooperates with created things in every action Directing their distinctive properties to cost them to act as they do.

So he is actively involved in how they function it's not just that he's made them and let them be and Or sustains them, but he's involved directly in them and the third one he directs them to fulfill His purposes so all that he has made he directs to fulfill his purposes.

Now really it's a third part that we're going to be Wrestling with this morning and I want to make this a little more interactive than we have last time because we want to Look at what it means that God directs his Creation or his created things to fulfill his purposes.

So there are going to be two things We're going to look at one we touched upon last time and that was the problem of evil. Or what's also known as the odyssey how does Evil in this world. How do we reconcile it with a God who?

Directs These creatures to fulfill his purposes. How do we reconcile those two or how do we understand those two in the light of Scripture? And then the other Doctrine we are going to look at is free will and how are we as rational creatures?

Exercising our choices in without compulsion or coercion so we make those choices and yet God directs them to Accomplish his good purposes. So those are the two heavy doctrines. We're going to touch upon today and Rather than I have some material for teaching we'll look at some verses, but I want this to be driven more by questions and the ways we Struggle with understanding this because I don't think anyone here can Say I fully understand the odyssey how evil and the purposes of God mesh together in such a wonderful way.

Or that how God directs all things and that we are still rational beings who are not puppets. So those are those are challenges that we want to see but we want to look at those verses and how we come out from them so To to Prime this or maybe even give a direction for the Sunday school.

Let's maybe just take a few moments to talk about evil so if you think about Those events in your life, maybe maybe this week maybe in this past year maybe some significant events of suffering or pain that you've gone through You can consider How those events came to be.

Some things we don't really know the source of those things. Those things just happen and something major Catastrophe comes in our lives in other times. It is some person or Individuals were involved who bring evil into our lives.

And in other times it is ourselves. We were the source of that Problem and the cause of pain in our lives now as And I really want to make this more personal so we can engage with this With this text of scripture to say what does the Bible say about this now when we look at?

Suffering and then maybe it's not just even our lives. You're looking at last time We talked about Hurricane Matthew and the number of lives that were lost in Haiti or the tsunami or there are various other Catastrophic events and or evil and suffering and pain that happen in this world.

And now the question that we are trying to wrestle with as we look at the providence of God is What is God's role as he directs his creatures to fulfill his purposes? You know when I think of providence, I I have no problem thinking about the benevolence of God.

You know how he the first two points he he creates He his creatures he endues them with properties and he sustains them so they can function how he cooperates with them in order to make sure that they can Continue to act as they do but when it comes to the purposes of the will of God and then issues like suffering and free will that's where we We want to think this through and make sure we understand it biblically.

So let me stop there. I But any thoughts I even as before we get into it Anything that anyone wants to talk about the Odyssey first, we'll pick the Odyssey and then we'll pick free. All right. So, let me let me give you some base Scriptures and then we will look at some maybe case studies in the Bible and then we will walk through this.

God Does Not Do Evil

So the base teachings and I think most of us are familiar with this is that The scriptures nowhere declares that God directly does evil. God does not do evil. Can we think of some verses that would Corroborate that statement.

It's okay. If you don't know the reference you can tell what you what you can remember. Okay. Excellent, and actually that talks about the big picture as well. Here are the agents of evil. That was the brothers of Joseph.

God did not act act Against Joseph in a sinful way and yet God intended for good. So what was the events that happened here is Joseph sold into slavery intended to be murdered go through all these evil that is perpetrated against him by a party for his wife the Thrown into the dungeon the guy forgets about him.

So there's many things that happen but ultimately when we look at what happens and brothers come and meet Joseph and Joseph Declares this amazing Aspect of the responsibility of men and the sovereignty of God.

The brothers are truly responsible. They devised the evil they acted upon it sinfully, but God is the one who Intended for good both of you. Yes, that's excellent. Is that similar to what your question similar to her?

So is it different? Oh Go ahead actually, why don't you read that? Thank you. And I think that's a direct answer to the initial question, which I proposed which is does God do evil and the answer is clearly No, no one ought to say that God is the one who tempts us to do evil or commits evil.

He is holy he Does not condone evil he and he does not commit sin or commit acts of evil now. So that's that's like the baseline right? We need to know the character of God is all he's a holy God. He's a good God.

He's not an evil God or a good and evil together kind of God. So that's that's the baseline so we want I think all of us recognize that and now comes the challenge which Murray you post which is what is the Source of evil and Why would God permit this if you will in some ways?

So the way I used to think and this was incorrect is that God Uses his he the evil that is there in the world In order to somehow redirect them and accomplish his good purposes. So he uses what's already being?

Schemed up and machinated in the hearts of evil people and then You know like a chess player, you know. This my opponent did X and I kind of know how to make that X into you know His own checkmate. Yeah, I can just turn that around and turn it out for evil now.

We need to be very careful. Okay, look before I say wake up. What's wrong with what I was thinking. Let's give Andrew. So again, we are struggling going into the second problem. Which is the problem of free will and now you can actually maybe empathize a little bit with the free will us if you will.

You know, why do they have value free will so much they want to protect our God from any hint of evil because you know. It's easier if everybody's responsible, you know, quote-unquote freeway, then, you know, God is completely off the hook, you know.

That's really what motivates a lot of these thinking but but you're and what I understood is exactly right. It's God sovereign in the sense that he decrees and we're going to just take a moment to look at decrease and decrease in the will of God in a moment.

And does he bring about what he intended or is he? Is he just reacting and I think that's the word you use tantrums and that that's exactly at the heart of this problem and we look. At the problem of evil is God just reacting to this to the issues that come and so let's maybe just go back to what Mary Said and then we'll move on.

Last week we touched upon the issue of the source of the origin of evil. So we we go back to the Garden of Eden when we see mankind first tempted with evil and then Adam-sin and the consequence of the fall on all of humanity.

So now what we see as a reality was not the case at the beginning when man Adam and Eve were there. They were in a neutral space if it will are actually in a good place where where they were created. But then we go one step back and Mary I think you were alluding to this.

There was already the serpent who was tempting them. And so the serpents fall so we go back to Lucifer and Satan his Heart being lifted up in pride and saying I want to be like God and now the question becomes God is the one who created Lucifer as an angel with all those distinctive properties and Why would?

God. Let's read that again Derek His creatures to fulfill his purposes and does the the purpose of God include? Lucifer falling and Lucifer now becoming this agent who actually executes all this and then asking us as a question is God Still above My tongue feels I Won't finish the sentence, you know some we know sometimes we think you know, it's God responsible for What was done in a sinful way and the answer clearly is no and so now how do we keep those two things distinct?

And I think There is a principle that I was reading from some some of the theologians this week that might help the way we think like as now as of now as we are engaging with the subject is how do I live my life how do I Will something I'm going to buy a house or I'm going to get married or whatever it is that I'm going to do and then How do I execute it?

And then how do I get secondary? Agents to act in order to accomplish my goal really that's the challenge that we have so we are all used to making some plans getting some people involved in those plans and then Accomplishing it and when we think of God, we normally translate it and say okay.

This is how God operates. God makes those plans and then you know Lucifer is here Adam is here and then if Christ was the lamb that was Slain before the foundation of the earth then, you know All of these were intended to direct toward a certain path.

And so God says Lucifer. Why didn't you fall Adam? Why did you pick the wrong choice? And then you know, we'll kind of get my plan in place. You know, that's really how we I mean, although we wouldn't say it so crassly.

That's really how we translate our plans and the way things work to how we think God must be acting. You know, here's what his plan is. He has a purpose for Christ coming and redeeming mankind and so here are the secondary agents that are acting and he kind of somehow you know does something to make the Achieve his end goal and Really if he kind of walk away up there is something here that happens that we just should say.

We don't know because the Bible doesn't declare it for us. How does God operate? In executing his will through secondary agents. The Bible is always clear that the secondary agents bear the full responsibility.

They are quote-unquote free in making those choices. They are not coerced. They are not in any way shape or form made to do things out of their own will but we have verses that talk about I Need to temper what I just said because I hope some of you Actually, did somebody remember a verse that would go against what I just said?

This is bad for a Sunday school teacher to do but let me how many of you don't oh, yes. Go ahead. That's excellent. And again, you know, we have that way the dual aspect of planning and then God directing.

There was another hand in the back. Oh Okay, I was hoping you'd go more you'll add you'll go more aggressive with the the Lord hardening Pharaoh's heart. You know, I know some of you were thinking you just didn't want to embarrass me so you have those verses which actually talk about God intervening and and making.

And really directing them to fulfill his purposes and actually what was the purpose and God fulfilling God hardening Pharaoh's heart. What does the scripture say? I'm going to glorify myself among this nation.

Here is this All-powerful Egypt. They thought they were on the pinnacle of this. You know the world civilization as it were here are these slaves and you know Who is your God that I need to send you out and then God comes here and not only you know He's easier to say.

Well, I just Softened Pharaoh's heart like it happens in the second after the exile. You have King Cyrus giving this decree to send the people back to rebuild the wall rebuild the temple. So you have all those things happen, but right here in the time of Moses God intended The rebellion of Pharaoh to actually showcase all those plagues showcase all the parting of the Red Sea showcase that there is a God who is alive and Who intervenes in the lives of his people and he is the God who should be worshipped.

So if you actually think about the Israelites coming into the promised land, they were quaking. Even before they were there even before the Israelites were there the people of the land. Why were they quaking?

They heard of what God had done so God had glorified himself and he had a purpose in how he was bringing this through. But then when you come back to that source point of you know Pharaoh and what happened the Bible is explicit that God hardened Pharaoh's heart.

So you have some things that are happening here. And then once again my immediate Temptation is to equate how I operate with secondary agents and how God operates with secondary agents and it's like, you know, I I Give a gift a bribe or threatened to get someone to do what they want, but God's not that way God acts in a He is beyond the ways in which we operate and he is he is we need to be very careful that he is.

He does not sin. Both of you. Why don't you go Brian? Actually when we think of sin, which is the actions that we commit evil actions that we commit the way we actually measure it is going against the Revealed will of God actually we are coming to the will very quickly here.

So if God says this is right and I do the opposite it is Wrong and ultimately it is not really against a standard but it is against the God of the standard. This is the character of God and he's a good God and he reveals his character in this revealed Will this is what pleases him and when we as created beings go against his revealed will.

We are ultimately going against God and. And so when we think of evil, you're absolutely right. It is a rebellion against God. It is what we would do that is displeasing to him and we need to be very careful when we talk about the revealed will these are what God declares as Good for his created beings to do and many a time.

Okay, I want to turn this into a question. It's okay, let me ask it this way is God bound by the revealed will that he has declared to us. Is God constrained by the will that he has revealed to us? So, thank you, and I think that kind of covers the crux of it.

Let me just take a few moments to give some definitions around what Charlie just said. So before we look at the will of God, let's look at the decree of God what God purposes. We've been looking in the definition God directs them to fulfill his purposes, right?

So what is this decree? I know you've had this covered earlier in a other Sunday school to the eternal plans of God whereby Before the creation of the world he determined to bring about everything that happens.

So how do you know the decreed will of God? That's right, so if you are at this point in time look back in history everything that happened is God's decree nothing escapes the decree of God because God makes sure they happen and what's Coming ahead you and I don't know it, but God knows it and that's his decree.

It will come to pass no matter what anyone else tries to do. So keep that umbrella and then you have two aspects under it one is the moral will. I think you called it the Legislative will and that's like he's legislated.

He has actually given this as the laws that need to govern our lives and we need to be careful when we think of laws. Because sometimes we think of the mosaic law. I just want you to think of it as the Bible, you know, here's what God has said, you know do this.

Like, you know, we can think of it as New Testament believers. You know. Here are the commands that Jesus gives or his apostles give and here is what's written in the New Testament. This is revealing what pleases God and that's why we we obey them.

No, so you have the moral will or the revealed will or the legislative will of God and that tells us What we are called to do what are we as his creatures responsible for because God has shown them to us in the Bible and Then we have the other side of the will we some call the secret will or the providential government of God where God brings about his purposes.

And In order to fulfill his decrees now the thing I want to just leave here and I and I know that is going to come A point where I can't say anymore. Is that the revealed will of God reflects the character of God?

So the reason he gives these laws is because he is good he is holy and he demands his people to be holy. You shall be holy because I am holy and there is a Aspect in with the creature and we need to be knowing it's the creature that is responsible to the creator.

In reflecting the character and the goodness of the creator so that's really the the laws that are revealed are intended for the creature to be acting in a way that God has Called them or designed them or intended for them to act now when the creature breaks that revealed will of God.

Every one of us here Just think about the sins. We've committed this week. We did not conform to the revealed will of God. That's when we sinned because if he did then if he did not sin, then we would all be doing what God's revealed will was and God's revealed will and his Secret will will be identical if all of us just obeyed what God said then that'll be what is happening and Here you have now the secret will of God where our sin.

So we go back to Joseph and the case where his brothers sinned against him or Pharaoh where Pharaoh hardened his heart and these are all Breaking or violating the revealed will of God and yet God uses them.

God Sovereignly intends them and he directs them in order to accomplish his ultimate purpose and really The challenge that we face here and I think the best way for us to remember this and I think that's where one of you When we're going is that we like to think of things in a very simple plane, right?

We start somewhere and we end somewhere and we want to make sure all the Ducks are in row and then it looks like things have gone from A to B in the way that they should. So if I were quote-unquote small G God and I'm looking at this one thread of events and I say, you know here is Joseph with his family all happy and What would be the line of events that I actually make to pass in order to make sure that this family is Settled in Egypt and covered and taken care of.

I would make my little ducks in this row and say this is probably the best Way that I as a little G God can make this happen. And then when we see God ordaining things where he brings things that break his revealed Will as people make those acts of sin and then I say well this seems like God is Violating what he has actually declared and there seems to be a problem here and that's when we have to say well Why don't you and that's what the Bible helps us with when it helps us to look at these verses and I'm going to give you a few more verses to understand what God's why God's decretable reveals his character in a much glorious way than we as Finite creatures are able to see is that God weaves these threads of how he brings about everything.

So let's let's go back to Pharaoh hardening his heart. Someone might say that's very unjust that this would happen and then you know almost like Paul saying in Romans I would want to say who are you a man to talk to the Potter?

Why how much do you and I know about Pharaoh and really just to maybe Emphasize the importance of what pastor Bob just said really the way we are cultured to We are in culture to think is along these lines we may not Instinctively say, you know, we're all tabula rasa when you're born white slate, you know, we either go good or evil.

We all know theologically that we are depraved even the babies, you know, they have a nature that they inherit from Adam but when we actually look at the execution of life We would it is very easy to implicitly bring them back in and say oh poor Pharaoh without realizing that.

You know Pharaoh was also a descendant of Adam and Pharaoh did a lot of things which we conveniently will forget. Until it comes to this one worse and we'll say oh how little poor Pharaoh. All right, let's let me stop that.

But that's that's foundational. We need to be remembering that God alone is Holy God alone does not do evil and there is no one here on earth that can be exempt from saying, you know I was all neutral and fine until God intervened in my you know.

Well insulated well, so we had a few good and that's right and in you know, it's not like Pharaoh didn't On his own free will want to do these things, but God also directs his steps in order to accomplish.

Yes, go ahead Johnny no, that's good. Yeah, I Hope everyone on this end can hear let me let me repeat that for the tape. That's in a stinking byproduct of our existence. Hey, there was there was a lot that was said there.

Just just a brief comment and I'll take your note Carol. Yeah, that's a great question. Yes. Go ahead Charlie. Yes, and I if I understood Carol, right? We are talking about the revealed will of God which is the moral laws that he has Revealed for creation and whether those laws are.

Let me just read the verse again it says in verse Why am I why is my Bible not having it? Oh, okay. It's in the wrong words. My eyes are losing I can't read the verse numbers anymore. Okay for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one so when we are tempted we don't want to blame God saying God is the one who's the source of the temptation and I think That's pretty clear.

And I think the the part that Carol was asking was God cannot be tempted by evil and I think Charlie you gave a broader definition of you know in the Who is there to tempt God there is no one else outside and I think the question cattle was asking was is this temptation?

Specific to the moral will that is revealed and I think The closest that I can think of is when I think of this verse the greatest connection it gives for me is when Jesus was born as a human being and there comes the mystery where you have the Human nature which is bound by the moral will that is revealed to us by God and the divine nature because Jesus was fully God while he was fully man and one of the Things we covered this several months ago was In in Christology we who can remind me what is the doctrine that deals with impeccability?

Is Is a peck Pecari is sin is was Jesus able to sin or? Was he not able to sin. Peccable means he was able to send. Impeccable means he was not able to send and The question and on on both sides of this theological side We would have people who would say Jesus as a human being was fully able to be tempted and yet as a man.

He would he was not the doctor of impeccability would say that he. Wait did I just say that wrong? Yes, thank you for correcting me. You know this is so good I don't have to be afraid of saying something because I have Self-correction here in the church in the body, and that's how it's intended to be.

So Jesus could not be tempted because he is in the hypostatic Union. You have both the nature of God and the nature of. You know what. Let me let me stop here, I think I'm going down the wrong path. First of all what am I saying wrong.

You have the nature of God and the nature of man? United in the person of Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus was fully tempted as we are and yet without sin meaning he was He. I'm quoting scripture so that when I'm quoting scripture You can take it hundred percent for what it is what I'm saying everything else go back like very hands and check in the Bible so Jesus was tempted as we are and yet without sin and When it comes to The nature the.

You know what let me let me stop there, right? I'll come back to you with an answer next week. That'll be a safer way to go then come back to this cattle. A great question. I'll get back to you on this as well.

So I know there were a few other hands Pauline. Did you have something you wanted to say? Hmm and again that just ties in with what Charlie was saying is that our will or His will and his willer is intended for our good that we would know what pleases God know what's and I almost this is.

Going almost into the world's culture, you know, do we have a manual for our life? Yes, you know We were designed by our creator with a certain way in which we are intended to live because of our nature.

We cannot do it. But because God provided us Christ. We are now able in Christ to Fulfill his will and his will reveals to us what is pleasing to him and what is good for us but I wanted to go back briefly to what you said Charlie, and I think I Understand the intent in the will of man that is evil.

But I think I want to also still add the cancer and the non-human sources of evil Into that larger bucket because I think when you talk normally with non-christians. Actually, I felt really bad. There was a couple that we met yesterday and they brought up a couple of events in their families lives and I and I'm just trying to think and I didn't respond quick enough.

One was I think with a juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and the other one was with juvenile stomach cancer, which ultimately took the life of the young kid and When we look at these things in normally from an unbeliever's perspective, they look at this and say well, you know.

This is like, you know going back to the presupposition that all of us are good and that we deserve Something you know, I my life expectancy or my quality of life ought to be X and if it is not then that Maybe somebody who's governing this universe is not doing a great job at it because what I thought need to happen didn't actually happen and and really, you know, even though the presupposition and the and the Maybe the presumption is actually false and maybe not appropriate.

I mean the people we talked to never said that I'm just saying You know, here is one way people could think. But when we look at something like this this is part of the odyssey, you know here is and as as believers who know the Doctrine of the fall can recognize that evil takes on how many different forms the suffering that comes from the fall.

It's not just the sweat of Adam. It is not just the thorns and thistles that come up. There is you know, all of you creation is groaning as it were until the redemption is to be accomplished so we get to see evil in its many faces and in fact, one of the biggest challenges people face is Like the things like Hurricane Matthew, you know, no one Humanly directed or all the climate changes may have an argument with me on that.

But you know, it's here is this catastrophe that takes away the life of you know from our perspective you know innocent people and then you know, where is the Providence and the government and the sovereignty of God and all of these things and we need to be very careful To weed out those assumptions that are very very easy to come into our world views as well.

And then when we have this understanding really that understanding is centered in the character of God, right? So I began by asking what were those events of suffering and pain that we faced in our lives either brought about by others brought about by Events without a person bringing them in or even our own actions that brought them into our lives and Then we want to ask as believers How do we look at that evil in our lives whether past present?

Or certainly things to come in the future our confidence is anchored in The character the goodness and the holiness of God and it is not anchored in my Understanding of how God as the king of this universe ties all those things in place.

It's I don't need to know What were those things God did in order for those to happen or what were the things God will do to get bring? Romans 828 to fulfillment in my life or in the lives of those people that I know.

My confidence is in the God of heaven and earth. Sovereign we didn't look at many of those examples. We just touched on Joseph. We can think of Job we can think of Israel as a nation through the various events.

There are many many examples we can look at and every single one of them From a human perspective. There was someone that brought in this calamity Job I I I I. When you think of personal calamity, I think Job is probably the best example to think of in Job 1 you have the Sabbateans coming in causing this calamity you theft you have the Whirlwind that comes and kills his children.

You can basically identify every single source of evil that we can think of as possible. Secondary agents in our life bringing evil in and What was it that Job says at the end of chapter 1. Let's actually read that.

So I I think that's a good summary for us to take away from when we think of this problem of evil. In verse 21, he says naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return and really that's a that's a Profound statement when we think of what that means.

It's not just talking about not having clothes when he was born. Obviously that too but not even the clothes that I have is my own. I don't own anything except what is given to me and that just sets the Context for the next line that he says where he says the Lord gave.

Everything that I have comes from God and the Lord has taken away. It's not the Nabataeans took away or the whirlwind took away or all of these things took away. It is the Lord who has taken away. He gave me every single thing that I enjoyed and cherished up until this point and he's the one who has taken all this away.

And if the words just stop right there, you might think Oh Job is very upset with God for taking away What you know he had given him, but then the rest of the verse says Blessed be the name of the Lord.

He has full confidence in the God who gave him everything and the God who took away everything as well. And really that's kind of summarizes the crux of what a believer's life is all about. It's not about or you know, should I have protected better against the Nabataeans or you know done this or done that?

It's really you know, it's ultimately in the character of God. My God is a good God. He is the one who has provided with everything. I don't think like the world. Assuming I have a right to these things.

It is the source is the source of all good is God when evil comes my way through secondary agents God is still sovereign really think about it. What is the alternative to saying God is sovereign? It's like I'm at the mercy of that murderer who came into this 56 year old woman's Home, you know, it's harder and I think that's where the Armenians challenge is to recognize that God is sovereign over Even something as catastrophic over that but then we go back and rest in the character of God and saying yes.

That event is horrific. I cannot connect all the dots and say, you know, how or why or For what purpose but I know that my God's good purpose in the end is sovereign. It is good. He is always just he's always holy he never does anything that is evil and I I stand anchored in the In the character of God and really anytime we look at evil There should be only one thing we should always go back to either for yourself so if you have a calamity in your life that is just overwhelming go back and look at The cross don't look at job.

Job is not going to sustain himself when the pressure gets high. But look at the cross when you look at the cross look at the single most Horrific evil event of all time in history. We have the God of heaven and earth we have the perfect man who never sinned the one person who says I deserve not to be sinned against and he would willingly and freely give himself and he would be willingly and With the free will of all those agents around him those secondary agents.

We put to death on that cross. God would vindicate him by raising from the dead really when we think of evil. That's really the place where we should be centered on when we look at that everything else falls into place.

So when you look at acts 2 acts 4 as the apostles are explaining what it is that has happened you with your hands Put him on that cross. Which God had predestined beforehand. So it is the will of God and when you know when we think of the theological implication of the cross.

It's very easy because we've we've rehearsed it over and over in our mind God intended for Jesus to die and yet It was these horrible men who actually committed that act and really that's the bigger picture of what actually happens in the evils.

That we look around us God ordains his good purposes that is executed through the evil deeds of those around us. Any other thoughts before we close? Thank you. All right, let's pray a loving and gracious father.