It is hard to be forthcoming about certain beliefs because they are rather controversial...
However, I have a problem with the thinking that charges all bad things to the devil and credits God with the good. With all the bad that happens, you would think that God and Satan are having a boxing match and that sometimes God wins and sometimes Satan wins with God promising to knock him out in the final round...
This is not the God I read about in the bible. God sent Jesus to die, not Satan. It was horrible but ultimately His plan from the foundations of the Earth. It was not a plan of Satan that God cleaned up with a reworking of his plans. God is not running behind the devil trying to figure out how to make a good thing out of a bad thing. God is GOD. Nothing that happens is beyond his control or permission.
And there is the question of 'free will" and the part of man in the plans of God. Just look at the details that were in the old testament that detailed things in Jesus' life... The details about His birth, life and death were too critical to leave to human chance and choice. Yeah, those people had a free mind to do as they pleased, but God already knew what they would do before they decided. You can't, I can't and the devil can't surprise God. No one has ever told God what to do or made him panic or worry.
I don't pretend to know the mind of God but it says in Micha:
"I will have MY WAY in the whirl-wind and the storm..."
The devil is a threat and we are to wage war against him for sure. But, trusting the divine God who knows every detail of everyday before we are born, is the essence of LIFE. Read this if you want to know how I feel about that....
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2001/1181_Why_I_Do_Not_Say_God_Did_Not_Cause_the_Calamity_but_HeCan_Use_It_for_Good/
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7 comments:
I have a friend that, I believe, thru her mother-in-laws' experience with cancer and death; then three grown sons and husband came into a relationship with God.
Now, call me crazy but if she had had the opportunity to 'sign-up' for suffering and dying if it meant the salvation of many in her family then would she have asked, "Where do I sign?" O wait, that sounds familiar...Jesus and the cross?!
And how many times have I ministered unto those who are going thru something I've experienced. Was it worth going thru that 'something'...I'd have to say, "Yeah!"
I get what you're saying...
Kacy, I'm certainly not a theologian but in this article, John Piper is addressing Christians. What about the non-believing that have no knowledge of God's Word?
Piper states:
The other reason I don't say, "God did not cause the calamity, but he can use it for good," is that it undercuts the very hope it wants to create.
The unchurched, non-believers aren't going to understand this theology. They want to hear that a loving God wouldn't hurt His children but since it happened, He can use it for good. IF this should lead them to a salvation experience, *then* they can begin to understand and study God's Word.
This is just "my take" on your subject. From a Christian standpoint, I DO know where you're coming from....but there are baby steps to make when dealing with unbelievers. And, we walk among many, daily....
I'll bet I've made myself clear as mud!!
Love you, Sweet Girl and appreciate your views...
You are right. New Christians and non-believers have to eat baby food before they can chew steak. I remember a couple of times that someone said from the pulpit. "this was not God's will, it was the devil" and as a baby Christian, my mind questioned God's power. Also, when someone said that at my 4 year old nephew's funeral, it was upsetting to the family. My belief is we just simply teach people to trust Him. He is in control, He is good, and nothing gets by him. I remember getting really frustrated with people who insisted that "God allowed" bad things. In fact, I quit going to a bible study because the leader was teaching what I now believe.
Since then, it has become evident that this is part of the doctrines of Grace and something we all wrestle with...
I do think it is too much for a non-believer or young Christian to worry about at first. But, us older Christians shouldn't "rescue" God from his sovereignty by making what almost seems like apologies for God.
I think this is one of the most controversial issues in the whole canon of scripture... and I think we should be careful with it...
but, I stake my whole life on the fact that God is in control and that everything is a part of his divine plan....
Good
Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.” “Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King I tell you.”
-CS Lewis in Narnia
Amen Kacy and jtaylor!
Me, being Reformed and holder of the Doctrines of Grace, though not a Bible scholar,I believe that Piper would as well, but the thing that I know...
being from the South, aka Bible Belt, SO many churches aren't teaching True Biblical doctrines - therefore blurring and confusing the minds of all, meaning unchurched and churched alike. Those who aren't taught the TRUE sovereignty of God cannot fathom that God would allow a catastrophe to take place.
It isn't an impossible concept to understand. Like my 4 year old said just yesterday to her cousin, "God made the tornado. He can stop it if He wants to or He doesn't have to. He's God. He's bigger than everything!".
Even the immature can grasp it. If they are taught Truth, they'll understand ALL aspects of the nature and attributes of God. Yes, He is the God of love, but coupled with that, He is a God of justice.
Ones who are unbelievers, will not and cannot grasp this concept - they don't know Him. Plain. Simple.
" Do you know where Light comes from and Darkness lives? So can you take them by the hand and lead them home when they get lost?"
Job 38:42
Yahweh demands Job stop mudding the issues, and get back to basic of life, to what has majesty and magnitude. . .instead of living by falsehoods."
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