One of the first questions to God’s sovereignty regards
evil. “How can a loving, good, God be
sovereign over evil?”If He can stop evil, why does He allow it to happen in His
world? This is a valid question. In fact
I asked those same questions years ago as I was figuring this all out. As R.C.
Sproul says, “We have a built in allergy to sovereignty”. Let’s see what the
Scriptures say.
1.
God’s Attributes. First we have
to have a Biblical understanding of God’s attributes. God is Holy (Isaiah 6:3),
He has no darkness in Him (1 John 1:5), and God does not tempt us to sin (James
1:13).
2. God uses evil to accomplish His purpose.
In God’s sovereignty, He uses evil to accomplish His eternal plan in our lives.
The best example is the cross (Acts 4:27-30). God planned that His Son would
die on the cross for the sins of the elect. Think about that. God was 100 %
sovereign over the cross. For that to happen people had to sin (including me!).
The cross was not plan B. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that God had to come
up with a plan B after the fall. The cross was always plan A (Ephesians 1:4).
The question has to be asked, “Who was responsible for Jesus’ death on the
cross?” Jesus was the only innocent person who ever lived. For Jesus to die
evil had to happen. Well, the Scriptures put blame on Judas, Herod, Pilate, and
those for whom Jesus died. Yet we must remember Acts 4:28. “to do whatever your
hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” This was planned and put
into motion by our perfect, loving, holy, Father.
3.
Other
examples of God sovereignty over evil. Isaiah 45:7 reads,” I form light and create
darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, and I am the Lord, who does
all these things.” In Deuteronomy 7:1-2 God commands His people to destroy
other nations, which would include women and children (See Isaiah 13:16). We
must remember this was done by a holy God who can’t sin. It is hard for our
minds to grasp this truth – that God is holy and uses evil. Believers have to
trust and give glory to God.
4.
God
and the lying spirit. 1 Kings
22:22-23 is a crazy passage. Here it tells us that God put a lying spirit into
the mouth of the false prophet. Also, we must remember the Biblical truth - God
cannot lie (Titus 1:2). Even though God was sovereign over this, He did not sin.
He used evil to accomplish His Sovereign will. Again, in a way we do not
understand, God is holy and uses evil to accomplish His plan.
As Christians this should encourage us. God is sovereign
over everything, including evil. Nothing is outside of His control. So when
people lie about us, hurt us, let us down, gossip about us, slander us, and intentionally
hurt us our God is in control. This is not outside of God’s sovereignty. He has
chosen to use this in a loving way, to mold us into the image of His Son (2 Corinthians
3:18). This gives the believer comfort. Life may give us different twist, turns,
and trials yet – God is holy and sovereign over evil. This is one of the reasons
worry and anxiety are so sinful. When I worry, deep down I do not believe that
God is sovereign. If I truly lived out the fact that God is 100% sovereign I
would not worry, but would give thanks. When I complain about the weather, I am
complaining about God’s sovereign plan. Practically, believing in and trusting
in God’s sovereignty should always lead to thankfulness (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
and contentment (1 Timothy 6:6). This is theology applied.
