| << | Contents | >> |
Exchanged Glory V: God Meant it for Good
<page 219>Most of us intuitively know that this is how God works; we just haven’t worked out the details.
Many people reason that if God predestines a plan that includes evil, He must cause the evil. Since He is all powerful, they conclude that any decision He makes would be forcefully carried out by His power. This would make Him a cosmic puppet master who pulls our strings while we helplessly suffer the consequences. We rightly react against this kind of god, because He isn’t the God of love and justice we find in the Bible.
The mistake in this approach is to think of God only in terms of His power. When we do this, we conclude that the only way for Him to carry out a plan is by controlling others. This misses the possibility that he could anticipate what we freely choose to do and weave our choices together into the outcome He concludes is best.
…having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will … (emphasis added)
I will illustrate what I mean with a story: Picture me with a young daughter on a hot summer morning. I know that at 3:00 in the afternoon an ice cream truck will pass in front of our house, playing music that will inspire my daughter to beg for ice cream. Unfortunately, she has gotten into the habit of losing her temper when I turn down her requests, so I have told her that I will not allow her to have ice cream until she shows she is willing to act civilly when I say “no.” Since she has not yet complied, I decide that I will once again say “no” on this day.
I know this will not sit well with her. She has not yet repented, and she will throw another temper tantrum on this day. I consider my options; there are many ways I can keep her from a disobedient choice. I can take her to the park where ice cream will not be an issue. I can put the stereo on so she will not hear the enticing music. I can even illegally park my car in the road to force the ice cream truck to take a different route.
I want my daughter to learn and grow, however, and I know that if she doesn’t face temptations she will never have the chance to do that. So I conclude that the best way for me to help her is to show her my love while she makes the wrong choice. I will allow her to disobey so that I have a chance to discipline her, support her, and teach her about consequences. That is my plan.
Am I sinning? Am I causing my daughter to sin? Do I want her to sin? The answer to all of these questions is, “No!” I want her to obey so I can bless her. In fact, the whole point of giving <page 220>her the room to disobey is so she can learn to obey. I have a good reason to let the events of the day proceed to their expected conclusion.
We can see from this simple story that it is possible to plan for evil without causing it. Though I don’t force my daughter into disobedience, I choose a path that I know will lead to it. In fact, I have so much knowledge and control in the situation that I pretty much predestine it. After considering a number of different outcomes, I pick the one that I believe will be best.
I hope the analogy to God is obvious. He has far more knowledge and power than any of us could ever experience. It would not be hard for Him to keep us from sinning at any given point in our lives. He could send an angel to stand in our way as He did with Balaam (Numbers 22:22-35). He could zap us with prophetic power as He did Saul (1 Samuel 19:23-24). He sees what we will do ahead of time, He knows how to stop it, yet He gives us the freedom to make our own choice.
Why does He do this? He does it for reasons similar to those I used with my daughter in the story. He has looked at all of the options and decided that this is the best way for the world to proceed. He is weaving everything for the good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28-29), and He knows that the best good will come from allowing a specific case of evil.
Since He makes His decision before it happens, He predestines it. Predestination, the belief that God decides ahead of time all that will occur, is a logical conclusion based on the fact that God is all-knowing and all-powerful. If we think through the implications of these divine characteristics, they make it so He sees everything before it happens, has the power to cause another outcome, and decides to intervene or not intervene knowing full well the implications of His choice. The results may not be what He wants in terms of His perfect desire, but He has looked at the millions of possibilities of how He could step in or hold back and has decided between the alternatives. His choice is His plan.
It is helpful to distinguish between two different kinds of plans. The first could be called a Perfect Plan. It is what would happen if everyone did what they should. In the example of me and my daughter, my Perfect Plan for her would be for her to control her anger, treat me with respect, and eat ice cream. We all have Perfect Plans for those we love, and we are grieved when they turn them down.
God is the same way. Jesus expressed His grief when Jerusalem rejected His Perfect Plan.
Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Murderer of prophets! Killer of the ones who brought you God's news! How often I've ached to embrace your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you wouldn't let me. And now you're so desolate, nothing but a ghost town.
(Matthew 23:37-38, The Message)
There is another kind of plan besides a Perfect Plan, however, one that takes into account the fact that people don’t behave as they should. I call it a Real Life Plan. In the case of the analogy with my daughter, my Real Life Plan took into account that she was going to lose her temper. <page 221>Though I knew this was a problem, it wasn’t the end of the world for her. She would be able to grow to be a loving person in spite of it. My Real Life Plan accepted her weakness and looked for ways to work through it.
God’s Real Life plan for us is similar. It takes into account our faults and works them for good. We see this with Jerusalem’s sin. He used the evil of the leaders to bring salvation to all of humanity (through Christ’s sacrificial death).
…their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles…
Though God was grieved that His city sinned against Him, and though He certainly didn’t cause them to do it, His Real Life Plan was to allow it for the benefit of those who would trust Him.
…this Jesus, following the deliberate and well-thought-out plan of God, was betrayed by men who took the law into their own hands, and was handed over to you. And you pinned him to a cross and killed him. (emphasis added)
(Acts 2:23, The Message)
Most of us intuitively know that this is how God works; we just haven’t worked out the details. We know that He holds together every seen and unseen piece of the universe.
For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels — everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. (emphasis added)
(Colossians 1:16-17, The Message)
He understands all there is to know about the past, present, and future.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite. (emphasis added)
He is so much in control that He is able to determine ahead of time both the largest and smallest details of life. He determines major events, like the times and boundaries of nations, and less noticeable events, like the atoms in our bodies and the number of days each of us will live on earth.
…and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation (emphasis added)
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. (emphasis added)
<page 222> Some may object that God only knows this information; He doesn’t determine it. They would say that He always predicts, but He doesn’t always plan.
This doesn’t match the meaning of the Biblical word ‘predestine,’ which means to determine ahead of time.[95] It also doesn’t take into account His power. He isn’t just an observer of the future; He is also its main participant. As in the analogy of me and my daughter, His decisions about what He will cause and what He will allow have an incredible impact on our lives.
He claims control over both seemingly chance occurrences, like the casting of a lot, and also over well planned courses of action, like the decisions of a king.
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.
An all-knowing and all-powerful God can’t help but work everything after the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). By deciding to step in at some times and hold back at others, He accomplishes His Real Life Plan in the earth. History is “His Story.”
From the very beginning telling you what the ending will be, all along letting you in on what is going to happen, assuring you, 'I'm in this for the long haul, I'll do exactly what I set out to do,' …I've said it, and I'll most certainly do it. I've planned it, so it's as good as done.
(Isaiah 46:10-11, The Message)
Search Comments
This page has been visited 0007 times.
| << | Contents | >> |
10 per page