Does God decide? TRGN

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We could think that this is obvious, that God being the creator of the universe, He does what He wants, how He wants and when He wants. After all, He is the One who created the earth and everything on it.

Most Christians think that God is the absolute master, that He is sovereign, and this might seem very logical at first glance.

However, things don't quite work out that way.

It is easy to see that God's will is not respected on earth, in the sense that not everything God wants, not everything God has planned, is fulfilled on this earth in our world.

For example, did God condone the fact that Cain killed his brother Abel?

Not at all!

Or does God agree with torture, paedophilia, or the famine that still kills millions of people today?

Again, no, God does not agree with that!

Does God want all humans to be saved?... and did He send Jesus to earth to take away all sin?

Yes absolutely!

Can we see around us that all are saved?

Unfortunately not!

We could very easily write a whole book about all the situations that happen on earth, and for which God does not agree. There are so many!

So in most cases, Christians and non-Christians alike, have a strong opinion about God: some think that God endorses and others think that God allows. Whether one endorses or allows, the result is that one agrees in both cases.

Some may say to me, "But Frank, when I read the Bible there are hundreds of pages where you see God ordering the murder of women, men and children, and sometimes for trifling matters!"

I would answer you that you are absolutely right, but it is important to understand why.

Very often we focus on this whole period of the Law, simply because three quarters of the books of the Bible deal with this period of the Law. Then, sometimes unconsciously, we have the impression that this period of the Law lasted practically the entire period of the Old Testament.

I would not have time to go into details today, but of the approximately 4000 years of the Old Testament period, the period of the Law lasted about 1400 years, which is a little more than a third.

There is also the fact of quoting the Old Testament by saying "the Old Covenant", which is not correct, because the Old Testament covers several periods and dispensations. This adds this false notion which makes us think that the Law would have started a few hundred years after creation and lasted until the coming of Jesus.

So there was a period of about 2600 years when the Law did not exist, corresponding to the book of Genesis. During this entire period of 2600 years, sin was not imputed on earth, i.e. God did not impute his sin to anyone. For more details about this you can read my study called "The Personality of God". During this whole period, God only made it possible for His plan of salvation to be carried out.

Paul said in Romans 4:15 (NKJV) ... For where there is no Law, there is no transgression.

When God gave the Law to Moses, it was in order to prove to mankind that they needed a saviour so that they could regain a relationship with God and, among other things, spend eternity with Him. The Law was given so that no one could say that he could have saved himself without the intermediary of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. It is no coincidence that the period when Jesus was sent to die on the cross is immediately after this period of the Law.

Even in the period of the Law, God did not agree with everything that was happening among the people.

It is easy to see that the Law given to Moses consisted of 613 laws relating to very special circumstances, and 10 commandments that provided additional rules.

Neither these 613 Laws nor these 10 Commandments were fulfilled by any human being. Today they have been fulfilled by Jesus and have been replaced by a word of Jesus: "Love one another".

God certainly gave this Law, but He was not there to enforce it at the slightest wrong step. The responsibility for enforcing the Law was given to the people.

For example, even under the Law, God did not come to punish these two Hebrew women for killing, cooking and eating their baby (2 Kings 6:29). Yet this atrocious act was in direct contradiction to the Law.

I simply want to show by this that God is not a torturer greedy for murder, who likes to spread suffering among humans. Yes, there has been terrible suffering inflicted by this Law which can be read in the Bible, but nowhere does God take pleasure in it. This Law had to be given to men so that no one could try to justify himself. No one could live up to the standard of perfection that the Law imposed. That is why Jesus was the logical continuation of this Law, coming to die voluntarily so that everyone could enjoy this standard of perfection in their own lives.

God does not change (Malachi 3:6), He is still the same today. God is love, He is not pleased in suffering.

Because of this whole period of the Law, which comprises more than half of the Scriptures in the Bible, most people think that God still acts as He did in this period of the Law.

As a result, many people, including Christians, think that God sends judgments on whole nations, punishing people for their faults.

But it is easy to see that this kind of thought is of demonic origin, because these same people say that all evil on earth is only the result of God's judgments, and that good is only the result of man. This kind of thought makes God appear to be the father of evil.

The truth is that when God gave the earth to Adam and Eve, He told them:

Genesis 1:28 "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

In this passage the word translated as "have dominion" is in Hebrew KABASH. This word gives the notion of: to subdue, to overcome, to force, to put under his feet, to keep under, to bring into bondage.

It is easy to see by this word KABASH that God has given humans not only the management of the earth, but also the responsibility for everything that happens on it.

That is why all the management, all the responsibility for our world on this earth is in the hands of men. God has given the earth to humans to manage, and it is these same humans who are organising things.

It may be hard to think that God, being also the Creator of the whole universe, is not totally in charge of our world on earth. Does this mean that God is not sovereign on earth?

As I often say: God in His sovereignty has chosen not to be sovereign on earth.

God remains the creator and master of the universe, and this allows Him to decide who will manage the earth. When God gives, He does not take back. As human beings we would rather say: "Ok I leave the reins of this world to you, but if I see that you are doing things wrong, I will take back control just for a while to put everything back in order".

And this is how most human beings, including some Christians, see things. Therefore, as soon as they see that there is a problem, they think that God must come and take back control of things. And of course, control of things only rarely results in a good situation. So these same people will blame God for those who don't believe in Him, or they will talk about judgments for those who believe in Him. But both are in the same process of making mistakes.

That is why we often hear: "If God is in charge, then why are there so many wars? ».

Or again: "Why doesn't God do anything about the millions of people who are starving to death".

With these kinds of misguided thoughts, some Christians come to believe that God uses suffering to educate them. Others who are not Christians sometimes think that God is heartless and that they will never trust Him.

But you just have to use your common sense!

The Bible tells us that the devil is a liar and that he deceives people. His deception often involves seduction, his tactics are always the same. Through various situations or words, he pushes people to stay focused on an idea, occulting everything else. In the case we are talking about, for example, he will push people to remain focused on a frustration, an anger towards children who die of hunger every day in the world. When human beings are imprisoned in their thoughts they tend to lose sight of the reality that surrounds that thought.

However, as we said above, a little common sense is enough to see the truth, and to realise that God has voluntarily decided not to govern everything that happens on earth.

Let's take some of the statements the Bible gives us about God's intentions.

God wants all humans to go through the new birth:

1 Timothy 2:3-4 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

We can then honestly ask ourselves certain questions:

Is it God's will that all people go through the new birth and be saved?

Yes, according to this passage!

Does God want all people to decide to follow Jesus?

Again the answer is yes, still according to this passage.

Now another question will arise:

Are all people saved?

The answer is unfortunately no!

Do all people follow Jesus in their lives?

The answer is still no!

This simple example shows us that God's will is not respected on earth.

We could find other examples such as:

1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality.

Here is another translation of the same passage, a little more amplified:

1 Thessalonians 4:3 (Amp Classic) For this is the will of God, that you should be consecrated (separated and set apart for pure and holy living): that you should abstain and shrink from all sexual vice,

Let's take the same approach and ask ourselves some questions based on this passage:

Is it God's will that all Christians should have a holy life free from evil?

Of course it is!

Is it God's will that all Christians should have a life dedicated to the Gospel?

Of course it is!

Is it God's will that all Christians practice no immorality, including sexual dysfunction?

The answer is still yes!

Now, do all Christians stay away from all evil in a holy life?

Do all Christians refrain from practising any immorality?

Do all Christians live a life entirely dedicated to the Gospel?

Do all Christians live a life free of sexual immorality?

The answer to these 4 questions is unfortunately, no!

Yet God has clearly announced His will in this regard. But this will is definitely not being respected.

It is therefore now undeniable that God's will is not respected on earth in many areas.

So some people will say to me: "Yes, okay, Frank, but it is precisely because humans do not respect God's will that He is sometimes forced to send disasters, or judgments into our world, just as He did when the pharaoh refused to let the people out of Egypt".

The problem with this kind of thought is that it compares God's actions to those of a human being. Throughout history we have many examples where the Bible shows us that God is all-powerful. If He wanted to, He would just snap His fingers and everyone would accept the Gospel in their lives. If He wanted to, He would only have to say a word and all people would be turned towards the good all the time.

So do you think that God needs to act like a human being who is limited and needs to threaten people with suffering so that they can change their behaviour?

Of course not!

God had to act this way under the Law because the Law imposed it for a time. During these 1400 years the Law was the authority with these consequences. This was only for a period of time and for a specific purpose that we have already mentioned above. But that time is over.

God does what He wants, when He wants!

God voluntarily chose to keep His word when He gave the earth in stewardship to human beings. And even if they don't manage things well, God still preserves this responsibility for them.

This is why not everything that happens on earth is the result of God's decisions. God is not involved in the management of our world.

There is one element that is vital and yet very few Christians take it into account.

Since Jesus died voluntarily on the cross, those who have accepted this sacrifice for their own lives now have an important responsibility.

These born-again people, who form the Church of Jesus Christ on earth, have, among other things, received an authority that is superior to all powers of evil, including satan himself. But also over the elements, and over the circumstances.

Of course it is not a question of saying that the Church is now responsible for everything that happens on earth, but simply that it has an important role to play in our world.

If you are born again, you can pray by commanding situations to change, you can pray so that suffering, famine will stop. But you can also help in various ways so that suffering in our world is reduced. You can pray as well with your authority so that corruption in some countries will stop. There are still many areas where we can use our authority in Jesus.

Do not deprive yourself of this!

Often I notice that a majority of Christians only feel concerned about a problem if it affects them or someone close to them.

God has left us a responsibility, He created the Church so that it can change the course of certain situations on this earth.

Let us use what we have received.

Bye for now...