Who Wants That?
Who wants a god that is in control of everything? Really, would you think a god that controlled abuse, brutal murders or even stealing is worthy of your adoration? These are just a few of the many atrocities we live with on a daily basis. They are all around us and what about car accidents, cancer and weather calamity, which are also seen every day. Then, there is the question of free will? If God is in control of everything, who has free will? No one could, because everyone would be controlled by this god. I certainly have no authority in which to form this opinion, just a few passages of Scripture. Most honest people will tell you, one can make many concrete arguments from Scripture. This is mine.
The Bible says that God created the whole world and made mankind in His own image, in His likeness and it was very good.1 The Bible is 66 books full of the manifold revelation of Himself2, of His relationship with people3 and with historical events and teaching about Him,5 us and the rest of creation.6 It says He knows the end from the beginning.7 It talks about His will and how we can submit to it.8 There are even times when He intervenes in natural or supernatural ways without a specific request.9 Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights.10 To know His names and attributes is a great privilege and essential to getting to know Him.11
According to Solomon, said to be the wisest man to have ever lived, the whole of our purpose is to know and love God, to worship Him.12 Is He some “great and powerful Oz” who does whatever pleases Him at the moment? The Bible says He is the same yesterday, today and forever13. So, that doesn’t fly. How would one worship Him, unless we had access to reason? “Come and let us reason together,” the Scripture says in the book of Isaiah, “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.”14
The reason is because He is good.15 God gave people free will.16 Adam disobeyed God and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil17. This apparently stripped Adam and Eve of the glory that covered them. They saw that they were naked.18 When God came for a visit, they hid n shame.19 God then made clothing for them from animal skin and drove them out of the garden, so that they wouldn’t live in that state forever.19 God had set up all the laws that govern the universe; laws like gravity, lift, refraction, motion and sin.20 The law of sin states that the soul that sins will die.21
Like other laws, the law of sin has a complimentary law: the law of sacrifice. There had to be a perfect sacrifice to supersede the law of sin.22 Only a perfect man could die for the sins of all mankind. God sent His only begotten Son to be that sacrifice.23 Science tells us that the blood of a person is determined by the parent’s contribution to the DNA, the blueprint for one’s body.
The Scripture says that the Holy Spirit of God hovered over the earth during creation and that at an appointed time, He hovered over a legal descendant of King David, a virgin girl named Mary.24 She agreed and brought forth the perfect Son, completely free from the tainted bloodline of people. He was perfect. He lived here on earth without sin.25 He was the embodiment of the God of the Bible.26 He went around doing good: healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, comforting all who were oppressed. He went around doing good.27
I don’t claim to understand the complexities, I just believe the ancient Book. It says the Only Begotten Son of God then fulfilled all the requirements of the law and provided the perfect sacrifice to redeem people, so that we could again have a relationship with God. Considering the alternative of death and hell, the act of that one sacrifice makes Him worthy to be praised.28
There is more though. Free will, our greatest gift is also the bane of all life. Because some use it for evil purposes, causing no end to the harm and heinous crimes and some out of ignorance, charge God to have control of everything and that makes people believe He is responsible for the bad; undeserving of our worship.29
The Bible is a big book. There is a lot revealed in it and it is readily available. There are more than a few passages that indicate we can submit to God and give Him control over situations or circumstances or even people.30 Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for us.31 He will perfect that which concerns us.32 He is the door of the sheepfold and everything hinges on His goodness.33
How have you seen God’s goodness in your life lately?
1. Genesis 1:31
2. Psalm 46:10, Psalm 76:1-9, Jeremiah 31:34, Ephesians 33-11, John 35-41
3. Deuteronomy 6:1-8, Job 9:4-14, John 10:14-18, Ephesians 2:4-9, there are so many more…
4. Genesis 5:1-32, Matthew 1:1-17
5. 2 Timothy 3:10-17
6. Genesis 1:1-31, Ecclesiastes 8:10-17
7. Isaiah 46:10, Revelation 1:8
8. 1 Peter 1:1-2:3
9. Judges 13
10. James 1:17, Matthew 7:12, Luke 11:13
11. Exodus 3:6, Psalm 8:1, Psalm 23:1
12. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
13. Hebrews 13:8
14. Isaiah 1:18
15. Psalm 11:7, Psalm 18: 1-3
16. Deuteronomy 30:19
17. Genesis 3:6
18. Genesis 3:7
19. Genesis 3:21-24
20. Hebrews 11:3
21. Ezekiel 18:20
22. Romans 5:17-19
23. John 3:16
24. Matthew 1:1-18, Luke 1:26-38
25. Hebrews 4:15
26. John 8:42-43, 9:4, 10:15, 36-38
27. Acts 10:28, Matthew 4:23-24
28. Romans 10:9
29, Romans 12:1, Ephesians 5:6-7, Colossians 3:12-17, 2 Timothy 3:1-15
30. Deuteronomy 30:16, Psalm 34:7, Revelation 22:7and 12
31. 1 Peter 5:7
32. Psalm 138
33. John 10:9-10, Psalm 86:5, Genesis 15:1