Is God in Control? Is He Pulling the Strings? - Sovereign Will Part 2

Some Principles

Yes He is in Control but that doesn't mean He is directly controlling everything... big difference.

He did not directly control Adam when He sinned. But He is in Control.

What does Being in Control means? That He is controlling everyone's every actions? No.

It means that unlike us, he determines the outcomes and consequences to His choices...

We have limited free will [See the previous notes on my Thoughts on Free Will]. We can all choose but none of us can have any impact or are able to change the consequences to those choices.

We are free to choose, but not free from the consequences and outcomes.

God is different. He can change the outcomes.

This is why He knows the End from the Beginning... So no matter what happens, He will have His 
predetermined end.

Did Hitler ask permission from God to kill Jews? Yes or No? No he did not. That is not the definition of 
God is in control because Satan did.

God is in control in the fact that no matter the collection of offenses or bad choices man has accomplished; He can rectify it all, and He can change the outcomes.

Yes he directly affects things, and He does oversee, but you must know the distinction where God in control does not mean He is controlling all of us like machines.

Learn the Difference between God’s Plan and God’s Will.
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Further Discussion:

Question: Does the Sovereignty of God, or God is In Control means that he is sitting around pulling our strings or allowing us to do what we do? Is God pulling the strings and directing the events that happened in the world, good or bad?

Answer:
  • Neither.... “God intercedes wherever he wishes..................but he does not pull every string”
  • He does not sit around and pull the strings, direct every action that we make, or just allow us to do what we do without reserving the right to interrupt or affect the outcome.
  • It is like eminent domain. He reserves the right to interrupt. He also reserves the right to take all that was intended for bad, and make them good in the end.
  • He loves to give the free gift after allowing any offenses, even if it involves many people, to somehow result in justification.
  • He allows man to freely choice, yet reserves the right to orchestrate circumstances so that man can freely agree with His take on life...
  • He allows man to suffer also the consequences of his own decisions...
  • He reserves the right to interrupt what may seem like an olam, aion, an age, an eternity, a forever event, and say ok... it ends here.
  • He reserves the right to declare a Jubilee where even if one is not redeemed with 50 years, no debt [sin] can go beyond its boundary.
  • That is His Sovereignty. His Sovereignty is eating death and decay for Breakfast, and giving life, even if he has to also be the initiator of bad consequences.
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Question: How do you explain this to people who say where was God when my son or daughter was raped and murdered why didn't he stop it, why didn't he intervene?

Philosophical Answer (Not to Be used when comforting people :-) ):
Let's look at what you mean by intervention:
  1. Stop the rape and Murder
  2. By Stopping the Raper and Murderer
  3. He is stopped in this one instance of your son or daughter but..
  4. He may rape or murder another
  5. So the only way to truly stop him is to not have him born
  6. Then his parents should not have met or consummated... So God has to stop the sperm or egg
  7. Or perhaps someone was the cause to give him a bad idea to rape and murder, so you need to eliminate that other person also...
  8. And to truly stop, you need to eliminate all people had a negative influence in that person's live... EVERYONE... who somehow, even a tiny bit, caused him to be bent this way.
  9. In fact why stop at this one rape...
  10. You need to stop all rapes, all murders
  11. Why stop at rape and murders... You need to eliminate all offenses and bad people in the world
  12. Wait all of us have sinned
  13. So To get rid of all possibility of rape and murder... human race needs to be eliminated
  14. Been There... Done That (remember Noah??)
OR....

Perhaps He did interrupt and did something about it, without killing everyone...
"And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses [rapes and murders] resulted in justification." Rom 5:16
  • The One who Sinned - Adam
    The One Offense - Adam
    The MANY offenses - All mankind, all rapes and murders.

  • That is why the free gift is so much greater... Judgement came after ONE Offense... just as we are should judge one rape and murder...

  • But the Free Gift of Grace and Life from Christ overcomes MANY OFFENSES... All offenses from since Adam.
This Christ, is the same God who prepared to die before the foundation of the world, before you were born and could have blamed Him for being a monster for not intervening.

He was the Lamb prepared before the foundation of the world, so He prepared to take the maximum pain and suffering before anyone can point a finger at Him and say he left anything left undone.

No one will be able to stand BEFORE the Throne, and point a finger at Him, with a successful accusation that something was left undone. He will tie up ALL loose ends. All things reconcile in Him, through Him and For Him."

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Softer Answer:

I remember upon Elizabeth Edward's death, on NPR I heard a journalist expressed how he was struck by how authentic Elizabeth Edwards was, especially where her faith was concerned. As an example of the authenticity, she expressed with brutal honesty that she cannot understand how a loving God would take away her son Wade and that she will and cannot pray to that same God who allowed her son to die, even when her cancer returned.

That is a sad statement. It is the classic case of why God allow "bad things to happen to good people".

And the really sad part is that you have "church folk" who think that they can make a statement by protesting her funeral.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/westboro-baptist-church-protest-elizabeth-edwards-funeral/story?id=12360153

On another occasion, An atheist in a fb group about 6 years ago had also declare God as incompetent, and negligent for allowing pain and suffering, allowing cancer in children, and the typical Christian answer that diseases are here because of sin, is a cop out at best.

I partially agree with Him on the latter.

Here is my response to Him.

" Mr. Atheist, you said 'Blaming disease on sin is not only an ad hoc response, it does NOTHING to improve the problem that the Christian god supposedly is all powerful, yet refuses to eliminate the suffering of innocent infants and children who have diseases such as cancer. As I pointed out, a human who would refuse to save a child's life when they have the power to do so would be guilty of negligent homicide'

I assume Mr. Atheist, that you are not aware that this same God you think is nonchalant and refuses to eliminate suffering, is the same God who prepared to die before the foundation of the world, before you were born and could have blamed Him for being a monster.

He was the Lamb prepared before the foundation of the world, so He prepared to take the maximum pain and suffering before you can point a finger at Him.

Also, this is the same God who has prepared the way for every human being to experience life in its fullness. He is the Savior of all men and He WILL Save all men. All men, women, boys and girls who have ever lived on the earth can be and eventually will be cancer free and free from pain and suffering. 

That is His goal.

Pain and suffering is not forever. It will come to an end. And all people including you who seem to be an atheist now, will also express his gratitude.

"For out of Him, through Him and Back to Him are ALL things" - Paul.

"Through Him, is a little messy. There is a lot of pain and suffering to sort out. Illegitimate Dominions and Pretenders who want to reign need to be Destroyed. Detractors need to be placed Beneath. Darkness retreat until there are no Shadows. Enemies put in Subjection.

But at the end of the day, Through Him, all the mess has, is and will be sorted out. No one will be able to stand BEFORE the Throne, and point a finger at Him, with a successful accusation that something was left undone. He will tie up ALL loose ends. All things reconcile in Him, through Him and For Him."

Resources: 
  1. Is God really in Control of Everything by Bill Johnson
  2. "Sovereignty" Is God in control of everything by Dan Mohler & Todd White

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