Why God is Great - Hebrews 1:1-2:4

Hebrews 1:1-2 "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to usin His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things,through whom also He made the world."

Hebrews 2:1-4 "For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty,3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,4 God also testifying with them, both bysigns and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will."

Introduction:

When I think of great things in creation, one of the objects that come to mind are the great California Red Woods. It is my own personal dream to someday visit these giants of the plant world. I'm sure pictures don't do justice. The size, scope and age of these trees enable me to consider an uncontested example of greatness in the natural, created order. However, the distance between the greatness of all things in the created order versus the God of revealed scripture is infinite. Hebrews 1:1-2:4 will be the bridge we will cross in answering the question: why God is so great?

Understanding God's greatness in the book of Hebrews

In the opening verses above we see four distinctly great truths that provide Biblical reasons behind the greatness of God. Before I mention what those truths are, it must first be noted that the book of Hebrews is an appeal - most likely a sermon - written to persuade former Jews converted to Jesus to not go back to their former Jewish lifestyle. The Book of Hebrews is all about unfolding the greatness of Jesus Christ, and why it is He is "greater than" anything. If one were to peruse Hebrews 1:1-2:4 (the focus of today's post), the theme of "greater than" or "better than" would emerge (compare Hebrews 1:4; 2:3). The opening seciton of Hebrews underscores the greatness of our God and more particularly - the greatness of Jesus Christ in relationship to the Father with whom He shares the same, eternal, undivided nature (along with the Person of the Spirit).

With that very short introduction - we now turn to the main point of today's post - four reasons why God is great. Notice that God is great because....

1. God is great. Hebrews 1:1

2. God is greatly revealed by the scriptures. Hebrews 1:1

3. God is revealed by the greatness of Christ Jesus. Hebrews 1:2-14

4. God has engineered Great salvation

Hebrews 2:1-4

So lets look at these in short order. Firstly, God is great because.....

God is Great. Hebrews 1:1

This may sound like a stutter - however when it comes to God, greatness is not just an attribute of God - greatness is what God is. God's greatness is synonymous with His glory - that is - the display of His goodness and holiness to His creatures (Exodus 33:18-19). So much Biblical material could be cited about God's greatness as to easily fill dozens of posts. For brevity's sake we will only mention a few premium references. Psalm 99:1-3 extols God's greatness as the King reigning over His people and possessing a marvelous name. Or how about New Testament examples such as Ephesians 2:4 and 1 Peter 1:3 that speak of the greatness of God's love. We read in Jude 1:24-25 that God is so great that He dwells in unapproachable light which no man has seen nor can see. Psalm 147:5 sums up completely our first point here on why God is great - namely because God is great: "Our Lord is great, vast in power; His understanding is infinite." So now let us move on to the second reason why God is so great, not only because He is great, but....

God is greatly revealed by the scriptures. Hebrews 1:1

Hebrews 1:1 states - "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways". Per the time of the writer of Hebrews, the reference to "many portions and many ways" defined the Old Testament scriptures. God's revealed and inspired word was certified by attendant miracles, word-pictures and illustrations through various institutions, personages and events. By extension we could include the New Testament (even though at the writing of Hebrews not all of the New Testament Bible books had been written). For sake of simplicity, God's greatness is specified in the collection of inspired Old and New Testament documents we call "The Bible" - i.e "The Book". 

Like the first point, we could go on and on what makes the books of scripture unique. To think that the infinite great God, who dwells in eternity (Isaiah 57:15; Jude 1:24-25) has stooped down so-to-speak and chosen to communicate via words is truly remarkable. 

Passages such as Exodus 24:4; Jeremiah 1:1-5; Habakkuk 2:3; 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 1:21 describe the character of scripture as "the voice of God". When the scriptures are unpacked and preached (much like would had been the Epistle to the Hebrews), the Spirit of God speaks through them. The scriptures as written words were composed by the Prophets and Apostles under the Divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21). As these books were originally given, they are God's words (1 Thessalonians 1:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:13). The church is built upon the foundation of the scripture - which is described as the foundation of the prophets and apostles, with Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). 

No other book in the world can attest nor demonstrate satisfactorily that it is Divinely revealed - save the Bible. Why? The scriptures alone possess two unique qualities: fulfilled prophecy and the unique focus on Jesus Christ. In books such as the Quran or Book of Mormon, their versions of Jesus is but a footnote or appears near the end. In both of those volumes we find no fulfilled prophecy. 

Whenever we consider the Bible - the fact of the matter is that hundreds of fulfilled prophecies exist and Jesus Christ dominates the prophetic anticipation of the Old Testament and the pages of the New Testament. God is the dominate figure of the Bible and is greatly revealed by it. God is great because He is great. Since we have already been talking about Jesus, lets talk briefly about the third reason God is great, namely....

God is revealed by the greatness of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:2-14

This particular point is the main point of this opening section of Hebrews. In one of the most robust statements concerning the Deity and humanity of Jesus - we discover that because Jesus is great, we see God's greatness. By definition - God exists in the Three Persons of the Father, Son and Spirit. Of the Three Persons - the Son operates as the Executive branch representative of the Trinity. Whenever we see the Son, we see the full-orbed revelation of the Father. Though both are to be distinguished for sure regarding their respective identities - nevertheless the Son makes visible and accessible the very essence of God by way of the veil of his flesh (see John 1:14; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 10:19).

So much could be said on how we see God's greatness through the Son. Perhaps an illustration is in order, along with a short outline of Hebrews 1:2-14 in unfolding this truth. Whenever I worked at a production plant years ago, I tried learning how to weld. I never got into it too much due to other committments, however, whenever I watched others weld, I would look through a welder's helmet. I could witness the master welder and his torch at work through that helmet. The welder and the torch operated together - with the light of the torch illuminating the welder, and the welder being able to be such by means of the torch. Moreover, because of the helmet, I could watch all of this occur. Now the illustration is of course meant to convey that without the Son assuming humanity, we could never behold the unapproachable light of His Deity. Moreover, you cannot have the Son without the Father, not the Father without the Son. 

The Son greatly reveals God because He is God. He is God in human flesh.

The writer of Hebrews brings this out in Hebrews 1:2-14,

1. Person of the Son 1:2-4

2. Pre-immenence of the Son 1:5-7

3. Pre-existence of the Son 1:8-12

4. Power of the Son 1:13-14

So much more could be said, but we must hasten. God is great because God is great (1:1); greatly revealed by scripture (1:1) and revealed by the greatness of the Son (1:2-14). Now let's consider one more reason why God is great...

God engineered great salvation. Hebrews 2:1-4

Hebrews 2:3 states - "how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard." Here is a question? What makes salvation so great? Without a doubt there are great benefits (forgiveness Ephesians 1:7; peace Romans 5:1; reconciliation 2 Corinthians 5:15-21; hope Ephesians 2:12-13; Romans 5:5). Furthermore, salvation is great due to the change wrought in our hearts (2 Cor 5:17) and the promise of an eternal home (John 14:1-3). Yet, unless our salvation brings us to God - it is not so great. The whole point of the opening of Hebrews is to show that God is the "point A" of salvation, with us being at "point B" and Jesus Christ being the only line that connects the two. Lest we "connect points 'A' and 'B' with Jesus, there is no great salvation. Salvation's greatness is due to the great God that engineered it. The Father planned it; the Son provided it and the Spirit applies it. God is involved from eternity past in the choosing of the believer to the sending of the Son to achieve it on the cross in history. The present reality of salvation is applied by the Spirit to all who believe as a result of responding to His calling in saving faith. 

1 Peter 3:18 states - "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to deathin the flesh, but made alive in the spirit." So many other texts speak of the greatness of God revealed through the greatness of salvation. Salvation is not only viewed as referring to the salvation and reconciliation of believers to God, but the restoration and transformation of the created order (Romans 8:21-25). This of course does not mean that there will be universal salvation, but what it does entail is the bringing about of a New Heavens and Earth at Christ's appearing (2 Peter 3:13) as well as all those who by grace through faith believed on Him.

Conclusion:

I feel like today's post was a thumbnail sketch as to why God is so great. Nonetheless, I hope the reader comes away in awe of God. God is great because....

1. God is great. Hebrews 1:1

2. God is greatly revealed by the scriptures. Hebrews 1:1

3. God is revealed by the greatness of Christ Jesus. Hebrews 1:2-14

4. God has engineered Great salvation

Hebrews 2:1-4

The importance of thankfulness in the Christian walk

Colossians 3:16-17 "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymnsand spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, doall in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father."

Introduction
We ought to be thankful not just once a year, but every day of our lives. As a Christian, I find that when I am giving thanks to the Lord, there is more than enough contentment with Him no matter what is happening in my life. Today's post features the importance of giving thanks to God in all things. 

To begin, I find it interesting that Paul mentions thankfulness twice in these two verses. Notice the contexts in which we find this vital expression. In Colossians 3:16 we see thankfulness as a vital part of the corporate life of the local body of saints. When a church is exercising thankfulness, rather than grumbling, there will be a church that consistently experiences fulfillment. But then notice where else we find thankfulness - in activities outside the local church. In Colossians 3:17 Paul expands the Christian's life of thanksgiving to include "all things" do in the name of Jesus. Why? Because the greatest way in which we can be effective Christian witnesses is when we are demonstrating our fulfillment in Jesus Christ. 

Why is it that Paul mentions thankfulness twice? Could it be because we live in a thankless world that refuses to acknowledge the Creator of this universe who sent His co-equal Son to live, die, raise from the dead and ascend on behalf of it, and especially those who by grace through faith believe on Him? Romans 1:21 notes: "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened."

Giving thanks like Jesus
When we give thanks as followers of Jesus Christ, we are directly positioning ourselves to glean from the sufficiency that is only found in Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we find that in scanning through the four Gospels, Jesus Himself was often found giving thanks:

Matthew 15:36 "and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people."


Matthew 26:27 "And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you."

Mark 8:6 "And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the people."

Mark 14:23 "And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it."

Luke 22:17 "And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves."

Luke 22:19 "And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

John 6:11 "Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted."

John 6:23 "There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks."

Giving thanks is the outcome of surrender to Christ's Lordship, being Spirit-filled and filled with the Word
As you journey throughout the rest of the New Testament, wherever emphasis is placed upon Christ's Lordship, the Spirit-filled life or taking in the scriptures - there you will find some reference to being thankful. For example, 1 Timothy 2:1 states - "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men." Or consider what we read in Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Other scriptures too speak on the importance of thanksgiving as marking those who are surrendered to Christ's Lordship, filled with the Spirit and filled with the Word. (1 Corinthians 10:31) If you want to ensure that you are in the known will of God and are experiencing fulfillment, give thanks to God. 

I close with the following clear instruction from 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." May all readers of this post have a blessed Thanksgiving day and let us all be thankful to the Lord every day of our lives.

P4 - Aiming to better understand the existence of God in a world of evil and suffering - God's glory

Habakkuk 3:2 "Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear.O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy."

Introduction and Review:

These past few posts have been dedicated to offering a Christian understanding of evil and suffering in the world.  Dr. William Lane Craig's reformulation of the classic moral argument for God's existence has been used as a basis for our posts:

If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist

Evil exists

Objective moral values and duties exist

Therefore God exists

In ways we can never fully comprehend but nonetheless must acknowledge - evil's existence does not negate the reality of God's existence. The whole contention has been that God, though not being the author of evil, has morally sufficient reasons for will to permit such. 

We have proposed four key Biblical themes to aid in our exploration of this difficult subject:

1. Providence

2. Evil

3. The Cross

4. Glory

Thus far we have explored the first three, with "the cross" shedding light on how there is no conflict between the understanding of a world governed by the Sovereign God of Providence and the presence and persistence of evil in this world.  Today's post is going to conclude this series by showing the purpose for which evil and suffering are included in God's Sovereign purposes: God's glory.  As we consider this theme of God's glory, we will once more consider the prophet who faced the problem of evil head-on - Habakkuk.

God's ultimate will is to demonstrate His glory

So what is the highest good? How one answers that question determines how one will approach the problem of evil and suffering in this world. According to Habakkuk, and so many other Biblical authors, the highest good, and thus the chief purpose as to why God would will to permit evil in the world is His glory.  Habakkuk's book is about a discouraged and disgruntled prophet complaining to God about the sinfulness of his nation. God's answer surprises, initially confounds and even a times causes great fear in the prophet.  

However we see Habakkuk not holding bitterness against God. Why? Because He sees that though we may not understand all of God's ways, the character of God and the purposes for which He does thing are never in conflict.  God's glory is found thoughout Habakkuk's book:

1. Habakkuk 1:12 "Are You not from everlasting,O Lord, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die. You, O Lord, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct."

2. Habakkuk 2:14 “For the earth will be filledWith the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea."

3. Habakkuk 3:18-19 "Yet I will exult in the Lord,I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord God is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places."

God's glory, through the cross, is the greatest way we can get through pain and suffering

Just as we saw how the cross enables us to make sense as to why God in His Providence would will to allow evil and suffering in this world, the cross also enables us to find great comfort in the glory of God.  Chuck Swindoll notes: "The Sovereignty of God may not answer all of my questions, but it does relieve me of all my fears."  Saints of God in the pages of holy scripture found such comfort in knowing that all of the suffering we go through and the injustice that pervades our world will ultimately be dealt with and that God as a purpose. 

Perhaps no book outside the Bible has made the strong case for God's glory being the grand purpose for creation, salvation and thus answering the question: "why evil" as Jonathan Edwards' book: "A dissertation concerning the end for which God created the world." Note this excerpt from what he writes: "The glory of God is spoken of in Holy Scripture as the last end for which those parts of the moral world that are good were made."

Whenever you consider the fact that there is no greater good than God's glory, then you realize how it could be God would choose to use evil and suffering to somehow accomplish such a purpose.  Again the glory of His love shown through the cross is the clearest evidence for this hard to understand truth.  Habakkuk was able to cope and navigate through his struggle over God's usage of the Babylonians to punish Judah and Jerusalem. 

Again consider what he writes in Habakkuk 3:16-19 "I heard and my inward parts trembled, At the sound my lips quivered.
Decay enters my bones, And in my place I tremble.  Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us.  17 Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls,
18 Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. 19 The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments."

Closing thoughts and summary

Habakkuk saw the Providence of God at work in the life of his nation, and God's choice to use the ruthless Babylonian empire certain caused Habakkuk to struggle.  Yet he saw what we would know to be a prophetic glimpse of the cross, as seen in Habakkuk 2:4.  In understanding through God's redemptive purposes could bring about a better understanding of how God's providence and evil could be at work in the same world without cancelling out God's existence or evil's reality, what was needed was the purpose for it all.  Habakkuk concludes by rejoicing over the glory of God. 

P3 Aiming to better understand God's existence in a world of evil and suffering - the cross

Habakkuk 2:4 “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.

Introduction and Review:
These past couple of days have been dedicated to developing a Christian response to evil and suffering. We saw a couple of days ago that when we reformulate the problem of evil into what has been the moral argument for God's existence, we discover that unless there is an all-powerful, all good God, evil cannot be considered a "problem". That is to say, unless there is such a thing as objective moral values, then on Atheism and worldviews like it, evil and good have no way of being distinguished. Only Christian theism can consistently address this issue - even though no one claims to have comprehensive understanding of God's moral sufficient reasons for allow evil to persist in our world. 

We have proposed four key ideas that aid us in navigating this very difficult issue: Providence, Evil, The Cross and Glory.  So far we have looked at the first two of those ideas.  Normally when one reads a typical treatment on this subject of offering a response to evil and suffering, very few spend a whole lot of time on the cross.  Yet without the cross, not only can't a Christian view be developed, but making any sense of why there is evil and suffering in a world ruled by a Sovereign, Good and All-powerful God cannot be achieved. 

Why God's Providence and the existence of evil can only make sense when we consider the cross of Jesus
Tim Keller in his book: "Walking with God through Pain and Suffering", page 119-120, notes: "The book of Job rightly points to human unworthiness and finitude, and calls for complete surrender to the Sovereignty of God. But taken by itself the call might seem more than the sufferer could bear.  Then the New Testament comes filled with an unimaginable comfort for those who are trusting in God's Sovereignty. The sovereign God himself has come down into this world and has experienced its darkness. He has personally drunk the cup of its suffering down to the dregs. And he did it not to justify himself but to justify us, to bear the suffering, death and curse for sin that we have earned."

As you study the pages of scripture, you discover that before the creation of the world, God had already planned the cross.  It is this author's contention that if we are to truly make any sense of the presence of evil and suffering, we must begin and end with the cross.  The cross all at once was the most unimaginable demonstration of the evil of men and the most magnificent demonstration of the love of God.  Further thought would contend that the whole of creation revolves around the revelation of God in human flesh and the particular events of the cross and resurrection. 

Mapping out God's plan for redemption, then creation, and ultimately recreation.
Where do we find evidence in the Bible that the cross was planned before creation? Consider the following verses:

1). John 1:29 "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"


2). Luke 22:22 "For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”

3). Acts 2:23 "this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death."

4). Acts 3:18 "But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled."

5). Acts 4:28 "to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur."

6). 1 Peter 1:20 "For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you."

7). Revelation 13:8 "All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."

From surveying other scripture, we understand that the cross was an agreed upon plan or covenant of redemption between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Passages such as Ephesians 1:1-14; 1 Timothy 1:9 and Titus 1:2 indicate that the Father planned redemption, the Son agreed to purchase it by becoming a man and shedding blood and the Holy Spirit agreed to apply it to all Whom He calls according to the Father purposes of grace, repents and believes.

The cross shaped what particular kind of history was going to come forth once God said: "let there be light" in Genesis 1.  With creation underway, God made beings who could choose.  Those beings chose against Him.  Despite willing to permit the fall, God already had in mind to graciously redeem our fallen parents and thus begin the process of redeeming fallen human beings who by His grace trust in Jesus.

The goal of creation, and its subsequent fall, includes there being a point when God will restore the creation that was lost.  All who have by grace through faith believed on Christ will be included in the glorious recreation - called in Revelation 21-22 the "New Heavens and the New Earth."

The black cloth that is evil and suffering is used by God to show forth His glorious redemptive purposes.  Two passages in Romans bear out this marvelous truth of how the cross gives us clarity to navigate through this difficult issue of evil and suffering.
Romans 3:24-26 "being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."

Then we see Romans 8:20-21 "For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." Personally I think this passage brings us the closest we will ever get to answering the big "why question" (i.e. "why evil"). The cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the redemptive purposes of God are at the heart of this answer. 

Again Tim Keller in his book: "Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering", page 121, notes: See what this means? Yes, we do not know the reason God allows evil and suffering to continue, or why it is so random, but now at least we know what reason it is not. It cannot be that he does not love us. It cannot be that he does not care. He is so committed to our ultimate happiness that he was willing to plunge into the greatest depths  of suffering. He understands us, he has been there, and he assures us that he has a plan to eventually wipe away every tear. Someone might say, "but that's only half an answer to the question why? Yes, but it is the half we need."

Closing out with the prophet Habakkuk's central statement of "The Just shall live by faith"
The verse we quoted at the beginning of this post shows us how Habakkuk began coping with all that God was revealing to Him.  Habakkuk 2:4 is among the most frequently quoted passages in the New Testament.  When that verse is quoted, it is quoted in the context of the unfolding of saving faith in the gospel. Consider two examples: Romans 1:17 "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” Galatians 3:11 "But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” In the Gospel we find the only solution to our sin and the only solution we can offer to a hurting world that is suffering.  The very God Whom unbelieving man rails against and accuses is the very One who sent His Son to suffer and provide the only grounds upon which the believing sinner can be declared innocent of all accusation.  

P2 - Aiming to better understand the existence of God in a world of evil and suffering - What is evil?

Habakkuk 1:1-4 "The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.2 How long, O Lord, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save. 3 Why do You make me see iniquity, And cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises.4 Therefore the law is ignored And justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted."

Introduction & Review
Yesterday we began a series on developing a Christian understanding of the problem of evil and suffering.  The basis for this study is the Book of Habakkuk.  The reason for choosing this book of the Bible is because Habakkuk deals head-on with this very difficult issue of evil and suffering.  In yesterday's post we proposed four terms to aid us in this study: Providence, Evil, The Cross and Glory.  So far we have explored God's Providence and how it is He can will to allow evil to exist without being the Author of it.  It is worth citing some scriptures that emphasize God not being the Author of evil and suffering before moving on, as well as seeing how He is in Providential control of all things.

1. God is Good and is not the source of Evil.
1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."

James 1:13 "Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone."

2. God wills to permit evil and uses the moral evil of creatures to accomplish His purposes
Amos 3:6 If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?  

Isaiah 45:7 "The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity, I am the Lord who does all these.

Acts 2:23-24 "this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24 But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power."

3. God is Sovereign, exercising Providential control over all things - good and evil
Genesis 50:20 "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive."

Deuteronomy 8:3 "He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord."

Romans 8:28 "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

With those passages capturing more of what we looked at yesterday, we will now head into the proverbial lion's den and consider what exactly is evil.

What is meant by "evil"
When we consider the Bible's presentation of the subject of evil and suffering, we are introduced to its beginnings in the hearts of two key figures.  The first is Lucifer, an archangel who would rebel in Heaven to become Satan. (Ezekiel 28). Lucifer's rebellion seduced 1/3 of the angelic realm to rebel against God, with some losing their places, some being chained in reserve for judgment and still others being allowed to roam freely on the earth. (2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 12:7) Satan appears in the garden in Genesis 3 to wreck havoc upon the second key figure: Adam. 

Romans 5:19 states "For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous." By the original Adam's rebellion, all were consigned to the curse of sin. 

Did God know that such treachery would occur? Yes.  Did God in His providence include the fall? Scripture indicates that He did, being that the cross (which will be the focus of tomorrow's post) was ordained in eternity before creation. (Acts 2:23-24; Revelation 13:8).  Did God cause Satan or Adam to fall? No. Any fault, choice to do evil or failure to grasp the grace of God lies in the bosom of the creature.   Lucifer was in a perfect heaven and failed. Adam was in a perfect garden and rebelled.  Every grace was available to them.  How could they had done it? Scripture does not say - except to say that they chose to do it. 

Evil has been described as being likened to "rot" in wood or those spoilages that occur in fruit or vegetables.  In doing words studies on "evil" and "sin", such meanings emerge like "falling short", "trespassing", "stumbling" and "law-breaking".

The best response to evil and suffering is not to attain full understanding of why it happens, but to trust in the Goodness and Providence of God
As you turn to Habakkuk's prophecy once again in Habakkuk 1:5-6  “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder!
Because I am doing something in your days—You would not believe if you were told. 6 “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
That fierce and impetuous people
Who march throughout the earth
To seize dwelling places which are not theirs." Habakkuk's response in 1:13 tells us something very important about evil and God's providence: "Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You can not look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they?"

What we discover in this chapter of Habakkuk is God's plan to use a more wicked people than those whom Habakkuk complained about (his own people).  Habakkuk wanted a solution - God tells him what He is going to do - and now Habakkuk expresses bewilderment.  But then we see him settle down and respond by faith in Habakkuk 2:1 "I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, And how I may reply when I am reproved."  Habakkuk teaches us that it is not comprehension of the "why" question that is going to sustain us through evil and suffering, but rather faith in trusting that God in His Providence knows exactly what He is doing.  Habakkuk 2:4 says it all - “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith."

Coping with the problem of evil and suffering in a world ruled by God's providence
In Tim Keller's book: "Walking with God through Pain and Suffering" pages 109-110, he recounts the testimony of a woman named Mary who endured much suffering and hardship in her life.  Her statement is worth quoting in bringing understanding on evil's reality in a world ruled by providence: 


"What I discovered about heartaches and problems, especially the ones that are way beyond what we can handle, is that maybe those are the problems He does permit precisely because we cannot handle them or the pain and anxiety they cause. But He can. I think He wants us to realize that trusting Him to handle situations is actually a gift. His gift of peace to us in the midst of the craziness. Problems don't disappear and life continues, but He replaces the sting of those heartaches with hope, which has been an amazing realization."

In scriptures such as Genesis 50:20 and Romans 8:28, we learn a principle that many times is difficult to accept but is nonetheless true: God permits what He hates in order to accomplish the good He intends.  To understand that evil is included in God's providential plan is crucial, since the only other alternative is to believe evil and suffering are random.  Furthermore, God's providential control not only speaks of a purposeful universe, but one that is also moral. Habakkuk's consolation was found in trusting in God's purposes, even if he did not fully understand them.  The revelation of God's words soothed Habakkuk's soul.

Conclusion:

We have thus far considered God's providence and the reality of evil. There is yet another theme which will be the focus of tomorrow's post that if not considered in the whole scheme of things, will render any hope of developing a Christian understanding of evil and suffering impossible. That theme is "the cross".

P1 - Aiming to better understand the existence of God in a world full of evil and suffering - God's Providence

Habakkuk 1:1-4 "The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw. 2 How long, O Lord, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save. 3 Why do You make me see iniquity, And cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises. 4 Therefore the law is ignored And justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted."

Introduction:
Worldviews such as Atheism, Agnosticism, Naturalism and others cannot explain nor provide the underpinnings for objective moral values and duties. We can note the following moral argument for God's existence as articulated by Dr. William Lane Craig:

If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties don't exist

Objective moral values and duties exist

Therefore God exists

At this point the skeptic may shoot back and say: "but what about evil and suffering in this world? Does not the abundance of evil, pain and sadness overturn the moral argument for God's existence?" Surprisingly, in using Dr. Craig's same argument, we can add an additional premise that still shows that evil does not negate the existence of God. How? The all Good, all powerful God of the Bible has morally sufficient reasons for willing to permit evil in our world. I heard Dr. Craig one time put it this way:

If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties don't exist

Evil exists 

Objective moral values and duties exist


Therefore God exists

Though God is not the author of evil and suffering, He does for morally sufficient reasons will to permit it to run its course. In the next several posts, this blogger will attempt to show from the Biblical worldview how we can reconcile the reality of evil on the one hand and advocate the existence of the God of the Bible on the other hand.  

The Book of Habaukkuk and the problem of evil

If there is any book of the Bible that takes on the problem of evil and suffering - it is Habakkuk.  The prophet asks a question I am sure we have all ask: "Why Lord?" At the time of Habakkuk's prophecy, the city of Jerusalem, capital of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, had experienced a mighty revival and series of reforms under King Josiah.  2 Kings 22-23 gives the background for all that took place. Following what was the final revival and glimmer of hope for a nation steeped in sin, Josiah dies and his son takes over the throne in Jerusalem. Whatever reforms and revival had taken place under Josiah were wiped clean by his son Jehoahaz's brief and reckless regime. Egypt invaded the land and the Pharaoh of that day imprisoned the wicked new king, replacing him with his even more wicked brother Jehoiakim.


If would not be long until Jerusalem and its surrounding inhabitants would be taken away into exile to Babylon, with the temple being burned and the flame of hope in Jerusalem being extinguished. 


It is in the midst of these circumstances that The Holy Spirit prompts Habakkuk to write his prophecy.  Stirred up by the hypocrisy, failure and wickedness of his fellow Jews and the sheer shock of the actions performed by Jerusalem's wicked kings, Habakkuk vents his anger. In the opening of his prophecy he begins with a question: "how long, O Lord, will I call for help?"  


What follows is God's conversation with Habakkuk of not only how He is going to deal with the injustice in the nation, but also how through the usage of the even more wicked empire of Babylon, God is somehow going to bring about redemption and restoration. 

When dealing with the problem of evil and suffering, we often find answers we don't want to  questions we don't know how to ask.  Through it all God finds us, which in turn leads us to find Him in the darkness of our night and the pain of our heart.  Such situations are how He brings about healing and redemption. 

I want to briefly lay out four themes we see in this prophecy that can aid us in grappling with the problem of evil and suffering: Providence, Evil, Redemption & Glory.  We will deal with the first one: Providence.



Providence and the presence of evil in our world
What is providence? Providence is how God guides and directs history, circumstances and human beings to His intended ends.  The Baptist Confession of 1689 gives this definition of God's Providence: "God the good Creator of all things, in His infinite power and wisdom, upholds, directs, disposes and governs all creatures and things, from the greatest to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, to the end for which they were created."


So in accords to this definition, God has ends or purposes and uses means or instruments to accomplish those ends.  By His own character of wisdom and unending power, God directs the course of every affair.  The 1689 Baptist confession continues by noting two implications of this statement:

1. God governs according to His infallible foreknowledge and the free and unchanging counsel of His own will;

2. for the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, boundless goodness, and mercy.



So we see how God exercises His providence - by way of His unending knowledge of all things.  Then we see the chief purpose for which He exercises His will - His glory. 

It is with a high view of God in His providence we see statements such as Habakkuk 1:12 of God being "from everlasting".  Certainly the purpose of God's Providence to accomplish His glory is spelled out in Habakkuk 2:14 “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea."

Without a doubt Habakkuk retains this high view of God reigning in Providence.  Yet the issue of the presence of evil and suffering in history is raised by the prophet as well.  How can it be that an all-powerful, all knowing God could allow evil to not merely exist, but flourish in Jerusalem, in the world and in the lives of individuals?

Again the Baptist Confession of 1689 aids us in verbalizing a response: "The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God so far manifest themselves in His providence, that His determinate counsel extends even to the first fall, and all other sinful actions of both angels and men."  Did Adam and Eve's rebellion in the garden of Eden surprise God? No.  God's purposes included His willing to permit the fall and even the entry of sin into the creation by Satan's pride and deception - all the while not being the Author nor coercer of their evil choices. 

The Baptist Confession of 1689 lays out the following  explanation: 

1. This is not merely by a bare permission, but by a form of permission in which He included the most wise and powerful limitations, and other means of restricting and controlling sin. These various limitations have been designed by God to bring about his most holy purposes.

2. Yet, in all these affairs, the sinfulness of both angels and men comes only from them and not from God, Who is altogether holy and righteous, and can never be the author or approver of sin.

Thus as a good and wise cardiologist needs to medically break a person's rib cage to access a diseased heart, so then does God, to some reasons revealed in scripture but in most cases not told to us, choose to use the presence of evil to accomplish His most excellent ends. In other words - God has morally sufficient reasons for willing to allow evil in the creation. 

More in the next post....

Who or what determines morality? Each culture? Each person? or God?

Matthew 19:17 "And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Introduction:

The above verse is an excerpt from a conversation Jesus had with a young man - a religiously upright, successful figure in the community - about questions pertaining to salvation. The young man - or rich young ruler - is confident in his own standards of goodness and regards Jesus in seemingly high regard. What Jesus does is dismiss the would-be questioner's personal scale of "goodness" by asking him why he would regard Jesus as "good". On any human scale, Jesus was perfect. What Jesus is trying to reveal to the rich-young ruler is that there is only one standard by which to measure all other standards of "good" - namely God. By the time the conversation is through - the rich young ruler walks away from Jesus because he realized that Jesus has revealed the hypocrisy that characterized self-righteousness. Once again, we are faced with the fact that there is objective "rightness" and "wrongness", and that there is Only One worthy of being called "The Good One", namely God. 

Who or what determines moral values and duties? Each person, society or God?

In the last few days we have labored to show how the reality of objective moral values and duties points to proof for the Existence of the Moral Law Giver. When it comes to discussion of moral values and duties, the question must be asked: "who or what has the right to tell everyone what to do?" Even for people who deny objective morality, it is clear that they are articulating an objectively universal ethical judgment - namely, that there are no such things as objective moral values! When we talk about who or what determines right and wrong, at least three answers are given.

First, some say it is society or culture that determines right and wrong. Those who look to a given society as the standard will claim that since there are different cultures, hence there are different moralities. Moreover, human cultures use moral values as "conventions" to maintain a harmonious society. 

C.S Lewis anticipated this viewpoint (called by various names such as "utilitarianism" or "conventionalism") when he wrote his classic defense and articulation of the Christian faith: "Mere Christianity". In his work he writes: "Other people wrote to me saying, "Isn't what you call the Moral Law just a social convention, something that is put into us by education? I think there is a misunderstanding here. The people who ask that question are taking it for granted that if we have learned a thing from parents and teachers, then that thing must be merely a human invention. 

But, of course, that is not so. We all learned the multiplication table at school. A child who grew up alone on a desert island would not know it. But surely it does not follow that the multiplication table is simply a human convention, something human beings made up for themselves and might have made it different if they liked." 

Lewis' observation is brilliant in that he equates moral values and duties to other fields of fundamental knowledge as mathematics. Lewis then closes the paragraph of this particular point with these words: "But some of the things we learn are mere conventions which might have been different-we learn to keep on the left side of the road (Lewis was an Englishman), but it might just as well have been the rule to keep to the right-and others of them, like mathematics, are real truths." 

Lewis' point clearly establishes the nature of objective moral values and duties over against the idea of their being merely determined by a given culture. Another Christian apologist, Dean Hardy, has noted the following critique of the idea that each culture determines its own morality as "conventions" for maintaining harmony. Hardy writes in his book "Stand your Ground" - "If conventionalism were true, one nation, or a group of countries like the United Nations, would never have the right to look upon a culture and claim that they were doing 'wrong'. 

Hardy's point is well taken when we consider Nazi Germany in WWII and the Allied defeat of the Third Reich. No matter if even Hitler had ended up on the winning side of history, brain-washed everyone to believe his ideology and even had made the vast majority of people on planet earth convinced of his plan - the holocaust would still be an objective evil act. The more recent attacks by ISIS on Paris France in November 2015 demonstrate once again that people deep down still believe there is such a thing as evil.

So then if societies and cultures do not determine "right and wrong", what about the individual? I am sure you have heard the old familiar saying: "what is right for you may not necessarily be right for me". At bottom, such a statement arises from the belief that each individual determines their own morality. This ideology, called "moral relativism", suffers from the same malady as its larger "society determines morality" sibling - namely, it is self-defeating. Again C.S Lewis anticipated the moral relativists opposing his case for objective moral values and duties in his work "Mere Christianity", wherein he writes: "The moment you say that one set of moral ideas can be better than another you are, in fact, measuring them both by a standard, saying that one of them conforms to that standard more nearly than another." The moral relativist, who says "what is right for you may not be right for me" will get equally angry as anyone else the moment someone tries to take his wallet, or misuse his name or take his words out of context. Moral principles and duties such as "fairness" and "justice" and "goodness" are not mere preferences. 

Christian apologist Doug Powell in his book: "Holman Guide to Christian Apologetics" cites the late Christian Scholar Francis Shaeffer's conversation with several students on the folly of moral relativism. The quote highlights why the individual alone does not determine moral values and duties common to all people: "Christian thinker Francis Shaeffer once had a conversation with several students, one of whom disagreed with Shaeffer's moral objectivism. The student believed there was ultimately no difference between cruelty and non-cruelty. Another student who was listening decided to put that belief to the test. He picked up a tea kettle full of boiling water and held it over the first student's head as if he were about to pour it on the student. He then said, 'There is no difference between cruelty and non-cruelty.' The first student got up and left the room.'"

So clearly then this "obligation" that human beings have to do what "ought" to be right cannot be ultimately derived from the given culture or country of origin nor themselves. So then this leaves us with only one option, namely that objective moral values and duties derive from God. To cite once more the argument articulated by philosopher and theologian Dr. William Lane Craig:

If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist

Objective moral values and duties do exist

Hence, God exists.

As we have been laboring over the last several days, our universe and world is not only a physical reality, but a moral one. Unless the Holy God of Christian Theism exists, there can be no such realities as objective morality and duties. Why the Christian God? God is holy - meaning that He is His own standard of Goodness, rightness and thus morality. Right and wrong never existed apart from God. Rather, such values are inherent within God's very nature. Henceforth despite all claims to the contrary by atheists, skeptics and moral relativists - the fact of objective morality stands stubbornly unmoved. 

In closing out today's post, we must say that of the three general options typically cited for explaining the existence of morality and ethics in our world (society determines it, we ourselves determine our own morality or God is the basis for it), with the other two options shown to be inadequate, the only thing we can conclude then is that the only reason why there is such thing as good and evil and laws defining such, then there must be an Ultimate Moral Lawgiver - and that Lawgiver is God.