God Needs a Man

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People: Part 3

“By faith Noah…condemned the world”
Hebrews 11:7

Whenever I get to this point of the conversation I make the bold statement that, “God can’t do anything on earth without man’s co-operation!”  This is followed by silence, anger, and children’s bible stories.  It’s as if every story ever told with a felt board in Sunday School class comes gushing to memory of whomever I’m talking with.

So go ahead, take a minute and try to remember every Bible story you have ever read…
Now which story can you recall where God did not use a man?

I know, right?!  There are none.  God always used the actions or words of a physical man.   For every event from the time of Adam to Jesus and beyond, God has told a man to do something, and through that “something”, God moves.  God always uses a physical being on earth to speak to something, or raise a staff.  If He wants to curse a fig tree, separate the Red Sea, or destroy a city, he needs a man.

Why?

Because only a man has the authority and dominion over the earth.  God cannot intervene without our permission and co-operation because he said it, and God doesn’t break his word.

Well, what about the Flood, Josh?  God didn’t need a man to bring the Flood on Earth!

Actually he did! The author of Hebrews expressed this revelation in Heb 11:7.  Not only did the Flood require faith to manifest, but he said that Noah (not God) condemned the earth.  He could not act without a man.

How about for God to save the freaking world?...  He needed a man.  (Granted, a perfect man, but a man nonetheless.)

Are you saying that the creator of the universe is somehow unable to have his complete and perfect will on the earth?

Well, you either have to swallow that pill, or turn on the news and accept it as God’s best.   I’m not seeing an option C here.

PART 4

Dominion Over the Earth

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People: Part 2

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”  Gen 1

People who try to argue for Sovereignty will pull out all kinds of verses from the Bible.  There is a time and place to really dig in and “discuss” bible verses, but let me ask one simple question:  To whom did God give dominion over the earth?

It would seem significant to me that God first created a world that was formless, void, dark, and chaotic.  He then begins to create things to bring order to the chaos.  He creates light to subdue darkness, and he creates space to separate the chaotic waters.  God brings the entire creation (which was by nature chaos) into submission, and then hands it over to Adam.   He told Adam to “have dominion” and to “subdue the earth.”  I’m not sure how He could have been clearer.

So if you are going to walk into the room, look at all the problems, then ask, “Who is in charge here?” God is just going to look over at Adam and say, “Do you want to take this one?”

Come on, Josh!  God made all of this, so obviously He is in control.

…Let’s talk about that.


If you’re saying that God “owns” the world because he created it, and that he has the power to destroy it whenever He sees fit, then yes!  I would agree 100%.  
If you are trying to say that God can intervene into a realm where He has freely given dominion to someone else, then we have some problems.

PART 3

“Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People”

Part 1

 As I’m writing this, it is the Christmas season of 2012 and a horrific event has taken place in America.   It will go down in history as the Sandy Hook Shooting.  This event is spurring on all kinds of conversations from mental illness, to gun control, school security, and God.  People on social sites are pleading with God to act, or comfort, and asking how He could let this happen. 

Pulpits on Sunday mornings across America try to give words of comfort.  Some simply acknowledge that they don’t have answers for our “God of Mysteries,” while others try to twist this into a version of God’s will in which it might aid in the callings and ministries of the survivors; and still an arrogant sect blame The Father of Heaven and his son for the actions of a gunman.  These people claim that it was in God’s sovereign will from the beginning of time for these events to take place.  They declare that it brings glory to God, whether we understand it or not.  After all, “who are you—mere man—that you are to talk back to God?” 

If these answers don’t sit well with you, you are not alone.  The reason these responses above don’t bring peace is simple:   They are not revelation.  They are man’s attempt to filter the events of the world through theology.  The reason it does not set you free is that it is not truth. 

The church has a doctrine that is rooted so deeply within itself that it’s rarely discussed or challenged.  The Sovereignty of God is one of the worst doctrines man has ever invented.  By design, it sounds like it gives glory to God, but in reality it is a scapegoat used to blame all of the world’s crap on our dad.  If we believe that God can do anything that he wants to do, then by default he desires every “Bad Thing” that has ever occurred.

PART 2