Sovereignty, Responsibilty, and Humility

What is the relationship between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility?

This is a question that Christians have wrestled with throughout the history of the church. In this post, I'd like to briefly think about this question as it relates to God's providence and the problem of evil.

Let us begin by considering a question: Who sent Joseph to Egypt? On the one hand, we can say that his brothers sent him to Egypt by selling him to the Ishmaelites (Genesis 37:12ff). Yet, on the other hand, we can say that God sent Joseph to Egypt (Genesis 45:7-8).

Let us also consider another question: Who was responsible for Jesus death? On the one hand, it is clear that Jesus was crucified by the evil acts of lawless men such as Judas, Herod, Pontias Pilate, and the Jews (Acts 4:27). And it is equally clear that these people are held responsible for their actions (Luke 22:22). Yet, on the other hand, everything happened just as God had predestined for it to happen (Acts 2:23, 4:28).

I know that we have only begun to touch the surface of this discussion, but I believe that we can already draw some conclusions. First, God is sovereign over all things--even evil acts such as selling Joseph into slavery or crucifying Jesus. Yet, He never does evil and Scripture never blames God for evil (James 1:13). Second, man is always held accountable for his actions. Joseph's brothers sinned against him. Judas betrayed Jesus.

In response to this mystery, I believe that we should be humbled. Anytime we are confronted with mystery, we should be reminded that we creatures and not the Creator. Our knowledge is limited, while His knowledge is unlimited. We see things dimly, while He sees all things clearly. He is God and there is no other.

The Fall of Satan

Here, Jeffrey Meyers points out that Genesis 3 records the fall of man and Satan. This view stands in contrast to the "standard, accepted view" that regards Satan's fall as occuring prior to creation. I think Jeff is onto something. See what you think.

Falling from Grace

See update at bottom of post (9/2/08)

Recently, I've spent a good deal of time reading and pondering over the first few chapters of Genesis. As I've read, a number of questions have come to my mind. Hopefully I'll blog about an number of them sooner or later, but I'll start with this one for now: What was the nature of Adam's relationship with God? Did Adam have to earn God's favor or did He already have the favor of God? Was his relationship based on grace or merit?

In Genesis 2:9 we read: "And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Later in v.16 we learn of the one restriction given to Adam: "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Adam could freely eat of every true except for one. This means that Adam could take and eat of the Tree of Life. Adam did not have to earn access to the Tree of Life. God did not require Adam to perform certain duties in order to earn His favor; rather, God was already favorable, or shall we say, gracious toward Adam. Granted, God did require Adam to be obedient and to live by faith in His Word, but this is a far cry from saying that Adam had to merit or earn God's love and favor. Adam had life, and he had continual access to the Tree of Life.

The reality that Adam's relationship with God was built on grace, magnifies the gravity of Adam's sin against God. The Creator God had given Adam everything. He had freely given the world to Adam's care. Yet, as Adam stood before the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam chose to follow his wife Eve--thereby ignoring and scorning God's graciousness. He chose to eat of forbidden fruit, thereby forfitting life and embracing death--both spiritual and physical. So, in Genesis 3:22-23 we read: "Then the LORD God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever--' therefore, the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken." The Tree of Life that was once freely available was now taken from Adam's reach. Adam had fallen from grace.

UPDATE: 9/2/08

Blogging is interesting to me for a number of reasons. One issue that arises is the issue of progress and growth. As I go back and read some of my previous posts, I can remember the struggles/issues that were on my mind. Sometimes, my thought patterns continue in the same directions, while at other points I change my mind. This post is an example of a time where my mind has changed. While I previously thought that the word "grace" could be applied to Adam's pre-Fall situation, I've come to believe that the terminology of grace should be reserved for the post-Fall situation. It seems to me that "grace" is not simply unmerited favor, but unmerited favor in light of our demerit . Although I don't have the time to discuss what brought about such changes, it will have to suffice for me to say that I believe that the idea of "merit" or "works" was present in the covenant with Adam...and the terminology of "grace" should not be used to describe Adam's situation.

Fig Leaves and Garments of Skin

In Genesis 3, directly after Adam and Eve eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, we read that "the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths" (v.7). No longer did Adam and Eve stand before one another naked and unashamed as they had earlier (Genesis 2:25). Now, they are ashamed and, they cover themselves with a few fig leaves and hide from the LORD God. But both of their attempts (i.e. covering themselves and hiding) ultimately fail. First, their attempt to hide failed, because He is the all-present, all-knowing LORD. He knew exactly where they were and He confronted them (and the serpent) with the consequences of their sin. Second, their covering was not adequate. Instead of fig leaves, the LORD God gives them a new covering of His own making: "And the LORD God made for Adam and and for his wife garments of skin and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21). It is in regard to this second point, that I want to make a few observations.

First, just as Adam and Eve's fig leaves were not a proper covering, sinful men and women cannot cover their nakedness and shame (i.e. sins) by means of good works (Romans 4:4).

Second, just as God provided a proper covering for Adam and Eve, it is God alone who can provide the proper covering for man. In the garden, an animal had to be slain--blood had to be spilt-- in order for Adam and Eve to have garments of skin. And God has done the same for us. He has spilt blood and covered us. But this time, it was not the blood of an animal that was spilt, but it was His own blood--his own life--that was given for us (John 3:16). And it was not with a garment of animal skin that He used to cover us, but it was with Himself--with His own rightousness--that He clothed us with.

Of course, what we have been discussing is the doctrine of imputation (foreshadowed in the book of Genesis) in which Christ was counted as having our sin (though He Himself was sinless) and we are counted as having God's righteousness (though we ourselves are not righteous.) "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Let us praise God for taking our sin upon Himself and counting us righteous in Christ. What a gracious and awesome God!

Did You Just Say the Word "SEX"?

I am sure that there are plenty of statistics that tell how many times a person thinks about or is confronted with something sexual in nature during a given day. If my experience is like most people, I'd have to say that the average would be high. Every form of media (whether it is radio, television, film, print...) is used to push forth the sexual envelope. We definitely have the "sex drive" in overdrive. As I pondered over our current cultural condition, a couple of things came to my mind.

First, God created us as sexual beings. Adam and Eve were created naked and they were not ashamed(Genesis 2:25); and the task given to them in the garden was to "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Genesis 1:28). Basically, God told them to have lots of sex and babies so that the earth would be filled with image-bearers. They were having sex to God's glory.

Second, eventually Adam and Eve had to cover up because they sinned and "then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew they were naked" (Genesis 3:7). From this point on, the beautiful gift of nakedness and sex became a gift that could (and would) be exploited and abused.

The desire for sexual intimacy is good. It is a God-given desire that is supposed to take place between a husband and wife. Yet, we live in a society that perverts, distorts, and damages the good gift God has given us. How do we pervert the good gift?

First, we pervert the gift of sex by worshipping the gift instead of the Giver.

Second, we pervert sex by taking it and using it in ways that God did not intend for us to use it. The list of our perversions is long: sodomy, adultery, bestiality, masturbation, pornography, pedophilia, and the list goes on.

Yet, in the midst of all of our evil ways, perversions and distortions, there is hope. We must turn to Christ. The hope of our culture and our world is not sex education, abstinence, or any other action that merely seeks to change a person's behavior. We must repent of our sins. We must acknowledge that we have "exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:25). Then, we must turn to the God of mercy so that we can be released from the penalty and grip of sin. Only then, will we be free to be "truly human" once again. Only then, will our perversions be turned into purposeful living. We must be redeemed. And this is the message we must take to our world. "We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians, 5:20).