Title: The Sovereignty of God
Contents
Bible: Isaiah 45:5-7
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If God created all things in the universe and is still working today, you may think that we should always be filled with only good things. However, our reality is obviously not always good. One of the questions I have been asked a lot during my ministry is: Why did God create the tree of knowledge and cause humans to sin?
Also, theologian John Hick asks, “How can evil exist in the world if God loves us perfectly?” Philosopher Bertrand Russell also asks, how can someone like Hitler or Stalin be born when God exists?
As the title of today's sermon says, I pray in the name of the Lord that it will be a precious time to feel God's sovereignty over us once again through today's worship while examining how God's sovereignty is working in our lives today.
In Exodus 3:7-8, it says that God sees with his eyes, hears the cry of men, and knows them. And He tells us that He is the God who actively saves us. So, in John 3:16, we can know the love of Jesus who came into the human world through incarnation. The incarnation is the evidence that God came to this earth in a human body and actively showed His love for humans.
In Isaiah 45:5-7 we read today, He says, “I have made light, I have formed darkness, I have made peace, and I have made tribulation.” God is saying that He rules even all the evils that trouble us in our lives today. We can see this more clearly when we look at the sufferings of Job that we know well. Please remember that Satan certainly gave Job's suffering, but it was God who allowed Satan.
It also expresses that when the people of Israel sinned, they used Babylon as the “staff of God” to strike against Israel. It did not attack Israel simply because Babylon was a great power, but caused suffering to Israel in God's will.
As such, when God rules the world, there is a clear principle. That's love. He did not use Babylon simply because Israel had done something wrong and therefore deserved punishment, but God's will of love to return to God through the suffering. Job's suffering was not because Job hated it, but to make him bigger. Please remember that the suffering God gives us is the love of God who loves us and tries to grow us even bigger.
In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 we read, “The God of Jesus Christ, the God of mercy, and the God of comfort, comforts you in your afflictions, and rescues you; to do it.” I am saying this.
Only those who have suffered can comfort those who are suffering. If we live well without suffering, no one will know the grace of God. No one can thank God for His grace. The world is very strange. The seminary I went to was in San Anselmo, the fifth best county in the United States. There are hundreds of counties in the United States, and it is the fifth most livable city. Unfortunately, it has the fifth highest suicide rate.
When Korea was unable to eat after 6.25, we struggled to survive. But now that I live well, I keep jumping into the Han River. It's because you don't know pain. Please remember that God's love flows at the bottom of our suffering. We have to be a little hard to find God. So, the reason God gives us pain is because He loves us. Please remember that the precious work of becoming like Christ takes place through suffering. God rules this world. And the governing principle is the love that loves us. So we have nothing to fear in times of tribulation. Because God loves us and He is in control of all evil. Evil forces can never defeat us. I pray in the name of the Lord that 2010 will be a blessed year in which God takes control of our lives by believing in this fact and entrusting our lives to God throughout the year.
2010-02-04 17:49:43