friend was just getting warmed up.
“I’m like Job who suffered at God’s hand. At least I can say, ‘God gives and God takes away,
blessed be the name of the Lord.’”
Well, isn’t that just swell?
As I have explained elsewhere, Job was wrong about God being a thief and a killer.2 Judging
by the reaction that article stirred you’d think I was a heretic, but I was merely repeating
something that Jesus and Paul said (see John 10:10 and Romans 11:29).
Today I want to go a little further and address three lies or half-truths that may need to be
rooted out of your belief-set.
Lie #1: “God is in control of everything”
There is perhaps no more damaging lie than the belief that God is in control of everything and
that he is the reason everything happens. You hear stuff like this all time.
“I got cancer but God is sovereign. He permitted this to happen to teach me something.”
“God took my baby. I guess he needed another angel in heaven.”
“I lost my job. God took it because I was enjoying it too much.”
Statements like these are ignorant. How many people did Jesus give cancer to? How many
people did he rob or kill? Jesus did none of these things yet some think his Father does them on
a regular basis.
Jesus went around healing the sick, raising the dead, and preaching good news to the poor.
If God were making people poor, sick, or dead, then the Father and the Son are a house divided.
But he isn’t and they’re not.
If God was in control of everything, then he would be responsible for all the evil in our
world—all the wars, killings, disease and destruction. But God is not the author of evil. In him
there is no shadow at all.
The Bible never says God is in control. Instead, it says “the whole world is under the control
of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). Much of the world is under the influence of evil. It remains captive
2 See chapter 6, “Does God give and take away?” of Grace Classics: Escape to Reality — Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 .
14
ESCAPE TO REALITY – GREATEST HITS VOL. 4
to what the New Testament writers called the power of darkness. Although Satan was defeated
and disarmed at the cross, his influence persists wherever the light of the gospel does not shine.
The problem with thinking God is in control is that it makes us passive spectators in the ride
of life. We’ll just sit and take whatever life hands us saying, “ C’est la vie . God is in control. Life will take care of it.”
Can you imagine how short the New Testament would be if Jesus and the apostles believed
that?
The truth is that God is not in control of everything. The good news is that his sphere of
influence increases as we, his children, shine in a dark world. He has given us his authority to
resist the devil and his evil influence. We have been empowered to heal the sick, raise the dead,
drive out demons, and reveal the light of his gospel in dark places.
Lie #2: “God is sovereign”
My bankrupt friend wrote off his loss saying, “God is sovereign.” In other words, it was God’s
divine and mysterious will for him to lose all his money. He was not saying “God is king”—no
argument there. He was saying, “Everything that happens is the Lord’s will.” This is simply not
true. It was not God’s will for Adam to eat from the forbidden tree (Genesis 2:17), yet Adam ate.
God is not willing that any perish (2 Peter 3:9), yet people perish. God commands all people
everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30), yet many don’t.
You don’t have to read more than three chapters into the Bible to realize that Almighty God,
the Supreme Ruler of all, does not always get what he wants. How is this possible? This verse
explains it:
The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind. (Psalm
115:16)
God is Lord of the universe but we are little lords of our own little worlds. This is God’s gift to
us—the freedom to choose how we live. The cost of
“I’m like Job who suffered at God’s hand. At least I can say, ‘God gives and God takes away,
blessed be the name of the Lord.’”
Well, isn’t that just swell?
As I have explained elsewhere, Job was wrong about God being a thief and a killer.2 Judging
by the reaction that article stirred you’d think I was a heretic, but I was merely repeating
something that Jesus and Paul said (see John 10:10 and Romans 11:29).
Today I want to go a little further and address three lies or half-truths that may need to be
rooted out of your belief-set.
Lie #1: “God is in control of everything”
There is perhaps no more damaging lie than the belief that God is in control of everything and
that he is the reason everything happens. You hear stuff like this all time.
“I got cancer but God is sovereign. He permitted this to happen to teach me something.”
“God took my baby. I guess he needed another angel in heaven.”
“I lost my job. God took it because I was enjoying it too much.”
Statements like these are ignorant. How many people did Jesus give cancer to? How many
people did he rob or kill? Jesus did none of these things yet some think his Father does them on
a regular basis.
Jesus went around healing the sick, raising the dead, and preaching good news to the poor.
If God were making people poor, sick, or dead, then the Father and the Son are a house divided.
But he isn’t and they’re not.
If God was in control of everything, then he would be responsible for all the evil in our
world—all the wars, killings, disease and destruction. But God is not the author of evil. In him
there is no shadow at all.
The Bible never says God is in control. Instead, it says “the whole world is under the control
of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). Much of the world is under the influence of evil. It remains captive
2 See chapter 6, “Does God give and take away?” of Grace Classics: Escape to Reality — Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 .
14
ESCAPE TO REALITY – GREATEST HITS VOL. 4
to what the New Testament writers called the power of darkness. Although Satan was defeated
and disarmed at the cross, his influence persists wherever the light of the gospel does not shine.
The problem with thinking God is in control is that it makes us passive spectators in the ride
of life. We’ll just sit and take whatever life hands us saying, “ C’est la vie . God is in control. Life will take care of it.”
Can you imagine how short the New Testament would be if Jesus and the apostles believed
that?
The truth is that God is not in control of everything. The good news is that his sphere of
influence increases as we, his children, shine in a dark world. He has given us his authority to
resist the devil and his evil influence. We have been empowered to heal the sick, raise the dead,
drive out demons, and reveal the light of his gospel in dark places.
Lie #2: “God is sovereign”
My bankrupt friend wrote off his loss saying, “God is sovereign.” In other words, it was God’s
divine and mysterious will for him to lose all his money. He was not saying “God is king”—no
argument there. He was saying, “Everything that happens is the Lord’s will.” This is simply not
true. It was not God’s will for Adam to eat from the forbidden tree (Genesis 2:17), yet Adam ate.
God is not willing that any perish (2 Peter 3:9), yet people perish. God commands all people
everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30), yet many don’t.
You don’t have to read more than three chapters into the Bible to realize that Almighty God,
the Supreme Ruler of all, does not always get what he wants. How is this possible? This verse
explains it:
The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind. (Psalm
115:16)
God is Lord of the universe but we are little lords of our own little worlds. This is God’s gift to
us—the freedom to choose how we live. The cost of
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