God Without Religion_ Can It Really Be This Simple_ - Andrew Farley [65]
A Christian gets sick. Then he loses his job. Then his wife divorces him. Then his friends start trying to connect the dots to find out why God did this to him. Sound like any story you’ve heard before? Yeah, it’s the book of Job all over again. And today we’re still quick to put the God stamp on everything that happens to us.
God doesn’t want the credit. A drunk driver rams into a friend’s car at the intersection, and a two-year-old girl dies in the backseat. “Well, the Lord took her,” some might say.
I know God is sovereign. But I also know that God wasn’t drunk that day, and God didn’t steer the car into that little girl’s way. No, we can chalk that one up to the other actors in the theater of life. The world teaches us overindulgence is okay. The flesh craves alcohol to drown our sorrows. We are tempted to go ahead and drive drunk because “It’s no big deal.”
God allowed that circumstance, but he didn’t cause it. That’s important to differentiate. God never treats us cruelly. He does not inflict wounds on his own children. But as a loving Father, he comforts and helps us in the midst of earthly turmoil. And we come out on the other side with a better understanding of his relentless love for us:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Rom. 8:28–29)
God is not the author of all things—sin, pain, death. But God uses all things of this world as a training ground to enable us to grow in our reflection of the character of Jesus Christ. All Christians have been destined for that privilege—to exude the glory of Christ, whether on this earth or in the world to come. No, God is not the author of our pain. But he is “the author and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2).
When Disaster Strikes
Some preachers have claimed God brought the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City to teach homosexuals a lesson. Several years later, others said God brought Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans to punish the city for debauchery. Still others even had the audacity to say the 2010 earthquake in Haiti was retribution for deals made with the devil.
I hope these statements sound absurd to you. But the reality is that many of us subtly equate our negative circumstances with punishment from God. A smoker we know gets lung cancer, and you might hear a Christian remark, “Well, that’s God’s way of getting his attention.” Or some might say it in a more spiritual sounding way: “God is bringing this on him to make him into a broken man.”
Essentially, we’re believing that injury, illness, and negative circumstances on earth are delivered to us by the hand of God as punishment for our sins. Now, whether it’s cancer, terrorism, or natural disaster, I want to state very clearly the following: those are not brought upon us as punishment from God for our sins. How can I be so sure? Because all punishment for our sins was placed on Jesus Christ at the cross. Today, on this side of the cross, God is in the business of saving people on planet earth, not punishing them:
For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. (John 12:47)
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
There’ll be a day when Christ returns and God judges the world (John 12:48). But for right now, the Son of Man has been lifted up, and he is drawing all men unto himself (John 12:32). God doesn’t want anyone to be punished but wants all to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation (2 Pet. 3:9).
So God is not killing people through terrorism or natural disasters; nor is he bringing disease upon them to teach them a lesson. Instead, it’s his desire that the world look upon his Son, the full payment for their sins:
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He