God’s
Involvement in Man’s Suffering
Acts
27:9-10, 21
Disclaimer…I have enough sense to know that this
message needs a great deal more work to make it simple but what I don’t have is
enough time …
Acts 27 is a great chapter to observe some potential issues
and misunderstandings that people might have and deal with them
For example: the one we will deal with today is the
issue of suffering
God’s Involvement in Man’s
Suffering
Acts 27:9-10, 21
Paul finds himself in a horrible shipwreck: vs. 20
Paul is God’s man
Paul is in God’s will
Paul is suffering this horrible storm
Some are unable to put those two realities in the
same context…
Remember Job’s friends…their theology was that Job
had to be guilty of something since he was suffering so.
Even here in Acts 28:4 In
the minds of these folks, suffering had to be the result of personal
wickedness.
So the question is, where is God in this storm and
what part is He responsible for?
One
school of thought says God is responsible for everything we experience… that
this storm was God’s will for Paul to be in this incident, that God created the
storm and drove Paul into the storm, that Paul could not have missed this storm
if he had wanted to, as God ordained. There are those who believe that every
circumstance we encounter is God’s perfect will…that every circumstance we
encounter was planned, ordained, ordered and brought about by God. That God
orders and ordains tragedy and hardship and difficulty in our life.
Another
school of thought is that the Devil is responsible for all evil and that he
caused the storm.
Another
school of thought says that man is responsible for everything he
experiences…that God did not will Paul’s suffering in this storm but rather
gave a means for Paul to avoid the storm. But God’s way was ignored and thus
the storm was experienced.
Another
school of thought says that neither God nor the devil nor man is responsible
…that things just happen, it is fate, karma, destiny, or luck or lack of luck.
Now this can be a complicated subject…but it is a
crucial subject, as one’s belief on this subject determines or effects one’s
belief about God.
At stake is our belief in the Sovereignty of God.
Our belief in a Sovereign God is essential….
Sovereign means he is above all, independent of all or not dependant at all, no
man rules Him or affects Him, He is not dependant upon anyone or anything. He
cannot be denied His intentions and purposes. He is not made by or dependant
upon another, He is self sufficient, self sustaining. The truth is, if God is
not sovereign, He is not really God.
But there is a lot of misunderstanding about the
Sovereignty of God….
Some reason that because God is sovereign then His
will cannot be missed or rejected or avoided and thus everything we go through
must be God’s will.
Some reason that if God can will something and it not
come to pass then He cannot be sovereign.
Some reason that if God is sovereign then everything
that is experienced must be in God’s will.
Some reason that if God is Sovereign then nothing
outside of His will can take place…that His will cannot be altered.
In a foundational sense these statements are all true: That everything God has
willed …will come to pass…and everything that has come to pass was in one sense
within God’s will. (for example)
Three foundational truths related to God and man’s
suffering
I. God in His Sovereignty did willfully ordain man to
be created in His own image …having a will as God has and having the ability to
exercise his will as God does….
It appears that both the angels and man was created
with the ability to will. I draw that conclusion because some angels and all
men have exercised their will against God.
Question: WHY DID GOD CREATE ANGELS AND MAN WITH A
WILL.?????
ANSWER: It appears that worship that most fully
expresses the Lord’s worthiness requires the exercise of one’s will.
Rocks and creation glorify God without a will…Luke 19:40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you
that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
God abhors unwilling worship… Matt 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth
me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
But God is most and more fully glorified and
worshipped when a will is yielded to Him. John 4:24 God
is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Man can glorify God better than creation or he can
deny the testimony of creation and willfully refuse to worship God or he can
more fully glorify God by willfully worshipping Him.
Man
was created in the likeness of God …with a will. Gen
1:26
In one aspect the result or application of being
“created in his image and likeness” is “dominion” not only over creation but
also over ourselves, our own life,…we have a will and have been given
“dominion,” authority, control over ourselves in this life that we can exercise
our will.
Man
was created with a will in innocence Gen. 2:16-17
Man
exercised his will in disobedience Gen 3:17
Man
experienced the curse of God for the exercising of his will in disobedience…vs.
17
Man
remains with a will, from which he can yield to or reject the Holy Spirit’s
drawing….vs. 21
Note...This is not to say that man is saved by his
will….John 1:12-13
We are saved by the work of God but we have been
created in His image with a will that must respond to the Holy Spirit
II. God in His sovereignty ordained man would reap
the consequences of his personal choices made in his own personal will.
Gal. 6:7
Folks look at suffering and disbelieve God.
They look at suffering and question God.
They look at suffering and challenge the
sovereignty of God.
Suffering and the presence of sin and sorrow does not
challenge the sovereignty of God ….what would challenge the sovereignty of God
would be if sin did not produce consequences. If God did not curse the earth
because of man’s sin…..If sin were to go unanswered … if there were no reaping
for sin…that would challenge the sovereignty of God.
If after Adam’s sin and our sin, if we did not
experience suffering …that would challenge the sovereignty of God.
III. God in His sovereignty cursed this world and the
whole world suffers, every man suffers, under the curse brought about by Adam’s
choice to sin.
Romans 5:12
I Cor. 15:22
Your suffering might not be the result of your bad
choice …but we live in a world that is suffering or reaping the consequences of
Adam’s bad choice….
Your suffering might be the result of a bad choice on
another’s part
We
all suffer from others’ bad choices…. Acts 27:10 “…our
lives …“ Paul was against traveling but would suffer with those who made
the bad choice to travel.
We
all greatly suffer from others’ bad choices…. vs. 10
“…Hurt and much damage…”
Illustration: Think of children who have
not yet started making choices on their own, suffer from the choice of Adam.
Conclusion: Well, where does that leave the child of
God? Ask Paul of God’s care for him in the storm…his testimony would be of
God’s care for him.
We cannot hold God responsible for the presence of
sin or the result of sin
We cannot hold God responsible for the presence of
suffering and tragedy in our lives
Neither the presence of sin nor the presence of
suffering challenges the sovereignty of God.
God’s sovereignty willed that Man will eternally live
or die according to his response of his God-given will to the Spirit of God.
God has sovereignly willed that man will, in this
life, reap the consequences of his sin and the sin of others.
