Confidence in Catastrophe

Aberdeen Gordon Mission

Sunday 18^th September 2005

 

 

Readings

Genesis 50:15-21.  Romans 8:28-39

 

1. Introduction

Tragedy and catastrophe are part of the kaleidoscope of life’s experiences. Sometimes they pass us by at a distance, like the Tsunami that devastated parts of Indonesia, or the recent hurricane that caused so much destruction in New Orleans and the surrounding coastline. Sometimes they come very close to home. Some of us know families that have been hit time and again by hardship, illness and death. Perhaps it has happened to us. And when this happens our hearts cry out to God at the unfairness of it all, and our minds strive to make sense out of what seems to have no benefit or good purpose.

At such times the enemy of our souls is quick to put the knife in. He tempts us to respond in different ways.

Temptation 1

God is punishing you for your sin. Your behaviour is far short of the kind of holy living God demands, and so He has sent these terrible things to teach you a lesson. After all, didn’t God send terrible catastrophes on the Israelites when they disobeyed Him?

Temptation 2

There is no God, or if there is He is unloving and completely remote and unconcerned with the triviality of your life’s experience. If there were a loving God do you think He would let innocent children suffer and die cruel deaths from famine and terrible disease?

Temptation 3

You are too dedicated to following Jesus and the task of advancing God’s kingdom, and like front-line troops you are exposed to all of the malice and opposition of evil forces. It’s not worth being so committed. Just do the minimum to ensure your own salvation and you’ll be left in peace.

Temptation 4

God is not really in control. All sorts of random or accidental events happen, or even the deliberate malevolent acts of others, and God is unable to stop it. It’s just the way life is, and there is not point trying to make any sense of it or find any purpose in it.

The force of these temptations is made worse by the fact that there is an element of truth in them. But of course, the enemy rarely presents us with 100% untruth, for we would see it for what it is immediately. No, he usually comes with temptations that are part truth and part lies, the better to confuse us and steer us off course.

2. The Ultimate Atrocity

The answers to all of our questions about tragedy and suffering are found by considering the ultimate atrocity in all of the world’s history. I speak of course of the time when God’s one and only Son was rejected and crucified. It defies comprehension that the one through whom the world was made was rejected by those he had created, and unjustly put to death.

The Question Why?

But even more amazing is the cry Jesus made on the cross, using the words of Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?”

Empathy

One thing this tells us immediately is that He understands our own cry of “Why, Lord, has this terrible thing happened?” He does not object to our asking this question, because He asked it himself.

The Answer

But the death of Jesus does far more than assure us of His empathy and sympathetic ear, wonderful and precious though this assurance is. You see, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross not only asks the question “why?” that is on the lips of every suffering person; it also answers the question.

God’s Sovereign Purpose

Isa 53:9,10 says, “Though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth, yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer.”

This terrible suffering was not a punishment for his sin, for he always pleased God.

This terrible suffering was not because God was not in control or was unable to intervene. Nor was it something that God reluctantly allowed against His better judgement. On the contrary, God takes upon himself full responsibility. Yes, Satan sought to destroy Jesus and sowed the seeds of betrayal in Judas’ mind. Yes, jealous and selfish men hated Jesus and stirred up the crowd to call for his execution. But God says, “Actually, it was my doing. I planned it, I purposed it, I caused it to happen.” The Authorised Version renders it even more starkly, “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him.”

The Paradox

Now if we are honest this causes us some difficulty. How can we reconcile the truth that God is all-holy, all-righteous and all-just with this statement in Isaiah that He caused Christ to suffer and die? Some theologians attempt to do this by making a distinction between God’s purposeful will – what he intends and desires – and His permissive will – what He allows. But this is not entirely satisfactory, and anyway in this case the distinction does not apply – God says clearly that it was His purpose, His intention and His desire to bruise Christ. This, ultimately, is the offence of the cross. This is why it is a stumbling-block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles (! Cor 1:23).

3. The Liberating Truth

But the truth, as always, is quite liberating. They key is found in a little verse in the final chapter of Genesis. Joseph, speaking to his brothers, says “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” And this is also an eloquent commentary on God’s purpose in causing Christ to suffer. Satan intended to inflict the greatest evil, but God intended it for the greatest good. The theologian R.A. Torrey puts it this way in his book ‘What the Bible Teaches’: “By his malevolence [Satan] is working out part of God’s benevolent plans.”

God is answering Satan’s accusations. He is making known His manifold wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms (Eph 3:10). Satan is not only the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10); he also accuses God himself (Job 1:10, Rev 13:6). And his great, mocking accusation is that in allowing Satan to work evil in the world, God himself is fully responsible since it happened on His watch, and he could have stopped it. But God turns the tables on His enemy. “Yes,” He says, “I am fully responsible. But what is being accomplished is not evil as you intended, but good.” So God will completely destroy all the works of the Devil (1 Jn 3:8) and indeed the Devil himself (Heb 2:14) by overcoming evil with good.

A Master Painting

It is like a great artist painting a picture. At last he appears to be finished, and walks away from the painting. It is a great and masterful work, and those looking at it are full of praise. But then they observe something terrible happening. The paint, applied lavishly and thickly, starts to run. All over the canvas the paint runs, colours merging with other colours in the process. It is a disaster. Those observing walk away disappointed. “We thought he was a master painter,” they say, “but he made a dreadful mistake and now the work is worthless.” But the next day a sensation is revealed. Far from being a mistake, the paint running was planned by the artist. Every droop, every drip, every merging of colours was part of the plan. The final effect on the canvas is breathtaking. The resulting picture touches deeply the emotions of those who gaze upon it; it is a far greater masterpiece than it was originally.

Our Confidence

So it is that Paul can say with confidence, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him,” and “In all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom 8:28,37). This is why he could say to the Corinthian church, “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Cor 4:17).

Right now we do not yet see that eternal glory; we have to walk by faith. We still see through a glass darkly; we are still watching the paint run. But we can be assured that we will not be disappointed. One day death will be swallowed up in victory. One day the mystery of God’s wise purposes will be fully revealed. So Paul encourages us with these words in Romans 8:28-39.

And while we complete our pilgrimage through this life, sometimes weary with sorrow and grief, we have One who comes alongside us who has trodden this way before, and is able to sympathise with us. Jesus has himself asked the question “Why?” and has been satisfied. “After the suffering of His soul He will see the light of life and be satisfied” (Isa 53:11).