Human Sin and God’s Sovereignty

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Sunday’s sermon on Genesis 42-43 dealt with one of the more challenging theological ideas in the Bible. I was trying to explain that practically, encouragingly, and clearly. What made this daunting was the unexpected trip to Texas for a family funeral. I crammed most of my study and writing in two days, and one of those was while I was on the plane coming back to Oregon. I never felt comfortable with an outline until late Saturday afternoon, and then I wrote everything that evening. That is not usual for me. My regular routine is to begin to write on Thursday and have everything completed by early Friday afternoon. This gives me ample time to review and refine things. I didn’t have that luxury this week, so I had no idea if this sermon would be clear to our church on Sunday. I’m grateful (as it usually happens) that the Lord met us, and He impacted our church through this sermon.

Human Sin and God’s Sovereignty

This was the most challenging topic that I covered on Sunday. I thought it would be helpful to answer some questions that always arise when discussing this topic.

Question: Does God make people sin?

Answer: No. The Bible is clear that God does not sin, nor does He tempt anyone to sin (James 1:13).

Question: If God doesn’t make people sin, how does He orchestrate all things for His glory and our good?

Answer: The mystery and tension of God’s providence is that He sustains and allows all things He creates to operate within their God-given properties. A rock was created and operates as a rock. It has rock-like properties that it can only function or act within. So, when a rock falls, it falls as a rock. But its fall is orchestrated and serves God’s purposes. The same is true for humans. Humans are the only creatures in the world who have been created with the ability to make decisions that have real effects. So, when humans make decisions (some good, some bad), they are responsible for those decisions, which have real effects. God does not interfere or cause people to make sinful decisions. But even those sinful decisions are used by God to accomplish His ultimate plan of His glory and our good.

Question: How does God use sinful decisions (even though He doesn’t cause them) for His glory and our good?

Answer: This is where the tension and mystery lie. We are not told in Scripture how this happens, but we see examples. We see it in Joseph’s life and his family’s life. His brothers were responsible for their sinful decision to sell him. They did that. God didn’t make them or force them to sin. But God used that decision (orchestrated) to get Joseph to Egypt to preserve his family’s life and save them from the famine. We see it in Jesus’ life and death. There are no more awful sinful acts in the Bible than what the Jewish leaders did to Jesus. But God accomplished (orchestrated) His greatest glory and our greatest good from those events. So, we can assume that if God used the world’s worst sin to accomplish HIs greatest good, He could use the ‘smaller’ sins done by us or done against us for His glory and our good.

Question: If God is sovereign, how can man be responsible?

Answer: Two things (about this) are clear in the Bible: God is 100% sovereign, and man is 100% responsible. Those things are clear in the Bible. Therefore, those are the only things we can speak about emphatically. This means that since God does not reveal in Scripture how these two things can be true simultaneously, we must embrace them both as true because God’s word does.

Big Story of Joseph in Egypt:

One central theme in the Joseph narrative is that God planned to get His people to Egypt, where they would grow into a large nation. In Genesis 15:13-14, the Lord told Abram, “Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.” This is why God did all this work to get Joseph and his family to Egypt. Don’t miss that.

Looking Ahead

This coming Sunday, we will study Genesis 44-45 to examine Joseph’s reconciliation with his brothers. We will examine themes like forgiveness and reconciliation.

From the Cheap Seats

I am not an Alabama fan (sorry, George Graham). But I am a fan of Kalen DeBoer. He treats others with respect, loves his players, and has succeeded everywhere he’s been. I’m pulling for Alabama this weekend against Georgia.
I’m curious about what type of career Wyatt Langford will have. He’s had a promising rookie year, even after lofty expectations. But like Paul Skenes, he was drafted in 2023 and started on the Rangers’ opening-day roster.
The start of the Dallas Cowboys’ season reminds me of 2020, when they had the worst defense in the NFL and couldn’t stop the run. I think it will take time to adjust to Mike Zimmer’s defense, but they’re not very good right now. Honestly, my expectations for this season weren’t very high anyway.
I’m glad for Justin Fields. He seems like a really good guy and handled himself well in a tough situation in Chicago. Now, he’s 3-0 with the Steelers and playing efficiently. Plus, I’m glad he’s keeping Russell Wilson on the bench:).
The rebuild of the PAC-12 has begun. I’m hoping they get some good baseball schools to join.

To watch or listen to the sermon described in this post, please click here.