The Odyssey through Theodicy: In Christ

Introduction: This series of posts is from a sermon series I preached this year. It is a three part series on the topic of theodicy. This is the question of evil in a world ruled by a good and powerful God. I used three sermons to describe the problem of theodicy and then offer a Biblical response. Join me on this journey through the question of evil coexisting with a good and sovereign God; join me on the odyssey through theodicy.

For the first part of this series, click here.
For the second part of this series, click here.

Read Ephesians 1:3-10.

Introduction: We are continuing a series this morning that was begun on Easter: The Odyssey through Theodicy. That is, the journey through the question: why is there evil in a world with a good and all-powerful God?

The word “theodicy” means to “justify God.” It is an attempt to figure out how a good and powerful God can justify the existence of evil in the world He created and sustains.

On Easter morning, we looked at the book of Job for an answer to this ever-present, ever-dangerous conundrum. We said:  The existence of evil in a world ruled by a good and all-powerful God is to glorify Christ (repeat). We call this “Christological Theodicy.”

Then back in May, we looked at Romans 8:26-30 to take this Christological Theodicy one step further. We established that all thing work together for our good, which is Christ’s glory (repeat).

You may not remember much of those two sermons, but the truths we established in them are essential to our sermon this morning. So allow to me to briefly summarize our odyssey so far then use it as our launching point for our truths from Ephesians 1. Here goes...

We know three things to be true: God is good. God is powerful. Evil exists. But we struggle to find a way for those three truths to fit together. This is the doctrine of theodicy. Insufficient theodicies have taken one of those truths away to make them fit together. Protest Theodicy believes God is powerful and evil exists, but God is not really good. Process Theodicy believes God is good and evil exists, but that God is not really powerful. And Person Making Theodicy believes God is good and God is powerful, but evil doesn’t actually exist. But from what we know of the truth of God’s Word and our experience in this world, those three theodicies just don’t work.

What we must conclude then is a Christological Theodicy which upholds all three truths through the Gospel in saying, “Evil exists in a world ruled by a good and powerful God to glorify Christ.”

This is viewing it in a corporate or cosmic sense. It’s as though we’re all on a big ship going through turbulent waters and I’ve told you that the seas might be rough, but the destination is worth it. This is like looking over the side of the ship and seeing the rough waters and scary storm but knowing the safe harbor is ahead. But we must also view this in a personal and plenary sense. That’s like turning around on the ship and seeing two people fighting or a person dying of illness or a food shortage. Does a Christological Theodicy still hold up?

What we find in Romans 8:28 is that in all things, as in each and every thing, God works for our good, which is the glory of Christ. Our good is Christ’s glory. And Christ’s glory is our good. And God is working all things together for that purpose of glorifying Christ. That is the good news! That is the heart of the Gospel. Christ came so that we might be saved, that’s our good, but also in doing that, that He might be exalted, that’s Christ’s glory.

God did not create Plan B when Adam and Eve ate the fruit. God’s plan from before time was to purpose everything for the glory of Christ. From our passage this morning, Ephesians 1:9-10 says, “God made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

This is what we call “teleology” or the telos of God. Telos means purpose, goal, chief end. So God’s telos in creation is Christ’s glory. We often allow God’s telos to be surmised from what we know of his being, or ontos. So we usually take what we know of God’s character and use it to inform what we think about God’s purposes. So, ontology shapes teleology. But this has to be a two-way street. We must allow what we know of God’s purposes, God’s telos, to inform what we think about God’s character, God’s ontos. So ontology shapes teleology, but also teleology shapes ontology.

Here’s where we begin to launch into the truths from Ephesians 1…

The telos of God affects our entire theology (repeat). Prepare yourself for a big word blitz. Teleology affects ontology (God’s character). It affects Christology (God the Son). It affects pneumatology (God the Spirit). It affects bibliology (the Bible). It affects eschatology (the end times). It affects ecclesiology (the Church). It affects anthropology (man). It affects hamartiology (sin). Finally, where we will camp out, teleology affects soteriology (the study of salvation).

Without a correct view of God’s purposes, we cannot have a correct view of God’s saving work in the world. Bad teleology makes bad soteriology. Good teleology makes good soteriology. That’s what this passage in Ephesians is all about.

Here’s the truth of this passage and the main thrust of this sermon series: Christological theodicy makes Christological soteriology beautiful. To state it another way, a Christ-centered view of everything illuminates the beauty of salvation “in Christ” (repeat).

Text:

Let’s find this by digging into our text, Ephesians 1:3-10.

This long sentence contains so many wonderful truths of our redemption in Christ. But time only permits us to look at one facet of this passage and look at it wholeheartedly. Staring us right in the face throughout these few verses is the doctrine of predestination. Even for those who don’t have a thorough knowledge of what this term means, it can make us uneasy and anxious. “Is he really talking about this? Is he really going down that road?” Yes. Why? Because it’s right here in Scripture. And any passage from Scripture is worth preaching.

So I’ve mentioned predestination, or election, and you’re probably in one of three places right now.

1. You’re already asleep. Maybe all this talk of God’s grand purposes and how they relate to our salvation is just way too “heady” for you and I lost you a while ago. But all this talk has a point and amazing implications for our life. If nothing else, let this sermon make God bigger and mankind smaller for you.
2. Maybe you’re fully on board. You love talking predestination and know the beauty of this doctrine. Praise God. May these words simply pour fuel on the furnace of affections towards God in your heart.
3. Maybe you’re rather skeptical about the whole topic and you’d rather stay away from it. Maybe you’re not quite convinced that God would predestine people to heaven or hell before they even existed. You’d rather not think about it at all because of the controversy surrounding it. You don’t think we even need to be discussing whether or not certain decisions were made long ago. What does it matter?

One million dollars. Would anybody not want one million dollars if offered to them? One million dollars would be nice. So what if approached you today and told you that your great uncle you didn’t know about passed away recently. In his will, he left you one million dollars. If that were the case, would you say, “Well, I hear the whole process of sorting out a will and divvying up possessions is a messy affair. And who cares about decisions he made a long time ago.” Absolutely not! There wouldn’t be anything you’d want to do more than to go sort out the will and obtain your inheritance.

Here’s the good news: Someone did make a very important decision a long time ago to include you in their inheritance. Before the foundation of the world, He was thinking about you, determining if you would be adopted into His family to obtain the incredible blessings of the inheritance. So now, let’s talk about it. And hopefully in doing so, I can show you the beauty of this doctrine for your life.

First, let’s use our passage to define it. Predestination, also called election, is the act of God before time in choosing some people to be saved, decided not by our merit but by the eternal, loving will of God (repeat).

Let’s see how we can build this definition from Ephesians 1:3-10. It’s as simple as “ABCDE”.

Act of God: As you know from grammar, a sentence can only have one main clause with one subject and one predicate. This massive sentence in Ephesians begins with it: “Blessed be God.” Everything else in verses 3-14 is subordinate or explanatory to this one main clause, main point: Praise God because of all He has done. He is the prime mover, the first cause, the sovereign ruler of the universe. As we see in verses 9-10 and in the previous sermons from this series, He has chosen to do one thing with His sovereign will: to glorify Christ in His creation. So first we have an act of God, not obligated, completely free, and completely powerful.

Before time: “Before the foundation of the world.” This is the when of election. “But wait,” you say, “before the foundation of the world is before the creation of time itself.” Exactly! God is not confined by time like we are. He is over and above time. So when we say “before the foundation of the world,” we don’t mean it chronologically, but rather, that God in his eternal infinitude elected. This goes against those who say God elects based on the good works He sees people performing. This goes against those who say God elects based on people’s choosing Him. This goes against even those who say God elects after the fall of man, choosing only who would be saved and not who would not be saved. It’s an act of God before time.

Choosing some people to be saved: The action itself. God chooses some people to be saved. Here’s how Ephesians 1 phrases it filling in some antecedents: “God chose us in Christ.” “He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.” Then from our passage last time, Romans 8, “For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son… And those He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.” Remember, this choosing is an act of God. He chooses us, we do not choose Him. There are some who say, “He predestines those whom he foreknew would choose him.” But that’s really distorting the truth of Romans 8. Because God foreknew everyone but He doesn’t predestine everyone. Foreknew there is based on the Old Testament meaning of knew: loved. So it’s really those whom God foreloved He also predestines.

This is where some people struggle. This is why this sermon follows two sermons on theodicy. It asks the same question: “How could a good God only elect some and punish others? Isn’t He good? Isn’t He powerful? Doesn’t hell exist? How can all three be true?” In the same way as theodicy, this is where we must allow our teleology of God to inform our soteriology of God. This is where we must allow what we know of God’s purposes to shape how beliefs on how He saves. If we don’t, disastrous things happen. Either we get rid of God’s goodness and make an unloving sovereign who plays around with people’s destinies for fun, or we get rid of God’s power and make him a loving, but weak God, who wants people to be saved, but just can’t seem to make it happen. Or we can get rid of hell and have a good and powerful God that saves everyone. None of these are sufficient. So we must allow what we know of God’s purposes to shape our view of how He saves, just like Paul does in Ephesians 1. His choosing some to be saved is to glorify Christ, not to make us feel special and warm inside. There’s so much more I want to say on this, but I’ll leave that for another time. The important part of this is that predestination does not contradict God, but perfectly fulfills His purpose and will for creation.

Decided not by our merit: Why does God choose some people to be saved? It is not by our merit. Do not get this wrong. God did not choose you because you had good deeds or good faith or good abilities or good looks. God does not sit in Heaven and hope you’ll be on His team because of how awesome you are. Because you are not that great! Harsh, I know. But this is not bad news. It is good news! This means you do not have to work hard enough to gain salvation. You do not have to believe hard enough to gain salvation. You do not have any way to merit salvation. Therefore, you do not have any way to unmerit salvation. If you struggle with sin tomorrow, are you still part of the elect because God did not choose you based on your merit. Ephesians 1 says we are predestined to receive “forgiveness for our trespasses.” That’s all we have to offer, our sin. It is not based on our merit. So why did he choose some people to be saved?

Eternal, loving will of God: Ephesians 1:5 says he chose us “in love” and “according to the purpose of His will. God chooses some to be saved and some to punish based on nothing but his divine purpose. Fortunately for us, we’ve spent two sermons discussing God’s divine purpose and Ephesians 1 states it pretty clearly: “to the praise of Christ’s glorious grace… the mystery of his will, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time.”

So here’s the truth of election: Election is an act of God before time in choosing some people to be saved, decided not by our merit but by the eternal, loving will of God. This is what salvation looks like “in Christ, through Christ, by Christ, for Christ.” And it gives us some wonderful news.

Here’s the result of election: We, who were once enemies of God and rebels of his kingdom, are now adopted into his family. “In love, He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.” Adoption is something that is near and dear to the heart of Bethel. We just heard about our Esther Project, helping orphans find families. Let me state this clearly, “There is no clearer picture on earth of the Gospel than adoption.” That is the beautiful result of election.

Truett is now 47 days old. I’ve always looked forward to raising a child, but so far we’ve just been growing a baby. And it’s been tough. If I’m honest, Truett has given me zero reason to love him. Absolutely no reason at all. He has not merited my love in any way. In fact, it seems like he’s trying to do everything to get me to stop loving him. And yet, in some miraculous, God-ordained way, there’s nothing like the love I have for him.

But that love is amplified to a whole new level when it comes to adoption. They are not related by blood. They were not carried around for 9 months. There’s no reason why you have to love them. But when a child is adopted, they are still loved beyond comprehension without any way to merit it.

That is just a glimpse of our salvation in Christ. God has adopted us, chose us before time, on no merit of our own. In fact, we’ve given him every reason to not love us. But in love, he predestined us for adoption in Christ. Praise God!

So let me drive this truth home today by explaining briefly ten wonders of election. Ten beautiful truths that election shines its powerful light on. Ten delicious actions of election that we completely miss out when we avoid election. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Election promotes missions This might be the opposite of what you’ve been told. But think about it. If God has predestined the ends of salvation, He has also predestined the means. That means we get to participate in the mission of God to bring the Gospel to the elect. It takes the pressure off of us in knowing God is working with us to save the elect.
2. Election encourages prayer We come before a God who has known us before time and knows us fully even now. So our prayers do not depend on us but on God. Praying is no longer a chore, but a joy.
3. Election produces humility Election most excellently puts in our view the power and grandeur of God and the lowliness and sin of mankind. One cannot be proud at the foot of the cross.
4. Election assures us of our salvation Election in Christ means our salvation does not depend on us, it depends on Christ. If we were predestined by the will of God and not by our merits, that means we can rest assured of our salvation because it depends on God in Christ.
5. Election relieves the burden self-salvation We are not good enough. We all know it. But knowing that God elected us in Christ means we do not have to try to merit our salvation or God’s approval. We are approved and have been since before time!
6. Election motivates obedience This doctrine spurs us on towards obedience. In election God’s justice humbles us and teaches us to look up to his mercy, when we see his justice and mercy we are aroused and stimulated to live a holy life. We do not obey to earn salvation, we obey because we are saved. And God has not only predestined our justification, but also our sanctification. God has already prepared good works for you to do tomorrow. Let that motivate you to obedience.
7. Election comforts in trial Because God has elected us before time, we can know during times of trial that God is not angry with us, or that we have lost his love. If God predestined us for adoption before time, then his faithfulness extends to us today. God’s faithfulness is an unbroken cord throughout history. If He was faithful in electing you in the beginning and He will be faithful to bring you to glory in the end, then He is faithful even now.
8. Election abolishes racism Because this is an important issue in our world, we need to see how election destroys racism. One ethnicity cannot be better than another ethnicity because God has elected from all tribes and tongues to one holy nation in Christ.
9. Election bonds us tightly to the love of God Look at the rest of Romans 8 after the truth of predestination is presented: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Because we are elect, we are bound tightly to the love of God. Nothing can separate us.
10. Election secures our salvation If we have been predestined from the foundation of the world, then we can rest in our salvation. If God has elected us to salvation, then He will give us the grace to complete our salvation and bring us to Him in Heaven.

Conclusion: This is the beauty of election. Hopefully I have shown you how important and beautiful this doctrine is. It is not to be avoided, but rejoiced in. It is not an anxiety-producing controversy, it is a joy-producing doctrine.

Yesterday was Halloween. But it was also the 498th anniversary of the Reformation’s beginning. On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Chapel to spark the Reformation and recovery of the Gospel. His 95 Theses were based on the truth of justification by faith alone through grace alone. So I will close with just one of his theses.

“62. The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.”

Amen.

The Odyssey through Theodicy: Our Good and Christ's Glory

Introduction: This series of posts is from a sermon series I preached this year. It is a three part series on the topic of theodicy. This is the question of evil in a world ruled by a good and powerful God. I used three sermons to describe the problem of theodicy and then offer a Biblical response. Join me on this journey through the question of evil coexisting with a good and sovereign God; join me on the odyssey through theodicy.

For the first part of this series, click here.

Read Romans 8:26-30.

“This is the Word of the Lord, thanks be to God for His Word.”

Introduction: We are continuing a series this morning that was begun on Easter: The Odyssey through Theodicy. That is, the journey through the question: why is there evil in a world with a good and all-powerful God?

The word “theodicy” means to “justify God.” It is an attempt to figure out how a good and powerful God can justify the existence of evil in the world He created and sustains.

On Easter morning, we looked at the book of Job for an answer to this ever-present, ever-dangerous conundrum. We said:  The existence of evil in a world ruled by a good and all-powerful God is to glorify Christ. (repeat) We call this “Christological Theodicy.”

What Christological theodicy means is that God is working everything in this world towards the glory of Christ. Earlier in Romans 8 Paul says that even creation groans under the curse of sin. We can look at the evil all around us and trace it back to the fall of mankind in Genesis 3. God did not create plan B when Adam and Eve ate the fruit. God’s plan from before time was to purpose everything for the glory of Christ. Ephesians 1 says, “God made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

So why does a world ruled by a good and powerful God have evil? To glorify Christ.

Need: But I’m afraid one sermon is insufficient to explain the whole of theodicy. I’m afraid I wasn’t able to fully satisfy all of our doubts and questions regarding evil in a world with a good and powerful God. We said on Easter morning that evil exists to glorify Christ. But since then, more evil has occurred, more people getting diagnosed with cancer, more martyrs, more tragedy, more pain. Evil still exists and evil still hurts. And that is how it will be until our Lord returns. But the way we talked about it last time is in more of a corporate or cosmic sense. It’s as though we’re all only a big ship through turbulent waters and I’ve told you that the seas might be rough but the destination is worth it. This is excellent news because we can look at a world that is full of evil and say may Christ be glorified as Savior and King. We can watch the evening news with its stories of pain and wickedness and say God is still good.

But this is like looking over the side of the ship and seeing the rough waters and the scary storm. What happens when evil comes upon you or your family? That’s like turning around on the ship and seeing two people fighting or a person dying of illness or a food shortage. We recognize that we have to go through rough waters to get to the safe and blissful shore of Christ’s glory, but what about all the evil happening on the ship? Is that really necessary? Is Christ still glorified? What about when it happens to you or me? Today we are using Romans 8:28, a very popular verse, to look at a more personal theodicy.

We are asking the question...

Question: Why do all things happen? We are asking this question not in the cosmic and corporate sense of all things, but more so on the personal and daily level. So “all things,” not collectively, but all things as in each and every. Why do all things happen?

Let’s pull our answer right from our passage this morning:

Thesis: All things work together for our good, which is Christ’s glory. (repeat)

With this thesis, I have set before me a weighty and serious task: to prove to you that our greatest good is the glory of Jesus Christ.

Text:

If we look at our passage in Romans 8, I think this truth is clear. We all have heard verse 28. Many of you probably have it memorized. But do not ignore the profound truth contained within it. “In all things (each and every thing) God works for the good.” This is the most grand of promises. Whose good? “The good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” If you are in Christ, God is working all things for YOUR good!

Let’s continue into verse 29: “For those God foreknew (those who have been called) he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” So let’s ask the question, what is “his purpose”? His purpose is to choose some before time to become like His Son. Let’s broaden God’s purpose: God created man in His own image for His own glory. That image was tarnished by the fall. It takes the perfect image of God to restore the image of God in man. That perfect image of God is Christ. So before creation, God predestined certain people to have the image of God restored so that Christ would be glorified.

Let’s go to Ephesians 1 for another look at this truth. “For God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, (why?) in accordance with his pleasure and will (or purpose)-- (what purpose?) to the praise of his glorious grace.”

So what I am trying to say here is this: God’s purpose for Christians is to glorify Christ.

So if we put that back into Romans 8:28, we have: “In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called to glorify Christ.” I think this makes the truth “God works for our good” so much clearer. Because if God’s purpose for our life is to glorify Christ, then our greatest good is the glory of Christ. There’s the truth of this passage and the hope of this sermon: Our good is Christ’s glory.

The implications of this truth are so incredibly profound and so many! This truth can unlock our hearts to see the wonder of God’s plan for our lives. It offers us so much joy and hope. I could go on and on about the implications of this truth, but I will only share a few.

Implications:

1. First, is this not the crux of the Gospel? Why did Christ come to earth? Why did God incarnate His Son to take on human form to live and die and rise again? What was the purpose? Let’s ask this of Scripture:

Luke 19:10: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Christ came for our good.

Hebrews 12:2: “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Christ came for his glory.

Matthew 20:28: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Christ came for our good.

John 1:14: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Christ came for his glory.

Philippians 2:7-8: “Rather, Christ made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death--even death on a cross!” Christ came for our good.

Philippians 2:9-11: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Christ came for his glory.

Christ came to earth for our good and his glory. These are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they are the same thing! Our good is Christ’s glory. This is why in the Gospel narrative, Jesus is both Savior and King. More so, he is savior because he is king and he is king because he is savior. Awesome.

2. Second, this promise is not for everyone; it is only for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. We often use this verse as though it could apply to anyone because of how we define “our good.” This does not refer to our earthly good. God does not work everything so that you would be blessed with more health, wealth, or prosperity. Because there is a greater good for us than those things. It is to glorify Christ. That is the greatest good for us.

If it is health, wealth, and prosperity that you’re looking for, this is not the promise for you. God graciously gives that to “those who DON’T love God, to those who are not called according to his purpose.” If this is all you want in life, your desires are way too weak. There is a greater good out there and God works everything for that good.

So the truth that our good IS Christ’s glory is only true if we love God and have been called to salvation through the Gospel.

Third, here’s where it might get tricky, but follow along. Next Sunday, Pastor Mark is getting roasted. Mike Zoccoli and I have been preparing jokes for years, I mean weeks, for this occasion. I will probably roast him about his height and his suit button mistakes among other things. But hopefully, he will be laughing through it all. Why? Because he knows my purpose, my intention, is not to put him down, but to honor him for his Christian witness and ministry to me and the church.

Pastor Mark can enjoy it because he knows my purpose, my goal, my end, what they call my “telos.” He has a good grip on my “teleology,” or my purpose through the roast. So when he hears a roasting joke that seems like an insult, he doesn’t think I’m evil or unkind. It doesn’t change his view of my “ontology,” or who I am, my characteristics.

Let’s apply this to our view of God. We often correctly view God through his attributes, his ontology. We know He is good and loving and kind and gracious. And we let this inform our view of God’s purpose, intentions, His teleology. But this must be a two-way street. If we only let our ontology inform our teleology, then we we find ourselves with a bad theodicy. We think, “I know God is love and good and kind and gracious. Therefore, His goal must be to exalt me and make me feel loved and special.” This will not work well in a world full of evil.

We must let our teleology, our knowledge of God’s purposes, inform our ontology, our knowledge of who God is. Here’s what that looks like: “God is working all things to glorify Christ, which is my highest good. Therefore, even in this time of suffering, I know God is good and kind and loving because He working for my greatest good.” This is a theodicy that can withstand all of the evil of this world.

Applications:

Let me close with just a few applications from this truth of Scripture.

1) Immerse yourself in the narrative of Scripture. Don’t let a day go by when you don’t recognize the story of the Gospel in the Bible. From Scripture we see God’s purposes and actions for our good and Christ’s glory. And the truths we glean from Scripture will never fail us. God’s purposes are infallible. If Mark had a legacy here at Bethel, it is a legacy shouting the truth of the Bible’s infallibility. We honor that by daily opening our Bibles.

2) Praying for God’s will to be done. We do this every single Sunday very explicitly. “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by Thy name, Thy kingdom come, THY WILL BE DONE.” This is a prayer that puts God’s teleology on display. May God’s purposes be accomplished in this world because it is for my greatest good.

3) Practice this attitude in the good times. Holding to a Christological theodicy is not easy. It is something we must continually be putting on and practicing. We do this in the good times. Whatever happens every day, we can practice by reminding ourselves, “God did that for my good and Christ’s glory.” Then when the bad times come, we can say like Job, “Shall we accept good from God and not evil? The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Conclusion: So hold fast to a Christological theodicy. Cling tightly to the truth that your greatest good is Christ’s highest glory. Knowing this, leave with this promise today: God works all things for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

The Odyssey through Theodicy: My Redeemer Lives

Introduction: This series of posts is from a sermon series I preached this year. It is a three part series on the topic of theodicy. This is the question of evil in a world ruled by a good and powerful God. I used three sermons to describe the problem of theodicy and then offer a Biblical response. Join me on this journey through the question of evil coexisting with a good and sovereign God; join me on the odyssey through theodicy.

Read Job 19:23-27.

Introduction: On Thursday, April 3rd, just three days ago, at Garissa University College in Kenya, 148 people were murdered and another 78 were wounded at gunpoint. One witness explained that terrorists went from room to room asking if the students inside were Christian or Muslim. The witness said, “If you were a Christian, you were shot on the spot.” Good, young people, followers of Christ, murdered by horrible evil. Where is God?

March 24th, 2015, sixteen schoolchildren from Haltern, Germany, boarded a plane in Barcelona after a student exchange program. Shortly after takeoff, the suicidal copilot of the plane locked the pilot out of the cockpit and began a slow descent that ended with the plane crashing into a mountain. All 150 people on board, including these 16 students, died on impact. Where is God?

On March 9th, 2015, only 5 weeks after his 60th birthday, my uncle was diagnosed with 6 inoperable brain tumors. A man of God who has taught me so much about faith in Christ. Where is God?

A young girl at Mohawk, recently orphaned by the death of her father. Where is God?

Think back on the prayer requests of just the last three months at Bethel. So much pain and suffering. We are surrounded by evil. Where is God?

I can confidently say that every single person in this room has been or will be in a situation where they experience pain and suffering to the point that it begs the question: Where is God?

Need: What we are really asking is not for a physical location of God, but rather for an explanation of evil in a world with a God. The coexistence of these three truths come into question: 1) The existence of evil, 2) The goodness of God, and 3) The power of God.

Question: To put it plainly, why is there evil in a world with a good and all-powerful God? You may also hear the question phrased, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"

This question has been so common throughout history that it has been given a name: theodicy. It is the attempt to “justify God.” That is where we get the word “theodicy.” It is an attempt to figure out how a good and powerful God can justify the existence of evil in the world He created and sustains. In this sermon on this Easter Sunday, we journey through this question. Hence, my homonymic sermon title: The Odyssey through Theodicy.

When I told someone earlier this week that I would be preaching on theodicy on Easter morning, they laughed and said, “Only a seminarian would do that…” But this question is very important. Left unanswered, it is dangerous to Christianity. It has the ability to implode even the most venerated faiths. In fact, it is so commonly a reason for converting from Christianity to atheism that statistically, someone in this room will one day give up their faith in God because they can’t seem to reconcile the existence of evil with a good God.

If you find yourself with that possibility, I hope God’s Word proclaims the truth to your doubting heart this morning.

For many of you, you will face the issue of theodicy from a family member, a friend or a coworker. When they see or experience pain, they think they have to abandon a notion of a good and powerful God. What will be your response?

If you think that you are outside the possibility of abandoning your faith because of the problem of evil, I hope this message grounds you firmly in a biblical response to theodicy before it becomes a possibility. The issue of theodicy is always simpler when you’re dealing with someone else’s pain and suffering. But there are days ahead of you when the pain will become your own and the evil will be all too real. On that day, I hope you are prepared to respond to your own challenges of theodicy because of this message.

First, we must clear away incorrect or insufficient theodicies. These are theodicies we’ve created that just don’t hold up to Scripture.

Like we said, theodicy is an attempt to reconcile these three statements: 1) God is good, 2) God is powerful, 3) Evil exists. So what some have done is tried to get rid of one of those statements.

Protest Theodicy:

Some simply say we have misunderstood God; He is actually not good at all. This is called Protest Theodicy. This means we are left with an all powerful God ruling over an evil world. He becomes a God who gets pleasure from evil. He is like a small boy torturing ants, entertaining Himself with our suffering.

But this is not our God. We know that for a fact. We see evidence of God’s goodness all throughout Scripture. If God were not good, would He be God at all? It’s not possible. Protest theodicy does not work.

Process Theodicy:

Others accept the goodness of God and try to reconcile it with the existence of evil by rejecting the power of God. This is what you can call Process Theodicy. It’s also known as Augustinian theodicy, named after Augustine of Hippo. This means God has handcuffed himself where he can no longer act in the world. He has set up rules against himself that have made it so he is powerless in this world. Indeed God always intends the good to happen, however he can not stop it from happening without breaking the laws of physics, or breaking free-will. This claims that God didn’t want puppets. He wanted free willed creatures. And as a result, this is what he has gotten himself into!

Again I think this view does not hold true to the God we see in the Bible. The God who formed creation out of chaos… the God who rose Lazarus from the dead… the God who spoke and calmed a storming sea… is not a God without power in this world. In the light of scripture, we must declare: God is powerful!

So where does that leave us? We have a God who IS good; we have a God who IS powerful; why then is there still evil, still pain, still suffering?

Person Making Theodicy:

There are some who maintain a good and all-powerful God, but try to get rid of the existence of evil. They would say that this world is the best possible world to develop human beings. Therefore, even the evil of this world is good because it is for your own good. You can call this Person Making Theodicy. It’s also called Irenaean Theodicy, named after Irenaeus. This is a fan favorite. Chances are, you’ve probably heard it before. It’s common in the language of comforters, but not a favorite of the comforted. It sounds something like this: “Somehow God will work this out for your good. God is just using this suffering to make you stronger.”

I can see where it comes from. I think trials often make us better people and better Christians. But it still falls short. You can’t take this one to the bedside of someone dying a painful death and say “This will make you stronger. Something good will still come out of this.” This theodicy, as well, is insufficient.

So I’ve gotten myself into a mess. We’ve held up three statements: God is good, God is powerful, evil exists; and we’ve tried to remove each one so it can all fit together, but that does not work. The answer must be able to reconcile all three. What we expect in such a messy conundrum is a complicated, almost incomprehensible answer. But I don’t think that’s what I see in Scripture. I will not claim that a Biblical theodicy is easy, but it is simple.

Thesis: The existence of evil in a world ruled by a good and all-powerful God is to glorify Christ. (repeat)

Text: I began by relaying stories of pain and suffering from our world. Let me share with you another story of a man who experienced some real pain and suffering:

This man could be described as a blameless and upright man. He feared the LORD and turned away from evil. He was what you might call, “a good guy.” He had a wife, 7 sons, and 3 daughters, whom he loved dearly. He had 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 oxen, 500 donkeys, and many, many servants. His name was Job.

Well one day, he’s at home and a servant comes running in. The servant informs Job that all his children were at the oldest son’s house and Sabeans came and killed many of the servants. While he was still explaining this, another servant comes running in and explains that fire fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and more servants. While he was speaking, another servant tells Job that Chaldeans attacked and took the camels and killed more servants. While he was speaking, there came another servant who told Job that a strong wind came upon his oldest son’s house and it fell, killing all of his sons and daughters.

Not too long after this, Job developed horrible sores all over his body, from head to toe. As if this wasn’t enough suffering, sitting in agony and pain, his wife counsels him to curse God and die. When he doesn’t do that, he has three friends come alongside him and give him terrible advice. They continually accuse him of sin which would make his punishment so great. In fact, one friend even has the audacity to tell Job that he deserves worse because of his arrogance and sin. But Job holds on to his hope in God, even when he fully recognizes that God is the one who has brought this suffering upon him. In Job 13:15, Job cries out, “Though He (God) slay me, I will hope in Him.” If anybody has ever suffered on this earth, it was Job. He knows the piercing afflictions of evil.

And then we get to our passage. It is, in my opinion, the point of the entire book.

Look at Job 19:25-26.

It reminds me of the pivotal scene in the movie Gladiator. If you haven’t seen the movie, Maximus goes from being a general in the Roman army to a slave forced to fight in the Colosseum. He is betrayed by his own empire and his family is murdered by the emperor’s corrupt son. After one of his gladiatorial battles, he confronts the emperor’s son with a powerful soliloquy.

He says, “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.”

This is how I picture Job standing up to his friends. “My name is Job, a great man of the East, suffering and in pain, but a loyal servant of the true God, Father to murdered sons and daughters and husband to a miserable wife. And I will see my redeemer, in this life or the next.”

What Job is proclaiming here, what he wants engraved in stone, is that he has suffered greatly and barely survives. He doesn’t think he will get any better and he fully expects to die in his pain. But he knows God is powerful and He knows God is good and He knows evil exists for a purpose. Job knows that his suffering is pointing to a Savior, a Redeemer, one who will vindicate his suffering and reconcile him fully to God’s goodness. In these few verses, Job provides us with a clear and Biblical theodicy.

We can call this “Christological Theodicy.” Christological theodicy states that the existence of evil in a world ruled by a good and all-powerful God is to glorify Christ. Job's words clearly point us to Christ. He may not have known how pregnant his words were, but the Holy Spirit, who inspired those words certainly did.

Here’s how Job’s Christological theodicy reconciles the three statements that God is good, God is all powerful, and evil exists:

First, Job proclaims that it is a Redeemer who stands upon the earth on the last day. This means that God is working through evil to glorify someone in the end. But that someone is not God as tyrant, God as dictator, God as torturous boy. That someone is God as Savior. In his painful situation, with sores from head to toe, he knows there is one who will make him new so that in his flesh, with his eyes, he will see God. Job affirms God’s goodness by exclaiming that his Redeemer lives!

Second, Job proclaims that God is intentionally and purposefully moving this world towards a specific end. God is not waiting to find out what humans do with their free will. God is not at the mercy of human actions. He is not just trying to make the best of the battle between good and evil on earth. Job makes it clear that in all of the pain and suffering, in the evil that surrounds him, God is working sovereignly and powerfully to glorify a Redeemer, who at the last day stands on the earth, vindicating the sufferer. Job affirms God’s power by exclaiming that his Redeemer lives!

Third, Job does not minimize pain and suffering. It is clear from these verses and the surrounding passage that Job fully expects to die in agony. He never claims that God is just making him a better person or a stronger individual through this evil. Job didn’t think God was going to restore his health and his possessions and give him more children. He knew that what he was enduring was in fact evil. But in that evil, Job is still able to believe that God is working according to a plan that glorifies a redeemer. Job affirms the existence of evil by exclaiming that his Redeemer lives!

By proclaiming that his Redeemer lives, Job is able to affirm that God is good, God is powerful, and evil exists.

Job was not the only one to experience suffering and point to Christ. If you look at II Corinthians 11:24-12:10, the apostle Paul recounts his suffering: “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” But then he gets to the conclusion and states the reason for it all: “But God said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

What Christological theodicy means is that God is working everything in this world towards the glory of Christ. Romans says that even creation groans under the curse of sin. We can look at the evil all around us and trace it back to the fall of mankind in Genesis 3. God did not create plan B when Adam and Eve ate the fruit. The Father did not call Jesus into action after seeing Adam’s sin: “Sorry, Son, I wasn’t sure if we would have to do this, but you’re gonna have to go down and save those people.” God’s plan from before time was to purpose everything for the glory of Christ. Ephesians 1 says, “God made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

Try to imagine if the fall of man never occurred. Adam and Eve would still be in the Garden, perfect, but without a need for Christ. If Adam doesn’t sin, Christ is not Savior. If Christ is not Savior, then He is not King.

This is the whole truth of Christological theodicy. Listen closely. For Christ to be most glorified on in creation as Savior and King, the fall and the existence of evil are necessary. (repeat)

So why does a world ruled by a good and powerful God have evil? To glorify Christ.

Conclusion: It’s Easter, it’s spring, it’s a happy day and good times. But I do not apologize if I have ruined your Easter morning with such a heavy topic. What we have found in Scripture is that a man who suffered unimaginably horrific evil, pointed to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and shouted, that is why!

What we celebrate this morning is a living Redeemer, one to whom we can point on the greatest of days and on the most painful of days and exclaim, “I know that my Redeemer lives!” The resurrection assures us of our salvation and unites us to Christ.

Theodicy means to justify God. What we see in Job, in a Christological theodicy, is that man’s justification of God is fully explained by God’s justification of man. Does evil exist? Look at the cross, where the Son of God was murdered by evil men. Is God all-powerful? Look at the cross, where God saved men to the glory of Christ through the worst evil of history. Is God good? Look at the cross, where God reached down to you and to me with the offer of salvation by the glorified Redeemer, His Son, Jesus Christ.

Just three days ago, evil men murdered 148 people and wounded 78 others because they admitted to being a Christian. Does evil exist? Absolutely. But is God good and all powerful? Absolutely. This story means that 226 Christians looked down the barrel of a terrorist’s gun, still hot from the previous bullet that created the latest martyr and answered with courage, “I am a Christian.” May Christ be glorified.

Samuel Medley, an 18th century hymn writer, nearing the end of his life, suffered terrible pain and illness. A friend asked him, “Sir, is Christ your center?” He replied, “Yes, yes, he is, he is.” And then adding later, “I am now a shattered bark, just about to gain the blissful harbor, and oh how sweet will be the port after the storm. Dying is sweet work, sweet work! My heavenly Father! I am looking up to my dear Jesus, My God, my portion, my all in all.” Samuel Medley knew what it meant to look to Christ through the pain of this world. He understood the power of the resurrection as a response to theodicy. And in his dying days, he wrote:

“I know that my Redeemer lives

What joy this blest assurance gives

He lives, he lives, who once was dead

He lives, my ever-living Head”