“And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Romans 2:3-4

God’s goodness, one of the hallmarks of His character, is intended to function as a compass for the human spirit. His goodness is the gentle nudge homeward for the wayward soul. It’s the whisper of how much better they could have it in Father’s house and the practical application of God’s love for all, even those who have turned their backs on Him. Without the goodness of God, many of us would be lost forever, and rightly so, but thank God, He is good and we found our way home!

 The last four weeks we have written in response to some tough questions concerning the seeming contradiction between the declared goodness of God and His undeniable sovereignty. Tough questions in our age, not because the answer can’t be found, but because we most often look for the answers to these questions in places they can never be found.

Our experiences, our own ideas and the collaborative ‘brainstorming” of man never lead us to the absolute truth in these matters. There’s only one place to find the answer to these types of questions—that’s in the Word of God. So, with that in mind, we looked in Genesis 1 and in Luke 4, and we saw evidence that man was originally given the task of managing this planet according to God’s design, but when Adam fell, Satan crept in and stole that authority and its resulting control from man.

Then came Jesus and the mystery of the ages unfolded. Jesus died and rose again for our forgiveness and justification, and what the devil declared he had at the beginning of the book of Matthew, he had lost to Jesus by the end. Authority, the right to exercise control, was restored to the son of man, and his body by extension.

So, if you follow the narrative and apply the logic, the authority to manage this planet according to the will of God was won back by Jesus, and in this Age of Grace, that management responsibility was conferred upon his Body, the Church, the body of believers on the Earth as a whole. That is what Scripture teaches, but many through the years have balked at this understanding because in their experience this can’t be the case. Why? Because they believe that if God was currently in control of this world, then there’s no way we could be in the shape we are in. There’s just too much suffering, too much injustice, and they know God is good and just. What those in this ideological camp have forgotten is the human factor in this equation and an important aspect of the spiritual constitution of mankind—free will.

In reality, the vast majority of the trouble in this world is due to our ability to choose. God created us with a free will. He loved us enough to build us with the ability to make our own decisions, knowing full well that many would choose to reject His graciousness and embrace wickedness instead. Many have failed to understand why God would do such a thing and hence rejected the idea of free will altogether, but the Scriptural facts remain as a testimony to this great blessing that many men have twisted into a curse.

Brothers and sisters, it is true that God has the capability to control all absolutely, down to the next breath we take, and as we’ll eventually get to, when we yield control of our lives back to Him, this allows Him to exercise that control in our lives, but the idea that God overtly controls all that happens in this world denies the fact that He gave us a choice in life. You do understand that no man is forced to follow Him, right? Think about Joshua’s ultimatum to the Israelites recorded in Joshua 24. How could they “choose you this day” if they didn’t legitimately have a choice in the matter? And if they had a choice, we have a choice, and if that is so, how could God be in control of everything? Selah.

Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Lovely.