ALONE WITH GOD------

This verse, and others like it, cause many theological problems. And those problems are profound. Such verses introduce a concept of God that many people find difficult to accept. Indeed, some of the ones who most vigorously object to the notion are Christians themselves. This latter statement may seem an absurd appraisal to make because Christians are normally accustomed to calling God the Almighty. They even pray to Him with a theoretical belief in His omnipotence, yet in practice some are not quite able to accept His complete supremacy. Sometimes their theological beliefs restrict their full assent to the proposition that God has undisputed authority --that He is the One who accomplishes all things -- the One who controls all the powers of the universe.

Why do they reject this dogmatic ruler-ship? Because to assume such a belief inevitably demands that God be a party to evil. All the wrong teachings and actions of people must be committed with His approbation. Even the actions of Satan and all evil spirits must be within the superintendence of His power. And true enough; if God is the Sovereign Lord of the universe, He has to be responsible for all things that occur within the domain which He controls.

Look at the earth. We have wickedness in abundance. We have had (and still have) our Neros, our Genghis Khans, and Hitlers. There are also sicknesses, accidents, and deaths, which afflict even Christians. Besides these we have devastating earthquakes, droughts, famines, pestilences, and other "acts of God." The Bible also tells us we have a Satan and a whole host of evil spirits who afflict men, beasts, and even inanimate objects.

If one believes that God is the Sovereign Lord of the universe, with all power at His beck and call, then one must hold God responsible for the occurrence of all evil. After all, if God is supreme and all-powerful, if it is He who pulls all the levers and pushes all the buttons of power, could He not stop any and all such evils at the snap of a finger? Why certainly! But evil is rampant in this world. There presently seems to be little attempt by God to curtail it. And yet we read in the Bible that God hates such wickedness.

"But the wicked and him that loveth violence His soul hateth (Psalm 11:5).

"For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee…thou hatest all workers of iniquity (Psalm 5:4, 5).

If God is truly the Sovereign Lord of the universe, why does He not exercise His power and rid it of all evil and wickedness? But evil is very much with us and seems to be getting worse. God appears to many people to be quite impotent to deal with it. Could it be that God is not the supreme and unquestioned power that some imagine Him to be?

Let us notice some problems if God is considered an Almighty Sovereign. He would be like the man who owned an acre of land with buildings on it in a downtown area of a city. The buildings are used as houses of prostitution and the tenants pay rent to this man as owner of the property. Yet the man says he is a Christian and that he wishes proper righteousness to prevail. He is also a member of a church, which believes in all the righteous principles of the Bible and the man constantly denounces vice, the evils of promiscuity, and prostitution. In fact, of all people in the town, he is the most vigorous exponent of decent family living, and denounces the wrongs of libertinism. The only trouble is, the man knowingly allows all the evils, which he utterly condemns to flourish on his own property. He could give such tenants thirty days notice to get off his property, but he not only refuses to evict them, he even allows them to continue in their wickedness by permitting them to take over some property on the other side of town for the purpose of promoting more vice.

The natural appraisal that any decent human would give of this man is that he was a great hypocrite. While he utterly condemns vice in his outward statements, he lets it exist on the property, which is completely under his control.

Would not this illustration be something like God if we recognize Him as the Sovereign Lord of the universe? God condemns vice in His Holy Word, yet He certainly allows it to flourish on His property (without any apparent intervention). After all, since God owns the earth and if He, be all-powerful, cannot He evict from His property the wicked people whom He says He hates?

Another illustration could be given. Suppose a young boy on a boat became adrift in the waters above Niagara Falls. The boy cannot swim, and he got progressively closer to the falls every second. Most of the time the youngster was within twenty feet of shore. A man standing on the shore saw the boy's plight. He had thirty feet of rope in his hand. This man ran along the shore keeping abreast of the boy. The boy seeing the peril ahead asked the man to throw him the rope, but the man didn't do it. It was an easy task to do, but the man simply did not throw the rope to the boy. The young man was pleading with him to save him from Niagara Falls. Yet the man running on the bank failed to throw the rope. He could have done so very easily and without the slightest inconvenience, but he refused to respond. The boy went over the falls to his death.

Tragic? Yes. Criminal? Heartless? Inhuman? Yes. The truth is, any jury of men would convict the defaulter as a criminal without doubt. No decent person could say anything else.

Some may feel this illustration is again like God if one accepts Him as the Sovereign Lord of the universe. The boy of the illustration died by being swept over Niagara Falls. God supposedly has all the power of the universe at His hand, and yet He stood back and did nothing. He threw him no rope. If God is the sovereign of the universe with all knowledge and power, then He must be held responsible for not rescuing the boy. Such a conclusion is inescapable.

Some Christians Relieve God Of Responsibility

There is one way to liberate God of accountability. This could be done by taking away some of God's sovereign power. If God is looked on as being somewhat powerful, yet still limited in His Authority, it could then be said that He tried to get prostitutes off His earth, but they are refusing to budge. Also it could be said that God was probably aware of the young boy's plight, but He was unable to make it to Niagara Falls in time to save him. It would then be possible to say that God certainly loved the boy (as the Bible says He loves all), but since His powers are limited, His efforts to get there in time failed. This could allow some Christians to maintain that God is truly a God of love. He tried His best to save the boy, but His efforts were frustrated.

By limiting the powers of God, it may be possible to keep God's righteousness in proper shape and keep Him disassociated from any taint of evil. It could also explain the continuance of Satan and his performance of wicked acts without God being responsible for them. God fights Satan and all his evils, but He would not be powerful enough to completely overcome him -- at least not at the present time. This could show that a great controversy is going on between God and Satan. God is desperately trying to bring in universal righteousness -- but Satan won't let Him. Only when God overcomes Satan, at the end of the age, through some subtle stratagems of His own, will God be able to proclaim victory over the adversary.

Other Christians won't go so far as to limit the powers of God, but they wish to relieve Him of responsibility for evil by saying that God now has a "hand-off" policy. God supposedly allows man and Satan to do as they please. God does not intervene in the affairs of man one way or the other. Earthquakes, droughts, famines, and pestilences occur because of prescribed natural laws, which God long ago put in motion. God may be sorry for the ills that afflict man, but because He has a "hands-off" policy He forbids Himself to intervene.

What Is the Truth?

The opinions of men about God are not only absurd, some are anti-biblical and they can even be blasphemous. But there is, nothing more certain in the Bible, God is God. He is the Almighty. He is the full sovereign of the universe. Nothing happens anywhere in the universe (even the falling of hair from a person's head) without the express allowance of God (Matthew 10:30). The Bible knows of no such thing as a great controversy going on between Satan and God -- because there can be no match between the two. If we would liken God to a human adult, Satan would be less than an ant in comparison. All the power that Satan possesses is only a reflected authority, which emanates from God Himself. If God wished to exterminate the power of Satan, he could accomplish the task before a person blinks an eye. True enough, God allows Satan to have power, but he is like the moon, which illuminates at night, while God is like the sun that is the source of light. The light of the moon could not exist without the sun.

The Bible shows that the Family of God is all-powerful. No one can compare with God in authority no matter who he is.

"Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou are exalted as head above all" (1 Chron. 29:11).

"And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" (Dan. 4:35).

God possesses all the power of the universe and it belongs to Him to dispense as He pleases.

"Jesus answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above" (John 19:11).

God is the one who determines when and where peoples or nations will exist and the extent of their dominions.

"And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation" (Acts 17:26).

"I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him" (Jeremiah 27:5, 6).

God is even responsible for, raising up evil men whenever He chooses.

"For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth" (Romans 9:17).

All things that occur in the universe happen according to the will of God.

"Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created" (Revelation 4:11).

There is no use trying to disassociate God from evil, as so many try to do today, because God is the very creator of evil in the first place.

"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord do all these things" (Isaiah 45:7)

Yes, even evil (which in Hebrew means: misery, affliction, hurt, harm, calamity, adversity) is the creation of God. He has not only created it, He can even use evil in the pursuance of good. However, it must be clearly understood that only a sovereign God can do this. That's because His omnipotence allows Him the full capability of bringing good out of any evil. We humans have no such power. God orders us to shun evil at all costs (1 Thessalonians 5:22). But God certainly uses evil in the accomplishment of His plan. One of the greatest evils ever perpetrated by the hand of man was the crucifixion of God's own son on the cross. Yet that very evil was planned to occur before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). All the actions of God (both good and evil) have a purpose, which God is using for the final good and glory of His creation. He has a "plan of the ages" (Ehpesians 3:11, Greek). The center of that plan rests in the actions of Jesus Christ and in the redemption, which is found in the efficacy of His cross and resurrection.

God Has Subjected the Universe to a Bondage of Corruption

In this present time in which we live, all of us, Christians and non-Christians alike, suffer the experiences of life (both good and evil) to which God submits us. And it is God who does the subjecting.

"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves [even we Christians] groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit the redemption of our body" (Romans 8:22-24).

"For the creature [creation --the whole creation] was made subject [by God] to vanity, not willingly but by reason of him [God] who hath subjected the same IN HOPE" (Romans 8:20).

The supreme God has subjected the whole universe to corruption and to the bondage of pain. But there is hope of deliverance.

"Because the creature itself [all the creation, Greek] also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God" (Romans 8:21).

That bondage of corruption is universal. Though God has subjected us to such groanings, He has also given us hope for liberation. The victory over corruption will occur when God allows the children of God to achieve the liberty of their glory [their full deliverance] (Ephesians 1:10).

God has now given us the hope of salvation, which we see in Christ Jesus. He has conquered death. Victory is sure. And Christ, who was the creator of the whole universe, by the express authority of the father (Colossians 1: 16-20), will bring us to a complete and full salvation (1 Timothy 2:4-6; Philippians 2:10, 11; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 19; Romans 5:17-19; John 3:16, 17).

All of the trials and difficulties that now afflict man -- including even those which happen to Christians -- are well within the knowledge of God.

"Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee" (Psalm 38:9).

Even when we are not aware why God subjects us to the problems of life, God is fully aware! We, and all people, are a part of His plan of the ages. He has not abandoned any, though It may appear He does at times. Yet, God knows what He is doing.

"We know that all things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28).

Even in our ignorance of why God allows the experiences of life to occur to His people (both good and bad), He assures us of His intimate concern and ultimate victory.

"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities [weaknesses, sicknesses, deficiencies]: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered [by men]" (Romans 8:26).

All things that happen to us are "according to the will of God" (1 Peter 4:19). And all things, in the long run, are for our good (Romans 8:28). Even though we, who are the saints of God, may have tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword (Romans 8:35), God's word says we can never be separated "from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39).

Why does God allow these problems to occur? One thing for certain, they are factors which will eventually allow Him to show His abundant grace and love to us.

"For God hath concluded them all in unbelief [which leads people to misery and unhappiness], that he might have mercy upon all" (Romans 11:32).

How is it possible to show someone mercy unless one need it? How can God show grace to a person when the man has fullness already? How can God show His love, unless one needs it? The more one needs love (when hate, war, sickness, and calamity abound), that's when God is able to show the most love by rescuing him, and the whole creation, from such woes. As an example of how this works, we have the fact of God sending His own son into the world to have the greatest evil possible occur to Him -- yet the Father, as a result, was then able to show His full love to His own Son by bringing Him from utter degradation into a supreme glory. The contrast between the two extremes even heightened the love that the Father had for Christ. God wishes to do the same for us. But He can't show His full mercy, His abundant grace, and His supreme love unless there occurs an environment of hate, calamity, and evil from which to rescue us. God allows such corruption to exist in the universe in order to show His ultimate love to all creation by saving them from it all.

The Sovereignty of God Is A Fact

God is accountable for all things that occur in the universe. He is responsible because He is the Almighty God -- the Omnipotent sovereign of the universe. He possesses all and every power. Nothing can occur without His express allowance and will. His jurisdiction is all encompassing. His undisputed dominion in all things is what makes Him to be God. But if one takes away even a sliver of God's power, then God would cease to be the Almighty. Look at it this way. If all the waters of the world's oceans could represent God's power, and there remained only one ounce of water not under His sovereignty, He would then not be the sovereign Lord! That one ounce of water would disqualify Him from being the Almighty. But we can be thankful to God; even an ounce of sea water is as much within His authority as all the waters in the sea. "What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him" (Mark 4:41).

God, through Jesus Christ, is working out a salvation for His creation. He is certainly powerful enough to accomplish His plan. Look at what He has done for you. He has been responsible for helping you to repent, to have faith in Christ, and to live by His precepts. He was the one who called you to Him. "No man can come to me [said Christ], except the Father which hath sent me draw him" (John 6:44). The Father began our salvation, He sustains it, and He will accomplish it (1 Corinthians 1:8). Now man is able to frustrate that plan of the almighty God. "My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand" (John 10:29).