Suffering, Sovereignty and Satan

1

• Suffering, Sovereignty and Satan
• God ordains or plans it must be for some specific
  divine reason
• God permits or allows when he could have done
  something about it
• it must always be for some specific divine
  reason
• The Warfare view
• Jesus view of the satanic kingdom
• The prince (archon) of this present age. (Jn
  1231 1430 1611)
• Highest official in a city or region
• Jesus does not dispute Satans claim Lk 45-6
• Other writings speak of his power 1 Jn 519, 2
  Cor 44, Eph22
• Ruler of the demons Mt 934 and leader of a
  relatively unified and pervasive army of
  spiritual powers and demons, fallen angels are
  his angels (Mt 2541)
• Jesus ministry was about tying up the strongman
  to take back the property (Mk 327, Lk 1121)

2

• The Warfare view
• 2 Demonstrating the kingdom
• The kingdom of God is about bringing in the rule
  of God by pushing out the evil one.(Lk1120)
• He came to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn
  38, Heb 214)
• In contrast with any view that would suggest
  that disease and demonization somehow serve a
  divine purpose, Jesus never treated such
  phenomenon as anything other than a work of the
  enemy.
• Jesus did not wonder why God allowed this to
  happen. Lk 1311-16. Also Mk 925 Lk 1114
• Jesus always opposes illness as something not
  part of Gods kingdom. It was at least indirectly
  the result of Satan. (Acts 1038)

3

• The Warfare view
• 3 Warfare in the New Testament Church
• Prayer so that what Gods wants is done Mt 610
• While Christ has in principle defeated Satan,
  Gods victory has not yet been fully realized on
  the earth.
• Satan and demons are active in the world Eph
  121 310 427 6 10-18
• Exorcism and healing continued to play an
  important role (Acts31-10 86-7, 13 143,
  8-10 1911-12 285)
• The world in bondage to the evil one (Gal 14
  Eph 516 1 Jn 519)
• Putting someone out of the church handed him over
  to Satan (1 Cor 51-5 1 Tim 120 cf 1Tim 515)
• Devourer (1 Pet 58), tempter (1 Thess 35 Acts
  53 1Cor 75), deceiver (2 Cor 44 Gal 48-10
  Col 28 1 Tim 41-5 1 Jn 41-2 etc)
• Hindering the work of the church (1 Thess 218 1
  Thess 35 1 Tim 37 2 Cor 103-5 2 Cor 211
  Eph 6 10-18)
• The world is at war and God does not always get
  his way.( 1 Tim 23-4 2 Pet 39 Eph 430 1
  Thess 519)

4

• The Warfare view
• 4 The warfare Worldview of the Postapostolic
  Church
• 5 Warfare in the Old testament
• This not so clear as the NT because it was
  important to show that Yahweh is the one true
  eternal creator God in an age of polytheism.
  There is none like Him (e.g. Ps 95 etc)
• The LORD of Hosts NIV The LORD Almighty
• However, there were heavenly beings called
  gods, the sons of God and angels. Together they
  formed a heavenly council in which decisions
  affecting humans were made. (1 Kings 2220-23
  Job 16 21 Ps 821 897)
• They were supposed to carry out Gods will and
  fight on Gods behalf. (2 Sam 523-24 2 Kings
  211 616-17 Ps 347 6817 821-8 10320 Dan
  710)
• They were considered personal agents who
  exercised influence on events. Because they were
  personal they could choose to go against God.
  (Dan 10, Gen 61-4 Ps 82)

5

• Understanding why the world is messy
• 1)
• Love requires freedom
• God is Love (1 Jn 48,16) and is self sufficient
  as a Trinity (Acts 1724-25)
• But has chosen that we should share his love (CF
  Jn 1720-26)
• In order to love we must be free to choose to
  love or hate.
• Not robots or forced with a stick.

6

• Understanding why the world is messy
• 2) Freedom implies risk
• Free will is what has made evil possible. Why
  then, did God give (creatures) free will? Because
  free will, though it makes evil possible, is also
  the only thing that makes possible any love or
  goodness or joy worth having. CS Lewis
• Where did the Devil come from?
• The Bible is about humanity and does not tell us.
  But we may, perhaps, surmise that God created
  spiritual beings to set up love-relationships
  with Himself. Satan was free to love or to reject
  God Gods strategy in human history (Marston and
  Forster).

7

• Understanding why the world is messy
• 3 Moral responsible
• Influence for better or worse if we have the
  capacity to love
• What power do the devil and the angels have?
• The Bible teaches that the world above effects
  the world below (cf Eph 610-18)
• Following the early church angels and fallen
  angels have responsibility over humans
• Parents over children, leaders over followers,
  angels over humanity
• Angels over a nation have power to bless or harm
  (Dan 1012-13)
• Those that were meant to care for the poor were
  irresponsible (Ps 82)
• Spirits bringing bad health (Mk 925, Lk1124)

8
Understanding why the world is messy 4
Influence proportional to power A cow cannot
be very good or very bad a dog can be both
better and worse a child better and worse still
an ordinary man, still more so a man of genius,
still more so a superhuman spirit best- or
worst- of all CS Lewis. Will it all be worth
it? Why did God give Satan so much power? God
has risked everything in sending his Son because
of the greater value of the prize and the
probability (100) of achieving it.
9
Understanding why the world is messy 5
Irrevocable freedom Why doesnt God just step
in? Time given for good or bad otherwise never
really free 6 Freedom is finite People develop
character over time and will not change God has
sent a limit to our probation period Victory is
certain for he has limited his power for a period.
10

• Natural Evil
• 1) Natural evil fulfills a higher divine
  purpose
• 2) Cursed because of sin
• 3) Inherent limitations of creation
• a function of the laws that exist
• risk and randomness in human nature
• 4) Influence of evil spirits
• Early church
• Ministry of Jesus
• Satan used the physical world in the story of Job

11

• Practical applications
• 1) Prayer and miracles
• 2) Can we guarantee safety?
• a) The Bible says no
• Life of Job
• Jesus said expect physical and emotional
  suffering (Mt 511,44 1624-25 Lk 1253 2112
  Jn 1520 2118-19
• Suffer like Jesus Heb 123 Jas 510 1 Pet
  220-21 etc
• b) Blueprint view that suffering for a good
  reason brings greater comfort.
• c) Comfort in the war zone
• A suffering God
• God is working with us to bring good
• Developing character
• God is with us
• Our faith matters
• Ultimate victory ( Gods promises Rom 835-39)

12

• Conclusions
• A world with the potential for love also has the
  potential for evil
• Understanding Gods Sovereignty as not
  controlling every event makes the best sense of
• The warfare in the Bible
• Mans responsibility and freedom to choose
• Suffering in the light of a God of love and power
• Love God and hate evil

13
Suffering, Sovereignty and Satan Books that I
drawn from in preparing this talk. Satan and the
Problem of Evil, Gregory Boyd, IVP. God at War,
Gregory Boyd, IVP. Gods Strategy in Human
History, Roger Forster, Wipf and Stock
Publishers. Café Theology, Michael Lloyd, Alpha
International. Systematic theology, Wayne
Grudem How long O Lord , D.A. Carson. Searching
Issues, Nicky Gumbel, Kingsway. The Shack, WM
Paul Young, Hodder and Stoughton.