Thursday, March 20, 2008
Tough Answer #7 & Tough Question #8
Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!"
Luke 22:20-22

It had been determined that Jesus would be betrayed.Yet, God's wrath (woe) was upon the betrayer.

This had been the plan all along:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:3-6

Consider this: the Cross is the reason Adam lived. Had God no plan of redemption, Adam would have died physically as promised when he ate of the fruit. But, because of God's plan of redemption, Adam lived, dying only spiritually, so that the Seed of the woman could one day be born.

If God had determined that Jesus would be betrayed, then He must be betrayed. And Jesus knew who would betray Him. Otherwise, God's will is random.

What about Herod? Pilate? The Romans? The Jews?
For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
Acts 4:27-28

All authority is under God and even when they act to overthrow that authority, they only act according to His plan. When the people cried out for Barabas, they unwittingly cried out for the fulfillment of God's eternal decree.

I can't tell you how many times I've reminded my son of Joseph and his brothers when things "go wrong."
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
Genesis 50:20

How can God determine that an event will occur if it depends on the "free will" of the many individuals involved? Could not just one of them blow the whole plan? If an individual's "free will" were to thwart the eternal decree of God, would that individual at that time then not have more power than God? If God's plan were to be fulfilled, would not God then need to intervene and overrule someone's will? In either scenario, at some point, God must be sovereign over the wills of the individuals involved, especially over specific individuals.
And this passage in Acts states very clearly and unmistakably that Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles [the Romans] and the Jews all did whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death
Acts 2:23


Question #8: How salty should the "salt of the earth" be?
 
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