| THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD A DIFFERENT VIEW Mike Clegg |
| Our Disobedience |
There are many aspects regarding man's will versus God's will that God does not
get His way. The Bible contains many accounts where man is disobedient to the
will of God but the plan of God is never thwarted. There is a difference between
the will (thelema) of God and the plan (boulema) of God. Is the will of God
negotiable over the plan of God? In the account of Pharaoh God manipulated his
heart to demonstrate the plan of God which was to show God's power in Pharaoh
(Rom 9). The will of God is under the supreme authority of the Plan of God. In
other words, the will of God being the advice/methods/acts He utilizes in
accomplishing His plan will manifest as the fulfilled plan of a sovereign God.
The disobedience of man does not negate or weaken God's sovereignty. There
are many examples of men being resistant to God's will (Isa. 1:2; Mt 7:21; Isa. 65:
12; Heb 10:36). Ephesians 1:11 has always been a verse that is quoted as proof
that God's will is undefeated but it does not say that everything happens according
to God's will but according to the counsel of God's will. If everything happened
according to God's will then He caused 9-11, hurricane Katrina and other
calamities. Just as God's holiness is not marred by our sin, God's sovereignty is
not diminished or threatened by our choices. God's will is the myriad ways that are
possible to accomplish His divine purpose. Even though His will may be defeated
time and again —His plan for mankind will stand and see complete fulfillment.
Eph 1:11 “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined
according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of
His will”. This word “counsel” means advice. The verse says that in all that
happens He will see that it resolves according to the advice of His will in fulfilling
His plan. It would be an awful thing if the Good News had to be told to the mother
who lost her son to leukemia that all that happens is God's will. This verse confirms
the Good News in that it will cause all that happens, even though what happens
may or may not be the will of God, to be resolved into His plan of better things and
all things will be brought together and be made good according to the sound
counsel and wisdom of God. If all things happened according to God's will now
then the prayer in Matthew chapter seven is invalid when we are told to pray “thy
kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. This prayer indicates
that it is not happening in earth yet like it is in heaven for what ever you take earth
and heaven to be.
The counsel of His will in Eph 1 is the determined purpose of His will. His will or
the methods, actions, and unctions He gives us is to bring about His plan and
although His will can be deterred or disobeyed His plan will see complete
fulfillment. What is that plan, in this context it is God becoming all in all? His will is
the outworking of His plan with and through imperfect vessels. It is also interesting
to note here that Ephesians 1:11 does not say it happens the first time or fifth time,
in other words we may miss His will many times but He is still able to bring about
His plan.
Sin is never God's will but its full recovery is provided for in God's plan. How can
the choices of men (rape, murder) be reconciled to the will of God. They cannot. It
would be inhuman to tell a 14 year old girl that the man who raped her was acting
according to what God wanted for her. There are choices that men make that
result in atrocities to others which clearly are not the will of God for the victim or the
offender. Did God plan for man to sin? Or did God allow for sin in His plan?
Human freedom of choice which is far from free will, does not diminish the
sovereignty of God. God gave man the freedom of choice and the bounds of that
freedom are contained in God. As every single action of men are not controlled by
God and as He allows men to operate in their freedom to make choices; He in His
wisdom brings about His purpose even in the choices that are not His will; all
without violating the freedom He gave.
How? Karl Barth answers this question in a unique way. He says God elected
along with the rest of creation who also suffers for man's choices, to place the fall
of humanity onto Himself in the Christ and did so in His own freedom when it was
humanity's fate that should have suffered the consequences for the violence of sin.
Barth says: “God chose His own estrangement from the divine, namely from
Himself, to ensure that the entirety of humanity could never be rejected.” It is more
about the Plan of God rather than the will of God. His Plan has a higher purpose
than His will.
Did God plan for sin to happen? Or Did God will for sin to happen? It is not His will
but it is in His plan – not for its occurrence but for its destruction.
get His way. The Bible contains many accounts where man is disobedient to the
will of God but the plan of God is never thwarted. There is a difference between
the will (thelema) of God and the plan (boulema) of God. Is the will of God
negotiable over the plan of God? In the account of Pharaoh God manipulated his
heart to demonstrate the plan of God which was to show God's power in Pharaoh
(Rom 9). The will of God is under the supreme authority of the Plan of God. In
other words, the will of God being the advice/methods/acts He utilizes in
accomplishing His plan will manifest as the fulfilled plan of a sovereign God.
The disobedience of man does not negate or weaken God's sovereignty. There
are many examples of men being resistant to God's will (Isa. 1:2; Mt 7:21; Isa. 65:
12; Heb 10:36). Ephesians 1:11 has always been a verse that is quoted as proof
that God's will is undefeated but it does not say that everything happens according
to God's will but according to the counsel of God's will. If everything happened
according to God's will then He caused 9-11, hurricane Katrina and other
calamities. Just as God's holiness is not marred by our sin, God's sovereignty is
not diminished or threatened by our choices. God's will is the myriad ways that are
possible to accomplish His divine purpose. Even though His will may be defeated
time and again —His plan for mankind will stand and see complete fulfillment.
Eph 1:11 “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined
according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of
His will”. This word “counsel” means advice. The verse says that in all that
happens He will see that it resolves according to the advice of His will in fulfilling
His plan. It would be an awful thing if the Good News had to be told to the mother
who lost her son to leukemia that all that happens is God's will. This verse confirms
the Good News in that it will cause all that happens, even though what happens
may or may not be the will of God, to be resolved into His plan of better things and
all things will be brought together and be made good according to the sound
counsel and wisdom of God. If all things happened according to God's will now
then the prayer in Matthew chapter seven is invalid when we are told to pray “thy
kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. This prayer indicates
that it is not happening in earth yet like it is in heaven for what ever you take earth
and heaven to be.
The counsel of His will in Eph 1 is the determined purpose of His will. His will or
the methods, actions, and unctions He gives us is to bring about His plan and
although His will can be deterred or disobeyed His plan will see complete
fulfillment. What is that plan, in this context it is God becoming all in all? His will is
the outworking of His plan with and through imperfect vessels. It is also interesting
to note here that Ephesians 1:11 does not say it happens the first time or fifth time,
in other words we may miss His will many times but He is still able to bring about
His plan.
Sin is never God's will but its full recovery is provided for in God's plan. How can
the choices of men (rape, murder) be reconciled to the will of God. They cannot. It
would be inhuman to tell a 14 year old girl that the man who raped her was acting
according to what God wanted for her. There are choices that men make that
result in atrocities to others which clearly are not the will of God for the victim or the
offender. Did God plan for man to sin? Or did God allow for sin in His plan?
Human freedom of choice which is far from free will, does not diminish the
sovereignty of God. God gave man the freedom of choice and the bounds of that
freedom are contained in God. As every single action of men are not controlled by
God and as He allows men to operate in their freedom to make choices; He in His
wisdom brings about His purpose even in the choices that are not His will; all
without violating the freedom He gave.
How? Karl Barth answers this question in a unique way. He says God elected
along with the rest of creation who also suffers for man's choices, to place the fall
of humanity onto Himself in the Christ and did so in His own freedom when it was
humanity's fate that should have suffered the consequences for the violence of sin.
Barth says: “God chose His own estrangement from the divine, namely from
Himself, to ensure that the entirety of humanity could never be rejected.” It is more
about the Plan of God rather than the will of God. His Plan has a higher purpose
than His will.
Did God plan for sin to happen? Or Did God will for sin to happen? It is not His will
but it is in His plan – not for its occurrence but for its destruction.
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