B (4:22)

Yeah. Is the Book of Job a good example of this? It was God's sovereign will that Job was, you know, went through every trial and tribulation, but it wasn't God inflicting harm or suffering on Job.

C (4:35)

That's a good point. And the Book of James says God tempts no one, so God allows people to be tempted. And Job is a good example of this. Remember, in Job one and Job two, Satan comes before God when all of the sons of God, which sons of God There in Job 1 and 2, refers to the angels. They're coming before the presence of God. Evidently that included Satan and possibly fallen angels as well.

A (5:06)

And.

C (5:06)

And Satan asked for permission first to attack Job, and God gave him permission, but he couldn't touch Job's body. He couldn't touch Job himself. Then secondly, Satan says, well, he hasn't cursed you yet, because you haven't let me attack him. Let me attack his body. And so God says, okay, you can do that, but don't kill him. God allowed him to strike him with these very, very painful boils. And so yeah, I think Job is an illustration of God's sovereign will. But notice it had restrictions in each case. God restricted what he allowed Satan to do.

B (5:52)

And that book ends with Job and God's dialogue. He doesn't end it by saying, you're going to be included in this great book that you're going to be read about for thousands of years so other believers can read your and they can understand your suffering. He doesn't tell them any of that. He says, I'm God, you're little, I'm big. What's the quote from Matilda? I'm big, you're small. I'm right, you're wrong, I'm smart, you're dumb. He basically just expresses his sovereignty over creation, over the world, over Job himself, because he made him. And he doesn't explain all of it. We have the blessing of that revelation being explained to us. We have God's written word. But once we are with the Lord for eternity and so many things that we question now are going to be revealed to us and it'll make sense why those things happen that way.

A (6:40)

Did you know that the Grace Evangelical Society offers an M. Div. Degree through our online seminary and tuition is free to those who maintain a 3.0 grade average. It is a three year degree program and you can submit your application now to gain acceptance. Then stay apprised of our registration periods for upcoming semester terms. Program and application details can be found in@gesceminary.org have a look at our M. Div. Become an approved workman. Find out how gesceminary.org there's an interesting.

C (7:16)

Verse in Ezekiel chapter 14 and verse 14, God says through Ezekiel, even if Noah, Job or Daniel were here, they would only save themselves. They would not save the nation. Job is specifically mentioned by name as one of three people who were righteous enough so that they could save themselves if there was calamity coming. Like for example, Noah was saved when the flood came, right? And Job is listed along with Daniel. These are three people you wouldn't necessarily think were the greatest, holiest people in the Old Testament. And yet God singles those three out. The second person's also asking about the will of God, right?

B (8:05)

Yes, the will of God. I'm sure you and Ken have talked about this before, but this lady's name is Stephanie and her question is, was Adam's voluntary act of personal disobedience in the garden the will of God? So is it God's will that Adam disobey him? Which sounds like an oxymoron a God will that someone do something against his will. But.

C (8:25)

But that's actually not wrong. It's actually right what you just said. Because everything that happens is part of God's sovereign will. In other words, let's look at it this way. God could have created Adam in such a way that he had free will, but his free will was restricted to the point where he would never will to sin. In other words, he wouldn't have chosen to eaten the forbidden fruit and couldn't have done that because his free will would have excluded a desire to do anything wrong. It's like in the millennium we'll be there, right? We'll have glorified bodies and we will not sin at all. Now there will be people who sin in the millennium because there will be people in natural bodies, but we won't sin. But yet we won't be zombies. We're going to have free will. We're going to make choices. And some of the choices we make will be better than others. They'll all be good, good, better, best. But it doesn't mean everything we do is going to be equal. And in terms of Adam, God created Adam such that he could sin and so that Adam could choose to eat the forbidden fruit. There's other ways. He could have sinned. God told him to tend the garden. He could have refused and said, no, I'm not going to take care of the garden. When he says, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. He could have said, no, I'm not going to have any children. I don't want any children. That would have been sin too. But he chose to do this. And by the way, it's interesting, it sounds like he was standing right next to Eve when she ate the forbidden fruit. And you have to wonder why he didn't urge her not to do that. Don't do that. What are you thinking? Satan's lying to you. Don't listen to this serpent. And then she takes it and she gives it to him and he eats. And according to Paul in First Timothy 2, she was deceived, but Adam wasn't deceived. So Stephanie's right. Adam knew what he was doing. And was that God's will? Yes, even though it sounds odd, it was God's will that he do that. And that led to the shed blood of Christ. So was it God's will that his only son would go through suffering? All these kangaroo courts, beating, scourging, having to carry his cross, having to be on the cross for six hours, being mocked at the cross was all that part of God's will. Jesus said, no, get behind me, Satan, because it was God's will that he go to the cross. His whole life ministry was pointed to the cross. And, and so yes, even the death of the Lord Jesus Christ was in the sovereign will of God. And so because God's sovereign will allowed Adam to sin, it became God's sovereign will that the Lord Jesus Christ would suffer and die on the cross for the sins of the world, that he would remove the sin barrier. And by the way, I think Stephanie's a part of Ken's online Zoom class. And so thanks Ken for having that class and Stephanie for being in it. I want to say thanks to Greg and to Stephanie for these questions about the will of God because they are very, very practical. So realize God doesn't keep us to where we're in a straight jacket and we're just puppets. God allows us to freedom, but our freedom fortunately is restricted. We may sin and we do sin, but if we're walking in fellowship with God and we're walking in the light, the Holy Spirit is convicting us and he's transforming us. Romans 12:2. And even if we get out of the will of God in terms of the moral will of God and we're walking in in darkness, even that is limited. At some point God is going to keep ratcheting up the discipline and he'll take us home early if we stay out of line. So the good news is God is in control. God is sovereign even when something terrible like an assassination takes place.

B (12:57)

Amen.

C (12:57)

All right, well, thanks. And what are we going to do? Keep grace in focus.

A (13:06)

We invite you to check out our Monday, Wednesday and Friday five minute YouTube videos at YouTube Grace Evangelical Society. You will love the content and learn a lot. There are a lot of costs involved in staying on the air. That's why we so much appreciate our financial partners. If you'd like to learn how to become one, you can find out more by going to faithalone.org on our next episode. Have our future sins already been forgiven? Please join us and until then, let's keep grace in focus. The proceeding has been a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.