We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing… 2 Corinthians 6:3-10
John Piper closes the first chapter with the last phrase of this passage, “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing….” How appropriate was this foray into one of the most difficult challenges to the Christian faith on a Tuesday following the destruction in Haiti, in the middle of an economic recession, amid a wide array of personal crises and trials. We were challenged by the realization of an all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God’s superintendence over a fallen world and a sinful race. We came away more convinced than ever that the grace of God in Jesus Christ and the Gospel message is the only antidote to what ails us… the only tonic that will see us through to the other side of some very dark valleys. It all came to crescendo in our Tuesday night Bible study and worship time — Jesus was exalted, we were abased and there was a potent and comforting realization that, through it all that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans 8:37).
These are the questions we discussed on Tuesday morning:
- What does John Piper mean when he speaks of God’s sovereignty over sin? What does he base this assertion on? (pg. 22ff – 2 Chronicles 10:15, 18:22 and 25:20)
- Have you ever wondered why God wanted His superintendence over evil to be revealed to us in His Word? What conclusions might we have drawn from the 2 Chronicles passages if God’s role in these matters had been left a mystery?
- Think of some natural disaster… or, some heinous act of barbarism. Could Jesus have prevented those evil events? (pg. 26)
- Why does the author conclude that sin, suffering, persecution and pestilence “somehow fit into [God’s] purposes?” (pg. 27)
- How is Jesus magnified and glorified in light of the pain, death and suffering that surrounds us?
Continue reading about Spectacular Sins: God Sovereign Over Human Sin
