Does God control everything?
Bill Johnson – Is God really in Control of everything?
Does God control everything? Briefly, as the number of key authorities increased, so did the spread of authority and responsibility. Before God created life, He had sole authority, control and responsibility. The relationships, authority and responsibility changed with the passage of time. In short, God was in total of everything at the beginning and He will be again at the end. Between now and then although He can take back control, it would violate our God given free will to reject God and his purpose. For this free will to be true, God must also allow us to suffer the consequences of our actions as well as any benefits.
Before Creation
Genesis 1:1-3
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was[a] on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
After Creation
Authority given to humanity
Genesis 1:26 says,
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
God delegated authority over the earth to humanity, who was given the responsibility and stewardship of the earth’s resources.
God will sometimes intervene if someone prays asking for His intervention and it is in keep with His purpose, (of reconciling humanity back to Himself, understanding that for His, people death is not the end;) otherwise it is man’s responsibility to look after one another, as reflected in the words of the new covenant found in Matthew 22:36-39
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
Jesus confirmed that the will of God is not currently established in the earth and asked us to join with Himself and The Father in partnership to bring this to pass in His model prayer found in Matthew 6:6-13
you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Most horrific events that occur can be traced back to something that humanity has done or not done in violation of the will of God. And most of them could be prevented again.
Partial authority handed over to Satan by Adam & Eve
Genesis 3:2-5
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Romans 6:16 says,
“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”
Job 1:12
12 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.”
So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
Video of the temptation of Christ by Satan
The solution is not give into the temptation to be selfish.
Jesus, the second Adam, restores authority to those Christians with understanding.
Colossians 2:13-17
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
Ephesians 2:1-7
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
After Judgment
All sin and evil will be judged and permanently destroyed so that it cannot infect anyone else at any point in time to come. See Relations 20:11-15
Revelation 21:1-4
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John,[a] saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
A balance between Grace & Faith