God is Willing and Able to Use Evil to Accomplish Good

Church Family:
We are starting a new series in Ezra-Nehemiah. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell the epic story of God’s people returning to their land from captivity. The story goes like this, God raises up Cyrus, a Pagan evil king, to supply what is necessary to lead the rebuilding of the House of God in Israel. God actually works in the evil heart of Cyrus to fulfill His holy purpose and plan (Ezra 1; Prov. 21:1). God wants us to embrace the truth that in His unwavering sovereign work He can use whoever He wills, to do whatever He wills, whenever He wills it, for the sake of His people. And God still does this in an incomprehensible number of ways today.

Why did I chose Ezra-Nehemiah for our next series? Because just like in the days of Ezra-Nehemiah, we too find ourselves living in uncertain times with corrupt, evil, global government leadership. We need to be reminded that throughout history no matter how dishonest or immoral the world powers may have been, God is the one who commands history for His purposes. We need to be reminded that God can and will overcome any human obstacles to accomplish His will and plan. How does God do this? Just like in the time of Ezra-Nehemiah, God uses evil to accomplish good for His people and He uses faithful, committed, Godly men and women who submit to His will and to His word.

When God uses unbelievers to accomplish His purposes He does not necessarily approve of all that they do. God does this by working in ways that we cannot. We can externally persuade, appeal, manipulate and coerce people’s wills. However, only God, works within our will, our decisions, our actions, so that we choose to do what He has determined we will do. He does this without sinning and we see this throughout Ezra-Nehemiah. The theological term for this is "divine concurrence." This term explains the reality that God and human beings both act at the same time so that the Lord's plan is fulfilled and our choices are really and truly our own. The ultimate example of divine concurrence is the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins. God worked through the wills of many people to accomplish the death of Jesus, His Gospel, and yet He did it without sinning.

I look forward to Ezra-Nehemiah reminding us that God raises up people who we would not normally trust, who we would not normally think anything good could come from, to provide what is good for us, His people. Let these truths make us a people of peace, boldness, fearlessness and faithfulness in a sinful world of generational corrupt governmental powers. Don't forget, God is presently overcoming every human obstacle and political obstacle to accomplish His will and plan.

See you Sunday, worshipping a sovereign God: Steve