Heavy Stuff

I've had a question running around in my head for well over a year now. It's one of those things that I think about from time to time, but I don't have a good answer for, so eventually I just give up and think about something else. I always figured that I would eventually run across a scripture that would clarify it for me. Well, I did find a scripture that clarified things, some, but it still makes my head hurt to think about it too long.

Here is the question--Does God use our sin to accomplish His plan? The question seems deceptively simple, but it isn't a simple idea at all!

First, consider that God is sovereign, completely sovereign. There is nothing that happens which God does not allow. To accept this idea, you have to accept that God allows sin. But why in the world would God allow sin if He is holy? Well, the answer is that somehow it all works together for the glory of God. That is the correct answer anyway, but it still leaves me wondering sometimes. This is a great example of a question that I don't think humanity has the ability to understand. What I mean is, not only could we fail to understand the entire answer, if we had access to it, but I don't even think we can understand the question well enough to really ask it. Try not to think about that last sentence too long. I guarantee you will get a headache.

So, back to my original question, does God use our sin to accomplish His plan? I think, tentatively, that I must answer with a "Yes!"

I found my answer in the book of Judges. Now, if you have not read the book of Judges recently, I highly recommend it. I've had my heart broken several times in the past week reading the book of Judges. Not boring at all.

Let me set this up for you. Samson is regarded as one of the greatest judges of Israel. For more on him, consult your Bible, I can't even begin to tell his whole story here. (By the way, I always thought that the judges of Israel were, like, judges. But no, they were warriors, not men who wore long robes and handed down legal opinions--one of those facts I don't remember hearing about in Sunday School!)

So, being the great judge, you would expect that he led a pretty upstanding and moral life. Well, you would be expecting wrong. One of the first instances we hear about regarding Samson is that he sought to marry a Philistine. Yes, that is right, a foreign woman who worshiped idols. Specifically, the god Dagon. Marrying foreign women was explicitly against God's expressed law.

But, nonetheless, Samson had taken a fancy to a Philistine woman, and he determined to marry her. He went to his parents (who by all accounts seemed to be righteous people) and asked that they obtain this Philistine woman as a wife for him. His parents try to talk him out of it.

OK, now here is the verse that blew me out of the water:

Judges 14:4

"But his mother and father did not know that it was of the LORD--that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines."

Well, put that in your pipe and smoke on it for a minute. Did I read that right? God was using Samson's sinful and wrong desire to marry a foreign wife to accomplish His plan? The implications of that are mind-numbing. What does that mean for you and me and our sin?

I'm not sure I can fully answer that question. What I can say is this--God is holy, and God is sovereign. If those two things don't seem to go together to you, join the club. I can't wrap my mind around it either. But, I do believe both things. I hope to someday understand fully, but I don't have any expectation of it happening in this lifetime.

Ephesians 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,"


The italics added is mine, for emphasis. He works all things according to the counsel of His will. I believe that even includes my sin, and yours too. But as a caution, consider Romans 6:1

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!"

Oh, this post is already too long. I think a whole book could be written about this topic, and probably several already have. But in a nutshell what does all of this mean? Here is my opinion. (Note the word opinion, by the way)

God is gracious to allow even our sins to become part of His ultimate design. The only reason this can happen is because God Himself, as Jesus, paid for the burden of our sin. Otherwise, we would all be doomed. On a personal level, this means that my sins--even the really big, ugly ones, have some greater good that can come out of them. Now, how is that for a gracious God? Pretty gracious if you ask me.

Psalm 103:8

"The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy."