If God is in control, why is there so much pain and injustice in the world? I mean, if God knows everything, why doesn't He stop bad things from happening before people get hurt? If those questions trouble you the way they do me and you need solid answers, stick around. Thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are an international teaching and discipleship ministry that motivates Christians to live like Christians.
Today we're continuing our series, The Real God, How He Longs For You to See Him. Last time, Chip talked about God's sovereignty. started to highlight the specific ways he reveals that characteristic to us. And today Chip will finish that point when he dives back into Romans chapter 8.
So grab your Bible and notes as we join Chip for the remainder of this insightful talk. Jesus' whole life demonstrates the sovereignty of God himself. And finally, unlike his very humble beginnings, That He is meek and He is gentle. He came in His first coming to be the Savior of the world. And I think a lot of us, maybe from our childhoods, have a picture of the little children coming to him, and those great pictures of a woman caught in adultery being forgiven, and the widow with her son died touching the coffin he's raised from the dead, and feeding the 5,000s, and speaking to the storm, and just his compassion and his love.
And that's God. But when you read the book of Revelation, Read it really fast. No, no, I mean, just read it really fast and quit worrying about what seals are doing, what seals, and you know, what's blowing up, and what's a figure, and what's not. And just ask yourself: who's Jesus? Who's Jesus in the book of Revelation?
He's the righteous judge who's coming to bring all things under his rule and power and anything that was unjust and unfair and wrong and every opportunity will be given. But the righteous judge is coming to judge his world because he's a king. Listen to the end of the book of Revelation in Revelation chapter 19. Then I saw the heavens open and behold a white horse and the one sitting on it is called faithful and true. And in righteousness, He judges.
And makes war. His clothing is a robe dipped in blood, and the name which he is called is the Word of God. On his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written. King of kings. and Lord of Lords.
That's who's coming back. That's the sovereign God.
Now at the emotional level, at least where I live, The last reason I've given here Of God revealing His sovereignty. is through redeeming pain in our lives. He redeems pain in our lives. If you are a student of Scripture and you would read the book of Genesis, you would understand that every major doctrine, it's the book of beginnings, every major doctrine is in the book of beginnings. Where did life come from?
Creation. Why is there evil? The fall. You have the first judgment in the flood. You have the promise after that.
You have the choosing of a family: Abraham, Isaac. Jacob Joseph, of God's plan, God's lineage, of his plan to fulfill this Messiah that was foretold that one day, you know, his heel will be bruised, but. He will defeat the enemy. And God's plan, it's all laid out in Genesis, and he's got 50 chapters. If you're a person who lived A few thousand years ago?
or born a couple days ago. You don't have to live very long. before the probing question and some of you ask it is If God is really good. How could the world be this messed up? Genesis chapter 37.
through 50. That's 13. of 50 chapters. It's over 25% of the book. is on one man's life.
Joseph. Joseph gets a dream from God. It's a promise that he hangs on to. It's how God is speaking to people at the time. He has a father who does poor parenting, shows partiality, so his brothers hate him.
His brothers hate him and they decide they're going to kill him. They're jealous of him. They're going to kill him. They're tired of him. And he probably didn't handle the revelation from God very well.
He's a bit arrogant, and that's going to get taken care of. And so they decide they're going to kill him, so they stick him in a pit while they're waiting to kill him, and it just so happens, or God sovereignly. Brings a caravan from Egypt. And they say, why kill him? And the one brother's trying to get him out anyway.
So they sell him. And so it's unjust, it's unfair. Joseph is just a son. He's the youngest. And he's first, his brothers reject him.
How many of you have been through a major rejection?
Okay? What's it feel like if all your brothers, and you know, our rejections are like, you know, emotional. This is like they want to kill him. And then they sell him. And so they sell him, he's on the caravan, he doesn't speak the language, he doesn't know anyone.
So he ends up on an auction block in Egypt as a slave, and a guy named Potiphar, who basically is the equivalent of the secret service for Pharaoh, buys him. And so he buys him and he makes him his slave and he obviously learns the language and All chapters 37 through 50, there's this. And the Lord is with Joseph and Joseph, no matter what, this promise, this God who actually believes, fulfills his promises, who actually believes is good, somehow, some way, he hangs on and doesn't abandon his faith. And he also seems to have a highly Developed gift of administration that when he's in charge of something, it flourishes. And so it doesn't take long for Potiphar to realize this guy's got some wherewithal and some capacity.
He puts him over his business, then all of his household, and everything he touches, the hand of God, a blessing.
Well, apparently, he's a pretty good-looking young man, and Potiphar's wife says, You know, my husband's gone a lot during the day. We could have sex, we'd have a great time. And most men would say, well, see, rejection, God promised me this, my brothers sell me out, I've been a slave, you know. But not Joseph. He says, How could I sin against your husband?
He's put everything under my charge except for you, and I could not sin against my God. And so he rebuffs her seduction. But one day he's kind of just doing a little bit of work and the house is empty, and she finds him and she says, Now come lay with me. And he does what almost no man would ever do in this situation: he flees, and she grabs his jacket, and so she's left with the jacket, and she's humiliated. And so her husband comes home.
What have you done to bring this crazy Hebrew? He tried to write me. And so he ends up in jail.
So it's gone from bad, bad, to worse.
So now he's falsely accused.
Now he goes to jail. He goes to jail. His administrative gifts show up again. He seems to have a great attitude no matter what. And pretty soon the head of the jail goes: you know, we're going to have him run this place.
And so he does, and it flourishes and flourishes and flourishes. But I mean, think of this. Where's God? Where's God? You know, if God loves me, why would my brothers reject me?
If God loves me, I did all that I could. In fact, I was righteous and I was falsely accused.
Well, then, a couple guys in Pharaoh's household, cupbearer and the baker, they have a bad day, and so they end up in prison. And they both have a dream. And Joseph said, Well, you know, my God has given me an ability. Tell me what your dreams are. And he reveals.
to me kind of what dreams are sometimes. That one guy says, This is my dream. The other guy says, This is my dream. He says, One guy, good news for you. You're going to get your job back, you're going to die.
And both and it comes true, you know? And so he says to the cupbearer, hey. You know This happened, this happened, this happened, this happened. Don't forget me. Oh no, I could never forget you.
Thanks so much. He forgets him. I mean, start asking yourself. I mean, let's get this out of a Bible story. Rejection.
Injustice. Falsely accused. Forgotten. How's that feel? He's a 17-year-old kid.
Well, the story continues and uh The Pharaoh has a dream and his wise men and his sorcerers and He's very frustrated. They're not giving him good answers.
So he comes up with a plan. Look, either you guys tell me what the dream is and what it means, or I kill all of you. And that got the cut bearer's memory jogged. He's thinking to himself, You know what? Joseph did it once for me.
So the text literally says he took a shave, he came in before Pharaoh. He hears, he says, Pharaoh, this is what you dream. There's going to be seven years of abundance followed by seven years of scarcity. Here's the deal: you better plan in the future. You need to save a bunch of grain because it's going to be awesome for seven years and then it's going to be the pits.
And if you're not prepared, you and Egypt go down the toilet. This is a very loose Ingram translation. But you get the idea. I mean, that's the essence of it. And so, you know, Pharaoh goes, Well, hey, no one could, you're the man.
You do it.
So at 30. He's now the second most powerful person in the world. None of which could happen. If he'd not been rejected.
sold as the slaves, Falsely accused. and forgotten. God had a purpose.
Now, are all those people responsible for their sin? Will God judge all those people for what they did, righteous, you know, righteous judgment? Yes. The story fast forwards. Uses his gifts.
He has a couple boys. He names them names that let us know the heartache and the pain and the hurt that had really happened. And he names his boys names that remind him of both God's faithfulness and the pain and the hurt. And after the seven years, this famine spreads not just to Egypt, but to the known world. And the family is at about 70 now.
And finally, they come to Egypt to get grain. And I'll let you read all the details of the story. But he tests his brothers, but his heart just breaks and he weeps. And he reveals himself to his brothers, and he asks Pharaoh, and he brings all 70 people, and they get this prime real estate in Goshen. And God uses that as the incubator to fulfill for the next 400 years, it grows from 70 people to about 2 or 3 million people.
And then dad dies, Jacob. And his brothers, being the high integrity, faithful, God-fearing men that they are. Think to themselves, Joseph probably was just good to us while dad was alive, and it's going to get bad. And so they start making up some stuff to try and get on his good side. And I believe with all my heart Joseph looked at them and I think his head tilted and I think tears streamed down his face.
Guys, you still don't get it, do you? You didn't send me here. You meant it for evil. But God meant it for good. to preserve these many people alive.
You're listening to Living on the Edge, and we'll get back to Chip's message in just a minute. You know, we love to hear how you are deepening your relationship with God as you study his word with us. But another way we want to support you in that is through our free resource called Daily Discipleship with Chip. Let me encourage you to stick around after this message, as Chip will tell you more about it and how to sign up. But for now, let's get back to the remainder of his talk.
You might jot in your notes the Genesis 50-20 principle. The sovereignty of God is the greatest and deepest comfort in a fallen world. Because of what we shared a little bit early about the freedom God's given us, He marks off for a season where evil is allowed and corruption and terrible things happen. But not for everyone, but for those who say, I want to follow Yahweh, the God of the Bible, follow Jesus, I'm going to stay on your path regardless, because crisis and pain and injustice and difficulty make some people and break others. For some it's It's the story of a life of faith that none of us can understand as God meets them.
And for others, they abandon God. And by the way, one of my greatest concerns about all this prosperity stuff that's being taught is that when people believe that somehow there's some little formula and that God has committed Himself to make you healthy, wealthy, everything's going to go your way, and when that doesn't happen, they are completely disillusioned with God. But that's not the God of the Bible because He never promised those things. Um This really rings home for me. I think of when I taught this, sometimes things come to me that aren't in my notes, and I just got done talking and I said this, and I looked down, I looked at my wife.
And it just popped into my mind. And she she was married before I I met her, and she wasn't a Christian. And and she was married to a guy that found he could s make more money selling drugs. Then go on to work. And he had an affair for over a year, year and a half with someone that she was unaware of, and then he found out that she was pregnant.
twins and so he leaves her And she's left and has two babies, no income, no anything. And out of her desperation, she just said, I just want, I wanted to quit on life. My whole life was wrapped up in that man.
Now I've got two little boys, and I don't know how I'm going to support him. I'm going to do it. And a neighbor watched the kids, and her. Her boss led her to Christ. I met her a couple years later when she was growing into this tender, amazing woman of God out of all that pain.
You know what? That guy meant it for evil. God meant it for good. I got to marry her. I got to adopt those two little boys.
I got to watch kids that when the door would open, they were so fearful that they would run and stick their head behind her knee. And I got to see him become men, and I've seen him grow, and I've seen him marry godly women, and I'm watching them raise their kids. I'm thinking, oh, God. That guy meant it for evil? He meant it for good.
Can I tell you though that I mean, there's a reason we've been to counseling. There's a reason we had all kinds of struggles. Meant she had wounds and hurts. And I had just as many, but mine were more sophisticated. I covered mine up better.
But I think, you know, 38 years later. What a gift from God. That came out of betrayal and evil and sin and adultery. I thought, as I looked down at her, I thought we got some really bad news and found out she had cancer. And after, you know, been we've been married over 30 years and After all that struggle, we we I mean, I just, I thought we had about as good a marriage as we could have.
We get normal struggles like everybody, but I mean rich and deep and And then I remember thinking, You know. I don't know if I'm going to have another month or two months or a year or two years. And I just canceled everything for a year other than the local church. And tell that publisher, here, here you want your money back. I'm not going to write a book.
I'm not going to go anywhere. And after surgery, I drove her to every single one of the Stanford appointments, and she would go through the treatments. And then, after each treatment, we would stop at Starbucks. And we would get one. Oatmeal cookie.
And they would heat it up and then we would break it in half. And she was just so wiped out, those treatments. and then we would sit in the car and we'd eat our oatmeal cookie. And I remember looking over and thought, I did not know that I could love another human being as much as I love my wife. It was like I knew there was you know, I thought we had a four speed.
And somehow there was another couple gears, but those gears came out. of a painful, difficult, ugly cancer. And by the way, for others. The pain is there isn't a recovery.
Some of you have lost children. Nates.
Some of you had your whole incomes out from under you. And what all I want you to know is that what we hang on to, there really is a sovereign God. He really is in control. The invisible faith is, if you ask Joseph, how was life going from 17 to 29 and a half, circumstantially bad? But part of part of what God does Is God will leverage and use your pain and take The comfort that he gives to you as the comfort that you can share with others, right?
2 Corinthians 1. And there's some things that no amount of Bible study, no amount of spiritual disciplines, you only meet God in the midst of excruciating pain when the only one that can deliver is God. And he meets you in ways that you can't describe. And something happens in your heart and your life that makes you more like Jesus and gives you a capacity that you would never ever, when you look back, you would never want to go through it again. But you realize it's precious.
And it's a part of the journey. And by the way, that's what God is actually seeking to develop. That that Romans 8, 28, we quote it, but for some reason we just skipped 29. 29 is that he predestined and called us according to his purpose to conform us to the image of his son. How he conforms us, I got news for you, it's painful.
But he leverages the evil and the difficulty and the pain. But but you c but you can get bitter. You can get self-focus. You can go into pity. You can somehow unconsciously think that the only thing really is in life is this little window called time.
But you're made for eternity. C.S. Lewis is a little Illustration for me has been just a lifesaver in the midst of my worst pain. He goes: if you can imagine, like a fishing line going through that wall. across this room through that wall.
East to eternity, west to eternity, that's eternity. And then there's a little dot about the size of the pencil on that line. And inside that dot, that's all of time, that little dot. And inside that dot, if with a powerful super electronic microscope, there would be this tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny little dot that would be your life. And maybe you get 70, maybe you get 80 years, I don't know.
And that little dot. is just temporal. And God is doing all kinds of things, and some of them are very, very, very painful. But how I respond and what I learn. Forever and ever goes on.
And when I can have an eternal perspective for a sovereign God who loves me and knows that those I've lost love him and I will be with them, you know what? Most Christians don't really believe in heaven. It's just a concept. It's just an idea. Heaven's real.
It's a place. And you're not going to float around on a cloud and sing in a worship service and sip iced tea and get wings and ring bells. It's going to be a new earth and a new heaven and new relationships, and the people that you love that are in the Lord, and you're going to have life, and culture, and future, and work. And it's the line. And I love Lewis's words: are you living for the dot or are you living for the line?
and the sovereignty of God. gives me hope. in the midst of the worst tragedies in the world. It also gives me the faith. To not give up.
I just have to think that Joseph had more than a few days where it was like Lord, where's the dream? Where's the promise? And all the while, this is what God was doing in Joseph. His character, his character, his character. See if God's going to put you over something like this.
He has to do a lot of this. And the only way you get a lot of this depth of character is going through the crucible of life. And God has that plan for all of us. He wants to make you like Jesus. There's two questions that this raises.
If God is sovereign, why does He allow evil, pain, and suffering? And I would say The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis is the shortest, best work on that. There's lots of writing. You might write down Ken Boa.
He's a friend, he's a brilliant. Writer, thinker, that he has lots of good information on this. The second question is: if God is sovereign over all people and events in history, doesn't this make a sham of human responsibility? Norman Geisler, one of my former professors, did 10 years as a philosophy teacher, 10 years as Bible, and then theology. And Chosen But True, I think, is the best book that's balanced.
On the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. It's really interesting. I was reviewing this and praying earlier, and I thought to myself, You know, some of the responses to all of God's attributes start looking a lot alike. I mean, this sovereign God that every knee will bow. Application number one: how do you respond?
Bow before the king of the universe. You're going to. Everyone is. The sooner the better. and voluntarily is way better.
than by compulsion. Surrender All you are and all that you have. There has to come specific day In a point in time, you don't slide into surrender. It's a decision. And when you make that decision, and mean it.
I've watched Christians who they basically say, My life has, I think, changed more than when I was born again. And all I can tell you is, if God is really good and He's the king of the universe. I mean, the only other option is you decide you be God and you use your knowledge and your wisdom and you shuck and jive and you try to figure out make your life work. Good luck. Good luck.
The wisest most intelligent, most emotionally satisfying. and rewarding life It is to offer, it's in what's called the heiress tense, it's a point in time. Offer your body as a living sacrifice. Holy and acceptable. This Is your spiritual service.
And what it means is it's what God really wants. Maybe you were thinking about it. I'm just going to say maybe you should think about it a little bit more. The second application is to believe that all that comes into your life is either allowed or decreed by a good God. who will use it for your benefit.
And what I mean by this is not intellectually believe it. I mean I mean, believe it to the point where you say, despite how my emotions are screaming. I'm going to choose to be faithful. And by the way, for some of you, Faithful just means you just get up and take a step because the pain and the difficulty and the hurt and the loss and the grief is so excruciating. God understands.
He's kind. Remember he's tenderhearted. He's quick of sympathy. How did Jesus treat people that were hurting? His arms weren't crossed.
He didn't say, you know, come on, pull up your bootstraps, get with the program, you should be serving more. He just, he'll just love you. He just wants to help you. He just wants to nurture you through this, but believe. Believe to the point of trusting.
And here's what I would say by way of application, is absolutely refuse to worry. It's one of those, you know. I think someone has written a book, you know, sins that Christians we all give each other a pass on, or something like that, acceptable sins. You know, if the Bible says don't be anxious for anything. And it's a command.
I'm guessing that being anxious is sinful. But you know, there's some sins where, like, I mean, I mean, you know, like, we all sin, so let's just. It's an insult to God. If he's a sovereign God and he's good.
Now, is it hard not to worry? You have to practice Philippians 4, 6, and 7. Don't be anxious for anything but. In everything by prayer, a general word, get your focus up on God, and supplication. In other words, you're going to ask very specific things with thanksgiving, choosing to rejoice, make your specific requests.
So, yes, it's a practice. And as you hurt and as you're anxious, you do that. And you know what? You can learn. Oswald Chambers' big line was really his whole life is Galatians 2:20.
I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live, yet not I. But Christ lives within me. And this life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God. Who loved me and gave himself for me? It was this abiding life that God is in control.
Therefore, I can't project tomorrow. I refuse to worry about outcomes I can't control. But I'm gonna entrust that to God. If he's sovereign, you can do that. If you believe it, third.
is beholden all the mystery and the majesty of his kind, compassionate, just and sovereign rule over all that is or will ever be. And the application For some of you, this is very easy. For some of us, high-productivity-driven type A people, this is very difficult. Worship God for who he is, not merely for what he's done. Singing to the Lord.
Reading Psalms out loud slowly. believing them. I mean, isn't it amazing that when you read the Psalms, how David, in the midst of responsibility and warfare and all the rest, how He praises God, he thanks God, he laments, but he is a worshiper. And the more you begin to be in awe of, rather than argue about sovereignty and responsibility, as we would be in awe of who God is and worship Him, as you worship Him, what happens is you will begin to believe and experience a God who is bigger. And when you experience a God who is bigger and holy and loving, then what happens is the truth that you have begins to transform and get ingrained into what you actually believe and your values and how you actually live.
And I just think it's easy not to be a worshiper. I think it's easy to be a Christian, get stuff done person. And there's some of you that, you know, my wife is the opposite. She's a worshiper. Wow.
You know, sometimes I I think if I got Time with Jesus and my wife. I think it goes something like this. Teresa and I have been working out a lot of issues over the last few decades with you, Chip, and we appreciate you running all the errands for us. You know, I'm an activityaholic. I mean, I just see what could be, and oh, God wants to do this.
And I just feel this compulsion to say, oh, if this is true, you got to act on it.
So I have to learn to be a worshiper. And maybe that's some of you. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and the message you just heard, the sovereignty of God, is from our series, The Real God. Chip will join us in studio to share some insights from today's talk in just a minute. You know, we've all unintentionally projected some of humanity's worst qualities into our Creator.
Many view God as moody, weak, unfair, impatient, and merciless, but those ideas couldn't be further from the truth. Through this series, Chip explores key Bible passages to reveal seven fundamental characteristics of our Heavenly Father. attributes that reflect the very essence of His divine nature. Join SHIP on this journey to reshape your perspective toward God, which will deepen your relationship with Him like never before. You won't want to miss a single part of this study.
Well Chip's joining me here in studio. And Chip, I think it's safe to say we all want a better relationship with God and to really grow spiritually.
So take a minute, if you would, and talk about a habit you've developed in your personal walk with Jesus that our listeners can apply to their lives.
Well, that's an easy one, Dave. It really begins and ends with time in God's Word, actually learning to meet with God on a daily basis. It's just foundational for every believer's journey. And it's a practice that I find are really hard for Christians to get consistent in. And then they often feel like, I don't know how to do it.
I can't understand the Bible. And so we've developed something called Daily Discipleship. And I think that's the great place to start. It's a free video tool where I literally mentor and study the Bible with people. I mean, individually.
I talk for about 10 minutes max, and then I ask them to give me 10 minutes with a small resource to get in the Bible for themselves. We look at the very core texts of Romans 12, James 1, Ephesians 6. We'll learn how to pray. We'll experience time with God, not just simply read the Bible. Check it out, Daily Discipleship with Chip.
Thanks, Chip.
So if you're looking for a practical way to deepen your faith, let me encourage you to sign up for daily discipleship with Chip. This free video resource will help you learn more about God and His Word. To sign up for any of our daily discipleship series, visit livingonthege.org. That's livingontheedge.org. App listeners tap discipleship.
Well with that, here again is Chip to share his application from today's message. Think on this one thought as you go throughout the day. Nothing today or For nothing in your past, in fact nothing in your future, will ever enter your life that God has not willfully decreed or allowed to occur. There isn't haphazard issues floating all around that are messing up your life. God is in control.
What a comfort of all the things in Scripture that bring great comfort to my heart. I think that's one of the most important things with regard to the character of God that I've learned in my life. God is sovereign. And what I know is, That regardless of what happens, he is working and using every event, every person, every hardship, every difficulty. for my good.
He does work all things together for my good. And I don't know about you, but that produces a deep rest in my soul. and then it produces worship. Imagine the power. The majesty, the all-knowing that it requires to orchestrate every life on the planet.
to fulfill his purposes and are good. Why don't you worship him today? Thanks for that great challenge, Chip. As we wrap up, I want to thank those of you who make this program possible through your generous financial support. Your gifts help us create programs, purchase airtime, and develop additional resources to help Christians live like Christians.
If you've been blessed by the ministry of Living on the Edge, would you consider sending a gift today? You can do that by visiting livingonthege.org or by calling 888-333-6003. That's 888-333-6003, or visit livingonthege.org. App listeners tap donate. and please know how much we appreciate your support.
Well, until next time, this is Dave Druy saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.
