The Lie God’s Not Responsible Natural Disasters – 1 of 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Is God involved in calamities like tsunamis which kill thousands, or do we turn to mother nature when we seek the cause? Today you'll hear a strong affirmation that God indeed is the driving force behind nature, even in its most tragic moments.

Please stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. We're in a series on 10 lies about God and why you might already be deceived. Pastor Lutzer, we all want God to look good. If he takes the blame for natural disasters, it seems he's not a good God after all. You know Dave, as you mentioned in your intro, it is so important for us to understand that God takes credit for the sunshine, but he also takes credit for natural disasters. We can prove this repeatedly throughout the Bible. And on the one hand, it certainly shows the glories of God and the grace of God when we have good weather, but we have to understand that natural disasters are a picture of coming judgment. That's why I believe it is so necessary for us to understand this. And for the Christian, it is important because when we encounter a natural disaster, we have to know that ultimately we remain in God's hands and not in the hands simply of mother nature.

I've written a book entitled 10 Lies About God, and of course one of the lies is that God takes no responsibility for natural disasters. For a gift of any amount, we're making it available for you. And we do this because we believe that this resource will not only be a blessing, but it will help you to defend the faith to understand the God of the Bible better.

For a gift of any amount, yes it can be yours, simply go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now at the end of this message, I'm going to be giving you that contact info again. Let's remember God is sovereign, and we must accept that. I'm told that in California after an earthquake, some pastors got together for a prayer breakfast, and in the discussion they basically agreed that God had almost nothing to do with the earthquake. He played the role of an interested observer because after all the earth is fallen. And yet it's interesting, I'm also told that when they closed in prayer, the man who prayed thanked God that the earthquake came at five in the morning and not during the rush hour.

And I suspect all the other pastors probably said amen. Now if God had nothing to do with that earthquake, if he was only an interested observer because the earth is fallen, why do you thank him so precisely for the timing? After all, the earth has faults and these sometimes cause earthquakes.

Does God have anything to do with these things or does he not? We live at a time when it seems as if there is an increase in what we call natural disasters. I think for example of the tornadoes in Oklahoma and Kansas, killer tornadoes. 250 miles an hour the wind went.

Did you see those pictures some time ago? The swath of destruction, the thousands of homes that were in rubble and dozens of people killed. I think of the earthquake in Turkey and the earthquake in Taiwan. Great devastation.

What was it? 25,000 people, something like that, killed and maybe a lot more than that. And if I had time in this message I would read you some of the accounts of the devastation and the suffering of those people. And then was it not a tidal wave in Honduras killing multitudes of people and leaving a half million people homeless? And long after the television cameras have left, long after CNN no longer broadcast news from the site, the people are left with this with this devastation. You have orphans and you have widows and you have you have poverty and you have disease.

Who can begin to calculate the amount of pain that has come to planet earth through natural disasters? But the question is what is God's role? Now you may know that this is a series of messages titled 10 lies about God and why you might already be deceived. We've talked about the lie that you can go to God in any way and at any time in any name. The lie that he can be refashioned and made into whatever we want him to be. The lie that he is more tolerant than he used to be. The lie that he has not suffered and was it last time? Yes, the lie that he's obligated to save the followers of other religions.

Today we come to another lie. The lie that God takes no responsibility for natural disasters. Now I personally don't like that word responsibility because it tends to imply accountability or blame but I could find no other better word to describe it. The answer as we shall see is yes God does take responsibility.

He says I did it. Now what I'd like to do in the time allotted me is to answer four questions. The first question is is God indeed in control in natural disasters? That question has to be looked at in some detail to convince the unwary and the skeptic. The second question is what about God? Shall we charge him with evil if the answer to the first question is yes?

Causing such devastation? Do we judge him and say you did wrong? That's question number two. Question number three is can we still trust him now that we know this about him? Oh I hope that we can. Can we still love him? You know that one of the things that I desire from this series of messages is that we will love him more and worship him more fervently.

We'll see that the answer to that question too is yes and then there's a final question. What are the lessons that God wants to teach us? What is going on?

Why? What is the message that is being beamed to earth when you have devastation and when the country of Turkey a good part of it moves two meters closer to Greece? What is God trying to say?

That's the agenda. Thank you so much for joining me as we go on the journey. Question number one is God responsible in the sense that it is he who has nature under his control? Well let's begin by admitting of course nature is fallen. God said to Adam cursed is the ground because of you through pain and toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. What God did when man sinned is he cursed nature. God says I will not have a cursed man walking on uncursed ground. I will not have a sinful man walking in a paradise and so nature was cursed and that's where weeds began to grow and that's where the faults of the earth began to develop and that's where the weather patterns became confused and you have tornadoes and you have floods and all of those things that we cope against in life.

That's why the apostle Paul says in the book of Romans he says the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. It too will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. At the end time when everything is wrapped up the curse of nature is going to be lifted and of all things nature will participate in our reconciliation and redemption. Nature is fallen and that's why you have earthquakes but the question is does this somehow mean that God has a hands-off policy? Does he say the earth is fallen? I've given it over to the devil and I am an interested observer.

The answer as we shall see is no. We must distinguish between what we sometimes call the immediate cause of an event and the ultimate cause. The immediate cause of an earthquake is that fault in the earth that that's shifting within the earth's crust beneath the earth's crust and that's what that's what causes an earthquake.

If you want to know what it is that causes a tornado you speak to a meteorologist and they will tell you that it has to do with those weather patterns and temperature and everything that goes into the making of that tornado. So that's the immediate cause but back behind the immediate cause there is God who is the ultimate cause of all things. For example, the scripture speaks very very clearly about God's role. You say well what about nature being fallen? What about the devil? You know in the book of Job and we're going to cover several passages today but in the book of Job I simply refer to it in passing. God gave Satan the ability to create lightning and a wind storm and Job's children were killed as a result of it. Now there's no question about that but does that mean that nature is out of God's hands?

No, because God gave Satan permission to do that and prescribed precise parameters of what Satan could or could not do. Some of you are old enough to remember what was it 1979? My that was a long time ago but you remember when it snowed here in Chicago during the winter every single day and especially on Thursdays?

I remember commenting to my wife it's Thursday I don't even want to get out of bed. I mean what did we have something like 79 or 80 inches of snow? There were debates as to whether or not this was of God or whether or not it was of the devil and I remember saying at that time and I haven't changed my theology throughout the years that it may be because of the devil but God personally approves of every snowflake that falls in the city of Chicago. Now of course we hoped and prayed that he would not approve of so many but the simple fact is that God is still in charge. Sometimes indirectly by giving Satan permission by giving the earth permission to to have an earthquake but it is God who could choose to not give Satan and the earth such permission it's still in his hands. Sometimes his control of nature is direct.

Come with me to the sea of Galilee. Jesus is there and a tremendous storm comes up and suddenly the disciples are terrified and and they wake him and he says peace be still and we read immediately there was a great calm. Of course God spoke that even the winds in the sea obey him the disciples said and the same Jesus who spoke on the sea of Galilee is the same Jesus who could have spoken and the earthquake would not have happened in Turkey and the tidal wave would not have come to Honduras. All that he needs to do is to speak and nature obeys it is under his command. Look at the direct teaching of scripture the Lord does whatever he pleases in the heavens and on the earth in the seas and all their depths he makes clouds to rise from the end of the earth he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses he does whatever he pleases.

Let me ask you a series of questions to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. Who was it that was in control of that flood during the time of Noah and prescribed how long it was going to rain and the depth of the rain and its intensity and when it would go away? Who was it? God. Who was it that sent the plagues to Egypt the darkness that could be felt and the great hail stones? Who was it that prescribed that and commanded? Who was it that caused the earthquake and the sons of Korah fell into it expressly? It says God says I'm going to open the earth and these people are going to fall in and in judgment. Who is it that sent the storm during the time of Jonah?

Boy we sure don't have to guess at that. It says in chapter 1 of Jonah verse 4 and the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea. Who did it? God did it. Now what about some of you skeptics?

You say yeah but I am still not sure. All that you need to do is to walk with me in a thunderstorm and your theology will become precise and biblical because if you were walking in a thunderstorm with a lightning dancing at your feet and sizzling overhead you would pray just as fervently as I proving the fact that at the end of the day you do believe that somehow God is in charge of this and if you can get his ear maybe you'll live. Of course God's in charge. Now think back over all the instances that I gave you.

What is the common thread through most of them? It is that God was judging people. God was judging people.

Now this is very interesting and incredibly important. In the book of Job and you may turn to that if you wish it's chapter 37. There's a man by the name of Elihu. Elihu is so theologically accurate and so brilliant that some people have actually thought that it's a pre-incarnate manifestation of Christ. I mean Elihu you know Job's friends they can't solve the problem of evil and Elihu is a young theologian.

He's waiting in the wings and he can hardly wait to speak and when he speaks you ought to listen because I tell you Elihu really was on the money. You'll notice in chapter 37 of Job I pick it up at verse 6. He says to the snow fall on the earth and to the rain shower be a mighty downpour and if God says to the snow fall on the earth it falls.

You'll notice I'm going to skip to verse 10. The breath of God produces ice and the broad waters become frozen. He loads the clouds with moisture. He scatters his lightning through them. At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them.

Is that control or what? But notice verse 13. He brings the clouds to punish men or to water his earth and show his love.

Well that's interesting. He uses clouds to punish men. Just ask Noah whether or not God uses clouds to punish men.

He sure does. When he wants those clouds to give out all of that water all those buckets and torrents of water he uses them to judge men but the same clouds in a different context he uses to water the earth to refresh the earth and to show his love to man. There you have the two purposes of nature and God's relationship to it. On the one hand nature reveals the judgment of God that is the convulsions of nature those disasters that we're talking about. On the other hand nature also reveals the love of God the beautiful sunshine the calmness that we can enjoy and the beautiful trees and the heavens that declare the glory of God and nature reveals both characteristics of God. In fact if nature in its fallenness did not have that negative side that side that reveals God's judgment it would be giving us a misunderstanding of God.

There you have it. On the one hand you have judgment on the other hand you have love and nature reveals both. Does this mean that whenever people are in a natural disaster it means that they are being judged by God?

Hold it don't ask that question yet we're going to answer it in just a few moments. You must be careful not to draw a false conclusion based on other passages but for now I just want you to see that God is in control. Nature reveals his love to us indeed he sends rain on the just and the unjust and nature also reveals his judgment of a cursed world. Let's go on to question number two. Question number two is can we charge God with evil?

I mean look at the devastation in Turkey. Look at what people have gone through and God is in the heavens and God commands and it is done now now is God to be spoken of as doing evil? Well we must be very very careful here.

Tread carefully. Let me begin by saying number one the rules that apply to us most assuredly do not apply to God they don't. For example if a little child were in a swimming pool and we didn't pull the child out and we stood there and watched it drown saying well the child fell in of his own free will so why should I bother pulling him out? We would be charged probably with negligence maybe manslaughter who knows what. God sees situations like that every day and does nothing. He allows people to drown. Our responsibility is to keep people alive as long as we possibly can. Could you imagine if God operated by that set of standards nobody would ever die.

We'd all live forever because God could keep us alive from here until who knows when. A simple fact is there's a big difference between those of us who have been given life and the one who is the giver of life and the scripture is very clear that God can both give and he can take and Job you remember says shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord and not also receive calamity at his hand and he has the right to give us both. In fact many of the 10 commandments don't apply to God.

For example one of them is thou shalt not steal. It's impossible for God to steal. You know the Bible says it's impossible for God to lie.

We could add another impossibility. God can't steal because he owns everything. Could you imagine something in the world that God is taking from somebody? No, God owns everything. The cattle on a thousand hills all of these things are owned by God. He leases them out and we take ownership and think they are ours.

They don't apply. So let us keep in mind that God is God and we are the creature. Let us also remember that from the standpoint of eternity he does things from the standpoint of eternity not the standpoint of time. You know you think of an earthquake perhaps the one in Mexico or Turkey as we've mentioned and you ask the question what are God's purposes?

The simple fact is let's have the humility to admit that there may be thousands of purposes that you and I know nothing about. I came across a quote one time that literally took my breath away and you know every so often you have a quote that is so so filled with theology and yet difficult perhaps to accept but nonetheless true. The quote is this if I had the power of God for 24 hours what changes I would make on this earth said one said one theologian.

Let me just stop there before I give you the rest of the quote. Could you imagine that? You have the power of God for 24 hours what changes you would make on the earth?

I mean wow it would be incredible the changes that would be made. But now the rest of the quote says but if I also had his wisdom if I also had his wisdom I'd leave things as they are. Can you accept that? My friend this is Pastor Lutzer.

Can you imagine that? What that quote is saying is we have to trust God's wisdom even when we cannot understand his ways. Of course when we look at the God of the Bible we discover that there are so many mysteries and those mysteries don't disappear no matter how often we study the character of God but we need to probe that character as far as we can. That's why I've written a book entitled 10 Lies About God and I sincerely believe that this resource will be of great benefit to you.

It tackles some of the hard issues like the issue of natural disasters and other characteristics of God that oftentimes are popular in culture but biblically wrong. Now I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy because I'm going to be giving you some contact info so that you can write this down so that this book can be yours. Here's what you do go to rtwoffer.com.

Did I say that too quickly? rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. Remember the title of the book 10 Lies About God and that info again go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. And from my heart to yours thank you so much for joining us as together we run toward the finish line. And as you have frequently heard me say together to the glory of God we are making a difference.

You can write to us at Running to Win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard Chicago Illinois 60614. Running to Win is all about helping you find God's road map for your race of life. Can you trust a God who hurls each lightning bolt to the earth during a thunderstorm? Well the only alternative is trusting a God who doesn't know where the lightning will hit. Next time on Running to Win we probe further into the mystery of God's hand in natural disasters and draw lessons from the Bible on how to handle this difficult issue. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.