God’s Involvement in Our Lives

By Pastor William R. Cunningham
May 14, 2006

Introduction

What involvement does God have in our lives today and in history?  Does God manipulate the events in human history for some particular end or purpose?  Is God standing back watching our plight on earth without getting involved?  Are our troubles the result of God’s education endeavors in that they serve to teach us something.  What is God doing about the situation on earth today?  Does God care about us or is He interested in the general human populous as a whole and not the individual?  Does God even care about what happens to us on earth and even the afterlife?

These are the types of questions that many people have in regards to life.  We want to believe that God is involved in our lives and that we can call on Him.  However, the events of the world today seem to suggest that perhaps God isn’t involved else He would do something at the very least for His people. Yet even Christians suffer and seem to suffer the same fate as everyone else.  So again, what is God doing and how is He involved in the affairs of our lives?

We are going to discuss the answer to that question.  We are going to first see what God initially did and what happened to it and then we are going to see why things are the way they are today.  Next we are going to take an objective look at what God is doing right now given the observations made in the previous steps.

God’s Creation

Genesis 1:31 (NKJV) -- {31} Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Here we see that everything that God made in regards to creation was very good.  Some may be more perceptive than others here and ask the questions, “What is good?”  More precisely we should ask, “What does God call good?”  Well a discussion of those is well beyond the scope of this sermon.  However, the definition, schema, or ideal good comes from God.  We have to realize that the idea of what is God isn’t something that we weigh against God or what He does.  God defines what is good and what is not in this regard (morals, ethics, worldviews, etc.).  So we really need to know who God is in order to really know what “good” is.

Matthew 19:17 (NKJV) -- {17} So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

We can therefore understand that everything was good in the sense that it was how God wanted it to be.  One could perhaps even say that it was perfect.  Again the perceptive may ask, “If it was perfect then how could sin come from it?”  We should take note here that what God created was good.  However, God’s creation included certain risks, which we shall talk about later.  This risk involved the free will of man.  In any case, what God made was perfect else one would have to think that God created something that was imperfect or otherwise deficient.  This would then question God’s ability to create exactly what He wanted.  However, since God is omnipotent then we know that God can do anything and everything except nonsense (Ex: making it cold and hot at the same time in the same place).

So now we have a world that God created and it was very good.  Of course we all know the story of Adam and Eve and how they sinned causing a chain event of corruption and destruction.  It was because of one man’s disobedience that sin entered the world (Romans 5:12).

Why There Is Suffering

Why is there so much suffering on the earth today?  Humans suffer from natural disasters, murders, theft, and a plethora of other such pain agents so to speak.  If God created a very good world then why is there so much suffering today?  Let’s take a look at the answer to this.

There are several reasons as to why there is so much suffering today and in human history.

1. Human nature and the introduction of sin
2. The nature of the world (its corruption)
3. Indirectly spawned by love

Humans

Most of the pain and suffering that you hear about is caused by humans on each other.  Governments, fueled by greed, oppress the people causing those people to suffer.  People become tired of the oppression and they rebel causing even more pain and suffering.  Nations rise against nation.  Humans rob and kill each other for more of the illusion (the material things that only lasts for a while).

In short much of the suffering in the world today is caused by humans.  Humans oppress each other.  Selfishness reigns where the concern for others is unimportant.  The conditions of others do not matter as long as we get what we want.  This is the mindset of the sinful world today.  We are therefore the cause of most of our problems and suffering.

The Corrupted World

Romans 8:20-22 (NKJV) -- {20} For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; {21} because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. {22} For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

All of creation is affected by sin and not just humans.  The corruption brought on by sin was experience by all of creation.  We cannot really know the extent of this as we do not know the mind of God at the beginning.  In other words, would there be natural disasters if the earth remained “very good?”  Would the human race have to deal with earthquakes, tornados and the like destroying homes and lives if we had stayed true to God and not sin?  We simply do not know.  What we do know is that the very good world that God created became corrupted as a result of the sin of Adam.

Therefore, much of our suffering is due to the effects of the corruption and deterioration of the world today.  The pain and suffering experienced by natural disasters for example are due to the corruption of the world, which in turn is due to sin.

Love

C.S. Lewis pointed out in his book; “The Problem of Evil” that God took a risk by creating humans with free will.  The risk was that man could chose not to love God.  However, there could be no true love towards God from humans if the humans did not have free will.  God desired a free love relationship from humans and that could only occur if there was a free will.  So giving humans that free will made evil possible.

I should point out here that evil is not a “something.”  Evil is the absence of what is of God.  Evil is the absence of what is good.  Therefore, God did not create evil, but evil arose because of man’s choice to do what is not of God or that which is good.  Evil arose because of the absence of God’s way and therefore absence of love towards God.  Evil arose by opportunity provided by the free will or choice of humans.

Love therefore indirectly allowed evil and suffering to exist in the world.  Sure God could have made a world devoid of evil, but that would have meant a world devoid of human choice, which in turn would have made it impossible for humans to truly love God, which in turn would mean that there really would not have been humans.  We would be no more than animals programmed to behave and operate a certain way.  Free choice provides the opportunity for true love and it also provides the opportunity for evil to arise and therefore suffering.

One could say that the lack of love towards God creates an environment for evil to arise.  Darkness exists because there is no light.  Darkness isn’t a thing in itself.  It is dependant on light or the lack of it.  So the only way darkness could exist is if there is no light.  The only way evil could exist is if there is no good.

What is God Doing About it?

We’ve established that there is evil in the world and given several reasons why evil and suffering exists.  Now the question is, “What is God doing about it?”  However, a better questions would be, “What has God done about it?”  We will see that God has already done a great deal about the evil in the world, but because of the same reasons that evil exists is the same reasons why goodness is not experienced and God’s activities are not recognized or acknowledged.  That is, the lack of love towards God and adhering to His ways causes us to live in darkness and not see the light and therefore not see what God is doing and has done about our predicament on earth.

Some of the things that God has done are...

1. Given humans the idea of governments
2. Given humans the idea of fairness and the upholding of justice
3. Given humans the opportunity of salvation through Jesus Christ
4. Directly Intervened at various times in human history

The last item is quite interesting and I would like to start with that one.  There are two philosophical concepts that I would like to present to you.

1. Agent cause
2. Event cause

The agent cause may be considered as the first cause and the event cause may be the causes of resulting events due to the first cause.  Let me give you an example that I read in an article on the Internet (http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5445).  Suppose you are playing a game of pool and you make a shot where the cue hits the eight ball into the pocket.  What caused the eight ball to go into the pocket?  The direct cause would be the cue ball hitting it.  However, what caused the cue ball to hit the eight ball?  The cue stick hitting the cue ball caused the cue ball to hit the eight ball?  What caused the stick to hit the cue ball?  The pool player caused it.  So we could say that ultimately the pool player caused the eight ball to go into the pocket.

Why do I bring this up?  I bring this up because we will find that we could view the events of human history in the same way in regards to God’s involvement in them.  First lest go over some straight forward things that God has done in order to combat the suffering in the world.  Remember that we said that ultimately the suffering in the world is due to sin that was introduced into the world and is perpetuated by humans.  Humans are the cause of most of the suffering that occurs in the world today.

So what has God done to combat human nature in regards to self-induced suffering (in respect to the human race)?  Let me introduce a concept to you that you may be familiar with.

The Deist’s View

Deism is a religion where it is generally believed that God is not (wholly or in part) involved in the affairs of human history.  They do believe that God created the world and everything in it.  They do believe that there is one God, though they reject the trinity.  However, for the most part, the Deists do not believe that God is involved with our lives.  God created the world and basically gave it all that it needed to run itself.  All, to the Deists, is governed by nature and natural laws.  All we can know about God could be found in nature.  They reject the Bible, revelations, and the like because those are man-made things invented through the superstition.

In any case the Deists believe that God is not concerned (though at various levels) with human history.  Therefore, we are all headed towards whatever fate has for us and whatever our greed and superstition may take us.

This general idea about God’s relation to His creation is widespread, though not as popular as it was in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.  As a matter of fact, some of the founding fathers of the United States of America were deists.  Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine were Deists.

The Christian View

The Bible tells us otherwise in regards to the views of the Deists.  The Bible reveals to us that God is very much involved with the affairs of the human race.  God has done the following.

God gave us the idea of government.  Romans 13 tell us that the government is God-ordained.  God provided the ideas of these governments since we have rejected Him ultimately.  God could have just as well abandoned us and allow us to spiral to destruction without lifting a finger for us so to speak.  This brings me to another thought that I just have to bring up.  I’d like to introduce Deism to you very briefly.

God has placed in us the idea of fairness and justice.  God has placed in us a conscience where we do know what is right and what is wrong (See Romans 1:18-21).

God gave us Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is our way to eternal life and nothing in this world could compare with the joy we will have in eternity with God.  Jesus Christ is the door into that eternal life, i.e., that eternal relationship with the Father.

God sent prophet after prophet in the Old Testament to speak to His people.  God sent those prophets and judges to promote justice and the Way of God.  He sent Jesus Christ as a culmination of the revelation of Himself to us.  God is love and love is the antidote, if you will, for evil.  Where there is light there can be no evil.  God is love and therefore love is light.

We Are What God Has Done

We see time and time again in the Old Testament how various people spoke for God and upheld the righteousness and will of God on the earth.  Think of people like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Elijah, Elisha, etc.  The same applies to the New Testament church.  Not that God speaks to us today using prophets and the like (See Hebrews 1:3), but He does work through people.  With that we will find that God has done a whole lot about the suffering of the world.  What has God done about the suffering?  You!

Matthew 5:13-16 (NKJV) -- {13} “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. {14} “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. {15} Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. {16} Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

We are the light of the world.  We are the event causes of God’s will on the earth.  God ultimately causes things to happen, but we are the objects that He uses on the earth.  When someone is hungry then someone else must provide food.  It is very unlikely that a loaf of bread will float down from heaven onto the needy person’s table so that he or she would eat.  Someone will need to come and give to meet that person’s need else that person is going to have to do something to meet their own needs or remain in lack.   However, we are a large part of what God has done about suffering in the world.

We can help people when trouble comes.  We can assist in easing the pain.  The love of God is manifested in the earth first by Jesus Christ (John 3:16) and then by our own lives.  We act as ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Now we don’t have to wait until trouble comes in order to fight against human suffering.  We can be proactive by standing up for righteousness, justice, and standing against oppression.  In any case, the bottom line is that God has placed you in the earth and blessed you with His spirit and now you can oppose darkness and promote light, which is Jesus Christ.  You are the salt of the earth.  We are the light of the world.  We are the representatives and in some respects the revelation of Christ to the world as Christ is the revelation of God to all.

People’s first experience with God in many cases is the observance of God’s people.  Therefore, we can act to promote the goodness of God and be the vessel that God is using today to carry out His will.  We are what God is doing now in the earth about suffering.

I should also point out that ultimately none of the suffering will matter.  We will at one time realize the salvation that we hoped for.  We will experience the eternity with the Father where there is no more pain or suffering or death.  That is ultimately what God has done about suffering.  He will eradicate it.  In the mean time and until we realize that day, we are the vessels that God uses in the earth to carry out His will and to show His love and concern for all people.

God’s Involvement

God has given us His Spirit to empower us to do His will.  God has anointed us with abilities and ministry gifts in order that we would carry out the purpose that He has set before us.  God has given us Jesus Christ to secure eternity with Him.  All of these God has done and through all of these and more God is involved in our lives.  He guides us through His Spirit and through His word, the Holy Scriptures.  How is God Involved?

We need only look at the Bible to see the many ways that God is involved in our lives.  He speaks to us to help us make the appropriate decision.  He leads us against our adversaries.  He guides us through difficult times.  He leads us in the way that is close to Him.  There are so many ways that God becomes involved in our lives.  Many times He works through people.  Other times, He works through very events (what we earlier called event causes).

Prayer

There are times when something miraculous happens and God shows up for us so to speak.  However, there is a part of this picture that I must present.  One of the most neglected activity in the Christians life that would provide the guidance and the realization of God’s involvement in our lives is prayer.  How often do you pray?  Do you pray when you get up in the morning to ask God for guidance for the rest of the day?  Do you pray to God on your job when you have trouble and need assistance?  Do you pray to God when the income is short compared to the outgoing bills?

We need a life of prayer and not just when trouble comes.  We need to regularly communicate with God.  Besides, all relationships require good communications.  It appears from the Bible that God will not force himself on us.  When the Hebrews wanted a king like the other nations we find that God did not refuse them though He did protest.  In the end God gave them what they wanted.  What I am saying here is that it is up to us to go to God.  We learn to hear from God when we practice communicating with Him, which is to pray to Him.

You see the problem is not God’s involvement with us.  The real problem is our involvement with God.  For example, consider the following verse of Scripture.

1 John 5:14-15 (NKJV) -- {14} Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. {15} And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

We have to get with His program and not Him with ours.  We need God.  He doesn’t need us. We thank God that He does want us.  God truly wants a relationship with us, which is revealed to us in His word (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

God is carrying out His will on the earth and it is up to us to be a part of that activity.  That is where we pray according to His will.  We have to become involved with God so that we could realize His involvement in our lives.  There is something very important that I have learned over the years.  God is indeed not a respecter of persons, that is to say that He doesn’t have favorites and He doesn’t discriminate.  No one is so righteous that they are exempt from God’s will or righteousness.  God is not going to cater to you, though some New Age philosophies would have you to believe that.  We have to get with God so to speak.  We have to get on board his train so to speak.

Through prayer we develop our relationship with the LORD.  We should also actively pursue the LORD in all aspects of our lives.  Learn to call upon God in the morning for purpose.  Learn to pray for direction as you face various decisions during the course o your life.

We learn to hear God when we pray to Him regularly.  We shouldn’t think that only the counselor or the like can solve our problems.  We need to look to Jesus for the assistance that we need.  As we said earlier, God will work through others and though God is ultimately the cause of the answer manifested, we should realize that the event causes or objects of God’s blessings or provision may very well come through the activities and obedience or compassion of others.

Conclusion

How is God involved in our lives?  God is very involved in our lives through others and directly.  God uses people to provide for us and help us in times of trouble.  God may also directly intervene on your behalf.  God has given us His Spirit among other things so that we would represent Him in various ways in the earth.  God sent Jesus Christ to die for us.  That in itself is enough to show how God is dedicated to us and wants the best for us.
You are the light of the world.  God is working through you and in you.  He works in you by His Spirit and His word.  He works through us as the love of God in us manifests itself through assistance of others.

God is involved in our lives in many ways, which is unlike the belief of the Deists.  God cares about us and wants the best for us.  Ultimately the best is Jesus Christ, which leads to salvation.  God has done more for us than anyone could even do for themselves.  He is truly involved if you would simply listen and allow Him to work through you and in you.  Amen.