All the Small Things

March 25, 2025.

28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”

29 “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” 30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. 31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.

32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

-1 Samuel 17:28-37 (NIV)

Is God calling you to do great things?  I believe the answer to that is a resounding yes!  Is God calling you to not be mundane and boring in life?  I believe the answer to that is a resound yes!  How am I going to fulfill God’s calling? - through a life of discipleship, servanthood and obedience.  And instead of asking yourself, “what can I get out of this?” and “What can God or his people give to me?”  I would challenge you to reframe that question and ask, “What can I do for God?  Am I living up to a Godly calling?”  By asking these last two questions I believe we’re on the right track to fulfill God’s calling.

Sometimes my wife tells me that a great quality about David in scripture is that he was transparent with God.  That is true!  I didn’t say he was free from sin, and I didn’t say he lived a life we should always model.  I didn’t even say he was always honest.  Surely, he was flawed just like you or I, but when I look at the text above, I can honestly say that he did all the small things well so that he was ready for God to use him in bigger things and bigger plans, and by that, he fulfilled God’s calling.  He was called to do great things, and he did, but not by his own strength or abilities.

Doing something great for God and answering God’s call for His greatness (not our own) is easier than it sounds.  When we’re striving to achieve something great for God (not for ourselves), there will always be someone that tries to get in the way.  We are at war against the devil, the world and our flesh and in the case of David here, the world tried to get in the way.  Here, Eliab (David’s oldest brother) tried to “pull rank”.  There was a patriarchal birth order in biblical times and David knew in many ways, Eliab had authority over himself since Eliab was first born and David was overlooked as the lastborn.  Deut. 21:15-17 is one example of a patriarchal birth order found in scripture (but examples are actually found all throughout).  Eliab tried to put David “in his place” and send him back to his “meaningless” task of taking care of sheep as the youngest one with the least responsibility.  Eliab even tried to make it seem like David was irresponsible and even full of conceit/pride (verse 28).  It was a giant smear campaign against David.  Even King Saul didn’t think David was qualified to take on Goliath (verse 33), but David knew better.  David pointed out that he did all the small things well (verse 34) by saying he took care of his father’s sheep.  But then here’s the thing that the others didn’t realize:  By doing these small things well, God enabled him to do greater things for Him.  By taking care of sheep (seemingly “meaningless” and seemingly “simple”), David had to overcome a lion and a bear to save his flock and to David, Goliath will fall just like the rest of them (verse 36).

The real beauty of this story is, God took care of it all and David acknowledged God was the one giving him the ability to overcome every step of the way and even when facing Goliath (verse 37).  David knew it was nothing from his own efforts that the lion or bear were defeated, and it won’t be his own efforts that will cause Goliath to be defeated as well.  100% it was all because of God.  David handled all the small things well and God enabled him to live up to a great and Godly calling by doing greater things for God and in this case, slaying Goliath.  Do you want to do great things for God?  Do all the small things well that God has entrusted you with first.  Make good on every opportunity to thank God and acknowledge that all victories came from God, and do not fear a future challenge because God will take care of that one too.  Lastly, don’t let the world get in the way between you and your Godly calling.

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Looking in All the Wrong Places

March 19, 2025.

11 Then the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”

“Bring up Samuel,” he said.

12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”

13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?”

The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure coming up out of the earth.”

14 “What does he look like?” he asked.

“An old man wearing a robe is coming up,” she said.

Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.

15 Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”

“I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.”

16 Samuel said, “Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. 18 Because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today. 19 The Lord will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.”

-1 Samuel 28:11-19 (NIV)

Why is it that many of us look to all kinds of sources for answers, for hope and for direction in life instead of going directly to God through Jesus Christ?  If we’re in distress, some of us may find comfort in watching a good movie, eating chocolate, rushing to the shopping mall for “retail therapy” or if you’re like me, having ice-cream makes everything feel better.  I think while all these outlets feel good and make us calmer, they’re all ultimately distractions. 

If we’re really in a panicked state, then where do we turn to?  Maybe for some of us, we seek the counsel of family or friends.  Last week during our Men’s Group, we discussed a common theme of, “Take it to Christ!”  And that’s exactly what we should do, but too often we may forget to do that or we’re impatient with God’s timing.  In our text today we encounter a rarely talked about story of King Saul.  Many people know this story as “The witch of Endor”.  And while typical believers remember King David having a heart that always wanted to follow God, we tend to forget that King Saul was like that as well too - at least at first.  Initially Saul was a very humble man.  When the prophet Samuel found Godly favour with Saul, Saul felt unworthy (1 Sam. 9:21).  Early on he also led the Israelites to victories several times and he had the Holy Spirit with him for a time (1 Sam. 10:10).  Keep in mind this is a period when the Holy Spirit came and went, unlike with New Testament Christians (and onwards) with the Holy Spirit never leaving true believers.  Unfortunately, Saul would disobey God several times and eventually the Holy Spirit left him (1 Sam. 16:14). 

In our story, Saul was up against the ferocious Philistine Army.  Saul was terrified (1 Sam. 28:5).  Saul tried to do the right thing and sought after God first, but he was impatient when God didn’t answer him (1 Sam. 28:6).  Instead of constantly pursuing after God, he did the exact opposite of what God wanted and consulted a medium.  Let’s remember that God commanded Israelite believers (and us) to not consult mediums, necromancers, fortune tellers, psychics, etc. (Lev. 19:26, Lev. 19:31, Lev. 20:27, Deut. 18:10-11).

Surprisingly God allowed the medium to connect with the spirit of the deceased prophet Samuel.  This is surely an oddity story and nowhere else in scripture is there a similar story of bringing up the spirit of the dead.  I actually think many pastors stay away from this story because they don’t know what to do with it!  I’ll attempt to explain this odd, “ghostly” encounter at the bottom of this blog post, but for now, all you have to know is, don’t be like Saul!

Saul could’ve kept praying, he could’ve kept seeking Godly counsel.  He could’ve fasted and prayed, but he didn’t.  And he did the exact opposite of God’s command.  Saul tried to seek comfort in his own way and even if it’s directly disobeying God.  While he tried to do the right thing and tried to seek God first, he failed in his persistence and was incredibly impatient.  Isn’t that like many of us?  How many times have we tried to seek God in prayer, but got impatient with God’s timing?  Or how many of us sought God in prayer, were unhappy with God’s answer and then turned to things, people and places we shouldn’t?  Turning to God in prayer is one thing, but being persistent and allowing for God’s timing is another.  If you want a good story on that, turn to Luke 18:1-8.

At the end of the day, we have to remember God is sovereign and that includes God’s timing and answers.  We have to seek God and his kingdom first (Matt. 6:33), but we also have to constantly seek him for guidance, direction, answers, wisdom, counsel and EVERYTHING in life, no matter how big or small the request.

***Bonus Material***

Reading this unique story tells me that God prohibits believers from going to mediums and the lot, because at times, they really could connect with dead spirits, and I don’t know how that works.  God somehow allows it in his sovereignty.  Was this actually a demon posing as the spirit of Samuel?  Believe it or not and If we read the text plainly, it doesn’t mention that.  Our text actually says it’s Samuel’s spirit.  I once took a Spiritual Warfare class in seminary, and I asked about this story to the professor and he actually didn’t know what this spirit was.  When we read the original Hebrew, surprisingly it says the medium saw an elohim (1 Sam. 28:13) when describing Samuel’s spirit rising up.  Does this surprise you?  For many traditional Christians you probably thought only God is referred to as elohim.  Not so!  Did the ancient Israelites put deceased human spirits, demons and Yahweh on the same level?  Absolutely not!  Yahweh is above all!  Furthermore, and in scripture, other lower-level gods are also called elohim (1 Kgs. 8:23, Ps. 97.9).  In addition, demons (shedim in Hebrew) are also described as being elohim (Deut. 32:17, Ps. 106:37).

To be clear, Yahweh is the only unique and uncreated God, while other beliefs have other lower gods.  Some of these lower gods are demons posing and some are evil spiritual principalities or rulers (Eph. 6:12).  Christians are monotheistic in that we believe in the only uncreated and unique triune God in Yahweh.  Christian author and expert in the ancient Near East (ANE)-Michael S. Heiser once said, “The biblical usage of elohim is not hard to understand once we know that it isn’t about attributes.  What all the figures on the list have in common is that they are inhabitants of the spiritual world.”[1]  Without going into more detail, that explains for me!  The medium/witch of Endor did somehow call up the spirit of the deceased prophet Samuel.  She was the evil real deal and God somehow allowed it.  This is why God wants us to stay away from these people, not because they’re all fakes and liars per say (that too though), but that some of them actually work and can communicate with dead spirits (under God’s knowing and allowing), and they’re from the wrong sources that God wants us to stay away from.  God always wants us to seek him and trust him, period and especially not other spiritual sources that are in direct conflict with God.  If you have further questions, please let me know but be warned, I may bombard you with a lot of info like trying to drink from a firehose!

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[1] Heiser, Michael S. (2015).  The Unseen Realm.  Lexham Press, Bellingham, WA,

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The Lord Will Provide

March 12, 2025.

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”  “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.  “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”  8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”  “Here I am,” he replied.

12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

-Genesis 22:6-19 (NIV)

There seems to be a certain stench in the air of despair, uncertainty, anxiety, worry, confusion, and maybe mixed with some sadness and anger for many people.  There are a lot of reasons why people may be feeling this way.

The other day Mark Carney was elected as the new Liberal party leader and also as Canada’s prime minister-elect.  Is he overall good or bad for the country?  Only time will tell.  How long will a trade war last with America?  I’m not sure.  Why doesn’t the media speak more about China’s imposed agricultural tariffs against Canada and only focus more on the ones imposed by America?  I admit I have my suspicions on that, but I don’t have all the answers here either.  When will the war in Ukraine stop?  Sadly, I’m confused here too, and I wish it never happened.  I’ve looked heavy into the Ukraine/Russia war situation and the reasons for the war seem complicated and many.  Furthermore, recently I found out 70 Christians were found beheaded in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the media doesn’t highlight this story either.  Even in our local Greater Moncton Area, a great number of people are struggling to survive.  And then for our church people, I’m hearing the occasional murmurs and qualms about the consequences of departing from the Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC).

Listen!  It’s very easy to look at all these matters and bury our heads in the sand, or grumble, kick and scream and surely there will be times of sadness and heartache along the way, but where is your faith and where is Jesus Christ working in all of this?

Are you men and women of Christian faith or are you not?

Do you believe the righteous live by sight or is the Bible absolutely and always true (including realistically, practically, immediately, ongoing and universally true) when it mentions, “the righteous will live by faith”? (Hab. 2:4, Rom. 1:7, Gal. 3:11, Heb. 10:38).

Are we forgetting the story of Abraham and Sarah with Isaac?  When Isaac was born, Abraham was 100 years old, and Sarah was 90.  All of God’s promises were pinned upon the birth and life of Isaac at the time.  Now let’s try and picture what life was like for Abraham and Sarah in ancient Hebrew times before having Isaac.  In Old Testament times, punishments from God were seen as directly correlated with sinful behaviour.  Thus, and in some ways, some people must’ve thought Sarah did something bad to provoke God’s anger and punishment up until 90 years of her life!  She and Abraham (then known as Sarai and Abram) were also surely mocked by many because Sarai was barren, and Abram’s name itself meant exalted/high father or father of many nations – at the time and as a couple they had no biological and legitimate children!  Also, and in ancient Hebrew times, having large families and a healthy lineage meant a lot.  Effectively speaking, Abram and Sarai’s hope and legacy was done.

Then the Lord provided! - and Isaac was born! (Gen. 21:2)

It all seemed “fine and dandy” and the story continued…. but then the Lord asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?  Huh?  Could there be a more bewildering command by the Lord?  Absolutely not!  Isaac was the miracle child, and the undoing of all the negativity.  All of God’s promised glory and effective future well-being was pinned on Isaac and then God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?

When Isaac asked Abraham, “….where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (Gen. 22:7), Abraham’s response is uncanny!  He pursues after the Lord even still and says, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (Gen. 22:8).

We don’t exactly know all the thoughts going through Abraham’s head right now (or even in Sarah’s head).  If it were me in Abraham’s sandals and in my stubbornness and lack of faith at times, I’m honestly not sure I’d be so calm about this and I would probably severely hesitate.  I’d probably have a mental and verbal battle with God and cry out, “What do you mean God?  You promised we’d have Isaac and he arrived as you promised.  You didn’t promise us anymore children up until now, we’re too old to have other children, start over and all hope and all logic points on keeping him.  That’s how I see it!  I can’t see another way God!”

Abraham did no such thing!  There was no delay in his response to Isaac and there was no delay in his actions to keep pursuing after the Lord to be faithful above all else!

Above all else, Abraham desired a right relationship with God, stemming from his faith and being faithful.

And in the end, the Lord provided! (Gen. 22:13).

Abraham then made that place a lasting testament and reminder, even naming it “The Lord will provide” (Gen. 22:14).

Now did you catch my personal rant if I were in Abraham’s sandals? (see the underlined text above).

I keep telling people, don’t follow me because I’m not perfect and fail at times too!  Instead follow Jesus Christ found in scripture!  Of course, all logic and all sight would make immense roadblocks faith.  Once again, I ask this:

Are you men and women of Christian faith or are you not?

Let me also remind you of 3 things Jesus never said:
1) You will be healthy.
2) You will be wealthy.
3) You will be successful.

Contrast that to the 3 things Jesus actually said:
1) You will be hated. (Matt. 10:22)
2) You will have trouble. (Jn. 16:33 NIV translation)
3) You will suffer. (Jn. 16:33 CSB translation)

Sure, I have some concerns over all of the previously mentioned matters in my opening paragraphs…. but in terms of my faith journey and my pursuit of the Lord, it doesn’t matter what the economy looks like.  It doesn’t matter what leader is sitting in parliament office.  It doesn’t matter what schemes warlords and conquerors are making.  It doesn’t matter what cost and consequences manmade denominations impose.  It even doesn’t matter my long-term comforts and foreseeable outlook so much as am I living righteously by faith or not?   Do you want to be faithful, or do you want to be successful?  Believe it or not, you can’t pick both!

Please choose faith!

****Bonus Material****

Jesus is found in the Old Testament!

I’ve said it a few times during sermons that when the Bible mentions the specific title “The angel of the LORD” it’s actually not a regular angel – it’s actually Jesus in the Old Testament (2nd person of the Godhead Trinity and thus also 100% God and not “1/3 God” or “a part of God”).  Don’t ask me how it works, but it appears Jesus somehow takes on the “appearance” of a man during these instances in the Old Testament.  We see clear evidence of this in our reading today in Gen. 22:15-18. 

Here he says, “I swear by myself” (verse 16) – he didn’t say, “I swear by my Father/LORD in heaven”.  He also says, “I will surely bless you….” (verse 17) – he didn’t say, “my Father/LORD in heaven will surely bless you....”  The only one with the power and authority to swear upon himself and divinely bless is God himself!  He also said, “…because you have obeyed me.” (verse 18).  He didn’t say, “…because you have obeyed my Father/LORD in heaven.”  If it were merely a regular angel, this angel would be in big trouble, because he's giving approval that Abraham obeyed him and not God and the text doesn’t say he’s speaking with a fallen or corrupt angel.  Abraham is speaking to the divine; he’s speaking to God himself in Jesus Christ found in the Old Testament, the same Jesus Christ found in the New Testament!

I know the concept of Jesus Christ appearing in the Old Testament as a man is still shocking for some people to understand (and not taking anything away from his divine, God-nature).  When I mentioned this concept from behind the pulpit maybe approximately a year ago, some people contacted me wanting more info because they were really surprised and haven’t heard this concept ever before.

For any surprised people, please bear with me here.  As Christians, we all believe and agree Jesus in the New Testament was born of the virgin Mary and conceived by the Holy Spirit right?  (The Apostles Creed).  We all believe Jesus was crucified, dead and buried and resurrected on the third day right?  (Good Friday and Easter).  Now explain to me how that all happens….

….

….

….

I bet you can’t!  They’re all miracles and that’s just how God works!  In the same way, none of us can explain how in several Old Testament stories, Jesus appears like a man, but still not taking anything away from his divine, God-nature.  He just does and it’s a miracle!  You see, we tend to be snobs about what supernatural themes we believe from scripture.  At face value we all believe in the New Testament stories of Jesus’ virgin birth, death and resurrection, but some of us have trouble with some other clearly mentioned, supernatural themes in scripture like Jesus found pre-incarnate in the Old Testament.

In case you’re wondering, if not mistaken and off the top of my head, Jesus is also….

·       The voice in the burning bush speaking to Moses. (Ex. 3)

·       The one Jacob wrestles with. (Gen. 32)

·       The fourth man in the fire with Daniel’s three friends. (Dan. 3)

Assumed by some (but not universally by all) to be the destroyer during the tenth plague in Egypt. (Ex. 12)

·       “The commander of the army of the LORD” before the Israelites conquered Jericho. (Josh. 5)

·       Appearing with two regular angels promising Abram and Sarai they’ll soon have Isaac. (Gen. 18)

·       Conversing with Abraham when he pleads with him to save Sodom. (Gen. 18)

·       Walking with Adam in the garden (Genesis 3).  Now why would scripture use the verb “walking” if God didn’t have physical legs? – there’s another eye-opener for some people.  It doesn’t say something like “God gently blew beside Adam” like some kind of cloud or gust of wind.  It wasn’t merely and only a “spiritual presence” of God with Adam, because then why would Adam and Eve physically hide if God was only spiritually present?  Spiritually, God was present everywhere (omnipresent)! – scripture is precisely written in such a way for a reason.  The original Hebrew uses the verb haw-lak meaning “to go, walk, come, proceed, move”, but the Greek translation uses peripateo meaning “to walk, to live”.  The correct verb meaning “to walk” in this case, only makes full sense when you consider the 100% perfect and intimate relationship Adam had with God (pre-fall) and when you link the other “man appearances” of Jesus in the Old Testament (again, not taking anything away from his divine, God-nature).

I’m sure I’m forgetting a great number of other occurrences of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, but today’s devotional posting is already long, and I’ll have to save the full list for another time - I hope.

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Sovereign Grace

March 5, 2025.

20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

22 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

-2 Timothy 2:20-26 (NIV)

Last Sunday I preached on the topic of the glory of God through the descriptions of a veil.  I mentioned that if everyone focused on God’s glory, this world would be a different place and rightfully so.  Admittedly, it leads to a difficult topic to swallow in the sovereignty of God’s grace.  It’s very true that God wants all people to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4), but in the end and sadly, some will not.  There will be some that are cast down to hell.  It’s a painful reality and scripture mentions hell more times than heaven.  We wouldn’t need the Saviour (Jesus Christ) if there was no hell or if universalism was true (the idea that falsely promotes everyone going to heaven).  We also wouldn’t need the Saviour if pluralism were true (the false idea that the Christian God is equal to or even lower than other gods).  If pluralism were true, then people would go to heaven based upon the standards of other religions and just like universalism, it wouldn’t matter if Jesus is the Saviour or not.  However, and as Christians, we know Jesus is the truth and the life (John 14:6) and because of that, we know the only way to heaven and salvation is through Jesus and Jesus alone.

Even still and if God desires for everyone to be saved, then why are some cast down to hell?  I don’t have the full answers, but I’ll attempt to answer that question as best as I can.

****Disclaimer**** You may not like the answer.

2 Cor. 3:14 is one place (amongst many in scripture) where it describes Jesus Christ having the sole power of veiling or unveiling the knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour before everyone (just like a groom having the power to remove the veil of his bride at the wedding ceremony).  Some of you may be wondering then: how can Jesus send people to hell, while still wanting everyone to be saved and still having the power to save anyone he chooses?  Those seem like contradicting statements.  Again, I don’t have all the answers, but the best answer I can come up with is God is sovereign and God’s grace reflects God’s sovereignty.

In our text above, Paul describes God’s sovereignty with the metaphor of a master of a large house.  The Master has some items around the house for special, holy purposes designed for good work, and others not in the same category.  There are some items of gold and silver, and yet others of wood and clay.  It’s assumed Christians are metaphorically God’s creations of special and holy purposes and one of the ways to be useful is to be kind amongst everyone.  While being kind, we are instructed to be gentle to unbelievers in the hope that God will grant them saving faith (repentance and belief in the knowledge of truth that Jesus is Lord and Saviour).  Some may think, “that’s not fair!  How can God be a loving God when he knowingly and willingly created some people to go to hell?”  It’s a fair question, and as John Piper (a reformed Baptist pastor) once described the Calvinistic perspective to say, “God is more committed to glorifying his own free and sovereign grace than he is to saving all.”  Once again, it’s all about God’s glory at the apex of everything!

Should that stop us from trying to preach and teach the gospel to unbelievers? Absolutely not!  Jesus gave us the Great Commission (Matt. 28:16-20).  Should we be upset at God’s sovereignty?  Absolutely not!  After all, God is God and because he is sovereign, he can do anything he wishes.  Our ideas of justice also pale in comparison to God’s perfect justice.  It rains upon the righteous and unrighteous alike (Matt. 5:45).  Natural disasters, heinous killers, brutal diseases, mass famine, chaotic wars affect the righteous and unrighteous – and imagine all the innocent people in these settings.

At the end of the day all I can think of is this:  I thank God TREMENDOUSLY that he chose to unveil Jesus Christ to me, and out of extreme thanksgiving, reverence and awe, I have the privilege to glorify him in fear and trembling, each and every day and live knowing I’m saved!  Every day I wake up knowing God could’ve killed me in my sleep and everyday I’m one step closer to heaven and the new heaven and new earth with Jesus and I will never get tired of thinking about that.

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