God's Will and Hurricane Katrina
Well let's look at what Scripture teaches about the subject.
Isa 45:7- I make will being and create calamity says the Lord.
Amos 3:6- If disaster comes to a city do not I the Lord bring it.
Lamenations 3:37-38-What has come to pass unless the Lord has spoken it, he brings good and evil.
In the Gospel
Luke 13:1-5: When Jesus is asked about God's will in Natural Disasters, Jesus said they serve as a reminder of our need to repent or perish. Jesus never diassociates God's Will with the disaster.
John 9-Jesus says the Blind Man was made blind for God's Glory.
The clear witness of scripture is never does anything bad happen, without God being involved.
The reason is that scripture teaches that not only does God know all things (Isa 46:10, Job 28, Psalm 90, Romans 8:29, Ephesians 1) scripture teaches that God has extensive foreknowledge or knowledge of all things that come to pass (I John 3:20, I Samuel 15:29). So God clearly knows what is going to happen and makes no effort to stop it.
So when people ask if the people in New Orleans were more sinful? I think they might have an inaccurate appriasial of Sin. Scripture speaks of sin as Bondage (Romans 8:5-8), that all people have (Romans 3:23), which has been created from birth (Psalm 51:5) this sin has corrupted all of creation leading to natural disasters (Romans 8:18-22). So the answer is not that New Orleans is more sinful, but as Jesus says in Luke 13 all people need to repent of their sinful nature, and trusts in Christ's merits for salvation.
It is true that sin is not brought on by God as stated in James 1:15-God is not the author of evil, but allows it for his purposes. For God wills all things in accord with his purpose Ephesians 1:11.
I see the problem with most of the New Orleans discussion as being two-fold. One people assume an entitlement mentality before God. That God needs to give them something. But because of our rebellion against God, God owes us nothing. If God was to cast me into the Lake of Fire tonight it is not because I don't deserve it. The fact that God provides us anything of benefit is by God's grace, not because of our nature.
So why might God will Hurricane Katrina? Well if we lived lives where nothing ever went wrong, everyday was hunky-dorry, we would have no need for a savior.
But what we do know about God and his desire for all of creation is made clear in Jesus Christ. For God's love for us is revelaed in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, out of God's love for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
We might not know the will of God in all things(Isaiah 55:8), but we do know this about God.
Isa 45:7- I make will being and create calamity says the Lord.
Amos 3:6- If disaster comes to a city do not I the Lord bring it.
Lamenations 3:37-38-What has come to pass unless the Lord has spoken it, he brings good and evil.
In the Gospel
Luke 13:1-5: When Jesus is asked about God's will in Natural Disasters, Jesus said they serve as a reminder of our need to repent or perish. Jesus never diassociates God's Will with the disaster.
John 9-Jesus says the Blind Man was made blind for God's Glory.
The clear witness of scripture is never does anything bad happen, without God being involved.
The reason is that scripture teaches that not only does God know all things (Isa 46:10, Job 28, Psalm 90, Romans 8:29, Ephesians 1) scripture teaches that God has extensive foreknowledge or knowledge of all things that come to pass (I John 3:20, I Samuel 15:29). So God clearly knows what is going to happen and makes no effort to stop it.
So when people ask if the people in New Orleans were more sinful? I think they might have an inaccurate appriasial of Sin. Scripture speaks of sin as Bondage (Romans 8:5-8), that all people have (Romans 3:23), which has been created from birth (Psalm 51:5) this sin has corrupted all of creation leading to natural disasters (Romans 8:18-22). So the answer is not that New Orleans is more sinful, but as Jesus says in Luke 13 all people need to repent of their sinful nature, and trusts in Christ's merits for salvation.
It is true that sin is not brought on by God as stated in James 1:15-God is not the author of evil, but allows it for his purposes. For God wills all things in accord with his purpose Ephesians 1:11.
I see the problem with most of the New Orleans discussion as being two-fold. One people assume an entitlement mentality before God. That God needs to give them something. But because of our rebellion against God, God owes us nothing. If God was to cast me into the Lake of Fire tonight it is not because I don't deserve it. The fact that God provides us anything of benefit is by God's grace, not because of our nature.
So why might God will Hurricane Katrina? Well if we lived lives where nothing ever went wrong, everyday was hunky-dorry, we would have no need for a savior.
But what we do know about God and his desire for all of creation is made clear in Jesus Christ. For God's love for us is revelaed in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, out of God's love for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
We might not know the will of God in all things(Isaiah 55:8), but we do know this about God.
posted by Stew at 9:10 AM
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