INTRODUCTION
On September 11, 2001, America awoke to the shocking site of two planes crashing into the World Trade Center. Also in a matter of minutes another plane crashed into the Pentagon and a third which seems to have been meant for the White House. In the wake of all of this terror, many have been asking “Why?” There are at least two reasons for tragedy. The first is due to the sinfulness of man while the other hinges on the sovereignty of God. All of us live in a world where there is constant tragedy. People are killed everyday but what happened on September 11th will be embedded in our minds forever. How can we understand all of this? Why does tragedy occur in the first place?
Tragedy Occurs Because Man is Sinful
All Evil is a Result of Man’s Sin
By eating the forbidden fruit Adam and Eve now possessed “the knowledge of evil” - Gen.3:22-23 - Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"; 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
They were now personally acquainted with “evil.” Up to this point they had only heard about it. Now they knew
it. That is seen clearly in vv.7-13 by how they responded. Evil was now resident in their members(vv.7-13). They were ashamed of their nakedness (v.7). They were afraid and hid from God (vv.8-10). They refused to accept responsibility for what they did (vv.11-13). All of this is a result of sin that entered in. Verse 7 says, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened.”
Because of Adam & Eve’s sin — sin was passed to on to everyone. Paul said, “Therefore, just as through one
man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. In
verse 19, he says it again: “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.”
David accessed his own heart by saying that he “was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps.51:5). Even Paul confessed that “sin...dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.” (Rom.7:17b-18). In verse 23 he concludes by saying, “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” James gives the same response by answering his own question in James 4:1: Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
Alfred De Musset said, “I wore vice like a garment; now it is stuck to my skin” (Draper’s Quotations).
There is Only One Solution to Man’s Sinfulness — God’s Righteousness. God’s righteousness is acquired by faith - Rom.3:21-23 says, But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
In the F.A.I.T.H. evangelism presentation, faith shows a person how to acquire God’s righteousness. It is by “grace through faith, that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Eph.2:8).
F is for forgiveness (Eph.1:7)
A is for available (It’s available - Jn.3:16 but it’s not automatic - Mat.7:21)
I is for impossible (It’s impossible for God to allow sin into heaven. He is holy and just and man is sinful)
T is for turn (You must turn from something and turn to someone — Jesus)
H is for heaven (heaven is eternal life, here, and hereafter)
God’s righteousness is available through faith in Jesus Christ - Phil.3:8-9 says, Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.
As believers in Jesus Christ we are to bring our members under the control of Jesus Christ. Rom.7:5-6 says, For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Col.3:5-10 says, Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. 8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.
When you look at tragedy in the world you must understand that evil is present within us — all of us have the potential to do the most horrific evil like that which happened Tuesday (Sept.11, 2001). But there is a solution — Jesus Christ!
Tragedy affects believers differently than it does unbelievers. God has a purpose in it all but His purposes are not the same for believers and unbelievers alike.
Tragedy Occurs Because of God’s Sovereignty
The Definition of Sovereignty
“God’s sovereignty has a role in all events — from the most pleasant and easiest to accept to the most
traumatic and hardest to understand” (John MacArthur, The Power of Suffering, p.15).
Sovereignty is declaring “that God is God” (A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God, p.20).
A.W. Pink, said, “The sovereignty of the God of Scripture is absolute, irresistible, infinite. When we say that God is sovereign, we affirm His right to govern the universe, which He has made for His own glory, just as He pleases. We affirm that His right, is the right of the Potter over the clay, viz.: that He may mold that clay into whatsoever form He chooses, fashioning out of the same lump one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor. We affirm that He is under no rule or law outside His own will and nature, that God is a law unto Himself, and that He is under no obligation to give an account of His matters to any. Sovereignty characterizes the whole Being of God. He is sovereign in all His attributes. He is sovereign in the exercise of His power. His power is exercised as He wills, when He wills, where He wills. This fact is evidenced on every page of Scripture. For a long season that power appears to be dormant, and then it goes forth with irresistible might. Pharaoh dared to hinder Israel from going forth to worship Jehovah in the wilderness. What happened? God exercised His power, His people were delivered and their cruel taskmasters slain. But a little later, the Amalekites dared to attack these same Israelites in the wilderness, and what happened? Did God put forth His
power on this occasion and display His hand as He did at the Red Sea? Were these enemies of His people
promptly overthrown and destroyed? No, on the contrary, the Lord swore that He would ‘have war with Amalek from generation to generation’ (Ex.17:16). Again, when Israel enter the land of Canaan, God’s power was signally displayed. The city of Jericho barred their progress. What happened? Israel did not draw a bow nor strike a blow: the Lord stretched forth His hand and the walls fell down flat. But the miracle was never repeated! No other city fell after this manner. Every other city had to be captured by the sword! (pp.22-23).
John MacArthur,said, “God’s sovereignty is all powerful but not always predictable from the human standpoint. God is free to do or not do as He chooses in any given situation, and He is not in any way obligated to repeat the same action in connection with any subsequent, similar situation” (pp.24-25).
Rom.11:36 - For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
Sovereignty is acknowledging that nothing happens in our lives without God’s permission or allowance. Satan
could not afflict Job without God’s permission. Job 1:12 says, And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. Job 2:6 says, And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life." Satan also could not afflict Paul without God’s permission - 2 Cor.12:7-9 says, And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be
exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."
Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Satan can not afflict you without God’s permission - James 4:7 says, Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
There are two things to understand about God’s sovereignty: His purposes are past finding out.
Isa.55:8-9 - "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. 9 "For as
the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your
thoughts.
Rom.11:33 - Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His
judgments and His ways past finding out!
1 Cor.2:11 - For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
He does what He does so that He might receive glory - Isa.43:7 says, Everyone who is called by My name,
Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him." He raised up Pharaoh for this
purpose - Ex.9:16 says, "But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you,
and that My name may be declared in all the earth. He made the wicked for this purpose. Prov.16:4 says, The
LORD has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom. Rom.9:22-24 says, What if God,
wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of
wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of
mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but
also of the Gentiles? He made all things for His glory - Col.1:16 says, “...All things were created through Him and for Him.”
God, then, in His sovereignty does “as He wills, when He wills, where He wills” (Pink) and as He wills. Isa.45:7 says, I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.’
Conclusion
What then is the message in all of this tragedy? Is it to show man’s sinfulness and God’s sovereignty? No — it
is to call you to repentance!
Jesus gave this answer to “those who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their
sacrifices” (Luke 13:1). And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were
worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 "Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."
I believe what happened is a wake-up call: To America, To the World, To the Church.
I am grieved and angered by what has happened. I also hurt with the families who have lost loved ones in this
display of evil. But I know that God is God!
And America as well as the rest of the world needs to wake-up because His wrath is coming on those who will
not repent and turn to Him.
To the church this is a call to examine yourselves — Are you truly saved?
