God is All-Powerful

1. What would it be like to be able to do anything you wanted? What would you do with that kind of power? Would the world be better or worse if you were all-powerful?

2. Read Isaiah 55:8-9. Do you agree with these words? Do you believe that God knows better than we do? When do you find it most difficult to believe this?

3. Why do you think God allows the terrible cruelty and injustice that we see in our world? What good purpose could He possibly have for such evil?

4. Consider this quote from C. S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain: “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” If Lewis is correct, what does that tell us about why God might allow evil in the world?

5. Last week, Pastor Adam referred to the Westminster Confession which says that God has “foreordained whatsoever comes to pass; yet neither is God the author of sin…” How can God be all-powerful, sovereign over all things, and yet not be the author of sin? (see James 1:13-17; 1 John 1:5)

6. The Westminster Confession goes on to say, “…nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.” If God does not interfere with the will of His creatures or negate the real consequences that flow from their actions, how does this help us explain the presence of evil in the world?

7. What does our sin have to do with the evil we see in the world? Do we deserve more or less suffering than we experience? As we acknowledge our sin and responsibility, how does that affect our view of God in this matter?