July 6, 2018 - - Jeremiah 29:11-13 - - The Trilemma

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV

The trilemma:

If God were all-good, he would only will good,

and if he were all-powerful, he would do all he wills.

But there is evil.

Therefore God is either not all-good or not all-powerful.

Within this lies a threefold assurance, both bracingly rational and comfortingly emotional, which gives it the strength to withstand the worst and still prevail.

The first biblical reassurance address the first prong of the trilemma, the evil of evil: the world should have been otherwise. Evil is totally, radically, and flagrantly counter to the character and purpose of God. It is disruptive and destructive by definition. It is both a perversion and a privation...

Christians have bifocal vision: God created the universe good, Adam and Eve sinned. Christians strive to work for good in a world that stained in every part by sin.

The second biblical reassurance addresses the second prong of the trilemma, God is all-good: no other god has wounds. The God whom Jesus shows on the cross is one who defeats evil by taking it to himself, letting it do its worst to him, and then overcoming it. No wonder the crucifixion of Jesus is the supreme pattern of innocent suffering in history.

The third biblical reassurance addresses the third prong of the trilemma, God is all-powerful: the resistance leader know what he is doing and victory day is coming. The resistance leaders knows best...Only after the war will the secrets be open, the codes revealed, the true comrades vindicated, the traitors exposed, and sense made of the explanations.

from: Os Guinness "Unspeakable: facing up to evil in an age of genocide and terror

Jesus, You are the Captain of our Salvation,Who give us the Spirit: the Resistance Leader extraordinaire! By Your Word and Spirit, King Jesus, lead us to the victory-over-evil you have won for us at the cross. In our darkest days, remind us that we are already, beloved sons and daughters of God the Good, the Holy and the Keeper of His promises. Give us the courage and faith to walk what we believe in our every day life to Your honour and praise. Amen.