Unless you’re a Ravens fan, the title of this post probably doesn’t sit well. It’s jolting, uncomfortable, provocative, etc. Should it be though?
As I mentioned in a post last week, there are three views you can have when reconciling God and the outcome of games:
1. God is an uninvolved spectator
2. God cares about some things and not others
3. God cares about everything and is intimately involved in everything
Maybe you’re saying, “I know that He cares but He doesn’t control the outcome, right?” The Scriptures say otherwise.
Just in my recent study, I’ve stumbled across the below verses (bolding mine):
Ephesians 1:11: “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will…”
Ephesians 4:6: “…one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
Psalm 139:16: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
I looked up the word ‘all’ in the dictionary. As I suspected, it means everything! It’s a strong word. He works all things out and He is over all. Every one of our days has been planned.
In other words, He is sovereign.
“The Sovereignty of God is the biblical teaching that all things are under God’s rule and control, and that nothing happens without His direction or permission.” Nothing happens outside of his control. Even the Super Bowl.
So, what does this mean? Does it mean that our lives have the illusion of being real but are instead controlled by a God pulling the strings like a puppeteer? Does it mean that the Ravens and 49ers had no say in the Super Bowl at all and all of their efforts were a facade?
Those are tough questions to answer. You could probably write a book in answering those three answers. I’ll briefly answer though: God’s sovereignty doesn’t mean that we don’t have free will or responsibility. “You can’t have it both ways,” you might be saying. Well, the writers of Scripture had no problems reconciling human responsibility with God’s sovereignty so I strive to do the same. In some mysterious way, they co-exist.
So, did God choose the Ravens to win the Super Bowl? Yes.
Did that circumvent the efforts of the Ravens and 49ers? I don’t think so. Why did He choose the Ravens to win? I don’t know…and quit badgering me with the questions!
Somehow, some way, the Ravens winning and the 49ers losing was the best way to bring maximum amount of glory to God. He doesn’t promise that we will understand His will (at least this side of heaven) but what He does promise is that it’s good (Romans 12:2).
For more on this topic, check out these posts:
Reactions to SI’s Super Bowl Article: In the Fields of the Lord
3 Views on God’s Intervention in the Outcome of Games
