LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Evil can never thwart the redemptive purpose of God. In fact, the Sovereignty of God turns all evil back on itself and eventually fulfills His glory.

In the Gospel of John chapter eleven, evil men have gathered following the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead. They believe they are empowered and authorized to eliminate Jesus as a threat to their way of life. They are preparing to permanently remove the influence of the Son of God from the earth. They have convinced themselves that they are doing a good thing for the people, and in turn doing a good thing for themselves.

The High Priest, Caiaphas, makes the following statement:

“You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”

The High Priest’s motivation for his plan to kill Jesus was evil, even though he tried to disguise it in the rationale of national security. After all, we remember the words of Spock in the movie The Wrath of Khan” when he said, “Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Captain Kirk answers, “Or the one.” The High Priest of the Jewish faith suggested the same thing two thousand years earlier. “The needs of the people, and the needs of the nation, justify the sacrifice of the One.”

But the Apostle John explains that the priests and Pharisees are not the authors of this idea. John says, “He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”

I literally laughed out loud at my desk when I read this. The High Priest, declaring the evil intentions of man to kill the Son of Man for the benefit of man, was actually prophesying about the redemptive purpose of God to be accomplished in the death of Jesus. God is Sovereign.

When Peter preached his sermon on the day of Pentecost he referred to this plot by the spiritual leaders of Israel.

Acts 2:22-23 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

Would you look at that! God had sovereignly ordained the plan that would use the evil plots of lawless men to accomplish His glorious redemption of mankind.

The truth of God’s absolute control over all things is essential for us to believe and trust. We are so distracted by the circumstances of life which discourage us and sap the joy right out of our hearts. We lose hope in humanity. We try to resist evil but it is so prevalent around us we are exhausted from building walls of protection.

Yet God is in control. Every evil plot of mankind is actually a part of God’s redemptive plan. We waste so much emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual energy trying to bring the evil plots of men to an end. Instead, we can have the amazing perspective of God, who is working all things out for the good of those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

So, when you see evil, do not be drawn to it. Rather, be drawn to deeper faith in God who is controlling it for His own glorious purpose.

Pastor John