Pete The Walrus · @TheWalrus
25th Mar 2016 from TwitLonger
Hope over Despair
"...for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place."
(Act 4:26-28 ESV)
Today we remember the most wicked, evil act in all of human history - the day we publicly humiliated and executed our own Creator. Today we also remember the greatest blessing of undeserved grace in all of human history - the only Son of the Judge volunteering to take the punishment due the justly convicted murderer.
Remembering that contrast between the intent of evil men, and the intent of a merciful Lord in the crucifixion should encourage us contextualize all the evil we see in the world around us. Yes, humans are capable of great evil, in both intent & action, but God is sovereign over all things, and His intent is always to His ultimate Glory. Just as Joseph's brothers wickedly sold him into slavery, God's purpose in their evil act was to save those very same brothers from famine.
"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." (Gen 50:20 ESV)
Wicked acts are done by wicked men for their own selfish gains, and are justly condemned for such - but don't, for a single second, fool yourself into the despair of believing that such acts are without ultimate meaning and purpose. Hardly after the blood on the cross had dried, Peter rightly condemned Herod, Pilate and the others for their wickedness. Yet even in the most evil act this world has ever seen, he also rightly saw God's glory and grace ultimately fulfilled.