Last Wednesday, in episode number 411, we talked about God's moral will, how we come to know

what God wants us to do in various ethical situations, and in situations when we must

decide like who to marry, what card to buy, and in what vocation to pursue.

But there's another dimension to God's will.

Another will altogether of God's ultimate sovereign will over every event in this world,

and including his will over the evils of the cross.

The following sermon excerpt is taken from the sermon, what is the will of God, and how

do we know it?

It's really crucial that we understand this difference between two meanings for the phrase,

the will of God, knowing the difference between these two kinds of the will of God in the Bible

will be a key to unlock one of the biggest mysteries or the biggest perplexities in the Bible,

namely that God is absolutely sovereign over all things and disapproves of many of them.

That's a very puzzling paradox.

God governs and controls all that is, and manifestly in the Bible hates much of what happens.

That's an insoluble and I think contradictory situation, unless the term the will of God in the Bible

has more than one meaning, which it clearly does, and you'll be able to see it as I just take you to the various texts.

So we want to handle on how to manage this paradox or mystery that God forbids things he brings about,

and God commands things that he hinders from happening.

That in one sense something is the will of God, and in another sense that saying something is not the will of God.

Without this category of thought, I don't think you can make sense out of the Bible.

The God of the Bible.

So let's look at these two kinds of willing.

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