Bible Text: John 5:1-15 | Preacher: Pastor Joe Ricchuiti | Series: John, One Who Heals Hopelessness

Recap of the sermon from February 12 (John 5:1-6):
1. Jesus encountered a world ravaged by disease, decay, despair and death all brought about by the entrance of sin into the world, a world which He created (in conjunction with the Father and the Holy Spirit) and which was deemed “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden (a sin we somehow participated in according to Romans 5:12) brought about the fall which through God’s promised judgment ruined man, woman, the serpent, and even the Creation (Romans 8:19-22) and brought about the promise of a Redeemer.
2. Why would God allow Adam and Eve to fall ushering sin into the world, why did God allow the possibility of evil? Consider the following thoughts:
– “A universe in which no evil were possible would have required a creation in which no one except God had the power of choice. But God desired the companionship of a creature with the power of choice (Genesis 1:26-27; 3:6-13). This involved the possibility of such a creature making a wrong choice. Otherwise, men would have been like robots. An automobile will obey every desire of its owner, but most men prefer the companionship of a wife even though she does not always respond to her husband’s wishes.” (Robert J. Little)
-“Love inevitably involves choice, and choice without results (consequences) would be of no significance. Evil is the result of man’s wrong choice. For God to wipe out the results of choice would be to rob choice of any meaning. Thus, love, choice, and result are integrally bound up with the presence of evil in the world. God in love gave man the choice to obey or disobey Him with the result that man’s disobedience brought evil into what was, according to God, a “very good” creation.” (David A. DeWitt)