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Why Did This Happen?

Ozzie’s passing raises many questions: Why did this happen?; Why do bad things happen to “good” people?; Why did God allow this?; Why was Ozzie taken from us? These questions, and others like them, are natural and normal. The good news is that God has provided some of the answers to such questions in the Bible so let us take the time to seek the answers.

This is an attempt to biblically provide some of the answers. Before we begin, we must confess that we simply cannot know all of the answers to all of the questions. God’s ways and thoughts are simply higher than our own. Because God is greater than we are, we cannot understand why God does everything that He does. Thus, we have to be humble about searching for the answers.

The intent here is not simply to provide some answers, but, more importantly, to offer comfort and hope. This is not an academic endeavor, but a means by which to better understand God and His purpose. This is not merely an intellectual exercise, but a means by which to draw closer to God. We can have all the answers to all the questions, but they are in vain if our hearts are not bent toward the Lord. We praise God for the opportunity to know Him and grow closer to Him. This is what God wants. This is what Ozzie wants.

We are going to tackle some of these questions, but in order to do so we must first back up and understand some basic truths. There are some truths about God and His purpose that must be accepted. With that said, here we go.

The Wonder of God

God is beautiful! Psalm 27:4 says, “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord.” King David wrote this psalm because he understood that there is nothing more beautiful than the Lord. David knew that nothing in this world compares with the beauty of God, and that is why his one wish was to “behold the beauty of the Lord.” God is beautiful above everything else.

God is glorious! Psalm 113:4 says, “The Lord is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens.” Psalm 138:5 adds, “For great is the glory of the Lord.” Understanding the greatness of God’s glory, David prayed, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all” (1 Chronicles 29:11). There is nothing more glorious or more deserving of glory than God. He is more glorious than anything else.

God is majestic! Exodus 15:11 asks, “Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?” Job 37:22 adds, “Around God is awesome majesty.” Psalm 8:1 states, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth.” Psalm 76:4 says, “You are resplendent, more majestic than the mountains of prey.” In 1 Chronicles 16:27 we read, “Splendor and majesty are before Him, strength and joy are in His place.” And Psalm 104:1 says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty.” David was so captivated with the majesty of God that he wrote, “On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate” (Psalm 145:5). God dwells in majesty. He is majestic above everything else.

God’s beauty, glory and majesty stem from who He is. He is the Creator who sustains the universe by the power of His Word. He is love—merciful, compassionate and forgiving. He is holy, holy, holy—perfect in righteousness and purity. He is the Giver of life, both physical and spiritual. He is the Savior—the One who has graciously made a way for sinners to become His children. He is the sovereign King who rules the universe. All of this is to say that nothing is better than God; no one is above God. He is bigger, better and greater than anything else in all of existence. Nothing compares!

God’s Purpose

God knows that nothing is more beautiful, glorious or majestic than Himself. Because He is the all-powerful and all-knowing God, He knows that He is bigger, better and greater than anything else. If God didn’t know this about Himself, He wouldn’t be God. But He is God, and thus knows this to be true.

Knowing that nothing compares to Him, God desires to share His greatness with others. He wants for others to partake of His greatness. Knowing that He is the ultimate Good, God wants for others to know Him. God is all-loving, and as a result He desires for others to share in His beauty, glory and majesty. If God didn’t want to share His greatness with others, He wouldn’t be all-loving—He wouldn’t be God. But He is God, and thus wants to share His beauty, glory and majesty with others.

God’s main objective is to be glorified. His number one priority is for His name to be exalted. In other words, His main desire is for others to recognize His greatness and give Him His due. We know this because Malachi 1:11 says, “‘For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Since nothing is as great as God, He deserves to be praised, loved, enjoyed and worshiped—glorified. Because He is the ultimate good and because He is love, He wants to share Himself with others. Nothing is more important to God than His glory. His objective is to be enjoyed by others—to be recognized as the most beautiful, glorious and majestic Being in all of existence.

God’s primary concern is His glory. For that reason, He has displayed His glory. That is why He created the universe. He made the galaxies, stars, planets and everything to display His glory. As Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” But God isn’t satisfied with simply showcasing His glory, He wants to share it. That is why God created a small planet called Earth on which He placed His greatest creation, man. God created man in order to have someone who could share in His beauty, glory and majesty. Thus, mans’ purpose for being here is to bring glory to God’s name.

The Consequence of Choice

God desires to be glorified by man. That means that we are purposed and created to KNOW God. To know God means to LOVE Him. To love God means to ENJOY Him. To enjoy God means to GLORIFY Him. In order to be glorified, God has given man choice. He has given us free-will. In other words, God is glorified when man willingly chooses to glorify Him. It could not be any other way. For God to be glorified, man must sincerely and genuinely choose to love Him. God does not force us to glorify Him. He does not make us love Him. Thus, when His prize creation enjoys Him, it is genuine and real, and God is glorified.

God gave the first humans, Adam and Eve, choice. He created them, placed them in the Garden of Eden, and gave them one command: “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). Adam and Eve had a choice: they could either choose to obey God or rebel against Him. In choosing to obey, they would glorify God by giving priority to Him. In choosing to disobey, they would choose to glorify something other than God.

God wanted for Adam and Eve to glorify Him, but for that to be genuine it meant giving them choice. Real choice means having the opportunity to obey or reject God. Since God wants to be glorified through the willing, intentional and genuine choice of man, the door is open for man to choose unwisely and reject God. And that is what Adam and Eve chose—they chose to glorify themselves rather than God.

Enter death. The result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience was that death entered the world (Romans 5:12). This is why we have to deal with death and all other sorts of evil today. It’s not that God wanted Adam and Eve to sin. It’s not that God wanted for sin to enter the world. God wanted for Adam and Eve to honor Him. But they did not, and therefore sin is, for now, a part of the world we live in. God gave Adam and Eve choice because He wanted to be glorified from a sincere heart. Unfortunately, they chose not to glorify Him, and by their choice brought death into the world. Man’s wrong choice is the reason we face death and evil in this life. It’s not God’s fault!

God’s major concern is His glory—His honor, prestige and renown. He is most glorified when man loves and enjoys Him—when man shares in His beauty, glory and majesty. For that love and enjoyment to be genuine and real, God must give us choice. This choice gives opportunity to sin. When Adam and Eve sinned, death and evil entered the world; and now death is a part of life. It must be noted that sin and death were not God’s intent for man. Sin and death are not supposed to be normal for man. In fact, sin and death are abnormal experiences—experiences which will be eradicated by Christ when He returns to restore creation. This is one of the reasons we react so intensely when someone dies.

God Was Not Surprised

God is omniscient (all-knowing). The disobedience of Adam and Eve did not take Him by surprise. He knew that the Fall of man was going to take place. He knew that death was going to enter the world. Because He foreknows all things, God was well aware of the fact that death was going to plague man.

At this point we can’t help but ask, “Then why did God create the world and man? Why didn’t He stop Adam and Eve?” Remember, God’s main objective is to be glorified. His main concern is His glory. God could have created any endless number of universes, but He didn’t. He chose to create this one. That means that this world, the one that we live in, is the one that would bring Him the most glory. Therefore, the world that God created is the best possible world that He could have created because it is the world that will best bring about His purposes. We have to assume this because this is the world that He created (and He could have created it differently). Furthermore, when God was finished on the sixth day of creation, He looked upon what He had made and said “it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). There was nothing wrong with the world God made even though He knew death would enter it.

Although God knew death and evil would be a part of this world, it was better for Him to create it than to not create it. For lack of a better word, God knew that there was some “risk” in creating this world. “Risk” here doesn’t mean that God took a chance or rolled the dice, but simply that He understood that real choice would result in real sin which led to real death. What we must accept is that despite the fact that death is a part of life, God is bringing about His good purposes. Death hasn’t gotten in God’s way. He is still accomplishing and going to accomplish His good and perfect will—to bring glory to Himself. But this is not something that is only in God’s best interest—it is also in our best interest. There is nothing better than God and He wants for us to share in Him. Since God is beautiful, glorious and majestic above all nothing is more enjoyable than Him. Thus, when we willingly and genuinely choose to enjoy Him (what is best for us), He is glorified (what is best for Him).

But God Has Intervened

The fact that death entered the world doesn’t mean that God has given up on being glorified. It doesn’t mean that He doesn’t love us anymore. God has not given up on His plan. His will cannot be thwarted. He is still in complete control of the universe that He created. God still is the sovereign and loving King.

After Adam and Eve sinned, God continued to reveal Himself and His glory. The story of the Bible is the story of God pursuing man. Since the beginning of history, God has consistently sought for man to enjoy that which is most enjoyable—Himself. That is why He spoke to Noah, Moses, Abraham, and the prophets of the Old Testament. That is why He inspired specific individuals to record His words in the Bible. That is why He promised a Savior (a Messiah) to come and restore everything.

Enter Life. God intervened to undo death by sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world to die and give Himself as a ransom for those who believe in Him. While man may be responsible for bringing death into the world, there is nothing that we can do to fix the mistake. God had to undo what we did. Adam and Eve may have brought death into the world, but God brought life. This life came in the Person of Jesus Christ who was born of a virgin, lived as a man, and never sinned though tempted in every way. This life came in the Person of Jesus

Christ who lived in perfect obedience to God the Father even when that obedience meant dying on a cross. This life came in the Person of Jesus Christ who defeated death when He was raised from the grave. It was through the cross that God conquered death and Christ’s resurrection stands in confirmation that death has been defeated. This is why Paul writes: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death where is your victory? O death where is your sting?...thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55, 57).

Sin has consequences—death and judgment—and no one can escape this truth. It wasn’t just Adam and Eve who sinned, but all of us are guilty of the same sin—of choosing to glorify someone or something rather than God. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23 adds, “For the wages of sin is death.” This is inescapable. But praise God that He made a way to deal with sin and death. As the rest of Romans 6:23 says, “But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Because God is perfect in holiness and righteousness, He is just. His character demands that sin be dealt with. Left to our own, we would have to suffer the punishment for sin. But God has intervened! Jesus willingly accepted to endure God’s wrath in our place. Jesus became the necessary sacrifice for our sin. This is the good news—the gospel. God took action and did something about the bad news—our deserved sin and death. This is the definition of God’s grace—that He took it upon Himself to rescue us from something that we couldn’t rescue ourselves from. God unleashed punishment on Himself so that we wouldn’t have to endure it.

God makes life available to us through the Person and work of Jesus Christ. This is how God has displayed His love: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). We can have eternal life through Jesus Christ because He is life. As Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the LIFE; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). It is through Jesus Christ that we can be restored to God and have eternal life. What is eternal life? Jesus defined it best when He said, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Jesus equates eternal life to knowing God. And that is God’s purpose—that we may know Him so that we may enjoy Him and, thereby, glorify Him. God wondrously harmonized what is in His best interest (His glory) and in our best interest (our salvation) through the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

God Uses All Circumstances

God used the most tragic of events, the death of an innocent Jesus, to bring about His greatest accomplishment. Through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus accomplished the greatest accomplishment ever accomplished—the salvation of man for the glorification of God. If God can use the death of Jesus to make salvation available to all of man, He can definitely use other situations, to further His cause. God can even use the death of individuals for His glory. God can and does use the most “tragic” of circumstances to bring about His plan—His glory.

God has been and is in the process of using Ozzie’s death as a means to further His kingdom and plan. While we grieve the loss of Ozzie and will miss him greatly, Christians can have confidence that God is doing a great and good work. God is using this situation to make His beauty, glory and majesty known. We can have this comfort and hope because God has promised to cause “all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). How has God caused good to come out of this situation? First of all, Ozzie is not dead but alive and well in the presence of God. Because Ozzie accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, he is now glorifying God in heaven—and that is God’s desire for all of us. Secondly, God has used this situation to bring others to Himself. Numerous individuals have accepted the gospel because of what has happened. God has been glorified because many people have been saved as a result of hearing the gospel after Ozzie’s death. Thirdly, Apex Baptist Church has been united in doing all that it can to make sure that Ozzie’s passing is not in vain, but rather that the gospel is preached. This is the most important task appointed to the Church, and Apex Baptist has responded—a great witness for God and His gospel. Fourthly, Christians have been strengthened. We have experienced God’s peace, love and comfort in a very special and emboldening way. Many Christians have been drawn closer to the Lord and have further committed themselves to Him and His glory.

While some may refer to Ozzie’s passing as tragic, it in fact is not a tragedy. It is not a tragedy when someone goes home to be with God. It is not a tragedy when people get saved. It is not a tragedy when a church comes together to further the gospel. It is not tragic when Christians draw closer to God. It is not a tragedy when God makes Himself known in such a dramatic way as He has since Ozzie’s death. No, this is not tragic. God is good. He is in charge. His plan is being accomplished. He is being glorified. Praise be to God that He is the sovereign Lord over all of creation! He uses every situation to bring honor to Himself—to make His beauty, glory and majesty known to all.

Our Response

Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart.” What King Solomon meant by those words is that the death of others makes us think about our own mortality. While many of us don’t like to think about death, especially our own, the fact is that we all will pass from this life someday. This is something that we all need to think about. We all must recognize that we are not ten foot tall or bullet proof. We can’t walk on water. We are merely mortal, and our days on this earth are numbered. Don’t let Ozzie’s passing pass you by. This is an opportunity you to do some real soul searching. You need to ask yourself the hard questions. Where will you spend eternity? Are you going to be with God in heaven or will you be in hell separated from God? Have you accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on your behalf? Have you confessed to God that you are a sinner? Do you admit that your sin deserves God’s wrath and punishment? Is your priority your own glory or God’s? Do you genuinely and truthfully love and enjoy God?

God has made salvation possible. We can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have been saved. Are you 100% confident that if you were to die today that you would be ushered into the presence of the holy God in heaven? You can know whether or not you are going to heaven. God has made a way to Himself. He has promised to forgive our sins. He has given us His word that if we simply trust in Jesus Christ that we can have eternal life. Where do you stand? What is your confession? Do you want to know for sure that you’re going to heaven? All you have to do is confess your sin, repent of your sin, ask for God to forgive your sin, accept Christ’s sacrifice on the cross as the payment for your sin, and make Christ the Lord of your life. It is that simple!

Christ and His sacrifice are sufficient to get you into heaven. There is nothing that you can do to earn or deserve heaven. God’s grace is enough to cover all of our sin. Some people make the mistake of thinking that they are “too bad” to ever be able to receive God’s forgiveness. That is a huge lie. God’s grace is way greater than all the bad we could ever do or think of doing. God is that big. His love is that great. His is abounding in mercy. Trust God! He can save you. He wants to save you. God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). Don’t let this pass you by. Accept God’s forgiveness and free gift of eternal life.

Our Hope & Comfort

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that every season in someone’s life is “beautiful” (NIV) or “appropriate” (NASB) in the eyes of God. “There is an appointed time for everything” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). There is “a time to give birth and a time to die…a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:2, 4). That means that everything that happens is appointed by God. It means that God brings about every season in someone’s life in order to accomplish something that will bring glory to Himself. God uses the “good” and the “bad” to bring about His purposes (which are good purposes). This is the kind of hope and comfort that a Christian has—assurance that God is in control and working things for the good.

Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it.” Psalm 115:3 adds, “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” This is beyond comforting. Because God is the Creator, everything belongs to Him. Because God is the sovereign Ruler, He is in control. Because God is all-powerful, He can do whatever He wants to do. Because God is righteous and all-loving, we can trust that everything that He does is good. This is our God—beautiful, glorious and majestic. The one and only, true living God is a God of purpose—good and holy purposes.

Psalm 116:15 says, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.” God is pleased that Ozzie is with Him right now. He is pleased when His children go home to be with Him. God does not grieve Ozzie’s passing from this world. On the contrary, this is precious in His sight. This is why He created the universe. This is why He created man. This is why He sent His Son. This is why Jesus went to the cross. Everything God has done has been to share His beauty, glory and majesty with man. So when someone who has accepted Christ as Lord and Savior passes from this life it pleases Him. He is pleased because it fulfills His will—to be enjoyed and glorified.

Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Later in the same chapter we read, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?...But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angles, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35, 37-39). This is the promise of God—that if we accept Jesus Christ that nothing can separate us from God. That is what Ozzie had, and is what he is enjoying today. This is the comfort that a born-again Christian has. Do you have this comfort and hope?

His Ways Are Not Our Ways

Job 37:5 says, “God thunders with His voice wondrously, doing great things which we cannot comprehend.” To this Isaiah 55:8-9 adds, “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are our ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” Paul reflected upon the same sentiment when he wrote, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways” (Romans 11:33).

While God has disclosed much to us in the Holy Scriptures, we must humbly admit that we simply don’t have the answers to all questions. We must humbly confess that there are things that we do not understand. What we must do is hold on to that which God has told us. As Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”

It is impossible to fully grasp why God does what He does. He is much greater than we are. He is unfathomable. His ways and thoughts are beyond us. Therefore, we must simply trust Him. The great thing is that God can be trusted. He can be trusted because of His power and character. When He makes a promise, He is powerful and righteous enough to keep it. Because He is complete faithful and cannot lie, we can trust Him.

Praise God that we cannot fathom Him, His ways or His thoughts! It is comforting to know that our God is so great that we can fully grasp Him. Our God is a great God. He is the Almighty Lord of hosts who is clothed with splendor and majesty. Praise God that He is beautiful, glorious and majestic. He is most definitely a God worthy of honor, prestige and renown. He is worthy of all glory!

The Real Question

We will close by asking the real question. The real question is not why Ozzie was taken from us. The real question is not why bad things happen to “good” people. The real question is not why God would punish someone and send them to hell. The real question is: Why should such a holy and perfect God ever allow any of us into His presence?

How can a holy and righteous God allow us into His presence? It is only when we are in Christ. We have to be baptized into Christ. We must be clothed with Christ. That’s the only way we receive salvation. Christ became sin so that we would become His righteousness. We don’t deserve to be in God’s presence, but Christ does. Thus, the only way we can be in God’s presence is if we are immersed in the righteousness of Christ. This is what Ozzie had and has today. He is clothed with Christ, and thus he is in the presence of God.

Many people think it unfair that God would banish someone from His presence and send them to hell. These people reason that if God were love, as the Bible says He is, that He would never send anyone to hell. After all, isn’t God forgiving and gracious and merciful? The problem with that reasoning is twofold. First of all, it ignores that God is holy, holy, holy. He is upright and just. He is righteous. This is part of His character. It would go against His nature to arbitrarily ignore someone’s sin. It simply would not be fair and just for Him to turn a blind eye to sin. His character demands justice. For God to simply ignore our sin would reduce Him to a God of sentimentality—and that is not the God of the Bible. Secondly, this reasoning assumes incorrectly that we are not as bad as the Bible says and ignores the reality of how dead, blind and lost we are. It assumes that we somehow deserve forgiveness. We have to realize that we do not deserve forgiveness. On the contrary, we deserve death, judgment and punishment. We don’t deserve God’s grace and mercy.

Don’t get caught up in the wrong question. Don’t accept the lies about God or yourself. See God as He is. See yourself as you are. Accept Christ so that you can be clothed with His righteousness. We should be in awe that a holy God would allow any of us into His presence. We should fall facedown in worship at the thought that such a righteous God would make a way for us to be in His presence. This thought should lead us to humility. It should lead us to lives of worship, adoration and praise—lives that glorify God

The only appropriate response to the goodness and greatness of God is to submit to His Lordship—to share in His beauty, glory and majesty. Praise be to God!

So Why did this happen?

We answer this question by summarizing what has been said above. First of all, death is a part of this world. This is undeniable and something that each of us will face. We will all face it because death entered the world through sin. However, while death may be a part of the world for now, it will be done away with when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to restore God’s creation. Secondly, because God is sovereign, all-powerful and all-loving, He uses all situations and circumstances to accomplish His good purposes. He has and is using Ozzie’s passing to make Himself known—to share His beauty, glory and majesty. He has and is using Ozzie’s passing to save people. Thus, through this, God is doing what is in His best interest and in our best interest.

This is as far as we can go. This is as far as Scripture takes us. And while we may not have all the answers, we are given tremendous comfort. It’s comforting because, while we do not understand all of God’s mysteries, He has given us all that we need, made promises, and given hope. Indeed, He has shared His beauty, glory and majesty. To God be the glory!

If you have any questions about salvation or would like to speak to

someone in more detail, please contact Maria at Maria.

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