School Shootings and the Failure of Human Government for the Glory of God; or Why is the Ukrainian Government Arming Its Citizens?
The double-minded nation is unstable in all its ways. America is confused because the path our nation has opted for to arrive at this place we call, “Here and now.”
Today, good things will happen, and bad things will happen in America. In the media aftermath of the Parkland School shooting (February 14, 2018), we learned that multiple youth (Whittier, CA; Richardson, TX; South Lyon, MI; etc.) had been arrested for communicating their desired intent to continue the melee of mass shootings. The desire to murder is in the human heart. Got hate (1 Jn 3:15)?
Every intent of the unregenerate human heart is only evil all the time (see Gen. 6:5). So why is evil manifesting in this way in some of our public schools and a few of our churches? The answer is unpalatable for just about everyone — the glory of God. Feel free to read that again. The same is true for bully nations acting in war against their weaker neighbors.
God is holy. God is righteous, and God is sovereign (Ps 115:3; 135:6). Sovereignty means God is free to do all His holy will (Eph 1:11). His will has been decreed from eternity and is derived from His eternal good pleasure.
Because God ordains all things that come to pass, we should never be surprised by evil. God is not the responsible party for sin, evil, or death, but He has incorporated these natural consequences of man’s disobedience into His plan to bring glory to Himself. God is the prime mover and man acts according to his own fallen, sinful nature (Eph 2:1–3).
Daily, we need examples of the total depravity of man to keep these things straight. God is holy, and we are not. Got it? When we see acts of evil, we should all agree that fallen man is utterly depraved, just as God has told us in the Bible. Man needs a Savior, and God has told us that, too. Humanity is sinful, lawless, wicked, evil, etc., regardless of what they taught you in your public school, which is now under the gun…literally.
God is true. He has revealed the truth about Himself and the truth about humanity. He deserves glory, and we deserve eternal punishment in the eternal fire of eternal hell (Mt 25:41, 46; Rom 3:23; 6:23; Jude 7; Rev 20:14–15).
God is the restrainer of evil, but God does not always restrain evil. He is not unjust in this, but rather, he is showing us the consequences of our sinful selves. This causes people to hate God, which is our natural disposition anyway (Rom 1:30; Jn 7:7). We just hate Him more than usual when bad things happen.
“God could have stopped the shooter, but He did not…so we are going to take control of the instrument used in the evil action in the hope of curbing evil,” says the totalitarian wannabe. What people are really saying when they try to legislate against evil is that they want to be God.
We employ a surrogate representative for ourselves called, “government.” We the people (Democracy), or the divine right of kings (Monarch) makes no difference. We want someone to rule over us who stops the evil in our land. We never think of the only One who can stop evil in our hearts. All of it is called, “history and government.” Romans 13 tells us that God has ordained all these things, too.
In the attempt to escape the sovereign rule of God, we have turned to our surrogate government savior, which is under the sovereign rule of Almighty God. In His revelation of the historical failure of human government systems, we discover our need for God to rule over us for real…in our hearts.
Another mass shooting will happen again soon, and we will demonstrate again our inability to discern right and wrong, and our actions will invariably entertain calls for the President or the Governor to save us. We will legislate ourselves further into a slavery of our own making (gun control). We have seen it over and over and over again.
The irony before us is the liberal distribution of weapons to the people of the Ukraine, by their government, in order to stave off the invasion of the Russian army (February 24, 2022). Apparently, guns are not evil, as some Americans thought, in retrospect of school mass shootings. In fact, they are tools of liberation from evil government dictators with lots of guns (Vladimir Putin). How wonderful this malevolent event is for our education. Finally, the lesson is learned without question, it is not the guns we need to fear. It is governments with guns — or any other individual or entity with an evil disposition that must be thwarted.
In conclusion, God is glorified in the failure of evil men, shooters (private citizens or soldiers) and politicians, play-acting as God. Our hope remains in the God of the Bible, who has revealed our wretchedness and His holiness.
We have a long history of mismanaging our human affairs, with the help of Satan, but this causes us to look forward to the consummation of the ages and the full realization of the kingdom of God. Then, we will fully realize that righteous government rests on the shoulders of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In anticipation and in the aftermath of the next mass shooting in America, or invasion of war in the world by some rogue despot, may we agree together to bow the knee and confess our need for help from God alone, who does all things well, and who reigns in His perfect kingdom in righteousness. May our school shooting, acts of war, and failed salvation by human government be for the glory of His holy name. Jesus saves, for He is the one and only Savior of sinners (Titus 1:3; 3:4–6).
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
February 28, 2022
