We have all been evil and received evil. The shame of sin and the pain of being sinned against are universally felt in every human heart because we’re born into sin and into a world of sinners. Sin corrupts, and it hinders God’s purposes in our lives.
Or does it? In this 5-minute clip, John Piper asks, “What sins within you or against you are filling you with a sense of inadequacy, which — if you really believed God were sovereign over sin — could not stop you from fulfilling his glorious purpose for your life?”
He argues that as serious as sin is, it does not and cannot undermine God’s good plans for you. God was completely sovereign at Calvary, and he is completely sovereign over the sin in your life — whether they’re your own or others’. Sin always serves God’s purpose for you, so it cannot keep you from making much of him wherever he has you now.
This clip is from Piper’s message at Passion 2014 entitled, “A Radical Revelation of the Cross: The Sovereignty of God and the Sacrifice of Jesus.” This year marked the 17th anniversary of the first Passion conference, which means there might have been children of those who attended in 1997. May God make the Passion generation into generations of Jesus-worshippers and followers.
Related resources from John Piper:
An All-Consuming Passion for Jesus: Appeals to the Rising Generation (free ebook)
Boasting Only in the Cross (Passion message, 2000)
Joy As the Power to Suffer in the Path of Love for the Sake of Liberation (Passion message, 2013)