God has ordained every event in time and space. Some people react to this clear biblical statement and say, “No, then God is not God. Certainly it is no surprise to Him that sin exists, and He will be glorified in His justice when He punishes it, either in Christ as the sin bearer for all who trust in Him, or in the sinner in hell for eternity. Without doubt the crucifixion of the Son of God was man’s greatest sin, yet the Bible is clear that Jesus was the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8). God ordained the cross before He ever made the world. If this event was ordained in this way, so was the sin that put Him there. God is Sovereign and “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11), “for from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36)
“I offer thee my heart, Lord, promptly and sincerely.”
“Most Americans believe that their major problem is something that has happened to them, and that their solution is to be found within. In other words, they believe that they have an alien problem that is to be resolved with an inner solution. What they gospel says, however, is that we have an inner problem that demands an alien solution – a righteousness that is not our own.” – Al Mohler, ‘Preaching with the Culture in View,’ in Preaching the Cross (Crossway 2007), p. 81