1. God Creating the Universe
according to His Economy and for His Intention

It was according to His economy and for His intention that God created the universe.

2. God Creating Man according to His Desire

Furthermore, it was according to His desire that God created man that He might express Himself through man. In order to be God's expression, man must be under God's rule, and this involves God's judgment.

3. God Exercising
His Governmental Control over Man

It is necessary that God exercise His governmental control over man and judge man according to His righteousness. No one will escape God's judgment. Romans 2:5 and 6 say, "According to your hardness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each according to his works." In Acts 17:31 we are told that God "has set a day in which He is to judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He has designated." This man is Jesus Christ, who has been charged by God to judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42). Sooner or later, all will be judged by the Lord Jesus Christ.

4. Some of His Judgments Being Temporary,
and Some Being Ultimate

Some of God's judgments are temporary, like that on Sodom, and some are ultimate, like that at the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-15). Concerning this, 1 Timothy 5:24 says, "The sins of some men are openly manifest, going before to judgment; and for others, they also follow after." The sins of certain persons come to God's judgment earlier, and the sins of others come later. God's judgment, whether earlier or later, depends on His timing.

5. Some People Prospering and Flourishing
for Awhile, Even though They Are Sinful and Evil

Because some of God's judgments are temporary and others are ultimate, some people prosper and flourish, even though they are sinful and evil. Some suffer natural calamities because of the curse brought in through man's sin (Gen. 3:17-18). What they suffer may not be due to their sinful deeds. Because Adam fell, committing sin, the curse came in as a kind of judgment. According to Romans 8:20 through 22, "the creation was made subject to vanity" and, subject to the slavery of corruption, "groans together and travails in pain together." This also is a kind of judgment. Because of this judgment, people sometimes suffer natural calamities, even though they may not commit sin. Not all those who suffer a calamity such as a devastating hurricane suffer because they are sinful.