Tag: Jesus the Creator

The Providence of God

     God’s providence refers to His wise and personal acts, whereby He creates and controls circumstances in order to direct history according to His predetermined plan, all for His glory and the benefit of His elect.  People live in the flow of history, and are moved by the circumstances God controls.  The Lord “does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” (Dan 4:35).  God is good and “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11; cf. Ps. 103:19; 135:6; Dan. 4:35), and “causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28).  By His sovereign will God created all things in heaven and earth, and sustains and directs them as He desires.  God “is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17).  The Lord knows all things at all times.  He knows when a sparrow falls to the ground (Matt. 10:29), and the ever-changing number of hairs on our head (Matt. 10:30).  He knows our thoughts before we think them (Ps. 139:2), and our words before we speak them (Ps. 139:4).  He knows our wickedness (Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:21-22), and chooses to love us by grace, in spite of our sinfulness (Matt. 5:45; Rom. 5:6-10; Eph. 2:1-9).  Some He elects to purpose, even from the womb (Jer. 1:5; Gal. 1:15).  Because God is righteous, all His actions are just.  Because He is loving and good, He directs all things for the benefit of His elect.  The wicked are also under God’s sovereign control, and He uses them for His own ends (Prov. 16:4).  “To be sure, evil has entered the universe, but it is not allowed to thwart God’s original, benevolent, wise, and holy purpose.”[1]

Providence is normally defined in Christian theology as the unceasing activity of the Creator whereby, in overflowing bounty and goodwill (Ps. 145:9 cf. Mt. 5:45–48), he upholds his creatures in ordered existence (Acts 17:28; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3), guides and governs all events, circumstances and free acts of angels and men (cf. Ps. 107; Jb. 1:12; 2:6; Gn. 45:5–8), and directs everything to its appointed goal, for his own glory (cf. Eph. 1:9–12). This view of God’s relation to the world must be distinguished from: (a) pantheism, which absorbs the world into God; (b) deism, which cuts it off from him; (c) dualism, which divides control of it between God and another power; (d)indeterminism, which holds that it is under no control at all; (e) determinism, which posits a control of a kind that destroys man’s moral responsibility; (f) the doctrine of chance, which denies the controlling power to be rational; and (g) the doctrine of fate, which denies it to be benevolent.[2]

     God’s providence is seen throughout the Bible.  God brought Joseph to Egypt, by the evil actions of his brothers (Gen. 37:23-28), and later used Joseph to deliver the very ones who betrayed him (Gen. 45:5-8; 47:11, 27-28; 50:20).  This was done to fulfill a promise given to Abraham (Gen. 15:13; 47:11, 27-28).  It was God’s providence that drove Saul to chase after his father’s donkeys, and then be led to the prophet Samuel and anointed king of Israel (1 Sam. 9-10).  It was God’s providence that directed Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, so the baby Jesus would be born at the appointed time and place (Mic. 5:2; Luke 2:4-6; Gal. 4:4).  Later, Joseph and Mary were compelled to go to Egypt, in order to preserve the baby Savior (Matt. 2:13-15).  It was God’s providence that forced Aquila and Priscilla out of Rome by the emperor Claudius’ decree, only to meet the apostle Paul in Corinth and join him in Christian ministry (Acts 18:1-3; Rom. 16:3; 1 Cor. 16:19).  It was God’s providence that put the Lord Jesus on the cross to be crucified by the hands of godless men (Acts 2:23; 4:27-28).  Jesus died a substitutionary death, even for those who crucified Him (Rom. 3:25; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; 1 John 2:2; 4:10).

     God’s sovereignty, expressed through His providential control, produces confidence in those who know He is directing all things after the counsel of His will.  The growing believer knows “it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).  Where the Bible is silent, the believer seeks to discern God’s will through His providential direction as He guides people and circumstances as He pleases.  God controls all of life (Gen. 2:17; Job. 1:21; Ps. 104:29–30; Eccl. 12:7; Dan. 5:23), human birth and calling (Ps. 139:13-16; Jer. 1:4-5; Gal. 1:15), nature (Ps. 147:8; Jonah 1:4; Mark 4:39-41), plagues (Ex. 7–11; 12:29; Rev. 16:10-11), the roll of dice (Prov. 16:33; cf. Ps. 22:18; Matt. 27:35), health and sickness (Deut. 28:27-30; 2 Chron. 21:18; Ps. 41:3; Acts 3:16), prosperity and adversity (1 Sam. 2:7; Job 2:10; Isa. 45:5-7), suffering (Ps. 119:71; Heb. 12:5-11), and the development of Christian character (Rom. 5:2-5; 2 Cor. 12:7-10; Jam. 1:2-4).  The growing believer takes great delight in knowing his good, loving and wise God is in control of His creation and is directing all things according to His providential plan.

Steven R. Cook, D.Min.

Related Articles:

[1] Henry Clarence Thiessen and Vernon D. Doerksen, Lectures in Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 122.

[2] J. I. Packer, “Providence” in New Bible Dictionary, ed. D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard and D. J. Wiseman, 3rd ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 979-80. 

Jesus, Creator and Savior

       UniverseThe universe originates with God.  The opening verse of Scripture states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).  Creation has features of design because of its infinitely wise Designer.  The Lord created and holds His universe together by His own power (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3).  All the members of the trinity were involved in the creation: God the Father (Heb. 1:2), God the Son (John 1:3; Col. 1:16-17), and God the Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:2).  God the Holy Spirit (Heb. Ruach Elohim) appears in the second verse of Genesis, which states, “And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters” (Gen. 1:2).  From other Scriptural passages we learn that creation came into being by, for, and through God the Son.

In the beginning was the Word [God the Son], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He [God the Son] was in the beginning with God [the Father]. All things came into being by Him [God the Son], and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)

For by Him [Jesus] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Col. 1:16-17)

God [the Father], after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son [Jesus], whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. (Heb. 1:1-2)

       babyI imagine when God the Son created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He chose their features carefully, knowing a day would come when He would take a body to Himself.  Nearly four thousand years after the creation of Adam and Eve, Jesus was born into history, into time and space, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  Jesus was born into the human race of Adam (Luke 3:38), in the line of Abraham and David according to biblical promise (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:6; 2 Sam. 7:16).  He was truly human in that He was born of a human, but He was truly unique in that He is truly God and knew no sin (John 1:1, 14; 20:28; Heb. 4:15).  The One who created humanity became a part of humanity, and the virgin conception by means of the Holy Spirit kept Him free from original sin.  To His human mother, Mary, it was said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). 

       The Lamb of GodJesus came into the world for a specific purpose, to save us from our sins that we might have salvation and be called children of God.  The apostle Paule writes, “But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4-5).  Jesus came into the world and lived a righteous life that He might die a substitutionary death in place of sinners.  His atoning death—His shed blood on the cross—paid the redemption price for us that we might receive forgiveness of sins and the free gift of salvation by grace alone through faith alone (Eph. 1:7; 2:8-9).  The worst of sinners are saved by faith alone in Christ as Savior (Rom. 5:6-10).  We need only trust Christ as Savior, believing He died for our sins, was buried, and raised again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4). 

Dr. Steven R. Cook