A God of order has a plan
● It is unthinkable that an eternal God, a God of infinite wisdom, knowledge and power, would create a universe without a detailed plan and without a specific purpose in mind.
That there is actually such a plan and such a purpose, is taught in the Bible in terms that cannot be misunderstood.
• Even man, with all his limitations, plans before he begins a building or other project. Only a fool would do otherwise. Any intelligent being first sets his goal, what it is he wishes to achieve, and then works out what he must do, and how to set about reaching that goal. And, of course, the greater the project, the greater the need for thorough planning.
• Any person, even more so a scientist, knows that there is astonishing design and order throughout creation. Our probing with microscope and telescope lead us to the inescapable conclusion that an almighty, systematic Creator of indescribable genius is responsible for it all - so much so that we can, to the extent that we are able to understand and formulate them mathematically, anticipate and harness the powers and processes of creation with astounding accuracy.
To believe that the micro and macro cosmos came into being by chance, calls for much greater faith - and faith it is indeed - than to believe in an omnipotent and omniscient creator God.
No, if you are looking for chaos, you will not find it in God’s handiwork! If there is disorder anywhere, it is the bitter fruit of man's fall into sin.
● The Word of God teaches that His role is not limited to the design and creation of the universe - He also completely regulates its maintenance and continuance. Unlike Deism, which recognises a mere impersonal and uninvolved First Cause, Scripture teaches that God actively governs day by day.
• This systematic arrangement, and the involvement of God does not apply to nature only, but in particular to the events of history. God’s plan has a specific final purpose (Eph 1:9-11). Thus, the historic course of our world history is linear rather than cyclic. There is progress and direction.
◦ The writer of the book of Proverbs certainly understood this truth: "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will" (Pr 21:1).
• Even more astounding is the Scriptural revelation that God’s plan and rule not only applies to global matters but is also intensely personal. It is concerned with the detail of each and every person’s life.
• Even more remarkable is the clear teaching of Scripture that God’s plan covers even the tiniest details: "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father ... even the hairs of your head are all numbered (Mt 10:29-30) (Cp. also Ps 135:5-7; Pr 16:33).
• Even sin, as well as the pain and suffering resulting from it, is included in God’s eternal counsel. Consider for instance the following Scriptures:
◦ Gen 45:7-8 and 50:19-20.
◦ Ex 7:2-5, 9:12, 9:16 and Rom 9:17.
◦ 2Sam 24:1, 24:10-15 and 1Chron 21:1.
◦ Lam 2:11 and 3:37-38.
◦ Deut 2:30; Jdg. 14:4; 1Sam 2:25b; 1Kings 22:19-23; Is 45:7; Amos 3:6; Rev 17:16-17.
• When one reads the above Scriptures, one cannot but wonder whether God is the author of the sins of the people concerned.
The key to the answer lies in the radical nature of man’s sin. It is only God’s common grace - to be distinguished from His particular or saving grace - that prevents each person from sinking to the lowest depths of sin. If ever God should relax his hold on us, nothing would prevent us from becoming as wicked as the devils. It is like a stone hanging by a rope over the side of a ship - let slip the rope, and the stone sinks deeper and deeper. Never will it by itself rise to the surface. And let go the rope, and without exception it sinks to the muddy bottom (cp Rom 1:24, 26, 28).
If then some of the above Scriptures say that God hardened sinners to sin even more, we could consider the matter in terms of active hardening, or of passive hardening. If, for instance, Pharaoh’s natural inclination was to do good, but the Lord worked in him so as to make him more sinful, that would be active hardening. And that would make God the author of his sin - an inconceivable and blasphemous thought. Pharaoh, however, was radically depraved - as are all unregenerate people - and the inclination of his heart was to gravitate more and more into sin. Thus, all that happened was that God gave him up to his inclination. You could say He let slip his rope somewhat. This is passive hardening - which does not make God the author of Pharaoh’s sin. The Egyptian ruler sinned of his own accord - because he wanted to and chose to do it.
◦ The statements in 2Sam and 1Chron regarding David's sin, have the same explanation. God wanted to punish the nation because of its sinfulness. But obviously David was harbouring increasing pride and ambition for power and thus God "let slip his rope". But first He "let slip" Satan’s rope - so that he could tempt David (cp. Job’s experience).
We see two important truths here: First, God normally works through means - He uses instruments. Secondly, Satan is not God’s opponent in some cosmic game of chess - he is a pawn on the chessboard.
• Some of the most dramatic and telling Scripture statements regarding God’s comprehensive government are to be found in Acts - in a few verses about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Calvary was not just a hinge upon which world history turned, it was at the same time the most heinous sin of all times.
◦ " ... this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." (2:23).
◦ " ... now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. (3:17-18).
◦ "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed - for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place."(4:26-28).
Herod, together with Pilate and the Jews and the Romans acted as responsible people. They were guilty and will be punished accordingly. But - the crucifixion was foreordained from the beginning in God's counsel.
It is said in Lk 22:22 that: "For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!"
◦ Now it must necessarily follow that if the crucifixion of His Son was decreed in God’s eternal counsel, the same must apply to the Fall! The purpose of the crucifixion was after all, to do away with the effects of the fall of man.
This profound truth is implied in other parts of Scripture as well: "…you were redeemed .... with the precious blood of Christ …. He was chosen before the creation of the world … " (1Pt 1:18-20). Cp. also Eph 1:4; 2Tim 1:9.
More than this we cannot say. It is not for us to dare penetrate what God chose not to reveal to us.
● It might be asked, did God not sometimes repent or was grieved because of what He did?
There are indeed many Scripture statements that say so (cp. Gen 6:5-6).
The Bible often speaks of God as though he were human. So, for instance, he is described as having hands, eyes and so forth. This does not mean that He actually has a body just like ours. But He is so totally different from us that He finds it necessary to reveal Himself in terms which we, limited to time and space as we are, can understand. Thus He speaks to us as if He's a human being.
God’s "regret" is such an anthropomorphism. It simply means that certain of God’s acts look like human regret or repentance.
• 1Sam 15 clarifies this matter beautifully.
First it is said in v.10-11: "The word of the LORD came to Samuel: 'I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me ...'" (cp. also v.35).
But then, in the very same chapter, it is said - as if it were in one breath: "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind." (v.29) (compare also Num 23:19).
In v.11 & 35 the Bible gives us experiential truth (phenomenological truth). God conveys it to us as we experience it, thus making it comprehensible on a human level. In v.29 we have essential truth (ontological). This is “the story behind the story”.
These two ways of formulating truth are well known to us. When in the late afternoon I say that the sun is going down, nobody is going to accuse me of lying. It is experiential truth. But the fact of the matter is that it is not really the sun going down, it is the earth that is turning - and this is essential truth.
What does God’s plan involve?
● A question now arises: Do we have an idea what this plan of God is about? In a sense this is the theme of the Bible.
• Too few Christians read the Bible as they should. Everybody knows that one cannot finally say that you understand the message of a book until you have read it from cover to cover. And yet, this is anything but the way in which the average believer of our day handles the Bible. From somewhere came the wretched idea that the Bible is not a unit, but an unconnected collection of stories, prophesies, poems, meditations and sayings. The result is that it is read randomly and selectively - a passage here and a passage there. Large sections are never touched. What is more, the abundance of "Biblical Daily Readings" on the market these days, is hardly helping to solve the problem.
No, the Bible isn’t a paper bag of Allsorts from which one can pick a sweetie from time to time! It has only one Author, one theme, one message. And it is addressed to rational beings, people with brains. Therefore no one will ever understand the message of the Bible unless he makes an effort to grasp the total picture - and is not too lazy to go to the trouble of giving it a lot of thought.
• In this respect a marvellous paradox applies: On the one hand the Bible is so comprehensive, so profound, so exalted, so deep that no one can understand it without the enlightening work of the Holy Spirit, and even then a lifetime is not enough to reach to the bottom of the treasures it contains. On the other hand, it is addressed to all kinds of people - also the simplest. To tell the truth, unless you have childlike faith, you will not understand it.
An old patriarch of the church said something to this effect: "The Word of God is like a great river. In the middle, elephants - giants - can swim; in the shallows, little children can play." And what is remarkable, is that the essence of the Bible message - what is necessary to live godly and die blessed - is so simple that even a child can understand it.
● What do you discover when you read the Bible as a unit? First of all, you find that God - and not man - is the Main Character. It is all about Him. It is a marvellous chronicle of His work in this world - past, present and future - with enlightening commentary by inspired prophets and apostles. And the main theme is not the salvation of men, but His great plan and His actions in bringing about that which He wills – namely that He will be glorified to all eternity in and before His creatures (Rm 9:22-24; Eph 1:6, 12, 14).
Yes, the good news - that God saves sinners - lies at the heart of this great plan, but its main aim is His glorification and His honour (Eph 2:7).
● Although this plan was sovereignly ordained by God, and is being unstoppably moved forward by Him, it does not happen without man’s responsible, conscious and strenuous involvement. Man's role is in some wonderful and mostly mysterious way woven into God's great plan. It is, as a matter of fact, not an exaggeration to say that God, to a large extent, works out his project of self-glorification through the clumsy obedience of his children and the foolish rebellion of his enemies.
● Interwoven with the main theme, the Bible also conveys the message to fallen man that he is out of step with God’s plan. Throughout the call is heard: flee from the wrath to come, seek the Lord, cry out to Him for mercy! And in the New Testament it becomes crystal clear that this mercy is given in Christ. In Him, and Him alone, God works out His plan. Only in Him can the meaning and purpose of this life be found. Only those who are united to Him - and this happens through faith alone - can really be in step with God’s plan.
God’s sovereignty
● The sovereign rule of God is the underlying premise, or point of departure, of the Biblical message. Believing acceptance of this is a master-key to understanding the Bible.
God’s sovereignty has to do with His right and ability as Creator, Maintainer - and thus as undisputed Owner - to govern the whole universe and all His creatures (in heaven and on earth) according to His will, without having to give any account whatsoever to anyone.
● It is important to bear in mind that God possesses all the knowledge and the power to carry out, even to the smallest detail, what He has decided. Nothing can stop, hinder or surprise Him. He continues unperturbed.
Anyone who still doubts God’s omnipotence, should have a good look at the awe-inspiring creation that surrounds him. Man is but a speck of dust on the earth, which is a speck of dust in the solar system, which is a speck of dust in the Milky Way, which is a speck of dust in the universe - which is a speck of dust in the palm of God’s hand!
● Although God’s sovereignty is universal and absolute, it is not merely a blind force. It always functions in full harmony with all His other attributes - His perfect holiness, wisdom, love, omniscience, omnipotence, and so forth.
Therefore the believer is not threatened by God’s sovereign rule; on the contrary, it is a source of wonderful comfort to him. Can it be that I have such a God as Father I trust Him a thousand times more than myself
● Each of us must understand one thing very clearly, and subject ourselves to the inevitability of that fact: As Creator, God is your Owner - with the resulting right and ability to do with you as He wills. To use a well-known Biblical image: "Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honourable use and another for dishonourable use?" (Rom 9:21).
● It is God’s sovereign prerogative to create - or not create.
• Each birth is the result of a specific ovum being fertilized by a specific sperm cell.
My genetic composition depends to a large extent on which sperm cell fertilized my mother. Conception does not take place every time, but when it does, it is through one - any one - of the millions of sperm cells present on a particular occasion. Just think - had it been another sperm, a different person with different genetics would have been born!
• In an incredibly precise process, by means of chromosomes and genes, a fertilized ovum is furnished with a chemical blue-print which then largely controls the further development of that person. It determines how the cells will divide and multiply, how they will develop into tissue, bones, limbs, organs and sense-organs. It determines whether a person will be male or female, white or black, large or small, bright or dim, athletic or clumsy. It determines the personality traits, talents and temperament. It is what makes a person the unique, but totally unique, being that he or she is!
• What is more, who and what I am is not only determined by the intricate and exact detail of my conception. Only consider everything that had to happen beforehand so that I could be the person that I am If great-grandfather had not honoured his engagement to great-grandmother, and married another darling instead, I would not have been. And no-one would have missed me
• Every time a specific sperm cell fertilizes a particular ovum a person comes into being - someone who will exist forever. This not only applies to the inexpressibly privileged people who will inherit eternal salvation, but also (what an overwhelmly thought it is!) to all other people (Jn 5:28-29). In this creation of a person other people are involved as collaborators: the parents – and ancestors! Whether this human co-operation takes place in holiness or in sinful lust, God reigns over it all, in imperturbable sovereignty.
Fainting insight regarding this matter is given in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel. Only four women are named (before Mary) and the respectability of each one of them is questionable: Tamar (Gen 38); Rahab (Josh 2); Ruth (a Moabite); Bathsheba ("the wife of Uriah", lest we forget) (2Sam 11).
● One fact stands as solid as a rock: either God is completely in control of everything, even to the smallest detail, or else He must resort to "crisis management" in order to direct the course of history in accordance with His will.
By definition, the course of history can only be fixed if a single sovereign being rules. The moment a second being starts working independently - let alone millions more - even God does not have complete control over what happens; and neither can He know where and when it all will end.
• Many people accept that God does indeed direct the great events that determine the course of history. What they cannot accept is that He is involved in the apparent insignificant details. From the aforementioned, however, it necessarily follows: if God does not control the smallest detail, neither can He control the great events. Something infinitesimally small, like uniting a specific sperm cell to a specific ovum, can actually have enormous historical meaning.
◦ Just think: if, in Adolph Hitler’s case, another one of the millions of sperm cells fertilized the specific ovum in his mother, the Second World War might never have happened. What a difference that would have made to history!
• Even more awe-inspiring: God’s staggeringly detailed rule reaches into the past across the conception and lives of all my ancestors - and all the way to the predestining purpose of his will, established before the foundation of the earth
● All this is beyond our understanding. In the final analysis it is a matter of faith. I either accept the testimony of Scripture with child-like faith, or I reject it. If I reject it, only one alternative remains - to bow to the god of chance and fate.
• Let us remember who we are - creatures, not little gods. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts (Is 55:8-9). Besides, He has not revealed everything to us (Deut 29:29). Yes, He revealed everything that is necessary for us to be saved and live godly lives - and in this sense the Bible is sufficient - but as far as the purpose of His will is concerned, we know very little.
• The book of Job provides some light in this regard. While Job is suffering, he is totally unaware of the drama being enacted in heavenly places (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6). As regards his crisis, he has only experiential truth, not essential truth - or at least, not all of it. What he does know is that God is loving, just and faithful. And to this he clings for dear life, but of the actual intrigue behind the scenes, he does not have an inkling.
● In His sovereign wisdom God decided to create man a rational and responsible being with a will. The fact that the fall has "twisted" him in every respect, does not make him less accountable to his Creator.
The Word of God teaches two truths that must always be kept in balance: on the one hand, the sovereignty of God and on the other, man’s responsibility. The over-emphasis of either of these truths, to the detriment of the other, has catastrophic results - theologically, pastorally and practically.
• This is the difference between the Biblical truth regarding the sovereignty of God and fatalism. The latter denies that man is a free agent who can choose whatever he wants. Thus human responsibility is disregarded.
• The Christian has an added responsibility. He is after all spiritually quickened, he has been regenerated, re-created. And by the grace of God he understands this. He therefore sees his life in terms of a stewardship committed to him by God. And when anyone really understands this fact, his life is governed by it. Precisely this is what the parables of the talents in Mt 25:14-30, and the minas in Lk 19:11-28, seek to emphasize. Through them, the Lord Jesus wanted to impress on our hearts the necessity of living in the light of eternity - because account will have to be given to our Creator and Re-creator of how we acquitted ourselves of our stewardship.
● As far as God’s sovereign government in the lives of the crown of His creation is concerned, the Bible emphasizes His authority in mainly three areas:
• He is sovereign in the demonstration of His mercy - His general, caring and preserving love for all people. Some people get more of it than others. Some are rich, some poor; some are gifted, others less so; some live long, others only a short while, and so forth.
• He is sovereign in the demonstration of His grace - His particular, saving love for the elect. Whether we like it or not, it is an inescapable fact that nobody can be saved unless God takes the initiative and saves him. All Christians know this. This is why we all pray more or less the same prayer for a loved one who is not yet saved: "Dear Lord, please save him It is after all only You who can do it "
• He is sovereign in His call to service. It is He who determines the course of our lives; He gives the ability and the opportunity; it is He who has prepared the good works each one of us must do (Eph 2:10).
The Ultimate purpose: God's glory
● We do not find it easy to accept this absolute priority of God. Is it not unworthy of Him? Is self-centeredness in a human being not something deplorable, even despicable? And yet, the Word of God leaves us in no doubt - it teaches in no uncertain terms that God created everything, governs everything and allows everything to happen, for only one ultimate purpose: His own glorification. That is His purpose with absolutely everything - before time, in time and after time. From Him and through Him and to Him are all things (Rm 11:36). He does not exist for us; we exist for Him.
• Naturally, we are not comfortable with this all-consuming priority on God’s part. Is it not unworthy of Him? Is self-service in people not a despicable trait? Such questions however, lack insight.
Yes, it is true that it is sin for a man to live for himself. But he is a creature and not God. In God’s case there is a difference. He, only He, is God - and there is nothing and no-one higher than He, whose honour He can promote. For that reason it is proper, in fact inevitable, that He should seek honour for Himself.
If it is fitting for man to consider God’s glory as his highest ambition, it can surely not be wrong if it is also God’s priority. And if it is wrong for man to pursue some lesser cause than God’s glory, it must surely be wrong for God also.
● The Hebrew word "glory" originally meant weight. Applied to a person, it meant that someone could appear weighty to others - to be someone of status, to be commanding respect. It is the word used in Gen 31:1 to describe Jacob’s wealth, and in Gen 45:13 concerning Joseph’s power in Egypt. It was weighty.
• The word is applicable to God in two ways:
◦ In His self-revelation God shows us His glory. Thus we see His majesty in creation (Ps 19:1; Isaiah 6:3); in epiphanies in Biblical times (Ex 40:34; Ezek 1:28 etc.); in Jesus Christ (2Cor 4:6); in His mighty deeds in history; in His attributes in action in our lives.
◦ In our religious service we give glory to God. We magnify Him in reaction to the self-revelation of His glory. It happens when we praise Him (Ps 50:23; 96:8; Rom 15:9); when we believe His Word and trust His promises (Rom 4:20); when we confess that Christ is Lord (Phil 2:11); when we obey the Lord (Phil 1:11) - when we in loving subjection to Him, strive to glorify Him with the whole of our lives.
• Now we can understand the meaning of God’s desire for His own honour: It is God’s will, to all eternity, to display the weight and glory of His character and His deeds to His rational creatures - so that they may know Him and therefore eternally honour Him with devout, grateful and loyal love, praise, trust and obedience.
● This supreme purpose of God - to glorify Himself - is nowhere and nowise more excellently achieved than in His plan of salvation. This is where He demonstrates some of his attributes which we would not have been able to know in any other way. What understanding of God's grace could Adam have had before the fall? Or of His wrath, or of several of His other characteristics? Grace is after all something that can only be shown to someone who deserves the opposite - i.e. to a sinner.
Thus we are here afforded a glimmer of understanding of the meaning of the fall.
• Paul states in no uncertain terms: the sovereign God has the right, in salvation, and likewise in wrath, to glorify Himself. And He does indeed do so
◦ "But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is moulded say to its moulder, "Why have you made me like this?" Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honourable use and another for dishonourable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory" (Rm 9:20-23).
◦ Also Eph 2:7-8 is highly illuminating: " ... so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God."
Compare also Eph 1:6, 12, 14; 1Cor 1:26-31 and 2Cor 4:7.
• If it weren’t for the Fall, we would not have any understanding of God’s mercy, love, grace and covenant faithfulness. Even the simplest Christian understands more of this today, than did Adam and Eve before they were banned from the Garden of Eden - not only theoretically, but rather experientially. And if there was no fall, what would we have known of God’s righteousness and His holy wrath against sin? In short, but for the Fall we would still not have known God as we should - in any case, we would have understood nothing about some of His most precious and highest attributes. And accordingly, we would not have glorified Him as we should - not even nearly as much.
• The above applies not only to us, but also to the angels in heaven:
◦ "To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord ..." (Eph 3:8-11).
◦ In 1Pet 1:12 the apostle writes that even the angels long to look into God’s great deeds of salvation. Peter's Greek is very rich and descriptive: the angels lean forward, intensely interested and intently gazing down, in order to learn more about God’s grace and covenant faithfulness in the lives of His beloved ones here on earth. Where else could they learn something about God’s grace? As the Puritans of old said: the church is God’s university for the angels - it equips them to glorify Him for all eternity, as is fitting!
A word in conclusion
Dear reader, is your life in step with what God is doing in this world and its history? Is every aspect of your life subject to God’s revealed will? Is the thrust of it all, namely His glorification through the means of His Son’s perfect work as mediator, the central passion of your life? Are you united to Christ in true faith? Is the authenticity of your faith proven by a vibrant life of gratitude?
What of those who prefer to ignore God’s call? Their Creator respects their choice. He gives them exactly what they choose - a life, a death, an eternity without God!
The fate of those people whose lives are in step with God, is radically different: their lives have a meaningful purpose, God’s honour; they have an unfailing rule in life, God’s law; they have a never-failing Friend in life and death, God’s Son; they have a unique comfort in all trials, the knowledge that God is forming Christ’s image in them; they have an unfailing security, God’s promises of eternal life.
In short, they have life that is truly life - for all eternity!
Nico van der Walt
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