Foundations of Faith
THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD (III)
God is always in control of all things. Even when He gave Satan permission to harass Job, God retained control over the situation and did not permit Satan to overstep the prescribed bounds (Job 2:6).
God is sovereign. He is supreme in power, rank, and authority. No one tells Him what to do. He is free to do whatever He wills to do at all times to carry out His eternal purposes. Listen to God’s own statements of His sovereignty:”I … will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exod. 33:19). “I am God … and I will do all my pleasure…. I have purposed it, I will also do it” (Isa. 46:9-11). The apostle Paul, through the Holy Spirit, makes a strong appeal to God’s sovereignty:”O man, who are you who replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him who formed it, Why have You made me thus?” (Rom. 9:20).
If you are saved, God tells you that He has “chosen you to salvation” (2 Thess. 2:13; also Eph. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:2). What is the basis for such a choice? Certainly God’s foreknowledge of all things is involved. He has always known who would be praying for us, who would share the gospel with us, etc. Still, ultimately, it is His choice, and this should cause each one of us who has been saved to fall on our knees before God and give Him all the glory and honor for His sovereign grace in choosing, calling, and saving us. Well might we join with the hymn writer, Isaac Watts, in asking:
Lord! why am I a guest?
Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there’s room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?
If God chooses whomever He wills to be saved, then why should I bother to do the work of an evangelist? Because God asks you and me to (2 Tim. 4:5). He is pleased to employ His blood-bought children–you and me–to work out His purposes on this earth. Just as He graciously provided persons in your life and mine who faithfully pointed us to Christ, so He desires to use each one of us who has been saved by His grace.
In the August 1993 issue we discussed God’s attribute of omniscience. Not only does God possess all knowledge, but He has the ability to apply that knowledge in His words and works in a most marvelous way. In short, God is wise, and His wisdom infinitely surpasses that of any created being. Three times in Scripture He is described as “the only wise God” (Rom. 16:27; 1 Tim. 1:17; Jude 25).
No doubt the greatest displays of God’s wisdom are found in His creation and in His plan of salvation. First, as to the creation of the universe:”O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all; the earth is full of Thy riches” (Psa. 104:24; also 104:1-23; Prov. 3:19; Jer. 10:12).
As to the plan of salvation, the apostle Paul sought to show in Romans 11 that neither Jews nor Gentiles have in any way deserved salvation. The nation of Israel had been God’s chosen people but they forfeited this special place because of wickedness and rebellion against God. The Gentiles as a whole had lived in idolatry, not having any desire for the one true God. So “God concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all” (verse 32). (See Assignment 25)
This attribute of the wisdom of God serves as a link with the series of attributes that we shall consider in the next two or three issues, namely, the moral attributes of God. The moral attributes are those that God shares with His children. God alone possesses the divine attribute of having all wisdom; on the other hand, He graciously has made it possible for His children to have a measure of that wisdom as well. God does not force this wisdom upon us, but gives it to those who ask for it:”If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God” (Jas. 1:5). “Get wisdom,” for “wisdom is the principal thing” (Prov. 4:5-7). “Be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom” (Col. 1:9).
May we learn to value the wisdom that God possesses in Himself, and may we ask Him often for wisdom to apply the knowledge we have gained from His Word in a right way in our daily lives.
Running the Race
HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE (in View of God’s Divine Attributes)? (III)
“Why did my purse have to be stolen? Why didn’t God prevent it?” Many things happen to us that perplex us, that tempt us to wonder whether God is really in control after all. There is evil and injustice and suffering everywhere. Can’t God do something about it? Has Satan gotten the upper hand? No, God has not given up His sovereign control over all things. There are many possible reasons why God may allow people to suffer. He may be warning unsaved people of the far greater suffering to come if they do not repent. He may be chastening a believer to help him/her to learn to trust Him or appreciate His grace. Or He may be simply testing us to see whether we are content to acknowledge the sovereignty that is rightly His. “All that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine … O Lord, and Thou art exalted as Head above all” (1 Chron. 29:11,12).
May God help each of us to accept the fact that He is the sovereign Creator and we are the creatures; He is free to do what He wants to do, and all His ways are right, just, holy, good, and loving–even though we may not always understand His purposes.
How would a person who is wise respond to the following questions or statements?
1. “Say, Honey, what do you say we build our house right here on the sandy shore of this lake?” (See Matt. 7:24-27).
2. “Son, I have been noticing that you sometimes drive too fast. May I suggest that you try to slow down a bit?” (“He who hearkens unto counsel is wise,” Prov. 12:15).
3. “I’m going to quit my job; I’d rather go fishing than work all the time.” (See Prov. 6:6-8.)
4. “Look, son, forget that stuff about finding God’s will for your life. I want you to go to Harvard.” (“Be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is,” Eph. 5:17.)
5. “Let’s go pester Mr. Crankyshanks and watch him lose his temper again.” (“The wisdom that is from above is … peaceable,” Jas. 3:17. “He who wins souls is wise,” Prov. 11:30.)
Assignment 25: As the apostle Paul considers God’s wise and wonderful plan of salvation, he breaks out with a hymn of praise. Find this hymn in Romans 11 and copy it out.
Assignment 26: Find verses in Proverbs 9 and 2 Timothy 3 that tell us how we can become wise.