Last week we talked about God's sovereignty as it relates to pain and suffering. Here is a video that encourages us with regard to suffering. This man, a pastor named Matt Chandler who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, is showing us the ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE OF TRUST in the midst of his suffering.
We know from our study that God rules over everything, even over pain and suffering. The eternal perspective of trust we talked about in Part 16 is necessary when dealing with pain and suffering is also necessary in our entire study of God's providence.
Before we can fill our our discussion of God's providence we need to quickly understand two more of God's attributes: his transcendence and is immanence.
Transcendence is seen in God's infinity, holiness and in the reality that he is incomprehensible. He is above, other than and distinct from all that he has made. We cannot be like him or come close to being like him in his infinity. He is, in a very real way, separate from us. Isaiah 55:8-9 and Psalm 97:9 are just two examples of God's transcendence seen in the Bible.
God's transcendence has led some to a system of belief that rejects the notion of divine intervention in human affairs. Deists, as they are known, typically reject most supernatural events and tend to assert that God has a plan for the universe that is not altered by God intervening in the affairs of human life. In other words, God got things started, set some rules, and now is letting them play out however they will.
While God certainly is distinct from his creation, the Bible is also very clear that he is near, and actively involved. (Isaiah 57:15; Ephesians 4:6; Jeremiah 23:23-24). This is God's immananece. God is near and sustaining all that he has made. God is actively near to us and cares deeply about us.
The immanence of God is clearly seen in his providence
Providence is "the continuing action of God by which he preserves in existence the creation he has brought into being, and guides it to his intended purposes for it." (Millard J. Erickson, Systematic Theology, p413)
Providence is God's continuing relationship to the world he created. He deeply cares about his creation, down to teh smallest details. He shows that care in his providence, specifically in his preserving providence.
Look at Colossians 1:16-17
16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Not only did God create everything (and Jesus was very active in that creation) but he is holding everything together.
The continued existence of this world depends on God.
This is also clearly seen in Psalm 104.
NO part of creation is self-sufficient.
Not only does God keep the world going 'round, but his providence as preservation is also more personal.
God's providence preserved the nation of Israel (see Joseph, Moses and the Jewish midwives, Joshua, Shadrach, Meeshach and Abednego, among others)
God's providence preserves us through life and death. (Matthew 10:28; John 10:27-30; Psalm 91)
We can have confidence because of God's preserving providence!
We don't have to live in terror and anxiety! As Millard Erickson says, we can have "confidence that physical death is not the most significant factor because not even it can separate us from God's love" (p419)
Yes, pain and suffering are going to come, but praise God there is preservation even in the midst of that. And should that pain and suffering lead to death, an eternal perspective of trust will guard our hearts, our peace and our hope.
God is a God who preserves his creation in his providence!
1 comment:
You gotta love theology because it informs us of our great God, which leads to being transformed into His image. I like what Josh Harris wrote in his last book, "If we truly know and embrace orthodoxy, it should humble us. When we know the truth about God--his power, his greatness, his holiness, his mercy--it doesn't leave us boasting; it leaves us amazed. It doesn't lead to a preoccupation with being right but to amazement that we have been rescued."
Bo
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