Knowing God - Lesson 8: “God and the Universe” - Cameron Jungels - Wed PM, March 5, 2014

“Knowing God” Lesson 8: “God and the Universe” (Eastside Baptist/Wed PM/March 5, 2014)

 

God and the Universe

v  Universe = whatever is created or all that is not God.

v  Includes everything that God has made, whether material or immaterial, living or inanimate, including intelligent and moral beings.

 The Decree of God

v  God’s decree involves his eternal plan or purpose in creating, sustaining, and guiding the universe.

v  Strong: “that eternal plan by which God has rendered certain all the events of the universe, past, present, and future.”

v  Hodge: “The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his own will, whereby for his own glory He hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.”

 

1. God’s plan is singular. 

v  One all-inclusive and comprehensive purpose, plan, and will.

v  All individual plans/decrees are united under one eternal purpose.

v  Only the actual not potential.

 

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, (Eph. 1:11, NIV)

 

according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Eph. 3:11, NIV)

 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28, NIV)

 

2. God’s plan is freely made. 

v  God’s plan arises from his own will and good pleasure.

v  He is under no coercion to act by any outside influences.

v  He freely plans and does what is pleasing to him and brings him glory.

 

Who can fathom the Spirit of the LORD, or instruct the LORD as his counselor?  Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding?  (Isa. 40:13-14, NIV)

 

3. God’s plan is eternal. 

v  God’s plan has been purposed from all eternity.

v  There was never a time when there wasn’t a plan.

v  God’s plan is eternally contemporaneous and simultaneous

 

He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. (1 Pet. 1:20, NIV)

 

He has saved us and called us to a holy life-- not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, (2 Tim. 1:9, NIV)

 

"Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. (Isa. 37:26, NIV)

 

4. God’s plan is changeless. 

v  Just as God’s plan is freely made without outside influences, God’s plan is not altered or hindered by outside influences or events.

v  God has no plan B, only one perfect, changeless plan.

 

This man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. (Acts 2:23, NIV)

 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (Jas. 1:17, NIV)

 

Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.' (Isa. 46:9–10, NIV)

 

5. God’s plan is universal. 

v  God’s plan comprehends all things (entities, actions, events, etc.) that come to pass, whether good or bad, righteous or sinful, necessary or contingent, humanly purposed or fortuitous.

 

The LORD works out everything to its proper end-- even the wicked for a day of disaster. (Prov. 16:4, NIV)

 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28, NIV)

 

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, (Eph. 1:11, NIV)

 

Stability of the Universe

Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures. (Psalm 119:90, NIV)

 

Rise and Fall of Rulers

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Romans 13:1, NIV)

 

All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?" (Dan. 4:35, NIV)

 

Length of Life

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16, NIV)

 

A person's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. (Job 14:5, NIV)

 

Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, (Heb. 9:27, NIV)

 

Circumstances of Life

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. (Prov. 16:9, NIV)

 

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." (Jas. 4:13–15, NIV)

 

Free Acts of People

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20, NIV)

 

The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!" (Lk. 22:22, NIV)

 

From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do. (Isa. 46:11, NIV)

 

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph. 2:10, NIV)

 

Salvation of Believers

he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- (Eph. 1:5, NIV)

 

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, exiles …, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood... (1 Pet. 1:1-2, NIV)

 

And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:30, NIV)

 

Perdition of the Ungodly

"A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message-- which is also what they were destined for. (1 Pet. 2:8, NIV)

 

What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath-- prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory--even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? (Romans 9:22-24, NIV)

 

Seemingly Insignificant Details

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. (Prov. 16:33, NIV)

 

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care.  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  (Matt. 10:29-30, NIV)

 

6. God’s plan is unconditional. 

v  God’s plan is not contingent on anything else.

v  Hodge: “its execution does not depend upon anything that has not itself been decreed.”

v  God’s plan encompasses the ends and the means.

 

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, (Eph. 1:11, NIV)

 

For from him and through him and for him are all things. (Romans 11:36, NIV)

 

7. God’s plan is certain. 

v  God’s plan is not contingent or merely possible.

v  God’s decree renders events certain. All that God plans will come to pass.

 

For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back? (Isa. 14:27, NIV)

 

8. God’s plan preserves human accountability. 

v  God’s eternal, unchangeable, certain plan is compatible with the free choices of human beings and their accountability for their actions.

v  Certainty does not mean compulsion.

 

The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!" (Lk. 22:22, NIV)

 

9. God’s plan is centered in Jesus Christ.

v  Christ’s Redemption, Resurrection, and Reign are at the center of God’s plan for the universe.

 

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Heb. 1:1–3, NIV)

 

10. God’s plan is directed toward God’s glory. 

v  The ultimate purpose of all that God does is to bring him honor and glory.

v  Everything in the universe flows from him and returns to him for his glory.

 

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (Eph. 1:4-6, NIV)

 

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?" For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33–36, NIV)

 

Two Aspects of God’s Will

v  Decreed Will (Secret)

Ø  What God has purposed/planned to do and will happen.

 

v  Prescriptive Will (Revealed)

Ø  What God has commanded and expects to be obeyed.

 

Implications

v  Not fatalism

v  The means as well as the ends

Ø  The causes and the effects

v  Unknown until after the fact

v  Consistent with human responsibility

v  Encourages human participation