What is the Providence of God?
By: Dr. Mike Jones
God … directing the affairs and lives of all things that He created in the universe. God’s Providence asserts that He’s in complete control, and according to Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything [persecution and suffering included] to work together [contribute] for the good of those who love God and are called [in His eternal counsels He had designed it should be] according to His purpose for them.”
And because He is ‘Sovereign’, [and what we mean by this, is that, God is preeminent in all power and all authority. He’s Omnipotence means God is all-powerful. … Omniscience means God is all-knowing: God knows everything, including the past and future. There is nothing God is unaware of. And Omnipresence means God is everywhere at the same time. Whoaaa!!!!] In otherwords, He’s Sovereign over the universe, as expressed in Psalm 103:19, “The Lord has made the heavens His throne; from there He rules over everything.”
The sole purpose of His Providence, is that His will be accomplished, that’s why He works through the affairs of mankind through the system we called, “the laws of nature;” which are designed to govern how things should normally work. The Apostle Paul spoke of natural law in Romans 2:14-15: “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.” Because of the ‘Sin Nature’ that’s prevelant in the earth, mankind is incapable of completely knowing what God’s law is, and how to obey it. We know this from Romans 7:14-25, “So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.” He concludes by saying, “… Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.”.
At times, it’s not easy to explain the concept that man has a ‘FREE WILL,’ but yet, God is sovereign, in terms of NOTHING HAPPENS, unless He “PROVIDENCE” it to happen! In otherwords, the word Providence comes from the word “provide” which in Latin, has two parts: “pro” which means “forward,” and “vide” which means “to see”. So, already, you’re thinking that Providence means that God sees into our future; but it doesn’t, mean that saints. In it’s truest meaning, Providence means, “WHATEVER IS NEEDED IN GOD’S UNIVERSE TO ADVANCE HIS WILL, GOD WILL SEE TO IT!”
One of the greatest examples of the Providence of God is actually found in the first book of the Bible: Genesis. It’s the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac his son. Before their trip to Mount Moriah, in Genesis 22:7, Isaac said to [Abraham] his father, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham replied, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And in Genesis 22:14, when God had shown Abraham a ram caught in the thorns, “Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide.”
In the New Testament, we see God’s Providence in the Life of Saul, who later became Apostle Paul, who ende up writing two-thirds of the New Testament books. In Acts 26:12-20, the Apostle Paul recounts the story: “One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests. About noon, Your Majesty, as I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions. We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will.’” He concludes the story in verse 20, “I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do.”
When you read this account of Apostle Paul’s life, your brain have to be traveling a 100 miles per hours, because, throughout the Book of Acts [historical book of the church], we see where the people of God was being persecuted and suffering bodily harm, at the hands of religious people. God didn’t tempt these persecutors nor condone what they were doing to the Christians … but, at the same time, He allowed it to happen (and we know that God is perfect in everything that He does), for a period of time … even though He hates SIN!
In the late 16th Century, the Puritans and church Reformers were asked to define the Providence of God, as part of the Heidelberg Catechism, which is a document taking the form of a series of questions and answers. Just as defiantly, as the German Theologian, Martin Luther nailed a copy of his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle church, the Puritans and Reformers want the understanding of God’s Providence, nailed to our hearts, from questions 27 & 28 of the catechism:
Question 27. What dost thou mean by the providence of God?
Answer: The almighty and everywhere present power of God; whereby, as it were by his hand, he upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but be his fatherly hand.
Question 28. What advantage is it to us to know that God has created, and by his providence does still uphold all things?
Answer: That we may be patient in adversity; thankful in prosperity; and that in all things, which may hereafter befall us, we place our firm trust in our faithful God and Father, that nothing shall separate us from his love; since all creatures are so in his hand, that without his will they cannot so much as move.
As Christians, we believe the total Word of God: and we’re told in Philippians 1:6 that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” In otherwords, nothing STOPS God’s plan for YOUR life!
If You don’t accept God’s Providence, then You certainly can’t and won’t accept His “Sovereign’, that, God is preeminent in all power and all authority. He’s Omnipotence means God is all-powerful. … Omniscience means God is all-knowing: God knows everything, including the past and future. There is nothing God is unaware of. And Omnipresence means God is everywhere at the same time.
And last but not least, if You honestly believe that Your ‘FREE WILL’ is greater than God’s divine providence, for Your life, then You’ve placed Holy God on the same plane as You, and at that point, He’s no greater than YOU … You’re both equal in power and authority.