Guten Morgen!
For today’s catechism lesson we are looking at questions which fit perfectly with where we will be on Sunday in worship. Genesis 2:15-17 tells us of the Covenant of Works that God made with man. As long as Adam remained faithful and ate not of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil he would stay blessed with the goodness of the LORD in Eden. If he understood the beauty and sufficiency of what he had in the garden, and that it all came from the love of God then he would continue to enjoy every part of creation. If he took for granted these gifts and began to burn in his heart towards that which God had commanded him not to have then he would fulfill His promise to Adam, that Adam would experience evil, even the pain of death.
Here are this week’s questions:
Q. 11. What are God’s Works of Providence?
A. God’s works of providence are, His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures, and all their actions.
Q. 12. What Special Act of Providence Did God Exercise Toward Man in the Estate Wherein He was Created?
A. When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death.
In the sermon last week we talked about the way Providence is different from Creation. We also saw how God’s attending to and ordering all things for His glory neither makes man robots nor relieves man from his responsibility to obey the commands which come from the Lord.
Providence is also not shorthand for “luck”.
As Presbyterians we don’t believe in luck because nothing happens by happenstance or accident. It all takes place because the governor of the universe has declared it to be so, which is why as our Tuesday devotion noted it is sin to murmur against God’s plan for our lives. He knows what is best because what He has done is always the best. To ignore or try to short circuit what the Lord has called His people to do is gross idolatry worthy of unbelief.
Knowing that His purpose is always right and good is a part of what makes Jehovah worthy alone of praise, whether we are in the valley of the shadow of death or on the heights of Mt. Zion we can hope in the darkness because the light always follows. We likewise trust in His reasons precisely because He is God and we are not:
“’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
There is a great and perfect peace which comes from understanding this truth. It is also why we can only bring judgment and trouble on ourselves when we openly disobey His word. In our time in the prophet Jeremiah last night at Prayer Meeting (which I invite everyone who can to come for it) we heard that Judah was in danger of not moving forward, but instead were sliding backwards into bondage to sin. Instead of continuing to enjoy the blessings of the promised land they would rather be sent back to spiritual Egypt, back to living under a difficult taskmaster. If they grumbled about the holy requirement of the law of God then Jehovah would give them what they desired. A life of trial and tribulation would be their victory for abandoning the grace they had in the land. No longer would they have to “suffer” under the commands of the Lord. They could go live with an earthly tyrant and experience his justice and law.
A classic example of be careful what you wish for…you might just get it.
This time it would be in the form of Babylon. In fact we are told in Jeremiah 7 that the valley of the son of Hinnom would be full of the corpses of the people of God. The refuse dump of Jerusalem would now be filled with folks who had treated the word of the prophets as rubbish.
Though I am sure they knew better than God. Probably thought that right up to the point in which the soldier of Nebuchadnezzer’s army ran them through.
This was all taking place primarily because the people had forgotten the covenant God made with them in the Wilderness as they waited to cross the Jordan. The Lord was clear with them that if they turned their hearts away from Him he would remove them from His presence. Deut. 28:20 says:
“The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.”
Neither Adam nor Judah should ever have acted surprised that they received the due reward for their actions. God told them exactly what would happen if they did what they did. The same warning is given to the Churches of Christ in Revelation. As long as we obey out of love and thanksgiving the Lord will bless us in every way. However, when turn away from Him and embrace the sinful things of the world then Jesus will remove His lampstand and the night of absence will come in.
If we are not currently experiencing the consequences of our sin it is not because God has forgotten about us and has somehow given His blessing to the iniquity of our choice. It is because he is allowing those who would be so brazen as to openly defy Him to build up wrath for the day of judgment. God is merciful and long-suffering, but He will not be mocked forever. Judah found this out, so to did Israel in the day when Christ returned in judgment in A.D. 70.
What does all this have to do with God’s providence?
In James 1:13-14 the apostle makes clear that we cannot ever use the providence of God as an excuse to sin. Just because you are in the position you are in is not an example of the Lord’s blessing. We can only receive the approbation of Christ if we are following His word. To continue in transgressions because they “make sense for me” or are “the best I can make of it” is to make a mockery of God’s providence. The only call in such situations is repentance and faith, faith that the Lord will bless obedience and provide whatever it is I need in that condition.
As we close today here is a word from Stephen Witmer:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/dont-underestimate-providence/
Blessings and Have a Great End to Your Week!
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church