"God is in control!" Yeah but...what does that mean?
A bite-sized lesson in doctrine: 1 Concept, 2 Definitions, 3 Passages...
Welcome back to Theology Thursday!
Here is your bite-sized lesson in orthodox biblical doctrine in 3 simple steps:
ONE concept explained
TWO concise definitions that must be kept distinct
THREE Scripture passages to meditate on
Concept: Divine Providence
God’s providence, His “purposeful sovereignty,”1 is the second way God executes the blueprint of His sovereign plan. The plan or decree of God takes place in eternity; providence takes place in history. You can sum up providence by using two words: upholding and governing. Providence is God’s external act of upholding and governing all of creation, including all humans and all of their actions. God doesn’t just let the world exist; He is its captain, guiding and steering it to the end goal for which all things were created: His glory displayed in the redemption of His people.
This means that even when things feel like they are out of control, they actually aren't. Even when it feels like God has forsaken you, He has not once departed from you; He has been upholding and governing all things that you may know and grow to be more dependent upon Him. Who can improve upon the description of providence laid out in the Heidelberg Catechism? “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 by his fatherly hand.”
Definitions/Distinctions:
First Cause: This refers to the order of causality in which the creator and the creature operate. Our creator God operates in the order of first causes, and man, as a creature, operates in the order of second causes. God is the first and distant cause of all things, since He decreed all that comes to pass before time began.
Second Causes (Concurrence): Humans are the secondary and immediate cause of what comes about in the world. Individuals act with intentionality, whether good or evil, and bring about certain effects so that God cannot be charged with wrong, though He ordained that it would come about as the first cause. God accomplishes His will, but rarely does He do so apart from ordained human means (Typically called “concurrence”). It’s not as though either God does it or man does it. Though mysterious, these two things are compatible. Man freely acts according to their deepest desires, but God providentially brings about His plan through those very actions.
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Genesis 50:20
“King Rehoboam spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill his word...”
2 Chronicles 10:14–15
“…for truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place.”
Acts 4:27–282
John Piper, Providence, Crossway (2021)
This topic can be hard for some. It helps to know that this is not a doctrine that can just be brought about by frolicking through the cherry orchard, picking out verses here and there. It is assumed by the Biblical authors as the story of Scripture unfolds. But it helps to see that all categories of events and actions fall within God’s providence and come from His “Fatherly hand”: “The nations are under God’s control (Pss. 2:1-4; 33:10), as is nature (Mark 4:41; Pss. 135:7; 147:18; 148:8), and animals (2 Kings 17:25; Dan. 6:22; Matt. 10:29). God is sovereign over Satan and evil spirits (Matt. 4:10; 2 Cor. 12:7-8; Mark 1:27). God uses wicked people for His plans—not just in a “bringing good out of evil” sort of way but in an active, intentional, “this was God’s plan from the get-go” sort of way (Job 12:16; John 19:11; Gen. 45:8; Luke 22:22; Acts 4:27-28). God hardens hearts (Ex. 14:17; Josh. 11:20; Rom. 9:18). God sends trouble and calamity (Judg. 9:23; 1 Sam. 1:5; 16:14; 2 Sam. 24:1; 1 Kings 22:20-23; Isa. 45:6-7; 53:10; Amos 3:6; Ruth 1:20; Eccl. 7:14). God even puts to death (1 Sam. 2:6, 25; 2 Sam. 12:15; 2 Chron. 10:4, 14; Deut. 32:39). God does what He pleases and His purposes cannot be thwarted (Isa. 46:9-10; Dan. 4:34-35). In short, God guides all our steps and works all things after the counsel of His will (Prov. 16:33; 20:24; 21:2; Jer. 10:23; Ps. 139:16; Rom. 8:28; Eph. 1:11).” - Kevin DeYoung