God is in control

This might shock you. God is sovereign over everything, even the unjust death of his own Son. This is what the Biblical records tell us: Acts 2:23 “Jesus, [who was] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” Acts 4:27-28 “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.” Isa. 53:10 “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief. Eph.1:11 “[God] works all things according to the counsel of his will.” Psalm 115:3 “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” Job.42:2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

God showed His Sovereignty even in the life and death of His own Son. There is what we call in theology the “covenant of redemption” which is a covenant made by the Triune God themselves, (not by man or to man). The Father designed it, the Son executed it and the Holy Spirit applied it for the salvation of mankind. The principle I would like to stress is: God, is in control in every event of our lives whether we are in the light or in the trials of darkness. God is Sovereign.

Arthur Pink defines, “the sovereignty of God means that as ruler of the Universe, God is free and has the right to do whatever he wants. He is not bound or limited by the dictates of his created beings. Further, he is in complete control over everything that happens here on Earth. God's will is the final cause of all things.

Let me ask you important questions: Is it by chance for Joseph to be in Egypt to save many lives and his family? After all the hardship he experienced, he said to his brothers, “but God meant it for good” Gen 50:20. Is it by chance that Daniel and his friends were there in Babylon to interpret dreams of the king? Is it by chance that Nehemiah was a cup bearer of the king in order the rebuild the walls of Jerusalem? Is by chance that Esther became Queen to save tens and thousands of lives from Haman’s wicked plans. Is it by chance that Ruth married Boaz and became a great ancestor of the Messiah? Not by Chance!

That is what He does too, in every events of our lives. Is it by chance that a group of young people invited me to go to church in that new years eve of 1962/63 and there found Christ later? Is it by chance that there was an exact amount of money to pay for my father’s coffin when he died in Manila in Nov.21, 1977 and then take his body to Mindanao? Is it by chance when I arrived home from Flinders University there was warm food at the door of our home? Is it by chance when a bad immigration officers in Manila asked if I have thousands of pesos and wants to see my wallet. I showed him…then suddenly a good Christian immigration officer recognised me and greeted me “high pastor” …the bad one retreated. Is it by chance that a paramedic in uniform, on the way to work saw our ‘accident’ 5 weeks ago, to help me and my wife, and he called the ambulance? Is it by chance that a fellow Christian teacher was there to hold my hands and prayed? Last week, is it by chance that Paediatrician who also specialises in the heart was there, in that moment in time, in the hospital to take care of my grandson? Then decided to arrange a “Care Flight” to Adelaide. Not a chance! Sceptics and atheists will all say: “they are only chances, God has nothing to do with it.”

These are not chances, these are the kindness, goodness, love of God. These are acts of the sovereign unchangeable God. I can flashback back in history and see the hands of God working in my life and praise Him FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE. Rather than to listen to someone who will give a prophecy about my life--most of them need to be thrown away in garbage bin of prophecy. Too many false prophets these days! The Scripture is complete. You don’t need a new revelation, what you need a fresh illumination of the Word of God every day.

So I would like to encourage you that in the midst of darkness-- God is ever present in your life. He says “take my hand and follow me” because at the end of the tunnel there is light. Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the lights of life” John 8:12. All by grace and by grace alone. (Next God’s sovereignty, our choices and consequences, as the Lord leads me. This is not edited, sorry for any grammar errors. My wife still in Adelaide under quarantine too for 6 days, never mind God is sovereign.)