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| Controlling the Affairs of Earth |
By:
Paul George |
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Controlling the Affairs on Earth
Who is controlling the affairs on this earth today-God, or Satan? It is generally conceded that God reigns supreme in heaven; that He does so over this world, is almost universally denied, if not directly, then indirectly. More and more men in their philosophizing and theorizing are pushing God into the background. Take the material realm. Not only is it denied that God created everything by personal and direct action, but few believe that He has any immediate concern in regulating the works of His own hands. Everything is supposed to be regulated according to the impersonal and abstract “laws of nature.” From the pew to the pulpit, we hear references to “mother nature” or “mother earth.” Thus, the Creator is banished from His own creation. Therefore, we should not be surprised that men, in their degrading conceptions of the heavens and earth, exclude Him from the realm of human affairs. Throughout Christendom, with an almost negligible exception, the theory is held that man is in control of his fortunes and the determiner of his destiny. While there are those who claim Satan is behind much of the evil that is in the world little or nothing is said about the responsibility of man.
Who is responsible for much of the evil that is in the world, God, Satan, or man?
The task of placing responsibility is very difficult. Sin is rampant; lawlessness abounds; evil men and seducers are waxing “worse and worse” (2 Timothy 3:13). There is unrest, discontent, and lawlessness everywhere and no one can say how soon another great war will be set in motion. Men's hearts are “failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth” (Luke 21:26). Do these things look as though God has full control in the affairs of humanity?
After nineteen centuries of Gospel preaching, Christ is still “despised and rejected of men.” Worse still, the Christ of Scripture, in the majority of modern pulpits is dishonored and disowned. Despite frantic efforts to attract the crowds, the majority of the churches are being emptied rather than filled and the great masses of non-church goers, in the light of Scripture, are on the broad road that leads to destruction, and only a few are on the narrow way that leads to life. Many are declaring that Christianity is a failure, and despair is settling on many faces. Not a few of the Lord's own people are bewildered, and their faith is being severely tried. Moreover, what of God, does He see and hear? Is He impotent or indifferent? A number of those who are regarded as leaders of Christianity tell us that God cannot prevent the destruction coming upon the earth or end it. It is said openly, that world conditions are beyond God's control.
When sinful men and women are fed the false viewpoints of men and women claiming to be the called ministers of the Lord what impression is made upon the minds of those who occasionally, attend a Gospel service? From what is heard from the average evangelist today, is not any serious hearer of the false viewpoints of God obligated to conclude that a God who is filled with benevolent intentions, yet unable to carry them out. What option does the average hearer of the false viewpoints of God have, except that Satan has gained the upper hand, and that God is to be pitied rather than blamed?
However, do the conditions in the world reveal that Satan has far more to do with the affairs of humanity than God has? Before we consider the response to this question, we need to be aware of what the Scriptures have to say about what we now see and hear. In Jude verse 8, we are told the false viewpoints of God are those of men who “defile the flesh, reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.”
Ours is an age of irreverence, and as the consequence, the spirit of lawlessness, which is rapidly engulfing the earth like some giant tidal wave. The members of the rising generation are the most flagrant offenders, and the disappearing of parental authority, we have the forerunners of the abolition of civic authority. Therefore, in view of the growing disrespect for human law and the refusal to render honor to whom honor is due, we should not be surprised that the majesty, authority, Sovereignty of the Almighty law-giver should recede more and more into the background, and the masses have less and less patience with those who insist upon them. Moreover, conditions will not improve; instead, the surer Word of Prophecy makes known to us that they will grow worse. Nor do we expect to be able to stem the tide, it has already risen much too high for that. All we can now hope to do is warn our fellow man of the consequences of the spirit of the age, and thus seek to counteract its influence upon them.
Who is controlling the affairs on this earth today-God, or the Devil? What says the Scriptures? If we believe their plain and positive declarations, no room is left for uncertainty. They affirm, repeatedly, that God is on the throne of the universe; that the scepter is in His hands; that He is directing “all things” after the counsel of His own will.” They affirm, not only that God created all things, but also that God is ruling and reigning over all the works of His hands. They affirm that God is the “Almighty,” that His will is irreversible, that He is absolute Sovereign in every realm of all His vast dominions.
Who is controlling the affairs on this earth today-God, or the Devil?
Present-day conditions call for a new examination and new presentation of God's omnipotence, God's sufficiency, God's Sovereignty. From every pulpit in the land, it needs to be proclaimed that God still lives, that God still reigns. What is needed now, as never before, is a full, positive, constructive setting forth of the Godhood of God. Drastic diseases call for drastic remedies. People are weary of platitudes and mere generalizations; the need is for something definite and specific.
Without a doubt, a world-crisis is at hand, and everywhere men are alarmed. However, God is not. He is never taken by surprise. It is not an unexpected emergency which now confronts Him, for He is the One who “works all things after the counsel of His own will” (Ephesians 1:11). Although, the world is panic-stricken, the word to the believer is, fear not, all things are subject to His immediate control; all things are moving in accord with His eternal purpose, and therefore all things are working together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. Yet how little is this realized today even by the people of God. Many suppose that He is little more than a far-distant Spectator, taking no immediate hand in the affairs of earth. It is true that man is endowed with power, but God is all-powerful. It is true that, speaking generally, the material world is regulated by law, but behind that law is the lawgiver and law-Administrator. Man is but the creature. God is the Creator, and endless ages before man first saw the light the mighty God existed, and before the world was founded, made His plans; and being infinite in power and man only finite, His purpose and plan cannot be withstood or frustrated by the creatures of His own hands.
We readily admit that life is a mystery and is filled with problems. However, we are not like the beasts of the field that are ignorant of their origin, and unconscious of what is before them. Unlike the beasts of the field we have the sure Word of Prophecy, of which it is said you do well that you “take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19). In these troubled times it is to this Word of Prophecy that had its origin in the mind of God and not in the mind of men. In the Word of Prophecy, we discover a fundamental principle that must be applied to every problem. Instead of beginning with man and his world and working back to God, we must begin with God and work down to man. If we begin with man and work back to God there seems to be no connection between God and the world. However, when we begin with God and work down to man much light, is cast on the problems existing in the world.
Because God is holy His anger burns against sin; because God is righteous His judgments fall upon those who rebel against Him. Because God is faithful, His solemn promises are fulfilled. Because God is omnipotent, no one can successfully resist Him, still less overthrow His counsel. Because God is omniscient, He can solve the problems existing in the world. It is just because God is who He is and what He is that we cannot expect anything other than what is now happening in the world.
However, it is important we understand that we can only enjoy the blessed truth of the absolute Sovereignty of God as our faith is exercised. Faith enables us to endure the disappointments, hardships, and heartaches of life by recognizing that all comes from the hand of Him who is too wise to err and too loving to be unkind. When we receive all that enters our lives as from God’s hand, then, no matter what may be our circumstances we shall be enabled to say, "The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places” (Psalm 16:6). However, if instead of walking by faith, we follow the evidence of our eyes, and reason, we shall fall into a quagmire of atheism. On the other hand, if we are controlled by the opinions and views of others, peace will be at an end. Granted that there is much in this world of sin and suffering that appalls and saddens us; granted that there is much in the providential dealings of God which startle and stagger us; that is no reason why we should unite with the unbelieving world who says, “If I were God, I would not allow this or tolerate that.” Better far, in the presence of our present situations to say with the psalmist, “I have become mute, I do not open my mouth, because it is You who have done it” (Psalm 39:9). Scripture tells us God's judgments are unsearchable and His ways “past finding out” (Romans 11:33). It must be so if faith is to be tested, confidence in His wisdom and righteousness strengthened, and submission to His holy will nurture.
There is a difference between the man of faith and the man of unbelief. The unbeliever is of the world and judges everything by worldly standards, views life from the standpoint of time and sense, and weighs everything in the balances of his own carnal making. However, the man of faith looks at everything from God’s standpoint, estimates values by spiritual standards, and views life in the light of eternity. Doing this, he receives whatever comes as from the hand of God. Doing this, his heart is calm in the midst of the storm. Doing this, he rejoices in hope of the glory of God.
Conclusion, because God is God He does as He pleases, His greatest concern is the accomplishment of His own pleasure and the promotion of His own glory; He is the Supreme Being, and therefore Sovereign of the universe.
God’s Sovereignty with all its effects contradicts the opinions and thoughts of the natural man. In his natural state man is unable to form a proper estimate of God's character and ways, and it is because of this that God has given us a revelation of His mind, and in that revelation He plainly declares, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares 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” (Isaiah 55:8, 9). In view of this Scripture, it is only to be expected that much of the contents of the Bible contradict the sentiments of the carnal mind, which is enmity against God. Our appeal then is not to the popular beliefs of the day, nor to the creeds of the churches, but to the Law and Testimony of God.
In these troubled times, let us, “prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). |
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