I've heard of going hunting without
having your gun loaded, but I've never heard of going hunting
without having your gun, period. Now, turn with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. Our text begins with an all-important
statement. And if you believe this statement,
you'll believe everything There is to know about how this world
was created. You'll believe everything there
is to know about all things that come to pass in this world. And
you'll believe everything there is to know about salvation. If
you can believe this one statement. And here's the statement, 2 Corinthians
5.18. All things are of God. All things are of God. Now I try to take two or three
verses at a time when I'm preaching through the Bible. Sometimes
we come to a verse or a statement that's so broad and so all-encompassing
that you just have to stop and take that phrase. And that's
what we're going to do here with this phrase. I want to just consider
this one statement, all things are of God. Now when the Scripture
says all things are of God, you know what it means? It means
all things. All things. First, all things
in the creation of this world and everything created in this
world is of God. The Scripture tells us by Him
were all things created. And then secondly, all things
that have come to pass in the past and all things that shall
come to pass in the future are of God. That's called providence. God's providence. And when it
comes to providence, all things are of God. For of Him and through
Him and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. And then thirdly, and this is
the context of the passage, is declaring that all things in
salvation are of God. Jonah said, I'll sacrifice unto
thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord. All things in salvation are of
God. Now, first of all, All things
in creation are of God. Turn over to Colossians chapter
1. Now I want you to see that it's not just to make the statement
that everything in creation is of God, but it's to glorify Christ. That's why everything is of God.
It's to glorify Christ. Everything we're talking about
here in creation, providence and salvation is to glorify Christ.
That's why all things are of God. Now look here, Colossians
1.16, this is speaking of the Lord Jesus, and it says, By Him
were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him
and for Him, and He's before all things, and by Him all things
consist. And He's the head of the body,
the church, who's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleased
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. That's why
God gave Him The responsibility, his son, the responsibility to
create this world and all things in it was to glorify Christ. Look over at Isaiah 44, 24. Don't you see who's speaking
here? Isaiah 44, 24. Watch this now. Thus saith the Lord. That's Jehovah. Who is He? Who's Jehovah? Thy Redeemer. Thy Redeemer. He that formed
thee from the womb. You see, the Lord Jehovah is
Jehovah Jesus. That's who He is. He's the Redeemer.
God in human flesh, the Redeemer. And He's saying here, this is
to you who He's redeemed. This is you that He's formed
by His sovereign grace. This is the word of Jehovah Jesus
for the comfort of His people. And look what He said, I am the
Lord that maketh all things, that stretcheth forth the heavens
alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself. Now, hold
your place here in Isaiah, we'll come back to this place right
here. But I want you to understand that even in the creation of
the world, God the Father entrusted creation to Christ His Son in
order to glorify Christ, who is the creator of His people
in salvation. That's why He entrusted it to
Him. He entrusted it to Christ to create the first world, because
it's Christ who's going to create the new heavens and the new earth.
And so He's showing you who it is that does the creating. It's
Christ, His Son. God entrusted the work of creation
to Christ and to Him alone in order to show us that salvation
is by Christ and Him alone. We weren't there. We didn't help
Him with the first creation. We're not going to help Him with
this new creation either. It's all of Christ. He creates
His people anew in righteousness. He had no help for man in any
aspect of creation. He said, ìI am the Lord that
stretches forth the heavens alone, and I spread abroad the earth
by myself.î Thatís to show that He has no help in saving us in
the new creation. Just like He had no help in the
first creation, He has no help in the new creation. And also
in the things created, Colossians 1 said, all things were created
by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him
all things consist, so that in all things He has a preeminence.
So that means that Christ created this earth so that everything
He created glorifies Him. You think about this. He created
this earth. We live on a round ball that
He created. Scripture says, He sitteth on
the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as
grasshoppers. We live on a round earth that
He made to circle around the sun. Everything revolves around
the sun. The S-U-N. Because everything
revolves around the S-O-N. That's why He made it that way.
So when we see our solar system revolving around the Sun, we
can remember everything was created to revolve around the Sun. Turn over to Malachi 4. I want
you to see this. Right now everybody is so worried.
All these folks are worried about global warming. Well, who is
ruling that? Who is ruling the warmth of this
globe? Christ is. And why is the sun,
if the sun gets a little closer, we're going to just be like a
bunch of, we're going to just fry. And it's going to get very
warm in the end when he burns everything up. But why has he
got everybody frightened about that? Because it's to show us
that we ought to be more afraid and more fearful of the S.O.N. Look here at Malachi 4.1. For
behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the
proud, yea, and all that do wickedly... See, this is a matter of righteousness.
We're talking about those outside of Christ. All the proud and
all that do wickedly shall be stubble, and the day that cometh
shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts. Saith the Lord
that controls everything that's ever been made. that it shall
leave them neither root nor branch." So you got men that's worried
about the S-U-N. But you got some men that aren't
worried about the S-U-N because that same S-U-N raises, comes
up every morning in the east and its wings, its beams shine
forth and warm us and give us comfort. And that's to show that
that same S-O-N that's going to burn up men one day when they
stand in judgment arises with healing for us. Look at Malachi
4.2. But unto you that fear my name
shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings
and you shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stone. You
see that? The same SUN that Christ made
that some people's words are going to burn the globe up. Others
of us enjoy it and rejoice in it because we know who controls
that SUN. But that's all to picture the fact that one day men are
going to stand before the S.O.N. and He's going to burn them up.
But you and I are going to arise with Him, with healing and be
complete in Him, the same Son. And then, all things in creation
glorify Christ who made it, either in justice or in grace. That's
why He made it. He said, the Lord has made all
things for Himself, yea, even the wicked, for the day of evil.
He's going to glorify His justice with the wicked. Now, so you
see, this is why the devil would love for everybody to believe
that this world just evolved. Why? Because everything that
was created was created by Christ, for Christ, to glorify Christ.
And if you believe in creation and you behold that, then you'll
glorify Christ. And that's the last thing the
devil wants. So he'd rather have you believe this whole thing
just blew up out of nothing and just evolved out of nothing.
You know, no matter how long something takes to evolve, eventually
it's going to turn into something, right? If a fish is going to
turn into a man, eventually you're going to see it finish its cycle
and it's become a man. Well, it takes nine months for
a baby to be born, but babies are born every second of every
day. So shouldn't we be seeing things turn into men every second
of every day if they're evolving? Sure we should. They should be
coming to the end of their term every second of every day just
like women do. But you don't see that, do you? Because it's
a bunch of bull, that's why. It's not true. Christ created
it to glorify Christ. Everything in creation to glorify
Him. And if you see Him, that's why
Scripture says, when you see Christ, He says, the mountains
and the hills shall break forth before you with singing, and
all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Because you'll
start seeing everything that was made, was made to glorify
Christ. All those illustrations He used,
He made them to glorify Him. So He could use them as illustrations
of Him, those earthly illustrations. He made them for that purpose.
So, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and
power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure
they are and were created. Now secondly, all things that
have come to pass in history from the beginning and all things
that shall come to pass in the future until the end are all
of God. All providences of God. Go to
Romans 11, 36. For of Him, and through Him,
and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. Everything that comes to pass
in time is God working what He eternally purposed when there
was no world. Everything, every day that comes
to pass is God working what He purposed before the world was
ever made. That's what providence is. And
God is bringing everything to pass. Just like good and bad. Let me give you an example. God
created Satan as an angel. And the scripture says God permitted
him to rebel against God. And God cast him out in a third
of the heavenly host. He cast out into the earth. Well,
why did he do that? He did it so that after he had
created Adam and after he had created Eve, He would permit
Satan to enter into the garden and begali so that Adam would
take that forbidden fruit and would die and plunge the whole
world into sin and death. Well, why would He do that? So
that in time, He could send forth the second Adam, Christ the Lord,
and show forth His glory and His righteousness in saving His
people from our sin. All of that was of God. God wasn't
the author of the sin, Satan was. And man was. God simply permitted Satan to
do what he would. And he permitted man to do what
he would. But it all fulfilled the purpose of God. So everything
that's coming to pass since then has been the exact same way.
Doing the exact same thing. It's so that God might manifest
His glory. He said in Isaiah 45.7, I form
the light and I create darkness. I make peace and I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. All things are of God. Now be
sure to understand, there's no one and there's no thing that
God is not all-powerful over. If there was anything that had
more power than God, that thing would be God. That's what makes
God, God, is He's all-powerful over all. And a God that's not
all-powerful is not a God you can worship because He's not
sovereign. You can't worship any God but
a sovereign God. Truly worship, bow down and depend
upon and cast yourself upon His mercy. You can only do that to
a sovereign God who's all-sovereign. God protects sparrows in this
life. Little sparrows. You see a little
sparrow. God protects them. Why? Go to Matthew 10. Why does
he protect a little sparrow in this world? Matthew 10, 29. Does he rule the sparrows just
for the sake of the sparrows? Just like He created everything
to glorify Him, He rules everything to glorify Christ too. Look at
what Christ said right here. Matthew 10, 29. Are not two sparrows
sold for a farthing? That means they are just not
worth anything. Sold for a penny. Two for a penny. And one of them shall not fall
on the ground without your Father. Why? is to teach every believer
that God's protecting you and providing for you in all providence
as He is in all salvation. Look at the next verse. That's
exactly what he said. But the very hairs of your head
are all numbered. Fear ye not, therefore, you're
of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever, therefore, shall confess
me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is
in heaven. He's saying, just like I protect
the sparrows, I'm going to protect my people. So you have nothing
to worry about. Whatever is coming to pass in
Providence is coming to pass for you who believe. It's coming
to pass for His people. God overrules all liars and all
false teachers and all self-described wise men. You know why? To teach
His people the difference between a truth and a lie. He said in
Isaiah 44, 25, if you want to go back there, He said, I'm the
Lord, look at verse 25, I'm the Lord that frustrateth the tokens
of the liars, and maketh diviners mad, that turneth wise men backward,
and maketh their knowledge foolish. And who does He do that before? Who does He make their knowledge
to be foolish unto? His people. He teaches us the
truth. And so you know the truth from
a lie. And He does it to show you that it's not possible that
anyone of His elect shall ever be deceived. That's not possible. So we don't have to worry about
the liars and the false preachers and men are trying to use cunning
to create a following or whatever. God's going to turn them on their
head. And He's going to do it in front of His people to show
His people this is why you don't follow them. He's going to do
that. You don't have to worry about
that. God is sovereign in providence
over men for the direct preservation and protection of His people.
He said in 1 Chronicles 16 31, Let the heavens be glad, let
the earth rejoice, and let men say among the nations, The Lord
reigneth. The Lord reigneth. We don't have
to worry about anything. Whatever Whatever's going to
happen with North Korea and America, which I don't think anything's
going to happen, but whatever happens, God will bring it to
pass, and God will bring it to pass for His people, and it'll
be right, and it'll be for our good, and it'll be for His glory.
You can just bank on that. That's so with everything. Everything
in Providence is of God. Now lastly, let's go to this.
This is the most important. All things are of God in salvation. Now go back there to Isaiah 44,
26. Now watch this. Isaiah 44, 26. And here's why
he said all that that he said before. He says here, I'm the
Lord that confirmeth the word of His servant and performeth
the counsel of His messengers. Now you hear that? I'm here today
as the servant of the Lord preaching the gospel to you. And he says,
I'm the one that's going to confirm the word of my servant. And not
only that, I'm here telling you about the counsel of God. I'm
here to tell you what Christ did, what he accomplished. And
he said, I'm the one that performs that counsel. I'm going to confirm
the word that my preacher preaches and I'm going to perform the
counsel that he's preaching. I'm going to do the work that
he declared. So in the context, next time we come to 2 Corinthians
5, go back there with me. Let me show you what we're going
to see. He said there in Isaiah 44, he
said to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited. To the cities of
Judah you shall be built. I'll raise up the decayed places
thereof. He's talking about salvation.
We were decayed, we were fallen because of sin. We sinned in
Adam. And when you sin, you became
the enemy of God. You take a little child who doesn't
appear, he doesn't do the things that the old hardened sinner
does, that vocally tells you how he hates God, rages against
God. A little child doesn't do that.
But his heart is enmity against God just the same as the old
man is. So how is one of God's children going to be brought
into reconciliation with God and friendship with God? How
is that going to happen? 2 Corinthians 5.17, If any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new, and all things are of God. who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation."
I'm here preaching the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, here's
my gospel. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself. And you define the world there
by what God did. He reconciled everybody he came
to reconcile. Now are all men friends with
God? Are all men at peace with God?
No. So that word world doesn't mean
everybody. That word world there is used
because he just got through saying we don't judge any man after
the flesh anymore. It's not Jew anymore, just the
Jews anymore. This message is to Jew and Gentile,
to God's elect all over the world. So he said, God came to reconcile
the world unto himself and he did that. Watch. Not imputing
their trespasses unto them. Verse 21. Because he hath made
Christ sin for us. Wouldn't that have been a good
place to use the word imputed since he just used it? We're
going to look at that in depth. Why he didn't use the word imputed
in verse 21. But he said he made him sin for
us. who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. And because we're
made the righteousness of God in Him, that's why God won't
impute sin to us. There's none to impute. God only
imputes what's there, what justly can be imputed. And He doesn't
impute sin to His people because Christ put it away. You see,
in our redemption from the curse of the law, all things are of
God. In making Christ sin for us and
making us the righteousness of God in Christ, all things are
of God. In reconciling us to himself
through the death of Christ, all things are of God. In sending
his minister with this ministry, declaring this message to his
lost sheep and calling them out and making them to see this truth,
all things are of God. In our regeneration, making us
new creations, making us a new creation, all things are of God.
In making all the old things and all the old confidence that
we had pass away and make all things become new, that's all
of God. So, this is why every true believer
is taught of God in truth and this is what we confess. This
is what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 8. He said to us, Speaking of
believers, to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom
are all things, and we in Him. And one Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom are all things, and we by Him. You see, everything is of
God. Why did He create this world?
Because He's going to create you. You who know Him, you who
are His. Why did He create you? and protect
you and work everything in providence for you because He was going
to reveal to you that He's done everything to save you. And why
has He brought that knowledge to you and taught you that He
saved you? So you'll glory in Him and say, to us there is but
one God and Father from whom are all things. And there's one
Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things. And we're in Him.
We're in Him. And that's our message. John
answered and he said, A man can receive nothing except it be
given him from above. That means all things. You know,
and all these things we're talking about here are given to us through
Christ alone. Christ said, All things are delivered
unto me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son but
the Father, and neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal it. Christ is the
one who is going to reveal this to us. And then you think about
your graces that you have and your gifts that you have and
somebody will say, well, what about that? Where did they come
from? Well, the scripture says every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down
from the Father of lights with whom is no variable and is neither
shadow of turning. What about all the different Operations and all the different
ways men are serving the Lord and some do so greatly and some
do so lesser, whatever. What about all that? There are
diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh
all in all. All those are of God. So, since
all things in creation And all things in providence and all
things in salvation are of God. You know what that means? That
means nothing in creation, nothing in providence and nothing in
salvation is of us. Nothing. Well, I built this business
and I built this empire. No, you didn't. You wouldn't
have done it unless God wanted it to be done. It's of God. You couldn't bat your eye or
take your next breath if it wasn't of God. So just quit boasting. Everything is of God. Everything. Turn to Psalm 115. This is what
we say right here. This is our message. This is our confidence. This
is where we stand right here. Psalm 115. I want to read 15
verses to you right here. And this is the end of the message,
Psalm 115. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth's
sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, Where is now their God? but our God's in the heavens.
He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. Their idols are silver
and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear not. Noses have they, but
they smell not. They have hands, but they handle
not. They have feet, but they walk not. Neither speak they
through their throat. They that make them are like
unto them. And so is everyone that trusteth
in them. O Israel, that's you who believe. O Israel, trust thou in the Lord,
because He's their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, that's
you who believe. Trust in the Lord. He's their
help and their shield. Ye that fear the Lord, trust
in the Lord. He's their help and their shield.
The Lord hath been mindful of us. He will bless us. He will
bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron.
He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.
The Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children.
You are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth. Aren't you glad all things are
of God? You can lay down under that shade tree and just rest,
can't you? Let's stand together. Father, we thank you that all
things are of you. Lord, that eases our troubled
minds and that eases our worries and gives us full assurance.
And we can rest in you, trust you, bow to you, and know you're
going to do everything you promised for us. Lord, make us do that
now. Make us take this word, bless
it to our heart. Make us truly trust you. Make
us see what you've done, what you are doing, what you shall
do. Make us see it's for your glory and for the good of your
people. And make us rest in our Lord Jesus. These things we ask
in his name. Amen.