The unfolding of the Gospel and
the centrality of Christ in that Gospel are part and parcel of
the whole Bible from the beginning of Genesis unto the consummation
of the ages as revealed in the Revelation. To try and decipher the truth
as it is set forth in the scriptures without an emphasis upon the
work of Christ is to strive about words to no profit, subverting
the hearers thereby. Much learning does indeed make
religious men mad as they center their thoughts upon the works
and ways of men, attempting to encourage and enable men to keep
the law and perform righteous deeds of one type or another.
or proposing that they shall gain favor with the Lord by the
actions of their supposed free will, producing partial obedience
at best. Those who have eyes to behold
the unsearchable riches of Christ take great delight in the exaltation
of His person and rejoice in a consideration of that work
which He alone has performed in the behalf of those whom He
loves and does presently perform as He works in them both to will
and to do of His good pleasure. They can find no comfort nor
take any rest in the activity of their sinful flesh, but gladly
confess that unless the Lord builds the house, they labor
in vain who build it. One truth which seems incontrovertible
to us, and upon which all expectation of our future existence and or
blessing rests, is that of a God who is in absolute control of
all events and persons, past, present, and future. The Bible
describes the one true and living God as just such a one. He does
not exist because we believe he does, nor because the Bible
says he does, but rather because he is the beginning and the end,
the great I Am. David described him in contrast
to the gods of man's imagination like this, but our God is in
the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. We worship one God who has revealed
himself to men in the person of Jesus Christ. It is impossible
for any man to know him apart from a knowledge of Jesus Christ,
and if any man has, by his grace, gained an understanding of God,
it is through the revelation of Christ. The Lord Jesus set
forth this truth when he told the Pharisees, Ye neither know
me, nor my Father. If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also. Thus he thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, because he is God, beside whom there
is none else. As we consider the incontrovertible
truth of an absolutely sovereign God who rules in the army of
heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, then we must admit
that all things which transpire in the earth or the heavens take
place according to His determined purpose. The true glory of the
predestination of all things by His hand and according to
His purpose is put on the most glorious display when we are
given grace to behold His determined purpose of sending Jesus Christ,
the only begotten Son of God, into this world to suffer, bleed,
and die for His elect bride who was chosen in Him from before
the foundation of the world. It seems quite plain that the
actions of the wicked men who crucified the Lord were as much
ordained of God as was the time and place of His birth in the
stable in Bethlehem, even in the same fashion as the activity
of Judas, whose foul deeds were predestined to occur, in order
that the Lord might be delivered into the hands of His accusers.
There can be no doubt that he who determined that his people
would be redeemed also determined the means and process by which
that purpose would be fulfilled. We are made to fall down and
worship him, for it is by this means that he became both just
and the justifier of his people. If He determined that He would
save His people from their sins, then it must be true that He
did indeed have a people, unless we are to believe that He did
not determine that His redemption would be successful. Yes, indeed,
the Son of Man goeth as it was determined, and He alone is the
salvation of His people, as He has gotten the victory for them
by His own hand. Who can prevent His determined
purpose, or who should question His doing? If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at 4the4 at windstream.net.