Westminster Shorter Catechism Lecture Notes: Question 11 What is the providence of God?
11Q: What is God’s providence?
Answer: God’s work of providence is to use His supreme holiness, wisdom, and power to protect and manage all things He created and all their actions.
It can be seen that, like creation, care is also an active act of God, but it is a continuous work immediately after creation. It can be seen from this definition that nursing mainly includes two levels of content, namely conservation and management.
God created all things, but all things cannot exist on their own. To continue to exist, they cannot do without God’s protection. Moreover, God’s creation and preservation are accomplished through Christ. When Paul talks about Christ, he emphasizes that not only “all things were created by him” (Colossians 1:16), but “by him also all things stand” (Colossians 1:17). Therefore, the so-called preservation of providence means that God through Christ maintains and sustains creation and ensures its continued existence. If for any moment God withdraws His wisdom and power, all creation will turn into nothingness and cease to exist.
According to Jonathan Edwards, the existence of each moment of creation does not depend on its previous existence, so its existence can be regarded as God’s continuous new creation. In other words, the previous existence of a creature does not constitute a causal relationship with its current existence. Because the previous time no longer exists, the creation in time no longer exists, and the existence of the creation at this moment has nothing to do with itself, but entirely depends on God's determination to maintain the same existence as before.
In addition to preserving the existence of creation, God also gives creation the means of existence and movement. Paul once said to the Athenians: “In Him our life, our movements, and our existence depend.” (Acts 17:28) Not only the survival of creation, but also its movements also depend on God’s protection. The so-called action here not only refers to the physical movement of creation, but also includes the operation of human reason and will. Because “the king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the waters of a ditch, which he turns wherever he pleases” (Proverbs 21:1). The human heart is similar to running water, both are under the protection of God. This kind of conservatism can be called cooperation.
Cooperation means that although creatures move on their own according to their nature, they are not independent of God’s providence and require providence to produce movement. God is the primary cause of motion, and creatures cooperate with him through secondary causes. However, secondary causes are not completely independent, and God's power even extends to all secondary causes. In this type of cooperation, people's actions, whether good or evil, are not outside care, but are based on people's own decisions, and people need to be responsible for their actions.
The governing aspect of providence means that God manages and directs all things to accomplish His will. This kind of providence not only means that God governs all creation, but also means that God has control over good, evil, blessing, and the outcome of all events. Therefore, sin and suffering are also under God's control, otherwise something would be outside of God's providence. Even so, the root of sin is not God, but corrupt mankind. God will allow people to sin and will use their sins to carry out His righteous judgments, but God never forces people to sin. God will manage and guide man's will, and will also use circumstances or events to influence man, but what man does is still his own decision.
No matter what man’s behavior is, God is always in control of everything and accomplishes His will holyly to His own glory. Therefore, after experiencing the persecution of his brothers, Joseph understood the wonder of God’s providence and knew that “in the past, you meant to harm me. But God’s intention was good, to preserve the lives of many people and achieve today’s situation” ( Genesis 50:20).
If we believe in God's providence, we will understand why the idea of ??man's free will, from Pelagianism to Arminianism, is wrong. For providence shows that human reason and will are not independent and cannot function independently of God. But Scripture also makes it clear that God's providence and man's responsibility are equally real. It is undeniable that nursing does have mysteries that people cannot understand. The Lord says: “My ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9) God is God, and He does not need to report to others how to provide for Him. Moreover, human wisdom cannot bear God’s answer. Christians read the Bible and learn about God through His Word, and they also learn about God through His deeds. However, we must view God’s actions through the lens of His Word. Because God is willing to condescend to people, humble them under His words, and recognize His providence through His words. To truly understand God's providence, faith is more important than reason and experience.
Providence allows people to see that God’s hand is omnipresent. Man should fulfill his duty as a creature without worrying about things beyond his status as a creature. The world is not controlled by blind fate, nor is it governed by impersonal laws. Everything we experience is neither accidental nor taken for granted, but is the divine providence of Almighty God out of His sovereignty and for His own glory.
As creatures, only by believing in God’s providence can we, like Paul, be convinced that nothing “can separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8:39).
Only by believing in this way can we have perseverance in adversity and be grateful for everything. Suffering is the ultimate reality if it is not within God's providence. When people are hit by suffering, they will inevitably lose hope and may even make suffering an idol. Once you stand firm in suffering, you will think that you have won by your own strength without thinking about gratitude, which will only increase your pride.
The idea most closely related to nursing is deism. Deists acknowledge God's creation but deny true providence, believing that creation does not depend on God for its existence and actions. In this way, God becomes a dispensable abstract symbol for existing creation. After that, people easily abandon this symbol and instead look for objects of worship in creation, and even equate creation with God. Therefore, deism coupled with man's tendency to worship idols will also bring about the consequences of pantheism. The British philosopher John Toland is a typical example. His early work "Christianity is Not Mysterious" was a deistic work, but in his later years he wrote "Essentials of Pantheism".
Of course, not all deists reject the idea of ??care, and some may even accept supernatural care. The biggest problem with deism is that it relies too much on reason, so that reason is juxtaposed with revelation, and reason is even considered higher than revelation. Under this conception, providence is no longer an act of God's sovereignty but the operation of rational principles.
The concept of nursing profoundly affects people’s understanding of the world. In the face of God's providence, we must be humble and acknowledge the limitations of human knowledge
Scripture: Psalm 103:19, 145:17; Proverbs 16:9; Isaiah 28:29; Matthew 6:26, 10:29; Hebrews 1:3
Questions for discussion:
1. What is “God’s providence”? How does this relate to the “work of creation”?
God’s providence means that God uses His supreme sovereignty and power to protect, maintain, manage, and rule over everything He created, including mankind. In other words, everything that happens in this world, past, present, and future into eternity, is a manifestation of God’s sovereign will. Through His providence, God intervenes and guides the entire human race and history at all times toward the end He determined in the beginning.
In a sense, care is a continuation of creation. This does not mean that God’s creation is incomplete or has any flaws, so that He needs to continue to create to realize the perfection of creation; rather, it means that both creation and providence fully reflect God’s care for His creation. All things have supreme and absolute sovereignty. He created all things with His words (Holy Word), and He also upholds all things with His words (Holy Word). God not only creates (beginning), He also provides for (continues) and makes all things move toward the end (fulfillment) that He has determined. For man and the entire creation, God’s creation and providence embody the complete process of us and the universe in God’s will: creation, fall (for man and the entire creation), redemption, and perfection (glory). God's redemption of us and the universe can be included within the scope of his providence.
2. God’s providence is His protection and control of all things. What is its purpose? (Romans 8:28, 11:36)
From the perspective of the church, God causes all things to work together for the good of his chosen people (the invisible church who lives within the visible church), that is, All those who are called according to His sovereign purpose are reborn and saved in His appointed time and circumstances so that they can be incorporated into the eternal kingdom of His beloved Son, Christ. God has the absolute authority and ability to do this, because all things originate from Him (come from Him), depend on Him (exist by Him), and belong to Him (go to Him). This enables the existence of all things. and the calling and redemption of the church can glorify his holy name.
3. God preserves and cares for all things he created. What does this mean? (Psalm 91:5; Hebrews 1:3; Acts 17:28-29; Nehemiah 9:6; Colossians 1:17)
From these verses we can see that God’s preservation and care for all things are as follows: Characteristics in several aspects:
① He protects the lives of His chosen people from disasters;
② He uses His powerful words to maintain and support the entire universe and all things. ;
③Human beings live, act, and obtain the essence of existence in God’s (providence);
④The Son (the Word of God) exists before all things, and all things exist Everything is connected in Him and becomes one, without being broken up.
4. God governs all things. What does this mean? (Psalm 46:1-3, 91:7)
The more accurate translation of Govern should be to rule or dominate. This word well indicates God’s supreme and absolute ruling authority over all things. Everything he created is under his absolute sovereignty, including all believers and unbelievers. There is no part of the entire creation that is not under the absolute control of God.
5. What is "nature"? Please give an example from the Bible: God is completely in charge of natural things (Matthew 5:45; Psalm 104:14; Job 37:10-13).
Nature in the broad sense can refer to the entire created world, or the universe; nature in the narrow sense can refer to the world in which we humans live.
The scriptures explain to us that everything that happens, whether it is the entire universe or the world we live in, reflects God’s sovereign will.
6. What are “national affairs”? Please give an example from the Bible: God controls the affairs of the human kingdom (Dan. 2:21, 4:25; Acts 17:26).
National events refer to the rise and fall of all regimes in human history. From the above scriptures we can clearly see that the Most High reigns in the kingdom of man. He deposes kings and establishes kings according to the times and dates he has determined. He gives political power to those whom he has defined to be in charge. Therefore, politics is also a manifestation of God’s sovereign will.
7. What are “little personal matters”? Please give examples from the Bible: God controls everyone’s experiences, thoughts, and actions in the world (1 Sam. 2:6-8; Prov. 16:1; Phil. 2:13 ; Psalm 76:10).
The above scriptures clearly point out that everyone’s situation, thoughts, and actions are also controlled by God, and there are no accidents or accidents.
8. Some people think that God only cares about big things and not about small things. What is the reason for this explanation? Is it biblical? (Proverbs 16:33, 21:1; Matthew 6:25-34)
Such an explanation is not in line with the teachings of the Bible, because the Bible clearly reveals that everything, regardless of "big national affairs" or "small personal matters," They are all under the control and control of God, and everything that happens is within His will.
9. Is there anything “accidental” or “natural” about how everything happens? (1 Kings 22:1-38; Esther)
Nothing happens “by chance” or “naturally”; everything happens because of God’s will. Whatever God wills, He will do. The words accident and nature do not exist in the Christian dictionary because such concepts are directly contrary to our faith.
10. What is the significance of the biblical teaching of “God’s providence” to Christians? Does it bring patience and comfort and living hope to you? Please share. (Romans 8:28-30, 15:4)
How deep! God’s riches of wisdom and knowledge. How unpredictable is his judgment! How difficult it is to find him! ” (Romans 11:33) Creatures cannot transcend their own position and discern all the mysteries of God’s providence. They can only carefully obey God’s commands and believe that His promises will be fulfilled. Then, the concept of providence will not add to us. doubts, but brings us comfort and joy.