Nov 27, 2022
THIS IS MY FATHER'S WORLD
Sovereignty
… the notion that God is King over His creation and that, as King, He has the right to rule over it.
Providence
… the outworking of God's sovereignty, by which He sustains His creation and governs the events of history and of our lives to bring about His intended purposes.
Heidelberg Catechism – question # 27
Question: What do you understand by the providence of God?
Answer: Providence is the almighty and ever-present power of God, by which he upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty - all things, in fact - come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand.
Extent of God's sovereign providence
. . . physical creation - Psa 104:14; Mt 6:30; Mk 4:35-41; Acts 14:17
. . . animal world - Psa 104:21,28; Mt 6:26; 10:29; Acts 17:25
. . . nations – Psa 22:28; Dan 2:21; 4:25,32; Isa 5:26-30; Acts 17:26; Rom 13:1
. . . individuals (including birth, death, suffering, salvation) - Deut 32:39; 1 Sam 2:6,7; Prov 16:9; Psa 139:16; Ecc 7:14;
Job 42:11; Rom 9:15,16; Eph 1:3-6
. . . will of people - Exod 12:36; Deut 11:25; Ezra 6:22; 7:27; Prov 21:1; Phil 2:13
. . . sinful acts of people (though God does not induce people to sin, He, nevertheless, has designed that their sinful acts bring about His ultimate purposes) - Gen 50:20; Exod 14:4; Isa 10:5-7: Acts 2;22,23; 4:27,28; Rev 17:14-17
. . . general statement about God's providence extending to all things - Rom 8:28; Eph 1:11