God's Eternal Decree - Part 1

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We come to a subject tonight that is life-transforming – if this is something that you have never considered or studied before, I can promise you that if you will reflect and meditate on what we study together tonight, it will absolutely transform your approach to life, to the decisions that you make, to understanding God's providence in your life, etc. – and that is the issue of God's eternal decree. Whenever I'm away on a trip, something invariably goes wrong at the house – I don't know if you men have that experience or those of you who travel have any experience like that. The last time I was in Russia, our new refrigerator sprouted a leak from the ice maker and started spreading all over the downstairs. Of course, I was unreachable – my wife had to resolve this problem on her own. This time it was a simpler problem; it was just the coffee pot. So, after I got back, I bought a new one and I did what every self-respecting male would do – I ignored the instructions and set it up; I mean, after all, how much trouble can you get into when there are only four or five parts and you've seen and used similar parts before, and it worked fine? Most of you might have been tempted to skip the directions in that case as well, but what if you were compiling something more complicated, if you were assembling something more complicated? For example, last year I purchased for my children one of those toy structures at Costco – you know, the things that have the slides and the swings and the climbing bars and all of that – and, you know, even real men might start by at least looking at the directions, at least at a picture, so you know where you're going. But what if you were called to construct something that had millions or billions of parts? Say, for example, you were asked to assemble the Space Shuttle – you would be compelled to have a set of plans and to work according to those detailed plans. The more complex the structure or the goal, the more essential plans are – we understand that.

That brings us to the issue of God and His activity. No one would deny that God acts in the world, nor would any thinking person deny that God has acted an infinite number of times, and in an infinite number of ways – so, it follows logically that God must have a plan, and He must have started with a plan that included very specific goals and very specific ends to achieve those goals. That is exactly what the scripture teaches, as we'll see tonight. Theologians call that plan the eternal decree, and that's what we study tonight. Let's begin, as we always do in these issues, with a definition, so we can kind of think our way through the issue – and, by the way, I think we're not going to be able to finish this tonight with the other things that we needed to include. So, we're going to take our time – we'll go as far as we go tonight, and we'll finish it up in the coming weeks, because this is absolutely foundational to understand.

What do we mean when we describe this issue, or we talk about this issue, of God's eternal decree? Well, let me give you several different definitions from several different sources – you'll see some similarities, and I'll help you draw those similarities when we're done looking at these definitions. First of all, the most famous one that's cited in all the theology books, basically any theology book you pick up, it will cite the Westminster Shorter Catechism, question number 7. You'll remember that the Westminster Divines, as they're called – the Westminster spiritual leaders – came together at that period of time, and they composed a confession which was basically a doctrinal standard against which people were to be measured. We would agree with much of what's there, but not all of it. They also constructed a larger catechism; that is, a longer catechism that was used in certain applications, and then a shorter catechism; that is, one where the questions were more condensed for children, and for those who are younger. The Shorter Catechism, question number 7, asks about this issue of the eternal decree, and this is the answer: "The decrees of God are His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby for His own glory He hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass." F.H. Klooster, in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, defines it this way: it is "a theological term for the comprehensive plan for the world and its history, which God sovereignly established in eternity." Louis Berkhof, in his Systematic Theology, says "God has sovereignly determined from all eternity whatsoever will come to pass, and works His sovereign will in His entire creation, both natural and spiritual, according to that predetermined plan." Wayne Grudem, a more contemporary theologian, writes "the eternal plans of God, whereby, before the creation of the world, He determined to bring about everything that happens."

The most comprehensive expression of the eternal decree is in the longer Westminster Confession of Faith, and this is what it says – let me work this through with you briefly; we're not going to look at all of these passages but let me just give you the flow of this. "God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet, so as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established." That second part there is talking about the fact that we really act – it's not that we're robots carrying out some divine plan; it's saying that God established His plan, and it will be done, but He established, as part of that plan, that the means for accomplishing that plan would be our free decisions, as well as second causes; that is, He establishes, for example, by His eternal plan – we sing that song "O Worship the King," and it says that storms arise by order from God's throne, and that's true – but they arise by order of His throne through secondary causes. God has put in place the hydrological system whereby the sun beams down on the earth and water is absorbed up into the clouds, and there's a process that He's put in place. He is still superintending and controlling that process, so there is not a single storm that occurs outside of His control or outside of a place He controls, but He does so through the use of secondary causes, and that is the cycles and processes that He's put in place – that's what the confession is saying here. It goes on to say this: "Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions" – you'll remember that famous example where David says, Lord, if I go down, are they going to turn me over to Saul, and God says, yes they will, if you go down – He knows what might happen, yet He didn't decree anything because He foresaw it as future or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions. In other words, God's decisions, as we'll see in a few minutes, were made not because of what He saw might happen, but because of what He determined would happen.

So now, let's take a look at what these definitions have in common – let me just back you up to the previous page. Take a look at these definitions, and of course, it would be true of the longer one we just looked at as well – notice what they have in common. First of all, when we talk about God's eternal decrees, we're talking about God's decisions about what would happen. Secondly, we're talking about something that happened before creation in eternity past. Let me boggle your mind here a moment; God isn't making any decisions today. He doesn't have to – He made them in eternity past as part of a comprehensive plan. So, God made decisions; He made them before creation, and He made them – and this is key – about absolutely everything that would happen in the created world. That is God's eternal decree. John Frame, in his book on the Doctrine of God, says "The decree is God's purpose in eternity – creation, providence and redemption are the execution of that decree in time." God made a plan in the past, and He created, and He rules His world, and He redeems men, as the execution of that plan He made in eternity past. Jonathan Edwards writes to those who are troubled about this – he says, "whether God has decreed all things that ever come to pass or not, all that own the being of a God" – all those who believe there is a God – "believe that He knows all things beforehand." Now, it's self-evident that if He knows all things beforehand, He either approves of them or does not approve of them; that is, He is either willing that they should be, or He is not willing that they should be – but to will that they should be is to decree them." The eternal decree outlines one aspect of the will of God in scripture – God's sovereign will. We touched on this before, but let me illustrate it for you this way – when we talk about God's will in scripture, we're talking about two different things. First of all, we're talking about what we could refer to as God's moral will, what theologians call His will of precept or command. When we speak about God's will of precept or God's moral will, we're talking about the commands and laws that God lays down for His creatures which demand our obedience, but which we often disobey. Is God's preceptive or moral will absolutely, perfectly obeyed? No, of course not – you see that in your own life; you haven't perfectly obeyed God's moral will, you haven't perfectly obeyed the precepts that are laid down in the word of God. But there's another aspect of God's will, and that is God's sovereign will – theologians call it His will of decree; that's what we're talking about tonight. This is the eternal, unchangeable and immutable plan of God, which is always carried out in human history. God's precepts are not always obeyed, His will of precept is not always carried out, but His will of decree always, always, always is. It includes everything that happens, and we'll note it later, even men's sin is included in God's plan, although He's not the author of it.

Now some people look at this and say, well, you know, is there anything like this in our experience? Well, there really is – we understand what it is to experience these two kinds of wills; we can will and carry out something that is painful and that we do not desire, in order to bring about a result that we desire even more. Take, for example, inoculations – let's say that you're walking down the street in your neighborhood this week, and a dog comes up, looks friendly at first, and then all of a sudden, he comes up behind your leg and he nips at your leg and actually breaks the skin and draws blood. And you look closer, and you realize that this dog has problems, and your immediate suspicion is that this dog has rabies, so you're concerned. So, you try to corral the dog and you go to the doctor and the doctor says, well, you weren't able to get the dog, so we don't know whether the dog has rabies or not. So, you have two choices – you can face the very real possibility that you're going to get rabies, or you can take a very painful series of inoculations – they used to be administered in the stomach; I'm not sure if that's still true or not – for the prevention of rabies. Now, do you really desire to have shots in your stomach? Of course not, but your greater desire is to go ahead and suffer that pain to overcome what you really don't desire – to accomplish the greater desire of avoiding a very serious and even life-threatening illness. It works the same way with God – does God really desire that His moral will, that His precepts be violated? Of course not – but is God willing to allow that to happen for a greater good, to accomplish something that He desires even more? The answer is absolutely, and that's what the scriptures teach.

Now, what's the ultimate purpose of the divine decree? Well, in God's providence, we looked at it this morning – it's the glory of God. We saw it both in creation, we saw it in election or redemption – essentially, God does what He does; He has a plan in place for His own glory. We saw that even in the definitions that I read for you tonight – the decrees of God, the Westminster Shorter Catechism says, are "for His own glory;" Berkhof writes, "for His own glory." Grudem alludes to it – although he doesn't mention it; he does in his theology, he doesn't in his definition – alludes to the fact that it's for the glory of God, that this is the ultimate purpose. The Westminster Confession is very clear on that as well – this is the reason God came up with a plan, and He works to execute that plan.

Now, let's look at the biblical defense; the biblical arguments – does this really exist; did God, in eternity past, determine everything that would ever come to pass? Now, stay with me, because we're going to look at these biblical arguments, and then we're going to go into the characteristics of this decree; and that's where we get into some of the specifics – so hang tight with me, if you would. Does the Bible teach this? Well, first of all, there are a number of places where we could look at individual examples of how God determined how specific things would come out, but let me give you some overarching scriptures that teach this point. First of all, Psalm 103:19 – "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all." There is absolutely nothing in His universe that is out from under His control – as R.C. Sproul likes to say, "There is not a stray molecule in God's universe, because if there were, it could eventually be the undoing of God. God is sovereign over all." Psalm 115:3 – "Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases." Daniel 4 – you remember Nebuchadnezzar comes to the end of himself, and after those seven years of insanity roaming around like an animal, he lifts up his eyes and he says, "All the inhabitants of the Earth are accounted as nothing" before the true God, "but He does according to His will in the host of heaven, and among the inhabitants of earth" – do you see that? God is over the angels of heaven and He's over the inhabitants of earth. "And no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'what have you done?'" God is in charge – He's in charge of individuals, individual beings, both angelic and human.

Turn to Isaiah 44 – in Isaiah 44, we see that God cites the reality of the eternal decree as the crucial distinction between Himself, the true God, and idols. God makes this the point – notice Isaiah 44:6; "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and His redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first and I am the last." There's nothing before Me and there's nothing after Me. "There is no God besides Me. Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; yes, let him recount it to Me in order, from the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming, and the events that are going to take place." Now, notice the change here – God is saying, okay, you want to compare a god with Me? Then let them tell you what's coming, let them tell you what's going to happen, let them explain the future to you. "Do not tremble and do not be afraid; have I not long since announced it to you and declared it?" God says, listen, you want to compare Me with false gods? Not only do they not even exist – but let Me tell you what distinguishes Me as the true, the living God, the only God; it's that I am the one who declares what's coming; I have a plan, and I am working that plan, and you can count on it. "You are my witnesses," He says in verse 8 – "is there any God besides Me?" Have you heard anybody truly predicting the future and carrying it out, who has a plan they're executing, in human history? "Or is there any other rock? I know of none." He goes on to describe the folly of idolatry. I get worked up about this, because this is a contemporary debate that's going on in scholarly circles – there are a group of men who have wavered from orthodoxy and have embraced what is called openness theism. Essentially, openness theism says God doesn't even know the future – oh, He's wiser than we are, so He can predict it a little better just by guessing – but He doesn't know it, much less has He planned it. But God says this is what distinguishes Me as the true, the living God, is that I have determined what will come, what will happen.

Isaiah 46 says, "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from the ancient times things which have not been done, saying, 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.'" God says, I have a purpose and it's going to happen, and I will accomplish everything I am pleased to accomplish, "calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country." So, listen – whatever it entails, I will accomplish it. "Truly I have spoken, truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it; surely I will do it." God wants us to know that He isn't twiddling His thumbs in the heavens, wondering what He's going to do next – God has an eternal, comprehensive plan that He is working out in time. Acts 2:23 – Peter, speaking on the day of Pentecost, describes Christ; he says, "This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God." The cross wasn't an accident; it wasn't the confluence of political turmoil and intrigue, as some liberal authors have written – it was the predetermined plan of God; it was part of the eternal decree. Romans 8:28, the verse we cite all the time: "God causes all things" – notice the comprehensive expression of that. Listen, folks, that is comprehensive by intention. There's no better way to say it in the Greek text than this. There's absolutely nothing that God doesn't cause "to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." God has a plan for His people, and it's a plan for good – whatever comes into your life falls within the context of this verse.

Romans 11:36 – we touched on it this morning. "For from God," that is, God is the source of all things, the Author, the Originator, the Creator; "and through Him," that is, by His energy, by His sustaining, by His strength, all things continue to exist; "and to Him," that is, all things find their ultimate eternal purpose in Him, in returning back to Him; "to Him be the glory forever, Amen." You see in this verse that comprehensive plan God set out to create – as the source of all things, He sustains all things, and the end He has in mind is Himself, His own glory. 1 Corinthians 15:27 – God the Father "has put all things in subjection under" the feet of Christ. But when He says all things are put in subjection, it's evident that He's excepted; that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to. In other words, God's the only exception; God the Father is the only exception here – everything else in the universe is in subjection to Jesus Christ, and some day He'll make that very obvious. It's true today, and someday it will be obvious to all, and every knee will bow. Ephesians 3:11 – "This was in accordance," speaking of the church and God's wisdom in creating the church, he says, "This was in accordance with the eternal purpose God had which He carried out in Jesus our Lord." You see that behind everything that happens in human history is the eternal purpose of God?

Turn to Ephesians 1 – this is really the crowning text of this truth. It begins, of course, in verse 3, with the reminder that we enjoy every spiritual blessing we enjoy in Christ, and he goes through this passage, and you'll see this expression over and over again, "in Him," "in Christ," because every spiritual blessing that's ours occurs only because we are united to, we are in union with, Jesus Christ. You know, that's a truth that, at some point, we're going to take an entire message to look at; it really deserves an entire series because that is an expression that permeates the New Testament – everything that we are, everything that we're able to do, everything that will be ours in eternity comes to us because we are intimately connected to, we are united to, in a way that we can't even fully understand, Jesus Christ – and all these blessings flow to us in Christ. But notice, when he gets down to verse 9, he begins to tell us something about this plan that God has. He begins in verse 8, "in all wisdom and insight, God made known to us the mystery of His will." Now, in biblical terms, a mystery is something that in the past hasn't been known, but now has been revealed by God – so, this mystery used to be unclear, but now it's made clear by revelation; what is it? It's the mystery of His will – and notice that it's "according to His kind intention, which He purposed in Christ." Notice all the words that talk about will and decision and purpose, about planning – God has a plan. It's according to His intention, which He purposed in Christ – what was that purpose? Verse 10 – well, it was this: It was "with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of times" – and here it is. He says when the time was right, when the fullness of time had come, and God believed the time was right, He wants – and here's His purpose – to "sum up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth." In other words, He wants to bring everything in clear, open, obvious subjection to Jesus Christ, and He wants Him, as he says in Colossians, to come – what? "To have first place in everything" – that's God's plan. And notice – he goes on to say in the end of verse 10, "in Christ also, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose" – there again he comes back to this concept of God having a purpose, God having a plan. But notice then how he describes God, this comprehensive description – he says we've been predestined according to God's purpose. And let me tell you who it is that's made this decision, that's made this plan, this purpose – it's the one who works all things after the counsel of His will. Underline that phrase – that is a description of the God of the Bible; He is the one who works all things – that's comprehensive; there is nothing outside of this. He works all things after the counsel of His will – in other words, God has made the final decision about everything – couldn't be stronger.

When you look at the context of scripture – we've just looked at the general references; if we had the time, and we're desiring to take the time, we could go and look at literally hundreds of texts that show how God is in control of various aspects of life on earth from the beginning of creation until eternity and into eternity. From the hairs of your head to the flight of a sparrow – you're familiar with those texts – God is in charge. God is in charge, but not only is He sort of making the call on the fly, as it were, pardon the pun – not only is He making the call on the fly, He's not making the call on the fly; He made the decision in eternity past. He determined in eternity past everything that would ever come to pass.

Now, we're going to look at some characteristics, and then stay with me, because we're going to look at some objections – we may not get to them tonight; we'll get to them the next time we look at this. I know some of you are sitting there, thinking, well, wait a minute – well, you know, how does this interact with the decisions I make and what about the free will of man and what about God's connection to sin, then? We're going to look at those things, so be patient, all right? We'll get there – but let's look first at the characteristics of the eternal decree. I said, let's look first – isn't that interesting? There you go. It's providential – the computer has rebelled; not a stray molecule, remember. All right – we'll take a couple of these without our little PowerPoint here, and I think I'm supposed to get a new computer coming up here, so we'll consider it done. The characteristics of God's decree – first of all, the first characteristic is that it is a unit, that it is one. When you think of God's decree or plan, think of it as a decree, as everything as one decree, or one plan, rather than decrees or plans. There are no series of decrees in what God decided, or series of decisions, but simply one comprehensive plan embracing all that comes to pass. God made a plan – one plan – and it encompasses everything that will ever happen in the universe. And that brings us to the second characteristic, and that is that it is comprehensive – this is the key to understand. God's plan, made in eternity past, that governed the world, is absolutely comprehensive. Did you see that expression in Ephesians 1, "all things?" There is not a single thing that happens in your life, not a smallest fraction of an event, that is outside the eternal decree of God; it is comprehensive. I don't want to trivialize it, but there is literally nothing, from whether or not you make that stoplight on the way home, to the largest decisions that you will make in life, to the fall and rise of empires, that is outside the plan, the eternal plan of God.

As I said, we'll talk next week, Lord willing, or the next time we deal with this, about how that relates to our decisions, remember? Let's go back to our definition – God not only determined what the ends would be, but He determined to use means to get to those ends. He determined to use our decisions, He determined to use the systems He's put in place in the world, He determined even to use sin, although He did not originate it, to accomplish His comprehensive plan. You see, when we talk about God's eternal decree being comprehensive, we're saying that it embraces both God's actions; that is, God's actions, and the actions of every created thing in the universe, including the actions of His free creatures. It relates to all events, to all the details of our lives, through the free righteous actions and decisions of men, to the free wicked acts and decisions of men, to accidental and insignificant things. It includes the means as well as the ends God will use, and it comprehends absolutely everything in heaven and on earth – it is comprehensive.

Let me bring our discussion tonight to a close by giving you one very clear application of this truth. If you understand that God, in eternity past, made a decision about everything that would ever happen in your life, what comfort and what encouragement that is – there are no accidents; there are no events that surprise God. It should encourage us to remain calm in the midst of the most troubling circumstances. Let me take you to my two favorite illustrations of this reality – turn to Genesis 50. You remember the story of Joseph and his brothers – those of you who have children in the children's choir are more familiar with this story now than you'd ever like to have been with the story because you've heard the story over and over again in music – but what happens here in Genesis 50 underscores that Joseph understood that the events of his life were governed by someone other than him, that his life's circumstances were part of a greater plan than any plan he had. You remember when it comes down to the confrontation – Genesis 50:15; "When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, 'What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!'" They're actually pretty right to assume this, because in any normal human circumstance, these boys were in for it.

So, they sent a message to Joseph saying, "Your father charged us before he died, saying 'Thus you shall say to Joseph, "Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sins, for they did you wrong."' And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, "Behold, we are your servants."

One of these days, I'll do a message on this passage, because here is the antidote for revenge; it's the opposite of revenge. Here is genuine repentance – what had the brothers done to Joseph? They had sold him as a slave. Here's a demonstration of their genuine repentance – what do they come to Joseph and say? Make us to be your slaves. Verse 19 – "But Joseph said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for am I in God's place? As for you, you meant evil against me." Now, notice here that the brothers of Joseph were genuinely acting – they were not robots in the hand of God; they made sinful choices, they made sinful decisions that affected Joseph's life. "But God meant it for good, in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive."

You see what Joseph understood? He understood that in every circumstance, there are the secondary causes, and there is the primary cause moving behind those secondary causes. He saw that his brothers did a wicked thing; they sold him into slavery, but he understood that behind those secondary causes – that is, his brothers' evil decision to sell him, to get rid of him, because of their jealousy and hatred of him – behind those secondary causes was the primary cause, and that was God's eternal plan for him. And folks, let me tell you – I don't care what happens in your life, I don't care what you're facing, I don't care who's doing what to you; there are secondary causes. There may be evil people doing evil things to you, or you may find yourself in circumstances that are obviously providential, brought to you by God – regardless, what I want you to see is that there is an eternal plan behind those circumstances and, just as in Joseph's life, there were those who meant evil against him, but God, the primary cause standing behind them, directed and superintended their evil to ends that they never foresaw and never would have desired – and that's exactly what God will do in your life and mine. I don't care what comes, it is part of God's sovereign plan for you, and He intends it, as Romans 8:28 says, for your good. If God made every decision about your life, every detail in eternity past, then you can trust Him. You can trust Him with what you face today and what you will face tomorrow, because He only means it for your good.

There's a lot more richness here in this issue – we have to work out some problems that I know are in your mind. I hate to leave you with some of those questions in your mind, but if you can't make it back when we discuss this next time, get the tape, because it's very important, or the CD – it's very important that you understand how all of this relates together, because when you do, you can face life with a great deal of confidence in a sovereign God who has a plan. Let's pray together.

Father, we thank You for just the tip of the iceberg that we've looked at tonight – it boggles our mind to think, Father, that in eternity past, You did, freely and unchangeably, ordain everything that would ever come to pass, and You did it using the free choices of men, using our prayers, using the processes You put into Your world. Lord, it absolutely confounds our thinking – how unsearchable are Your judgments and Your ways past finding out. God, help us to worship You for who You are – the Sovereign of the universe, the King of everything, and our King as well. Lord, we bow our knees before You, we acknowledge that our lives, our salvation, our eternities are in Your hands, and we're glad because we trust You, Father – we know that You will only do what's for our good and for Your glory, and it greatly encourages us to know that, regardless of what happens, it is within the scope of Your sovereign eternal plan, and You mean it for our good. Lord, comfort our hearts – may we draw on that well all week, and in the weeks and months and years to come. Forgive us, Father, for ever thinking less of You; forgive us for thinking of You as living in a box here at Countryside Court. We're so grateful that You are our God, and that we can worship You not only here, but for all eternity.

We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.