Q: How does God execute his decrees?
A: God executes his decrees in the works of creation and providence.
Daniel 4:35: all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?"
We won't examine what the works of creation and providence are this week, as the catechism will examine both in the weeks to come. For now, the catechism wants us to focus on the fact that God does indeed execute his sovereign decrees. He does not merely decree something in the counsel of his will, and then let come what may. We can be assured that whatever God decrees, he will carry out to completion. He is sovereign then, not only over whatsoever comes to pass, but also sovereign over the way in which all things are carried out to completion.
Building off of what we discussed last week then, we can rest assured that not only does God ordain whatsoever comes to pass for his own glory and for the good of those who love him, we can also have confidence in knowing that the means in which these things are carried out have sovereignly been ordained by our good and loving God. Furthermore, because we know God is executing his decrees actively, and is sovereign over their execution, we can be confident that the decrees of God will never fail. They will never be defeated or derailed, and God will never be thrown for a loop. No power in all of creation can stop or hinder the decrees of God.
We serve a great and powerful God indeed! A God who “does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'”