Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A #11

Q: What are God's works of providence? 
A: God's works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing of all his creatures and all their actions.
Nehemiah 9:6: You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

In some ways, I feel as if this is the climax of all that we've been talking about with God's eternal decrees. We may shudder at some of what we've been talking about, as we realize the awesome power of God to do as he pleases, to ordain whatever he wills, and ordain the means by which his decrees come to pass. Taking comfort in that kind of utterly raw sovereignty is hard sometimes, because it requires the utmost trust in God, and a trust in the fact that his decrees are truly right, good, and good for us. Taken by themselves, the questions on the eternal decrees of God can shake us to the bones. But then this catechism comes along and reminds us of something beautiful and hopeful and wonderful. God, by the means of his works of providence, is preserving us, and all of his creation. If we were to break down the word "preserve", particularly its Latin root, we see that the word means something truly wonderful. The word means, literally, to be kept in advance. That is what God is doing with us, and with all of his creation. He is keeping us, but more than that, he has determined in eternity past to keep us. His preservation is eternally determined. We have talked already about how God is not a cosmic first responder, simply doing damage control, reacting to the will and whims of a fallen creation. Rather, he is sovereign over all of it. He is governing all his creatures, and all their actions. Nothing is outside of his rule and dominion, and through it all, he is preserving us. 

Now we see the comfort and peace that comes from knowing that God is sovereignly executing his decrees. Now we see the comfort in knowing that God not only decrees the ends, but also the means by which they happen. Because in it all, whatsoever comes to pass, we know that God, in his acts of providence, is ruling over all of it, and not only ruling, but is preserving us through it all. The Levites' doxology of praise from Nehemiah, as they came out of exile and led the people of God in dedicating the rebuilt temple, is wonderfully lifting. They recognize the King of all creation and see his love, his care, his preservation of all creation. But they not only see God's preservation all of creation in a general sense, they see his preservation and care for his own people. This doxology is a grand statement of God's faithfulness to his eternal covenant. Here, as the people of God were restored to their promised land, as they were set free from bondage and exile, they realize that God has indeed preserved them. He had not abandoned them. And in this realization, their hearts overflow with praise to the faithful God. 

Brothers and sisters, God will keep you. He has eternally determined to keep you. Before the world was created, before the fall of man, before sin and death and suffering ever entered into the creation, God has determined to keep you. His preservation will not falter. It will not fail. He will keep you until the end, when we ourselves come into our inheritance. When we ourselves are set free from exile and bondage, then we will join the host of heaven before the thrown of God above and worship him. 

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A #10

Q: How did God create man?
A: God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.
Genesis 1:27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Here we see mankind as being set apart from the rest of creation. We are given a special value in that we are created in the image of God. The catechism defines what we mean when we talk about man being created in God's image. We know from Scripture that God is a spirit, and, as the Children's Catechism would remind us, “does not have a body like man” (Jn 4:24, 2 Cor. 3:17, 1 Tim 1:17). Therefore, the divine image is not referencing our physical bodies. Rather, as Alexander Whyte puts it in his commentary on the catechism, it is “in his soul, in his mind and conscience and heart.”

We can see the divine image in man most perfectly, not from looking at Adam, but rather, at Jesus Christ who is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). In Christ, we see the knowledge of truth, knowledge of the Father, and knowledge of the law of God. We see in Christ righteousness as not only did Jesus know the law, but he obeyed and kept it perfectly. He knew his Father and knew his will, and submitted in perfect obedience.  We see holiness, and while it may be difficult to distinguish between righteousness and holiness, Whyte is helpful in clarifying this by saying that “his holiness was, and was to be, the hidden root of his outward righteousness”. Christ lived righteously because inwardly, he was holy. All of his affections were turned toward his Father. And in Jesus Christ, we see the power and authority of God as Christ shows his own dominion, not merely over the “creatures” of the world, but also over demons, over disease, over worldly powers, and even over sin and death. 

Whyte would go on to write that, “The doctrine of the divine image in man cannot now be fully and thoroughly studied in Adam: we must see it preserved and exhibited in a 'yet greater than he', if we would understand it even as it originally existed in him. We must go above Adam to Him who made him, to Him who is eternally 'the express image of the Father's person.' Indeed, most that we know of Adam's state before the fall, we learn afterwards from the provision made in the 'second Adam' to restore and reinstate man in his lost knowledge, righteousness, holiness, and dominion.” If we want to understand the “image of God”, let us fix our eyes on Jesus Christ. Here, in the person of Jesus, can we fully understand what it means to be image bearers. 

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A #9

Q: What is the work of creation?
A: The work of creation is, God's making all things out of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good. 
Hebrews 11:3: By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

This is a wonderfully simple question and answer. The authors of the confession sidestep debates about whether the days of Creation are literally 6 days, or whether they described cycles and spans of time (and we know from the notes from the Westminster Assembly that the Divines were not uniform in their views on such things anymore than Bible believing Christians throughout the centuries have been concerning this issue), and instead fall back upon biblical language to create a beautifully concise answer concerning the works of creation. Here, the catechism, in summarizing the Westminster Confession of Faith, is stating that creation is not eternal in nature (God created it, and only in the true and living God does creation have its existence), God created it "ex-nihilo" (out of nothing, needing nothing more than the power of his word to bring all things into existence), and that he formed all of creation in a way that was "very good".

This is how we are to think about the works of creation. The scientific pondering and debates may be important on many levels, and I in no way want to discredit these discussions, but if we get caught up on whether the Hebrew word for "day" refers to a literal 24 hour solar day or whether it is being used to describe a span of time, etc., then we run the risk of missing the greater theological significance of the creation account. Here, in the work of creation, we see an amazing display of God's power, creativity, and goodness. We should marvel at how God, by the power of his word, could bring all things into existence out of nothing. Mankind is wonderfully creative (not only in creating beautiful things, but also in destroying them). But one thing man cannot do is create something from nothing. We can't even create nothing from something! Can we truly even get our minds around the idea of "nothing"? Every thought and idea in our head is influenced and shaped by the world around us. It goes back to the finite, doesn't it? Our finite minds simply cannot comprehend this idea. Yet God, who is infinite and eternal in power, simply spoke into nothing and brought forth all things. 

We know, of course, that the creation we see now is not as it was intended. Creation is no longer "good" in that it has been perverted and stained by the effects of sin. We can't comprehend what creation was like originally, before sin and fallen man brought its ruin upon it. Yet, we all have had moments where we have gotten a taste of the goodness of the original creation. People ask me, for example, "why do you love fly fishing so much?" There are many answers to that question, but part of the reason why is because in those moments where I'm surrounded by nothing but flowing streams, mountains, trees, and brook trout whose colors would rival even the most brilliant sunset, I feel as if I'm getting a small taste of an unspoiled creation, and it is good. May moments like these, whatever it is for you, turn our hearts towards the beauty, power, and wonder of our Creator who brought all things out of nothing!

Cathechism Follow-Up: Can we trust God in our suffering?

Jamie Brown shares a good illustration that makes a great point at his blog, Worthily Magnify. He writes:

My brother-in-law loves to give his nieces (my daughters) the most ear-piercingly loud, annoying sounding toys that he can find. I don’t know how he does it or where he finds them, but he delights in giving them toys that will drive their parents crazy. (Thanks, Jon).

But I have discovered something about these toys.

On the back, oftentimes hidden under a tab, or behind some Velcro, is a switch. This switch has a “play” setting (noise at full volume and duration), a “demo” setting (noise at full volume but only for five seconds), and an “off” setting (no noise).

And I, as the sovereign interceptor of these toys, can flip the switch.
I intercept the gift, and in my flipping of the switch, I change the gift’s function.

Only someone who’s sovereign over something can flip its switch. Someone who’s sovereign can take something that was intended for one purpose, and alter it so it accomplishes something different.

This is what God does with suffering in our life. He flips the switch.

Satan intends to use suffering to destroy us. God flips the switch and uses suffering to refine us.
When Jesus wrote to the suffering church in Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11), he told them (in verse 9): “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested…”

In his exposition of this verse in What Christ Thinks About the Church, John Stott points out that while Satan intended the imprisonment of Christians in Smyrna to destroy the Church, God would use that imprisonment to refine his Church.

None of us can avoid suffering. It’s an inescapable reality of this broken world.

The church in Smyrna knew this. They suffered from poverty, slander, imprisonment, and death. And Jesus, speaking from his position of authority as someone who not only knew suffering, but conquered suffering, tells them “do not fear”.

How can Jesus say “do not fear” suffering? Because he’s sovereign over it. To quote Stott again, “Jesus has perfect knowledge of our present suffering and perfect foreknowledge of our future suffering”. We can trust him in the midst of it, because he alone is eternal, he alone is all-powerful, and he alone is good.

Whatever suffering you’re currently experiencing, or whatever suffering comes to you in the future, you can trust that you’re held in the hands of a sovereign King, who knows your suffering, is sovereign over your suffering, is with you (“Emmanuel”) in the midst of your suffering, and has conquered your suffering.

He flips the switch, allowing suffering to refine us, not destroy us. And he does so as the sovereign ruler over all things, “the first and the last, who died and came to life” (Revelation 2:8).

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A #8

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?'”