Quotes on God’s Sovereignty and Providence

“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” Jesus, Matthew 10:29.

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” – Genesis 50:20

“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.” – Isaiah 46:8-11

“…for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” Acts 4:27, 28

“In him we live and move and have our being.” – Paul, Acts 17:28

“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” – Paul, Romans 11:36

“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!'” – Abraham Kuyper, theologian and Dutch Prime Minister, 1837-1920

“If there is one single molecule in this universe running around loose, totally free of God’s sovereignty, then we have no guarantee that a single promise of God will ever be fulfilled.” – R. C. Sproul

Irreducible Complexity

“If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, ambulance my theory would absolutely break down.” – Charles Darwin, Origin of Species

What “science” once thought of as the “simple cell” is now understood to be far more complex than all the goings on in a large city! ALL the mechanisms would need to be in place and functioning perfectly at the very start, or else the cell would die. This is called “irreducible complexity”, and forever destroys secular atheistic evolution as an intellectually viable option.

From the article found here: concerning the 5 part mouse trap… “an irreducibly complex system cannot come about in a gradual manner. One cannot begin with a wooden platform and catch a few mice, then add a spring, catching a few more mice than before, etc. No, all the components must be in place before it functions at all. A step-by-step approach to constructing such a system will result in a useless system until all the components have been added. The system requires all the components to be added at the same time, in the right configuration, before it works at all…. the complicated biological structures in a cell exhibit the exact same irreducible complexity that we saw in the mousetrap example. In other words, they are all-or-nothing: either everything is there and it works, or something is missing and it doesn’t work.”

.. and remember that in the cell, we are talking about a system FAR more complicated and complex than that of an entire city!!!

“Darwinism has no mechanism for adding all the components at once. Remember, Darwin’s mechanism is one of gradual mutations leading to improved fitness and survival. A less-than-complete system of this nature simply will not function, and it certainly won’t help the organism to survive. Indeed, having a half-formed and hence non-functional system would actually hinder survival and would be selected against. ”

The bacterial flagellum is a cellular outboard motor that bears the marks of intelligent design. Taken from http://www.arn.org/docs/mm/motor.htm.

“Evolution simply cannot produce complex structures in a single generation as would be required for the formation of irreducibly complex systems. To imagine that a chance set of mutations would produce all 200 proteins required for cilia function in a single generation stretches the imagination beyond the breaking point. And yet, producing one or a few of these proteins at a time, in standard Darwinian fashion, would convey no survival advantage because those few proteins would have no function – indeed, they would constitute a waste of energy for the cell to even produce. Darwin recognized this as a potent threat to his theory of evolution – the issue that could completely disprove his idea. So the question must be raised: Has Darwin’s theory of evolution “absolutely broken down?””

The answer seems to be a resounding “yes.”

Evolution is a theory in absolute crisis, yet for many, the alternative (Creation by God) is so utterly distasteful, it is dismissed out of hand.. but even as they do so, their conscience screams “there is a God.”

All of this is significant because according to the Bible, this is not a morally neutral issue without consequence. God is angry when the truth He has made manifest (of His existence) is suppressed.

Romans 1:18 – For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools…

Dr. James White remarked, “The progress in our knowledge of the irreducible complexity of life has rendered us truly “without excuse” when it comes to our attributing to the natural order that which God reserves for himself. Any person who can look at the mechanics of the cell, realize the order, the information, the complexity that makes any computer you are using to read this post look like a stick and a rock in comparison, and yet continue in the suppression of the God-instilled knowledge of His own existence is a person remaining in utter rebellion.”

The more we learn of science, the more we are “without excuse.” God does not believe in atheists.

Boasting in limitless grace

“And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” – John 1:16

In the late 1530s Martin Luther preached through the first four chapters of John. In a sermon on John 1:16, Luther said:

It is amazing that we are so given to pride, to boasting and bragging, and that we glory in such things as our beauty, riches, noble birth, power, skill, wisdom, honorable life, good works…

If we want to boast, then let us boast that we receive from the fullness of Christ… Whoever wishes to be safeguarded from the devil’s might and to escape sin and death must draw from this well, Christ; from Him flows all salvation and eternal bliss. This fountain is inexhaustible; it is full of grace and truth before God; it never fails no matter how much we draw from it. Even if we all dip from it without stopping, it cannot be emptied, but it remains a perennial fount of grace and truth, an unfathomable well, an eternal fountain. The more we draw from it, the more it gives…

This fountain constantly overflows with sheer grace. Whoever wishes to enjoy Christ’s grace – and no one is excluded – let him come and receive it from Him. You will never drain this fountain of living water; it will never run dry. You will all draw from it much more than enough, and yet it will remain a perennial well. (Luther’s Works, 22:133–34)

Dane Ortlund sums this up with four helpful clarifications from Luther here.

1. We will boast. The question is not if we will boast but of what. We are, as Luther says, “given to” boasting. The hunger for significance, for glory, emanates from way down deep at the core of who we are.

2. It is not bad things in which we are tempted to boast. It is good things. “Beauty, riches, power, skill, wisdom, honorable life, good works.”

3. The Christian life is not one of squashing the impulse to boast, to glory in something, but of directing it rightly. You are free to boast. The Bible tells you to do so (Jer. 9:23–24; 1 Cor. 1:31; Heb. 3:6). You sin if you do not boast. And our boast is: Christ (Gal. 6:14). We glory in what Another has done.

4. The reason for this boasting is outrageous: limitless grace. Our natural intuitions whisper, “Don’t draw too much grace just now. You have a whole lifetime ahead of you. Spread it out. Use it wisely. Don’t spend all your grace now!” The gospel scatters such law-infused thoughts with this promise: Come to Christ, keep coming to him, keep boasting in him. You will never out-sin his grace. His mercy is not measured. Not cautious, suspicious, reluctant. The kindness of Christ “constantly overflows with sheer grace.” As Jonathan Edwards said, God’s love is “an infinite ocean of love, without shores and without bottom.” Inexhaustible.