August 4, 2023 -- Ephesians 1:11-12 -- The Basics of the Faith: The decrees of God

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In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:11-12 ESV

How many projects do you have on the go? Perhaps you have decided to gut your garage and get it cleaned up and hang all your tools and organize all the fiddly things into containers and all the gardening pots will be sorted, and the extras thrown out. Perhaps you’re putting off marriage counseling. You know it’d be good, but you’ve put up with the disorder of your marriage this long, and you’re not sure you want to invest in something that won’t prosper anyways. It might well be that have determined this time it will be different. You’ll lose weight. Until the next wedding, or major anniversary celebration derails your plans and you are right back to the weight where you started at.

Why mention these things? Because they highlight God’s ways are higher than ours and His wisdom infinitely greater than ours. We are fickle. We are waffling. We decide. Forget. Neglect. What God decides to do He accomplishes. Perfectly. Look at the following questions and answers of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

Question 7. What are the decrees of God?

Answer 7. 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.

Question 8. How doth God execute his decrees?

Answer 8. God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence.

The God of Splendor cannot learn something new. Even prior to creating the heavens and the earth and populating the earth with people, He knew those who would be His and those who would be hell-bound. And the glory of the LORD our God shines out through this. It is not possible for God to say, “I didn’t see that coming”! He Who knows all things, carries out all things according to His purposes, His will and His decrees.

Pondering this leads to the praise of His Name. The more you think about the vast wisdom of God and His greatness in governing the smallest sparks that fly upwards over a fire, to appointing the times of exploding supernova, to His absolute lordship over the complexities of human actions and interaction, the more you realize He is unsurpassed in every excellency of His magnificence. Language breaks down to describe Him. He is God. He is worthy of praise.

Our Father in heaven hallowed be Your Name, now and forevermore! How illustrious are Your ways and excellent are Your decrees and majestic are the ways in which You accomplish every single one of them. How inexpressibly marvelous is Your salvation given in Jesus Christ and matchless are Your works carried out among Your people through the powerful working of the Holy Spirit within us. Blessed are You, O Triune God. Spirit of God, lead our thoughts to contemplate the superlative qualities of God the Father, and God the Son so that our we shall perceive how our lives are lived in the goodness of God and this will continually lead us to employ our mouths and hearts in ceaseless to praise and honor and glory to offered up to the One, True, Living God. Amen.

https://youtu.be/2OkSi7_xqGA “O Lord, Our Lord”

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