(April 16th) Faith in the Purposes of God

Reading: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15

That Christ rose from the dead speaks to the victory over Satan and the fulfillment of that first great promise of the Lord in Genesis 3:15. Christ, the champion has appeared, and the work is going on which will accomplish the great prediction on which the destiny of our race hangs—the head of the serpent crushed.

We know that the government of the world is in the hand of God and therefore we may rest assured that there is not a single link in the apparently perplexed chain of human events which does not connect with and guide to the coming glory. And we may rest assured not only that all the histories of the kingdoms of this world are under the influence of an unfelt but irresistible control, but also that personal events as well as national, private as well as public, are all under the same mandate, commissioned to lead on to the same great consummation—the Kingdom which cannot be moved.

This truth gives a seriousness and dignity to everything. It banishes littleness from life, because it connects all life with the glory of the risen Saviour and the eradication of evil. When the eye of the spirit is thus opened to see God working, in everything and by everything, to bring on the reign of righteousness, we shall feel ourselves invited to the blessed privilege of entering into the purposes of God, of sympathizing with the everlasting counsels of His grace, of rejoicing in their assured fulfillment. The believer knows that it is not in vain and that the rule of God in the universe has called him to do all things to the glory of God.

“What is God’s remedy for dejection at apparent failure in our labours? This—the assurance that God’s purpose cannot fail, that God’s plans cannot miscarry, that God’s will must be done. Our labours are not intended to bring about that which God has not decreed.”—A. W. Pink

Adapted from Thomas Erskine (1788–1870)

2017-02-23T18:07:29+03:00

About the Author: Aaron Dunlop

Originally from N. Ireland, Aaron pastored in Canada for ten years, and served as a missionary in Jamaica and more recently in Kenya. He continues his work in East Africa as the director of The Krapf Project, editing and preparing resources for rural pastors. He edits The Pastor's Study, a quarterly magazine published in Nairobi. Aaron is the pastor of Dunamanagh Baptist Church in Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He is married to Grace and they have five children, James, Bethan, William, Emily and Thomas. In this blog, Aaron writes devotional, pastoral, and theological articles, as well as Church history. His latest book is a missionary biography on Dr Ludwig Krapf, the first Protestant missionary to East Africa.

(April 16th) Faith in the Purposes of God