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Wednesday, September 16, 2015

God's Sovereignty, Providence and the Eternal Glory of Jesus Christ

Daniel 2:20-21 “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. 21 “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding." 

Introduction:
In the above two verses we see two key concepts: God's Sovereignty or right to reign in 2:20 and then God's Providence or ruling reign in 2:21. As the Lord prophesies through Jeremiah, we discover that not only was Jeremiah a prophet to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, but to the nations. God's Providential and Sovereign control over nations and history is uncontested in these chapters. The Ammonites were the descendants of the vile union between Lot and one of his daughters in Genesis 19:38 and had caused much trouble for Israel in her history. Clearly God was going to judge them, as well as the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, Jacob's brother, for their failure to help Israel at key points in her journeys. The prophecy of Jeremiah and the older book of Obadiah share this judgment against Edom. 

As other nations are mentioned, we come to the Elamites, whom God will use in the Book of Daniel to take over the Babylonians, the empire that he pronounces judgment upon in Jeremiah 50. Jeremiah's prophecy against Babylon is remarkable not only because of its accuracy of prediction, but also in Revelation 16-19 we see the predicted the fall of another Babylonian-like empire prior to Christ's return. 

History's repeated patterns are one of the many ways we see God's Providence at work. Concerning His program for the nations, all of His efforts are focused upon Israel, His chosen people whom He promises to save and restore upon His return and Millennial reign. (Zechariah 12:10; Romans 11:25-26; Revelation 19-20) 

The Sovereign and Providential control of the Father as Almighty God is shared by the Son in equal measure. According to Hebrews 5:1-6, the Person of the Son is the "only Begotten" of the Father, meaning He shares the same qualities and One eternal nature with the Father. Touching His Deity, Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father. Then in Hebrews 5:7-10 we see a second truth about the Son, namely that He came to take on a human nature through which He learned obedience and achieved our salvation, being deemed the Mediator or Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Third and finally, Hebrews 5:11-14 tells the reader that understanding Christ's Undiminished Deity and real humanity may be hard but necessary for spiritual maturity. As God, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Eternal source of salvation and as man, He is able to administer such salvation to all who by faith truth in Him.