Here’s a deep theological thought for the day, a truth that magnifies the sovereignty of God: “With God, means and ends always cooperate.” Herman Bavinck wrote those words, followed by these statements which highlight God’s sovereign decree:
“In his decree the causes and the consequences, the pathways and outcomes are established in indissoluble connection with each other. His decree is no loose assembly of various incidental phenomena that exist on their own, but consist of a complex of decisions intimately related, forming an unbreakable whole and a system of divine ideas, one single arrangement of everything that will exist or occur within time.
God executes this decree within time. Therefore everything that happens within time is mutually related in the same unbreakable way as the ideas and decisions within God’s eternal decree are related. Therefore we human beings are bound to means; anyone pursuing a goal must travel the path leading toward that goal. …The Lord holds himself to the means which he established in his counsel for attaining his ends. Predestination embraces not only the eternal state of rational creatures, but also the determination of the means and paths leading to that eternal state.”
For the biblical background of these statements, see Isaiah 40-46 and Ephesians 1, among other texts. And if you’re interested in the larger context of the quote, you can find it in Saved by Grace, page 133.
Shane Lems
Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Hammond, WI, 54015
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