1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 5.1 The Governance of All Things

Table of Contents

The Text

Revelation 1:8 (CSB) “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

The Chapter

God the good Creator of all things, in His infinite power and wisdom does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, to the end for the which they were created, according unto His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will; to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness, and mercy.

The Confession

God the good Creator of all things, in His infinite power and wisdom does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures and things

Hebrews 1:3 (CSB) The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Job 38:11 (CSB) when I declared, “You may come this far, but no farther; your proud waves stop here”?

Isaiah 46:10–11 (CSB) I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: my plan will take place, and I will do all my will. I call a bird of prey from the east, a man for my purpose from a far country. Yes, I have spoken; so I will also bring it about. I have planned it; I will also do it.

Psalm 135:6 (CSB) The LORD does whatever he pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the depths.

God created the heavens and the earth. There is no contesting this among Christians.

But what is might be contested is the idea that God is actively involved in the day to day affairs of the world. It is the oft debate of the neo-atheists that, if God exists, then surely he just created the world and let it go on its own as thought God is some sort of divine watchmaker who wound up the world like a clock.

But the Bible is clear about God and his relationship to his creation. Aside from creating the material plane, God is actively and intrinsically involved in every minute detail and all the events of the world in a grand scale.

Colossians 1:17 (CSB) He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.

In other words, Christ, with his mind, actively and perfectly holding every single atom of creation together. That is the opposite of the Divine Watchmaker caricature of God.

from the greatest even to the least

Matthew 10:29–31 (CSB) Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s consent. But even the hairs of your head have all been counted. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Matthew 6:26 (CSB) Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?

Watch a National Geographic documentary. What you see, captured on film, is God providing for the life and death of his creation.

Then compare your own life and see how God has provided for you. To the good and evil and the just and unjust (Matthew 5:45), he whom all the animals belong to and the owner of all the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10) is actively holding everything together and is actively providing your life and well-being--whether you acknowledge or not.

by His most wise and holy providence, to the end for the which they were created, according unto His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will; to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness, and mercy.

Ephesians 1:11 (CSB) In him we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will,

What the Christian must realize and embrace is why is God so involved in the details of the world. More so, why my life? Why would I be interesting enough to garner attention of the Creator of the universe?

God sees you and knows you. If the God who knows the number of hairs of on your head, would it stand to reason that he might just see your heart and your thoughts and your will. He knows that with every waking moment of your life, your thought, and your heart, you do not love God has much as you should and you don't love your neighbor as you out.

God sees the details of your heart and knows every single detail. He knows. How do I know? Because he sent his Son to live because you and I could not live perfectly and to die the death we should have died so that we would gain the righteousness of Christ and be made right with God and be with God forever.