Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net
-----Original Message-----
From: "Apostle Tom" <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Sun, 20 May 2007 15:52:01 -0500
To: pressingon@hotmail.com
Subject: Morning Manna (May 21); BP: Rev. 19:1-6; RBTTY: Jn. 7:1-27; I Chron. 13-15
May 21 “Our God Reigns”
“And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of
many waters and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia—for
the Lord God omnipotent reigns’.”
Revelation 19:6
Remembering this will both inspire and invigorate us when problems and
perplexities descend upon us.
For over 400 years now there’s been an on-going debate among Christian
theologians concerning God’s sovereignty and will. John Calvin, who lived
from 1509-1564, was a French Protestant theologian who interpreted the
Scriptural passages on “predestination,” “elect,” “foreordained,” etc., as
God’s having “predetermined” everything that would happen. Foremost in this
thought was the idea that He determined beforehand who will be lost and
saved.
Later on, a Dutch theologian named James Arminius (1560-1609) basically
rejected Calvin’s views and stressed man’s “free will”—i.e., that we have a
choice in the matter of salvation. He believed adopting Calvin’s view
basically made God the author of sin and mankind as little more than a
puppet (or robot if they’d existed in his day).
Needless to say, these two views have been hotly debated down through
the years. And, sadly, they continue to divide Christians, often causing
them to break fellowship with one another.
Could it be that both views, which so polarize believers, are really
two “extremes” of the same subject? Could it be that we’d all be better of
saying with the mighty throng in today’s Manna, “Alleluia—for the Lord God
omnipotent reigns”?
Neither side would dispute the fact that the Lord God Almighty is
exactly that—i.e., that He is “ALL-mighty.” No one would disagree with His
being omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (all-present) and omniscient
(all-knowing). Neither would any say He is not sovereign.
The difficulty comes when we try to reconcile “predestining” and
“foreordaining” with His “foreknowing.” However, when we realize God’s
omniscience doesn’t require Him to predetermine what will happen, we may
likely begin to start blending the two views together.
You see, our Lord God is omnipotent and, truly, “He does reign.”
Hallelujah!! Even though we cannot understand why He allows suffering. .
.why He doesn’t go ahead and put a stop to the evil in the world. . .why
things don’t always “work out right” when we’re seeking to serve Him with
all our lives, etc., we still must stop and say, “Alleluia—for the Lord God
omnipotent reigns!”
Oh, dear Pilgrim, as the old song says, “We’ll understand it better by
and by.” For now, we must let God be God. And, we must rest in the fact
that He does all things well. May the Holy Spirit help us to do that even
this day.
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