Divine Purpose and Divine Decision
The planet earth is our earthly home. We ask often, “Why things happen as they do?” This is a fair question. This is a deep question. To begin to answer the question, we reason there are several active players. We may not admit all of them, but they all exist. Denying any of the players exist is poor reasoning and produces an unclear picture of the cause and effect in life. Consider the players: First, God who created all things. Second, man is the apex and made in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). Man is created a free moral agent; therefore, man is capable of good as well as bad. God gives man a biblical worldview adapted to the dispensation in which he lives, yet working in harmony to its ultimate end—Christianity. Third, Satan who rebels against God (Revelation 12:7-9) and who opposes God’s plan and man (Genesis 3; John 8:44; 1 John 5:19). He will do so until the final judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).
God’s Sovereignty. The fact that God is implies that God reveals Himself to man. In that God is sovereign, He rules over His creation and determines things of life. “But our God is in the heavens: He has done whatsoever He has pleased” (Psalm 115:3). “For I know that the LORD is great, and that He is above all gods. Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did He in heaven and in earth in the seas, and the deep places” (Psalm 135:5-6). As sovereign God, He gives man a biblical worldview. Consequently, His word appeals to man to “Seek the LORD . . . Let the wicked forsake his way . . . Let him return to the LORD . . . My ways are higher than your ways. And My thoughts higher than your thoughts . . . So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please" (Isaiah 55:6-11).
God’s Wills Things to Happen. God being sovereign—He rules and there is none greater— has caused things to occur because God wanted them to occur and made sure they did. Man had no part in helping to decide these things to occur. Consider:
Ø The creation of all things (Genesis l). God and God alone ordered the creation. “He spoke, and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:9).
Ø The universal flood (Genesis 6-8). While man corrupted himself greatly (Genesis 6:5), it was God and only God who chose to destroy the earth using an universal flood to do so. “So the LORD said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth’” (Genesis 6:7). It was God who ordained the flood (cf. 2 Peter 3:5-6).
Ø The destruction of the Northern Kingdom (Israel or Ephraim). God used the wicked nation of Assyria to punish the northern kingdom for their sins. God's judgment occurred not only because Israel was wicked but because God wanted Israel punished. He choose the ascending, but wicked, power of Assyria to do so (Isaiah 37:21-38).
Ø The miraculous events serving as credentials for Jesus. The miraculous events of the New Testament serve as evidence that Jesus was/is Deity, the Son of God, and the fulfillment of the 300+ Messianic prophecies. It was God who willed, the Virgin Birth (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). It was God who brought it about (Luke 1:26-35). When the first gospel sermon was preached (Acts 2), Peter appealed to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as the divine credentials of Jesus' miraculous and sacrificial death. Peter states, “Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you” (Acts 2:22-36; 4:25-28, emp. added).
These events happened because God decided, willed, and worked that they may happen all without the input of any man. Some things happen as they do because our God ordered them.