“While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
And cold and heat,
And summer and winter,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”
Message: Things that Fall Out Necessarily
Time: Genesis is the first book and Moses is credited as authoring. The book spans 2400 years of time. It was originally written in Hebrew.
What the Lord is Saying:
In light of the discussion of God's sovereignty, namely that there is nothing that the Lord does not determine and control, the result is a challenge from critics that there is not human freedom. Earlier this week, with the study of Governance of Small Things I brought this up and put forth the idea that: God knows our choices and the entire picture and in order to achieve His overarching outcomes ordains how all of these free will actions will work together for His glory. Now, as I come upon this study, it appears the same thing will be addressed by the Tabletalk writers on March 13, 2017 reading.
The writers state that Reformed thought speaks of a first and second cause in creation. Thus, God is not the only cause for events, but the first cause. He is the one that makes cause and effect even possible. Yes, there are secondary causes in God's decree. These secondary causes have real power to make things happen.
The Westminster Confession of Faith states in Question 5.2 - Although, in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first Cause, all things come to pass immutably, and infallibly; yet, by the same providence, he orders them to fall out, according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.
Thus, there are three categories of secondary causes - means to God's ends: 1. Secondary causes that operate necessarily, 2. Secondary causes that operate freely, 3. Secondary causes that operate contingently.
Today, the focus is on things that fall out necessarily. Here the idea is physical laws cause things to happen by necessity. There are physical laws of our universe such as the law of gravity. Thus, there are not choices as to whether gravity will happen or not. But rather these laws mean that this is how objects work. A book falls off a shelf to the ground because of this law. The scientific community assists in helping us define these laws and their attributes. Thus, these laws are absolute - they happen no matter what. They are universal - they happen throughout the universe. They are stable - they do not change.
Genesis 8:22 speak of this - “While the earth remains, Seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” While the science community helps define how these laws work and acknowledge that they are there. The science community cannot say how these laws began. According to theology, God created these laws. And they shall not cease.
Promise: Secondary causes are the reasons why we do science. We can predict the weather. We can harvest our food based upon a schedule of seasons. God works through them to sustain human life and the universe. God has provided through these laws.
Prayer: Lord, you are creator and definer of all that we see and do not see. There are invisible things in this creation that we trust and believe in each day and yet they are there because you ordained them and therefore they work in conjunction with your will. Lord, I pray that we would all recognize these laws in our lives and trust You for their provision.
No comments:
Post a Comment