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God's Eternal Omnipotent Dominion I am sure that it would take a Volume, and a great amount of wisdom and knowledge, which I don't have, to set forth in details all the aspects of GOD'S ETERNAL OMNIPOTENT DOMINION. Nevertheless I have felt impress to set forth a few thoughts on this subject, for whatever they might be worth to whoever might be interested in them. There is ONE eternal living omnipotent God (Godhead) who is the creator of all things, and reigns supreme over all creatures, Angels (holy and fallen) and Man (elect and non-elect). His dominion is from everlasting to everlasting. Psalms 33:6, 9; Isa. 45:20-22, 46:9-11; Jere 27:5; Dan 4:34-35; Acts 17:24-28; Rev. 19:1-6 1. In the Beginning God created the heavens (all universes), the stars, planets and the earth. Gen. 1:1, 16 2. God created Angelic Beings, some of which fell because of sin. Hell was prepared for the Devil and his angels. Matt. 22:30; Heb. 1:6; Isa. 14:12-15; Ezek 28:12-15; II Peter 2:4; Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10 3. God created man in his own image, without sin, and gave him dominion over the earth, which was short lived because of the sin of Adam, and mankind fell under the condemnation of sin and death, unable to recover himself from this state of being dead in trespasses and sins. Romans 5:12, 17-21, 6:23, 8:1-2; Eph. 2:1-10 4. God chose an innumerable people in Christ before the foundation of the world and promised them eternal life and glory. Those whom God foreknew, He predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son. God calls, justifies and glorifies them according to His own will and purpose. Eph. 1:3-12; Titus 1:2, 3:5-7; Rom 8:28-39. Within this eternal dominion we find revealed in the Scriptures several views of His Dominion: View 1 - God's Spiritual Dominion over His Elect or Chosen People. God's elect people are Spiritually saved and given eternal life by God's grace, based on the redemptive work of Christ Jesus. Some were made righteous while looking forward, while others are made righteous looking backward UNTO Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. Eternal life is IN Jesus Christ, He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life. Heb. 3:1, 12:2, 10:12-14 Views 2 - 4 2. God's Dominion over Man in Garden of Eden - Genesis 2:15-3:24 3. God's Dominion over Man, Nature and the World in the Flood - Genesis 6:1-8:22 4. God's Dominion over Man at the Tower of Babel - Genesis 11:1-9 View 5 - The Natural (National) Kingdom of Israel Following the Tower of Babel, God called Abram from the UR of the Chaldees and made two Covenants with him. One (Gen. 12:1-3) was the confirmation of the Spiritual Everlasting Covenant that IN his Seed, Christ, was the promise of eternal life for the Israel of God (Gal. 3:6-29, 6:15-16). The second (Gen. 13:14-17) was a conditional land Covenant concerning his natural seed, the House of Israel, which was later called "the Jews". The Elders of natural Israel wanted a natural king to reign over them, just like all the other nations had (I Samuel 8:4-7). This aspect of the natural, legalistic, Levitical Kingdom of Israel, which consumes the rest of the Old Testament, presents Types and Shadows of the Spiritual Kingdom of God and examples by which those in the Church of God should conduct themselves in this time world. View 6 - The Spiritual Invisible Aspect of the Kingdom of Christ Christ came to redeem his people and to restore the Spiritual Kingdom of God (Mark 1:15) which is IN the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17) and not observed outwardly (Luke 17:20-21). His kingdom is "not of this world" (John 18:36-37). His is the kingdom of the power of Truth directed by the Spirit of Truth which was promised to the Church (John 14:15-18, 16:13-14, Acts 1:6-8). All born of God are translated into the invisible Spiritual kingdom of God's Son (Col. 1:12-17) but not all who are born of God enter into the Visible Church of God. View 7 - The Church - The Spiritual Visible Aspect of the Kingdom of Christ The Church (Matt. 16:18, 17:15-17) Christ is the house of God, the ground and pillar of The Truth (I Tim. 3:15-16) which was purchased by the blood of God (Acts 20:28). Only those who are born of God can See and Enter into this aspect of the Kingdom of God. Scriptural water baptism is the strait gate or entrance into the Church. Obedience to the gospel is required, as one walks in this narrow way, as one works out his own time salvation (Phil. 2:12-13). Few enter herein. Many are called but few are chosen. It is in the Church God receives Glory by Christ Jesus (Eph. 3:21). God's Eternal Omnipotence in Election from the Beginning Scripture tells us that, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). We are also told that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were created by him; and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:1-3). One cannot go back beyond the beginning, and neither can one go forward any further than the end. God is eternal, without beginning or ending. Jesus Christ said, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending “. As I understand the doctrine of Election, God in his infinite wisdom and foreknowledge and eternal purpose in Christ, promised and foreordained eternal life to an innumerable elect people, in the beginning. I say in the beginning, for to place God’s election after the creation causes a contradiction in the word of God. By no means, in this article, do I wish to attempt to put the actions of God on a time table or say God did this first and that second in the beginning. I am reminded the Lord asked Job, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding” (Job 38:4). But I read in the Scriptures, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, --“ (Eph. 1:3-5). As I understand the words “before the foundation of the world” they mean, at the very least, “in the beginning” before God began the six days of creation as recorded in Genesis 1:3-31, and at the very most, “in the beginning” with God. We read in John 17:24 the words of Christ, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” Surely the words of Jesus, “before the foundation of the world” mean “in the beginning” – for He was “in the beginning with God and was God”. As I understand the words “before the foundation of the world” they also mean “before the world was” or “before the world began”. Again we read in John 17:5 the words of Christ praying to his Father, “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was”. Paul tells us that God “saved us (the elect), and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, --“ (I Tim. 1:9). I also read in Titus 1:2 that we (the elect) live, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began”. IF we take all these scriptures and reconcile them with I Peter 1:20 which tells us Christ was “verily foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” - it seems to me that the words “before the world was” and “before the world began” must be synonymous with the words “before the foundation of the world”, and this must mean “in the beginning”. Without laboring the point more than necessary, I will take this one more step. In the book of Revelation it speaks of those “whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (13:8). Peter tells us Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world and John tells he was slain from the foundation of the world. I take these words to mean the same as from the beginning when God chose a people in Christ. I read in Matthew 25:34 where Jesus says to the elect, “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ---“. It seems to me that the kingdom prepared for the elect was prepared from the beginning. Now let me focus on the WHOM of the election of God, for he is omnipotent in making this choice. In Rev. 13:8 (above) it speaks of those “whose names are NOT written in the book of life – “ In Rev. 17:8 it speaks of those “whose names were NOT written in the book of life from the foundation of the world”. If I have rightly divided the word of truth, that teaches me that from the beginning there was some who were NOT chosen – but according to God’s foreknowledge left in their state of sin and condemnation. Revelation 20:15 tells us, “And whosoever was NOT found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” – which is the second death. Election and predestination of the elect is according to the omnipotent will and purpose of God, not according to the will and effort of man. IMO, the most clear and definitive statements on this subject are in Romans 8 and 9. I will give a portion of that text, without taking any verse out of context. Romans 9:11-34 “(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” God, who worketh all things according to his own counsel, will and purpose, made choice of a people before the foundation of the world (from the beginning) based on his omnipotent wisdom and foreknowledge (not of what man would or would not do, and not according to man’s works, good or evil) for his own glory. As Peter said, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God”. And as Paul wrote, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:29-39). Much more could be said on this subject, and I am sure it could be said much better than I have said it. Next, I will continue this subject by REFUTING the heresy that God has Predestinated ALL things, including every thought and deed of mankind. Does God’s Omnipotence and Omniscience Mean The "Absolute Predestination of All Things" “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 reigneth” (Revelation 19:6). Thus it is, and thus it has been song by the innumerable host of saints down through the ages, “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth”. God’s people know that JEHOVAH is “God Almighty” and there is no other God beside Him. Our omnipotent God created all things by Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:9) “in whom (Christ) also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him (God) who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Eph. 1:11). It can be proven time and again from the Scriptures that God is both Omnipotent (all powerful) and Omniscience (all knowing). But not only is God Omnipotent and Omniscient – God is Holy and Righteous, Merciful and Just. We at the Old Line Primitive Baptist Church believes in one true eternal God (Ex. 20:3, 34:5-7, Deut. 33:27, Mal. 2:10), known as JEHOVAH, the I AM THAT I AM, (Ex. 3:14, 6:3), Creator of the universe and man (Gen. 1:1, 26-28, Acts 17:24-28), infinite in wisdom (Ps. 147:5, Eph. 3:8-11), holy and righteous (Josh 24:19, Isa. 6:1-5, Ps. 99:9, I Pet. 1:13-16), unchangeable (Mal. 3:6, James 1:17), just and merciful (Isa. 45:21, Rom. 3:20-26, Ps. 136, Rom. 9:15-24), invisible (John 1:18, Col. 1:15), unsearchable (Rom.11:33-34), omnipresent (every-where present and nowhere absent, Ps. 139:7-10, Rev. 2:1), omniscient (all knowing - Ps. 94:11, Jere. 17:9-10, Rev. 2:2, 9, 13, 19), omnipotent (all powerful - Isa. 45:5-7, Jere. 32:17-19, Dan. 4:34-35, Rev. 19:6), whose goodness is great, enduring and satisfying, who loves righteousness but hates iniquity and the workers of iniquity (Ps. 5:4-5, Ps. 45:6-7, Heb. 1:8-9), who is ever to be loved and feared (Deut.6:4-5, Matt. 22:36-38, Eccles. 12:13-14), who must be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23-24). God’s attributes are many, and like parallel lines, from eternity past through eternity future, they have never crossed and never will cross. The fact that God is Omnipotent and Omniscient does not and cannot make God the cause of and the force behind every wicked thought and deed of mankind. If such were true then it would violate His attribute of Righteousness.
No
particular individual or group is exempt from the possibility of
teaching error. Only God is true. Christ is Truth. The Holy Spirit is
truth. The word of God is Truth. But all men are liars and subject to
deceit and deception. Even good men sometimes unintentionally teach
error. But most often evil men deliberately or unknowingly pervert and
distort the Truth. Most man-made doctrines are the result of either
taking various scriptures out of context, or by misrepresenting or
distorting a small portion of scripture to fit a preconceived idea.
Doctrines derived from scripture that is taken out of context are
often a careless failure to “rightly divide the word of truth”. Many
man-made doctrines or teachings are usually given an un-biblical or
non-scriptural name, and as such are easily identified. Sadly, this
practice has naturally crept in among those who believe in Grace and
Truth. The examples of this fact are numerous in the writings and
practices in the religious world. For example, the scriptures teach the Biblical Doctrine of SIN (sin and death). Many of us, meaning well, describe this doctrine as "Total Depravity," which is a non-biblical term. By doing so, we must explain what is meant by the term "Total Depravity". It is evident from scripture that a child is conceived “in sin” under the condemnation of “sin and death” and in need of being “born of God”. But it is not evident to man’s eye that a child is “Totally Depraved” and therefore we must explain what is meant by “Total Depravity”. We could use all the terms found in Calvin’s TULIP doctrine which many Primitive Baptist have adopted in the last days. We would be far better off just to use Biblical terms to teach Biblical doctrine.
For
instance, the scriptures teach the Biblical Doctrine of the Godhead, the
Father (a Spirit), the Son (the Word who was with God and was God, and
was in the form of God, but was manifested in the flesh) and the Holy
Spirit. When we call this the doctrine of “The Trinity," which is a
non-biblical term, and refer to the Trinity as “three IN one” instead of
“three ARE one”, and refer to the “Three Persons of the Trinity”, we
have a lot of explaining to do. We not only create a contradiction
within the Scriptures but we condone and agree with a Babylonian and
Masonic precept of an equilateral trinity of three gods IN one.
It seems to me that IF men used Scriptural terms as much as possible -
if not all the time - to teach Biblical Doctrines, the chances of error
would become much less. It is my understanding that in the early 1900’s there was a division between true “Old School Baptists” and those who became believers and followers of the doctrine of “Absolute Predestination of All Things”. The later group, which departed from The Faith, became known as “Absoluters”. That division has never been healed and the separation of the two groups remains unto this day. Space will not permit me to insert for your reading the article by Elder Gilbert Beebe, the father of those who believe in the “Absolute Predestination of All Things”. This article can be found on their Web Site, “The Remnant” and in the Appendix section of Hassell’s Church History. But I offer this excerpt from their Web Page to prove my point that there are those who believe that God predestinated and ordained all events, thoughts and deeds of mankind. The following was written by C. C. Morris:
Item # 4 of their Principles of beliefs is “The absolute predestination of all things”. If this principle is believed, then when one sees dust fly from the sweeping of the floor or the driving of a car on a dirt road, God would have had to predestinate it or else the dust would not fly. Such foolishness fails to consider the natural forces God set in motion in Creation. If the principle of absolute predestination of all things is true, then it must be supported by the Scriptures. But IF we can present Scripture that refutes this “principle” then the whole idea falls by the wayside, as it should.
Truth can withstand the most intense
scrutiny when held up to the Light of God's infallible word. Man-Made
doctrines, like Swiss Cheese, are always full of holes and will fail the
test of Microscopic examination. So it will be with the false teaching
that God "predestinated all things" including the events of all men,
both good and evil. By disproving this false theory we do not deny that
God is Omnipotent (i.e. almighty and all powerful) and Omniscient (i.e.
all knowing) - but we do deny, without reservation, that our Righteous
and Holy God predetermines and causes ALL of man's wicked thoughts and
deeds to take place. Nor do we deny that certain events are and were
predetermined by God. When God foretold of an event to take place, it
was predetermined by Him to take place, and "none could stay his hand".
But Scripture will reveal that God did not predetermine ALL events of
mankind to take place, although in His Omniscience He foreknew they
would take place.
The Father delivered him into the hands of "wicked men" because
"righteous men" would not have crucified him. You don't have to be a
Rocket Scientist to figure that one out. This is what Peter is talking
about in Acts 4:26-28, "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers
were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of
a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both
Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel,
were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel
determined before (Proorizo) to be done." What did God's counsel
determine beforehand to be done with Christ? According to all the
prophecies (Isaiah 53) and the words of Christ, "For he taught his
disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the
hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he
shall rise the third day" (Mark 9:31). Again, it takes a real stretch of
the imagination to assume that God predestinates all things, both good
and evil, because He determined before the foundation of the world to
deliver His Son into the hands of wicked men to die for the sins of His
elect people.
3. Next let's consider the final words of Moses before he died
outside the land of Canaan. Now remember there was never a Prophet in
Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. I will put far more
stock in the words of Moses concerning what things are predestinated,
than I will some "BB Brain" (no pun intended) who dreams up an excuse to
shirk all responsibility and duty. |