New City Catechism Question 2
Q: What is God?
A: God is creator and sustainer of everyone and
everything. He is eternal, infinite, and unchangeable in his power and perfection,
goodness and glory, wisdom, justice, and truth. Nothing happens except through
him and by his will.
Psalm 86:8-10, 15
“There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great
and do wondrous things; you alone are God… You, O Lord, are a God merciful and
gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
This is one of the more frustrating questions in
New City Catechism for me…not because of the content in the answer, but because
of the amount of content. There is so much here, trying to take it all in is
like participating in a food challenge that various restaurants have, where if
you eat an insane amount of food in a certain period of time you get a t-shirt
and get on their wall of fame. There is just so much to take in it is
impossible to do in one sitting! In this statement, we see God as a creator
God. We see who God is, evidenced in his attributes. We see that all of those
attributes must be held together; we cannot pick and choose what parts of God
we like and don’t like (when we engage in such picking and choosing we actually
cease to talk about the God of the Bible!). And we see what God does in how he
sustains all things and governs all things according to his will. So within
this one question and answer there is a lifetime of truth that we can reflect
on and feed our souls with.
But while we may not be able to take it all in at
once, we can go a little deeper with part of this awesome truth. So here I want
to look at the first and last parts of this answer: that God is the sustainer
of everyone and everything, and that nothing happens except through God and by
his will. These are bold statements, and really are only possible because of
who God is. It is only an eternal, infinite, perfect, powerful, good, glorious,
wise, just, and true God who can sustain and govern everyone and everything.
And these bold statements form the foundation of what is known as the Doctrine
of Providence: God sustains and governs all things. And all things means…all
things. It is because of Providence that we can be confident that the laws of
physics will remain the same tomorrow as they are today. It is because of
Providence that we can be confident that regardless of what happens to us, that
our lives are sustained by our creator God. It is because of Providence that we
can be confident that when we face struggles and situations that seem to have
no solution, God is working in that situation and he works all things together
for good for those who love him (Romans 8:28). God sustains and governs all
things, which is one of the most comforting and practical truths for Christians
in our world today.
Now whenever God’s Providence is affirmed as it is
here in Question 2, there is invariably some pushback in the form of this
question: But what about _________________? What about this evil we see in the
world today? What about this pain and suffering I’m going through? What about
this senseless killing? What about this tragedy in my life? Because of the
brokenness of this world that is marred by sin, we will see these things, and
yes, God in his wisdom does allow this evil, even though he does not cause it.
Evil, pain, and suffering do fall under God’s Providence. And philosophers and
theologians have offered excellent responses to this problem of evil as it
pertains to God’s Providence and can be explored more in deeper study. But in
this space, let me offer a few brief pastoral responses to these questions that
get raised:
When we see or experience pain and suffering, it
is far better to have a God who is in control than a God who is not. The
alternative to a God who sustains and governs all things is a world of chaos
and despair, where evil wins the day and there is no hope. While we may not
understand why something happens, affirming God’s Providence in light of the
pain and suffering we see and experience means that we take hope in the fact
that evil does not have the final word. Evil is not greater than God! God is in
control, and a day is coming where there will be no more pain and no more
suffering (Revelation 21:1-4). What a glorious hope! We may never get the
answer to those “why?” questions, but we know and trust and believe in a God
that does know why. And that is enough.
And so God’s Providence stands firm, and we can
rest and take comfort in his Providence, even in the midst of pain and
suffering. How will this awesome truth about God impact your lives this week? My
prayer is that the following words of the Heidelberg Catechism would be the cry
of our hearts now and for the rest of our lives:
“We can be patient when things go against us,
thankful when things go well,
and for the future we can have
good confidence in our faithful God and Father
that nothing in creation will separate us from his love.
For all creatures are so completely in God’s hand
that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.”[i]
thankful when things go well,
and for the future we can have
good confidence in our faithful God and Father
that nothing in creation will separate us from his love.
For all creatures are so completely in God’s hand
that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.”[i]
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