Book 3 of Musings Gods Control of the World

All things of the creation throughout all history, past, present, and future, are working together for good for each one who loves God, who is called according to His purpose in Christ Jesus.

When we look at the world of today it appears to be wildly out of control. It is not. Every creature on the earth and every event of nature is contributing to the Divine purpose. The Divine purpose is that those whom God foreknew be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. The likeness of Jesus Christ includes the moral Character of Christ, and also the way in which Christ lives, moves, and has His Being.

I think we are going to see much disorder in the United States in the coming days. We are not accustomed to having war on our shores as has been true of many other countries. But because modern warfare consists of viruses, missiles, infiltrators, poison gas, poison in the water supplies, assassinations, ranks of suicidal warriors, we very well can expect an attack along one of these lines.

It probably is true that America has been spared because we have had a strong Christian influence that has kept us from gross immorality. But that day is over. The moral filth pouring out of the media in America has, I'm afraid, resulted in a lifting of the spiritual covering that has protected us.

The individual believer can serve God faithfully, and look for God's protection on him and his loved ones no matter how desperate the outlook becomes. But multitudes of churchgoers, as well as the unsaved, my become hysterical when they see the security they have trusted in swept away in a moment.

But it always has been so. The student of history knows how often people have been subjected to wars and plagues. It is not unusual for people to have all they trusted in, and all their loved ones, removed through war or uncontrolled disease.

The history of the world appears to be a story written by an emotionally disabled invalid, filled with every form of lust and venomous hatred. And so it has been, for God has permitted Satan much latitude, just as He did in the case of Job.

But in all of this menagerie of wild animals, God is carefully, specifically working with those whom He foreknew from the beginning of the world. God has predestined them to be the brothers of Jesus Christ, and so they shall be.

Every war, every disease, every perverse action of demon-driven people, every calamity, is contributing to the forming of God's elect into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You might wonder how God can work such marvels. Well, God is much, much greater than we realize.

The Character of the Lord Jesus Christ exemplifies every desirable trait. It is the image of God, filled with love, joy, peace, patience, courage, friendliness, loyalty, dependability, honesty-all that we picture as being true of God.

In addition, and of just as much importance, is the way the Lord Jesus lives, moves, and has His Being. Christ dwells eternally in the Sabbath of God.

To dwell in the Sabbath of God is to be so filled with God at all times that our thoughts, words, and actions, are under the direct supervision of God. We are to think nothing, say nothing, and do nothing apart from the Lord God of Heaven.

This is how Jesus lives. This is how we are to live.

The two aspects of the likeness of Christ, the moral character and the eternal Sabbath, contribute one to the other. As we are dwelling more fully in the eternal Sabbath, the moral Character of Christ is revealed in us. As the moral Character of Christ is revealed in us, the more qualified we are to have an increasing Presence of God in us.

The moral Character and the eternal Sabbath work together until we can say with the Apostle Paul: "I am not living any longer. It is Christ who is living in me."

Such wonderful identity with Christ is the result of our being willing to live each day in the crucifixion of Christ and the resurrection of Christ.

God uses every calamity in the world to bring down to death our adamic nature. Then God raises us and His Life is revealed in and through us.

God uses every terror in the world to remove the sinful nature from us and to develop Christ's Nature in us.

We are observed and guarded so closely that no words of mine could ever begin to describe the attention to detail given to every one of God's elect. Absolutely nothing happen by chance. God knows our thoughts before we think them; our words before we say them.

God knows all the snares Satan has laid out in front of us. If we will pray carefully at all times, God will lead us around the snares.

We are God's children, and one day will be His grown sons. You can imagine the love our Father in Heaven has for each one of us.

We genuinely are the brothers of the Lord Jesus, and the Father loves us with the same love He extends to His Firstborn.

One of the major problems the believers will have in the coming days is that of fretting because of the actions of wicked people. If Satan can get us to fret by pointing out to us his antics in the earth, he can tear us down from our high place in God.

We are not to fret about wickedness. Fretting is sinful. It is sinful because when we fret we are complaining about the way God is managing His world.

If you have a tendency to fret, pray that the Lord will remove it from you. It will lead you into sin.

We are not to fear. It is God's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. He indeed shall set a table before us in the presence of our enemies.

And we know in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28-29)