God is in control - or is He really?
Over the this Sunday and the next two we’ll be examining this question in detail.
Today - God is in control of the earth, planets, stars, etc.
Next Sunday - God is in control of the nations
Two weeks from today - God is in control of you and me
So, is God in control of all things terrestrial and celestial???
Genesis 1:1
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Now, that’s a pretty grandiose statement!
The Lord goes on to explain and reinforce this more specifically in the opening chapter of the Gospel of John.
John 1:1-3
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”
And just so we don’t have any confusion about who “the Word” or “He” is referring to John writes in John 1:14
“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Now, if we integrate What is says in verse 14 with what it says in verses 1-3 it goes like this…
“In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. Jesus was with God in the beginning. Through Jesus all things were made; without Jesus nothing was made that has been made.”
God, Jesus, is the Creator - God started it all! So, is God still in control of all things?
God is sustaining it all!
Hebrews 1:3 (HCSB)
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature, sustaining all things by His powerful word.”
Hebrews 1:3 (AMP)
“He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power.”
So, God is sustaining everything but what if He wants to change something?
God modifies it when He wishes to do so. In order to see what He changes we need to take a look at the original form of what He changed.
Genesis 1:6-10
“And God said, ‘Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.’ So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.
“God called the vault; sky.’ And there was evening, and there was morning - the second day.
“And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry ground ‘land,’ and the gathered waters He called ‘seas.’ And God saw that it was good.”
Some Bible scholars believe that there was a layer of water above the earth, surrounding all of the earth. Not clouds, water! This water acted as a super-filter of the sun’s rays resulting in long life spans.
Could the “water above the earth” been talking about clouds?
All of these are never mentioned in the Bible as occurring up until the flood:
Rain, snow, hail, sleet, thunder, clouds, lightning.
Only rain is mentioned except for a reference to the fact that rain had not yet fallen on the earth.
God gives Noah a “7 day warning” in Genesis 7:4
“Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”
Genesis 7:11-12
“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month - on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.”
Life spans before the Flood
Adam lived a total of 930 years
Seth lived a total of 912 years
Enosh lived a total of 905 years
Kenan lived a total of 910 years
Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years
Jared lived a total of 962 years
Methuselah lived a total of 969 years
Lamech lived a total of 777 years (died in his youth …)
Life spans after the Flood
Shem lived 500 years
Arphaxad lived 403 years
Shelah lived 403 years
Eber lived 430 years
Peleg lived 209
Reu lived 207
Serug lived 200 years
Nahor lived 119 years
Just 315 years after the flood the average lifespan has shrunk considerably.
And, none of these words are found in the Bible prior to the flood: sickness, disease, drought, famine, pestilence, locust, not even hunger or thirst!
God not only gave a 7 day warning - He gave a hundreds of year warning
Remember, Enoch walked with God …
Enoch named one of his sons Methuselah which means, “his death shall bring”
Methuselah’s long life demonstrates the patience of God.
The Lord parted the Red Sea for the Israelites
The Lord opened the earth to swallow Korah and his followers
Jesus calmed the wind and the waves (twice)
After His disciples woke Him up in the boat during the storm
When He entered the boat after walking to them on the water
The sun was darkened at the crucifixion -
Not an eclipse - crucifixion took place the day before the Passover
At Passover the moon is nearly opposite from the Sun
A solar eclipse only lasts a few minutes not three hours
A solar eclipse never gets dark enough so that the stars come out
A solar eclipse has never been recorded with a simultaneous
earthquake
So, is the Lord in control of the heavens and earth???
We see from the Holy Scriptures that He is. But what about the future?
Revelation 8:6-12
“Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
“The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
“The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
“The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water - the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
“The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.”
Wow! That’s pretty frightening! And, the Bible goes on to say that in spite of this affliction sent on those who hate God they still will not repent and turn to Him for salvation!
But, what about those tragedies that take away even hundreds of thousands of lives:
Rank Death toll (estimate) Event* Location Date
1. 1,000,000–4,000,000 1931 China floods China July 1931
2. 242,000–655,000 1976 Tangshan earthquake China July 1976
3. 500,000 1970 Bhola cyclone East Pakistan November 1970
4. 280,000 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake
and Tsunami Indian Ocean December 26, 2004
5. 273,400 1920 Haiyuan earthquake China December 1920
6. 229,000 Typhoon Nina - contributed
to Banqiao Dam failure China August 7, 1975
7. 160,000 2010 Haiti earthquake Haiti January 12, 2010
8. 145,000 1935 Yangtze river flood China 1935
9. 142,000 1923 Great Kanto
earthquake Japan September 1923
Was God in control of all of these? Did He orchestrate all of these or are they just a natural occurrence of the world falling apart that started at the time of the Great Flood?
It is estimated that there will be 59 million deaths this year. When we think of 160,000 deaths in Haiti from an earthquake just over four years ago we see that it is just a drop in a bucket. The difference being that they all happened at once from one event instead of some here and some there from this and that.
I don’t mean to be calloused but the truth is that we are calloused if we never even casually think or pray for those left from the earthquake/tsunami that wiped out over a quarter of a million people in the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean less than ten years ago.
By the way, around the world, we will purposely kill over 42 million unborn babies this year alone which is 7.5 times the total number of the top ten natural disasters on record. Does our earth deserve to be shaken?
But, our Great God never leaves us there. Here’s what’s in store for the children of the One who is in Control of the Universe!
Revelation 21:1-4
“Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
The greatest shaking of the world took place between creation and the new creation hanging nailed to a cross on a hill outside of Jerusalem. It was a shaking of the spiritual world when the blood of Jesus brought life to a dead world.
Invite Pastor Tom to lead communion.
