Sermon outline

INTRODUCTION As a church, we believe that before the foundation of the world God ordained whatever happens in the world, down to the slightest detail. But this seems to be contrary to some explicit statements of Scripture, which talk about God changing His plans. And it seems to nullify the significance of our prayers. How do we put all these things together?

THE TEXT “Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron, and said to him, ‘Come, make us a god who will go before us’ . . . .” (Exodus 32:1-14).

ALL THINGS ACCORDING TO HIS WILL Scripture does teach that God works all things according to the counsel of His own will (Ephesians 1:11), works everything for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28), and does as He pleases among the hosts of heaven and among the peoples of the earth (Daniel 4:34-37). Ecclesiastes 11:5 says that God “made” or “does” all, and on either translation it means that God is the ultimate source for every thing that exists, for all the relations among things, and for the development of things in time.

Other teachings of Scripture depend on this. If God reveals Himself in all things, then He must somehow be in control of all things. The doctrine of “general revelation” assumes that God is the ultimate cause of everything. We are to give thanks to God for all things, and that assumes that everything that happens to us somehow comes as a gift from God. God knows the future in every last detail, and He can know the future only if the future exists in some sense, exists in His mind and plan. If you deny that God has planned everything, it’s quite logical to say He doesn’t know the future.

HE CHANGED HIS MIND At the same time, Scripture speaks frequently about God changing His mind. Abraham is able to convince the Lord to spare Sodom if He can find ten righteous men (Genesis 18). When Yahweh was ready to destroy Israel because of their sin at Sinai, Moses convinced Him to “change His mind” (Exodus 32:14). Jeremiah encourages the people of Judah to repent and avoid destruction, reminding them of how God “changed His mind” in the days of Hezekiah (Jeremiah 26:13, 19). When Amos pleads with God for Israel, the Lord changes His mind and does not bring judgment (Amos 7:1-6).

It’s not accurate to say that God didn’t really change His mind in these events. The Bible says He did, and we believe that the Bible is true. How can we reconcile this with the passages that teach God has planned everything, and the explicit statements that God does not change His mind (1 Samuel 15:29)? There is a great mystery here, but the best thing to say is this: God’s character never changes, and HIs eternal purposes never change. Yet, “God changed His mind” is true not in spite of His decree, but because of His decree. The decree determines what is real, and God decreed the whole situation of threatening-and-changing-His-mind. “God changed is mind” is as true as “I changed my mind.”

YOUR PRAYERS The God of Scripture is high and exalted above creation, but He is also within the creation, interacting with creation, responding to our actions and words. His interactions are as real as our interactions with each other. And thus it’s true that prayer changes things. As James said, “You have not because you do not ask.”