God And Man As They Really Are
by
Don Fortner -
Nebuchadnezzar
was a great and mighty king in
God
almighty had purposed from eternity to display in Nebuchadnezzar his own
greatness, glory, and grace. He was determined to make the proud Babylonian
king to know and acknowledge that "the most High ruleth in the kingdom of
men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of
men." Clearly this is the emphatic point of Daniel 4 (Read vv. 17, 25, 26,
32). The chapter was written to teach us both the greatness of God and the
insignificance of man.
In
order to accomplish his purpose God set out to bring Nebuchadnezzar down, to
humble the proud monarch, to break him, and to make himself known to him, and
he did it. The Lord God took away
Nebuchadnezzar's mind and made him a raving lunatic. He was put out of his
kingdom and separated from society for seven years. For seven years he grazed
in the fields, living like a wild beast. Then, after seven years of lunacy, God
gave Nebuchadnez-zar's reason back to him and restored him to his kingdom.
Nebuchadnezzar was a changed man. God taught him what all men sooner or later
must learn. This is what he said, "At the end of the days I
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine under-standing
returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him
that liveth forever, whose dominion is an ever-lasting dominion, and his
kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabi-tants of the earth
are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his will in the army of
heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or
say unto him, what doest thou?" (Dan. 4:34-35).
With
those words Nebuchadnezzar declares what he had learned by the experience of
grace, the glorious majesty and greatness of God and the utter insignificance
of man. In those two verses God the Holy Spirit shows us five things that all
men and women must learn and acknowledge. These are not questionable, debatable
issues. They are divinely revealed facts that must be acknowledged. All men
will acknowledge them, either in the experience of God's saving grace in
Christ, or in the experience of his endless wrath in hell.
First,
THE LORD JEHOVAH IS THE ETERNAL, SELF-EXISTENT GOD. Nebuchadnezzar was a religious man before,
but now he discovered who God is. He said, "Mine understanding returned
unto me, and I blessed the most High, and praised and honored him that liveth
forever!" He learned that the Lord our God, the only true and living God,
sits upon the throne of heaven and says, "I live forever!" He
"hath life in himself!" He is the great "I AM". Only our
God can declare, "I am God, and beside me there is none else!"
The
Lord Jehovah alone is eternal. He is the only underived, self-existent,
self-sustained Being. The God we worship is the only Being
in the universe who necessarily and from his own nature exist. God alone must
be! All his creatures depend upon his will for everything. He depends upon
nothing! He only "hath immortality" (I Tim.
God
alone is truly independent. We depend upon many things for our existence: food,
heat, light, water, air, shelter, clothing, etc. And all of
this God gives us. All life
depends upon him! But he needs nothing from any of his creatures. God is! Nothing of his Being is derived from
something else. Yet, all that exists is derived from him. He was as glorious
before he made the worlds as he is now. He was just as great, blessed, happy,
and satisfied before he spoke the vast universe into existence as he is today.
Nothing in God's great Being depends upon anything
outside of himself!
The
Lord our God alone is immutable. He does not change and cannot be changed. All
our lives are full of changes, but God is incapable of change to any degree.
"The creature is made subject unto vanity." But the Creator is
without variableness or shadow of turning. He says, "I am the Lord; I
change not" (Mal. 3:6; Psa. 102:25-27; Heb.
Perfection
demands immutability. It will not allow change. Go back into eternity past, as
far back as your mind will carry you.
There sits Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, upon his throne in all
the fulness of his triune glory. Run into the farthermost distance of eternity
future to which your brain, (The pigmy brain of a finite man!), will carry you.
Still, the eternal, triune God sits upon his throne, exactly as he always has
been, in all the fulness of his glory, unchanged and unchangeable. Satan and
the legions of hell attacked his throne, but God is unaffected. Mankind, like a
mighty army, is risen up against him. Wave after wave,
from generation to generation, humanity has been attacking Deity from the
beginning of time. Yet, God is unchanged. There he sits upon his throne, in the
calm serenity of absolute sovereignty, gloriously immutable! Nothing disturbs God!
Secondly,
THE LORD OUR GOD IS THE GOD "WHOSE DOMINION IS AN EVERLASTING DOMINION,
AND HIS KINGDOM IS FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION." Not only is he the
eternal God, he is also the eternal, reigning Monarch of the universe. He is
God upon the throne of indisputable and incontestable sovereignty. He reigns over all things by right, because he
is God (Matt.
God
reigns everywhere, at all times, over all things, absolutely. Satan may lead
one third of the heavenly host in rebellion against him, but Jehovah reigns!
Adam may rebel against his dominion and plunge the race into sin and death, but
Jehovah reigns! Pharaoh may torment and
afflict his people, but Jehovah reigns! Judas may betray his Son, wicked men
may crucify him, doing exactly what their wicked hearts desire to do, yet
Jehovah reigns still, doing exactly what he wills, even by the hands of wicked
men! God almighty has never vacated his throne, and never shall. Amid all the
calamities and tragedies of life, amid all the sins of men and devils, amid all
the corruptions and upheavals of society, our God reigns! God has his way
always in all things, in creation, in providence, and in grace.
Thirdly,
MAN IS NOTHING. Oh, what a hard lesson this is for proud man to learn. But
Nebuchadnezzar learned it, and all men must.
"All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing" (See
Isaiah 40:15, 17). We are nothing in ourselves and can make nothing of
ourselves, but what God allows. We are nothing in comparison with God, less
than nothing, just vanity! All who have ever lived and shall yet live, before
God, are as a drop in a bucket, as insignificant as the dust of a balance.
"Great God, how infinite Thou art!
What worthless worms are we!"
All who are taught of God are made to know
their own nothingness before him. Like Mephibosheth before David, we see
ourselves as "dead dogs" before him. With David, the regenerate soul
cries, "Who am I, O Lord God, that you should have mercy on me." With
Job, the believer cries, "I abhor myself." With Isaiah, those who
have seen Christ in his redemptive glory cry, "Woe is me!" "What
is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man
that thou visitest him?" Who are you? Who am I? Who are we that the most high God should even think of us? We are grasshoppers
before him, worthless, insignificant, offensive, repugnant!
Indeed, before him we are less than nothing. This is especially true with
regard to our salvation. In election we
were nothing (John
Fourthly,
Nebuchadnezzar learned that GOD'S INFINITE POWER IS CONSTANTLY AT WORK,
SOVEREIGNLY ACCOMPLISHING HIS WILL. "He doeth according to his will in the
army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth." There are no
exceptions! God's will is always done in all realms of existence, in heaven,
earth, and hell (Psa. 115:3; 135:6). With unexplainable, infinite, sovereign
power, God almighty so governs all beings and all things that all, either
willingly or unwillingly, accomplish his will. Both the good and the evil acts
of men and angels are so completely and absolutely ruled by our God that
nothing ever comes to pass except according to his will and power (Prov. 16:1,
9, 33; 19:21; Acts 2:23; 4:27-28). Men cry, "That is extreme!" But
David so thoroughly believed in God's total sovereignty that he ascribed
Shimei's cursing of him to the decree of God (II Sam. 16:9-14). Nothing comes
to pass that God has not ordained and does not rule.
What
about man's freewill? "The miracle of the divine glory lies in this - God
has made men free agents, endowed them with a will, with which will he never
interferes, except according to the laws of mind; that he leaves them
absolutely free to do what they will; and yet, such is the magnificent strategy
of heaven, such is the marvellous force of the divine mind that, despite
everything, the will of God is done" (C. H. Spurgeon).
God
rules everywhere, but suppose he did not. If God does not rule everywhere and
everything, then somewhere there is something that rules God, and he is not
omnipresently supreme. If God does not have his will and his way, then someone
else does, and that someone is a rival to God! Such a blasphemous doctrine would
scare me to death, were it true. Nothing would be safe. No promise could be
believed. No prophecy could be trusted.
The very throne of God would be in constant jeopardy. Not even sin is
exempted from the sovereign control of God's providence and the overruling
dominion of his power. No, God did not cause man to sin! But man's sin did not
take God by surprise, and his rule is not at all disturbed by it (Psa. 76:10).
Fifthly,
THE WILL OF GOD IS IRRESISTIBLE AND UNIMPEACHABLE. "None can stay his
hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" (Read
Isaiah
GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH of DANVILLE
Don Fortner, Pastor Telephone 606-236-8235
Schedule of Regular Services
Sundays: 10:00 am
Bible Classes
10:30 am Morning Worship
Mid-Week: