Still Thinking About Providence

at Out of the Ordinary.

Christ and his creation are not like a watchmaker and his watch. A watchmaker assembles a watch, winds it up, and lets it run. There is no “letting it run” with Christ; He keeps the universe moving along by his own power. What’s here is here because he made it, and it keeps on working because he continues to make it work.

But the difference between Christ and the watchmaker is even greater than this. Leon Morris says the thought in Hebrews 1:3 is that Christ “is carrying [the universe] along, bearing it toward an important goal. Creation is not aimless; it is part of God’s plan and the Son is continually bearing creation along toward the fulfillment of the plan.”1 A watchmaker winds his watch and lets it run until it winds down. The watch fulfills its purpose best at the very beginning if its existence when it is new and freshly wound. Someday, inevitably, it will wind down and stop forever, never to fulfill its true purpose again. Not so with creation. Creation is forever fulfilling it’s purpose perfectly because it is being moved toward its ultimate aim by the One who made it.

Read the whole post. 

Sunday's Hymn: O Safe to the Rock That Is Higher Than I

O safe to the Rock that is higher than I
My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly;
So sinful, so weary, thine, thine would I be;
Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in thee.

Hiding in thee, hiding in thee—
Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in thee.

In the calm of the noontide, in sorrow’s lone hour,
In times when temptation casts o’er me its power,
In the tempests of life, on its wide, heaving sea,
Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in thee.

How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe,
I have fled to my refuge and breathed out my woe!
How often when trials like sea-billows roll,
Have I hidden in thee, O thou Rock of my soul!

 —William O. Cushing

Other hymns, worship songs, prayers, sermons excerpts, or quotes posted today:

• Jesus, I Come at By Grace Alone
• True Happiness at The Upward Call
• I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord at The Happy Wanderer
• The Architect and Builder at Tried With Fire
• Your weekly dose of Spurgeon: On avoiding the pigpen at Pyromaniacs

Have you posted a hymn (or sermon, sermon notes, prayer, etc.) today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by contacting me using the contact form linked above, and I’ll add your post to the list.

Sunday's Hymn: Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts

Jesus, thou Joy of loving hearts,
Thou Fount of life, thou Light of men,
From the best bliss that earth imparts
We turn unfilled to thee again.

Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood;
Thou savest those that on thee call;
To them that seek thee thou art good,
To them that find thee all in all.

We taste thee, O thou living Bread,
And long to feast upon thee still;
We drink of thee, the Fountainhead,
And thirst our souls from thee to fill.

Our restless spirits yearn for thee,
Where’er our changeful lot is cast;
Glad when thy gracious smile we see,
Blest when our faith can hold thee fast.

O Jesus, ever with us stay,
Make all our moments calm and bright;
Chase the dark night of sin away,
Shed o’er the world thy holy light.

 —Bernard of Clairvaux

Other hymns, worship songs, prayers, sermons excerpts, or quotes posted today:

• Jesus Is Lord at By Grace Alone
• Old Things Are Passed Away at The Upward Call
• The Simple Earnest Prayer at The Happy Wanderer
• The fountain of all being at Tried With Fire
• Your weekly dose of Spurgeon: We can die, but we cannot deny at Pyromaniacs

Have you posted a hymn (or sermon, sermon notes, prayer, etc.) today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by contacting me using the contact form linked above, and I’ll add your post to the list.