When God Was Determined

from David Jeremiah

Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up. Acts 2:23-24 There’s no word higher, greater, or possessing more authority than that of sovereign. Notice the last five letters: REIGN. The prefix, sov, means “super” or “above all.” In his Pentecostal sermon in Acts 2, Peter stressed the sovereignty of God in matters related to the crucifixion of Christ. The Jewish leaders weren’t in control of the events. Pontius Pilate wasn’t the determining power. The Roman soldiers weren’t in charge. None of the civil or religious powers wrecked the plan of Almighty God. Jesus was delivered to death “by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God.”

 

Notice the power of the word determined. The death of Christ was a determination made in heaven in order to provide the world with forgiveness of sin and eternal life. From eternity past, our Heavenly Father determined to love you, to save you, and to give you an eternal inheritance at the cost of the blood of His Son, whom He then raised from the dead. Nothing is outside of God’s determined sovereign rule, and that should make us feel very secure! Behind Calvary’s cross is the throne of heaven. James Stewart