God’s Great Purpose

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 12, 1913

God’s Great Purpose

It is interesting to stand by and watch the development of God’s great purpose in the affairs of men. We see the nations of earth fulfilling his decrees. Even the wrath of man is caused to praise him. This is expressed in the words of the apostle Peter as found in the fourth chapter of Acts, quoting the psalmist’s words: “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?” The apostle declares that in fulfilment of this prophecy:—

“The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.”

The great enemy of mankind determined through the enmity which he stirred up against Jesus Christ to bring about a failure of his mission, but by God’s great overruling providence and by the operation of his eternal purpose the nations of the earth worked out his design and brought about what he determined beforehand should be done. Of himself the Lord declares: “I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” Isa. 46: 9, 10.

In recognition of this wonder-working power of Omnipotence, coupled with the infinite love which God has for all his children, why need we fear? “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” To him we may securely commit the working out of every great question, and this is also true as applied to our personal experience. The great Architect has a purpose to work out in the life of every one of his children. He desires to shape and mold their experiences that they may fit into the great temple which he is erecting. The process of preparation may prove a trying one. We are taken as stones from a great quarry. As the sculptor by chiseling and grinding and hammering brings the rough, unhewn stone into the desired form, in the same way a similar process must be wrought in us. But if we will patiently submit ourselves into the hands of the great Master Workman, if we will yield ourselves as passive clay, he will fashion and mold us after the Perfect Pattern.

And we may make it an interesting study in our experience to see the manner in which this is accomplished. We shall be brought into straitened places. Instead of murmuring, let us watch to see how God will lead us out of the darkness. We shall be brought face to face with apparently insurmountable difficulties. In place of questioning God’s judgment in leading us by this path, let us watch to see his power break down the barriers and open the way before us. We lose so much by taking our cases into our own hands! Like Israel of old, our natural heart grows tired of the leading of the Lord, and we feel like choosing for ourselves a captain to lead us back into the land of bondage.

Let us by no selfish choosing of our own, by no stubborn rebellion on our part, mar the design which God has formed for us. If we are unable to recognize it now, the eternal ages will demonstrate the wisdom of his choosing and the justice of all his leadings.