The Basics -- God's Providence
A Christian doctrine of creation establishes a Christian doctrine of providence. As God created all things out of nothing, so too, he upholds and sustains those things which he has created. Just as in the doctrine of creation, here too we encounter the triune God working in and through all that he has made. Paul lays out this connection between creation and providence in his letter to the Colossians, “for by him [the Son] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17). We read elsewhere that the Holy Spirit too was hovering over the face of the deep at creation (Genesis 1:2, Psalm 33:6). Thus we affirm that God the Father works all things in and through the Son, in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, nothing can happen that is outside the will, purpose, and superintendence of God. This is the foundation of a Christian doctrine of providence. The Creator maintains and directs his creation. He does not sleep nor slumber, nor is he ever caught off-guard or unaware.
There are several ways in which we ought to think about God’s providence. The first is that God controls, sustains, and directs all things so that they fulfill the purpose for which they have been created. This is often spoken of as “preservation.” As the Bible reveals that God created all things by his all-powerful word, so too, his same word governs the creatures he has made. God commands the creatures he has made to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:22). He commands the same of Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28). God does not merely act upon creation as an all-powerful external force, he acts within his creation, sustaining, and directing every portion of it as the all-powerful creator and sustainer.
The doctrine of preservation should also be understood in close relation to “common grace,” in which we see God’s fatherly provision for all his creatures (cf. Matthew 6:25-35), and his divine image-bearers (Matthew 5:45). The importance of common grace is evident in Acts 14:17, when we read, “yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” God cares for and sustains all that he has made. His common grace bears witness to all his creatures of his goodness.
In fact, a brief summary of biblical passages demonstrates that God’s providence is said to extend over the entire universe. “The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all” (Psalm 103:19). His providence extends to all nations and peoples, “he makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away” (Job 12:23). In Acts 17:26, we read, “and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.” His providence even extends to seemingly insignificant things, as in Proverbs 16:33, where we are told, “the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” Every good thing comes from his fatherly hand.
A proper conception of providence also includes divine “concurrence” (“going together”). God acts with and upon his creatures in order to cause them to act as they do. Yet, at the same time, Scripture attributes the same event to an action of God and of his creature. This can be seen in the Joseph story when Joseph tells his brothers, “as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20). This is also the case with our Lord’s crucifixion, (Acts 2:23). Those who committed these acts (Joseph’s brothers, and those who crucified Jesus) are said to be guilty for their actions, yet it is their acts which brought to pass that which God has ordained.
Concurrence also means that there are real causes in the world, but they are always directed by God toward the ends to which he has decreed. There are no “loose” molecules running around in the universe. God is therefore the primary cause of all things by acting within history through his Spirit, not merely upon his creation as a demonstration of raw power. Concurrence holds that the actions of God’s creatures are real secondary causes, and human action brings to pass what God has ordained. At the same time, we must be clear that God did not in any sense cause or create evil, but he decreed that evil and sinful human actions serve to fulfill his will (as in the case of Joseph and our Lord’s crucifixion).
A Christian doctrine of providence steers us away from a deistic conception of God’s relation to the created order, in which God created all things and established the fixed laws of the universe. Viewed in a mechanistic sense, the universe operates apart from God’s direct control. According to deism, God may act upon creation (in the sense of responding to the actions of men and women, or in the case of disruptions within the natural order), but God does not act within creation as the doctrine of concurrence indicates.
The more common error is pantheism, in which God is so identified with the created order that there are no secondary causes or any independent action of God’s creature—a sort of hyper-spirituality. The created order is thought to be divine in some sense (often as an extension of God’s being) so that everything which happens is seen to be miraculous and that natural causes or explanations do not suffice. The fundamental distinction between the Creator and the creature is denied.
But when we see such things through the lens of divine concurrence, we need not embrace deism or pantheism. Birds fly because God made them to fly according to their natural abilities. Yet, when a sparrow falls to the ground, it is said to be the Father’s will (Matthew 10:29). We can be thankful that doctors and medical researchers discover a cure for some terrible disease and at the same time we affirm that God heals when that cure is actually realized in someone’s life. God often works through discernible means and secondary causes. Yet, our doctrine of providence also tells us that the secret things belong to the Lord (Deuteronomy 29:29) until they are revealed to us in time. We may never understand why certain things (good or evil) come to pass, but our doctrine of providence directs us to affirm, “and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).