GOD is the one and only independent Being. We speak of rich
men as being independent, but in reality no creature is
independent. Webster defines the adjective “independent” as
follows: “Not dependent; free; not subject to control by others;
not relying on others; not subordinate; self-governing;
sovereign; not contingent or conditioned, “etc. Now God is the
only Being to whom this definition can be absolutely applied.
The independency of God does not preclude the employment
of His creatures in accomplishing His will, but it means that He
does not depend upon them; He does not have to use them.
The popular expression, “God is depending on us, “makes
Him weaker than we are. God may use us in furthering His
cause, but what He does with us He could as easily do
without us. God derives no power or wisdom from His
creatures. “For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who
hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and
it shall be recompensed unto him again?” (Rom. 11:34,35).
Paul says: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that
the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (II
Cor. 4:7). The Gospel is proclaimed by lips of clay, but the
power of conversion is not in the man who speaks: “And my
speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of
man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in
the power of God” (I Cor. 2:4,5). Faith is not the result of
man’s persuasive powers; it is a fruit of the Spirit: “But the fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, ” (Gal. 5:22). The new birth is not the result of
man’s will, or the will of the flesh: “Which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God” (John 1:13), “Of his own will begat he us with the word
of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures”
(James 1:18). For success in the ministry God does not
depend upon the preacher; the preacher must depend upon
God.
THAT WORN-OUT FARM
The story is told of a man who bought a run-down farm in
Virginia. For three years he worked hard and finally was able
to produce the necessities of life. One day he was visited by
his pastor. As he took him over the farm, pointing out here
and there patches and fields of good crops, the pastor
remarked several times that it looked as if he and the Lord
were partners in farming. As the preacher took his leave, the
old farmer said, “Reverend, I agrees with all you say about me
and the Lord being in partnership. I agree with every word.
But reverend, I jest wishes you could a seen this place when
the Lord was running it by Hisself!” This irreverent joke has no
place in the pulpit as teaching that God had to depend upon
the farmer for good crops. That worn out land was not God’s
exhibit of what He was able to do. It was natural retribution for
the abuse of what God had made. The thorns and briars and
weeds that had grown on that run down farm were a reminder
of sin. “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened
unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which
I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is
the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the
days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to
thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field” (Gen. 3:17,18).
They did not speak of what God could produce, but of what
man deserves. God made the earth fruitful of good; sin
caused it to abound in thorns and thistles. A run down farm
does not represent the best God can do. God used the farmer
in producing good crops, but He did not depend on Him.
Moses cautioned Israel against saying: “And thou say in thine
heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me
this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it
is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may
establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is
this day” (Deu. 8:17,18). Also our Savior taught us to pray:
“Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11).
There must be some way to preach the truth of human
responsibility without begetting pride in the creature and
without dethroning God. We must not preach one truth at the
cost of another truth. Man is a responsible creature. He is
responsible to do all God commands. Man is responsible to
work for his bread, but after all his work he is dependent upon
God for his bread. No man, who can work, has the right to
expect bread apart from work; not because God cannot give
bread without work, but because He will not put a premium on
laziness. “For even when we were with you, this we
commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he
eat” (II Thess. 3:10). That God can give food apart from
human work is seen in the fall of the manna in the wilderness,
“And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the
face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small
as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of
Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they
wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the
bread which the LORD hath given you to eat” (Ex. 16:14-15)
and the feeding of Elijah by the ravens. “And it shall be, that
thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the
ravens to feed thee there” (I Kings 17:4). Of God we can truly
sing:
“He sits on no precarious throne,
Nor borrows leave to be.”
To further amplify the subject of God’s independence, let us
divide it into two branches: Self-existence and Self-sufficiency.
GOD IS SELF-EXISTENT
Every being must have a ground for its existence, either in or
out of itself. The ground of man’s existence is outside of
himself; he does not cause himself to exist. Man is dependent
on something outside of himself for existence, but God is not
thus dependent. To be sure the self existence of God is
incomprehensible to us, too much for the finite mind to grasp.
But a self existent person is not as great a mystery as a self
existent thing such as Herbert Spencer supposes the universe
to be. It is easier to see how matter is derived from mind than
to see how mind is derived from matter.
The ground of God’s existence is not in His will, but in His
nature. He did not will Himself into being; it is His nature to
exist. He exists naturally and therefore necessarily.
GOD IS SELF-SUFFICIENT
The self-existent Being must, of necessity, be self sufficient.
God is sufficient for His own support, glory, and happiness.
“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to
whom be glory for ever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36). God
comprehends in Himself all excellencies, perfections, and
happiness. “For by him were all things created, that are in
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all
things were created by him, and for him” (Col. 1:16).
It is very necessary to distinguish between what God is in His
essential being, and what He is declared to be by His
creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the
firmament sheweth his handywork” (Ps. 19:1), but they add
nothing to it. Men are to ascribe glory to God in their eating
and drinking: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (I Cor. 10:31),
but this is not any addition to His glory, but a mere recognition
but this does not denote that God was in need of man’s help,
but that it is man’s duty to serve God. “Yea, they turned back
and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel” (Ps.
78:41), but this only imports their attitude of mistrust. They
acted as though God was limited in power and could not take
care of them in the wilderness. Moreover, they limited Him in
His authority, that is, they acted as if He did not have the right
to make certain commands upon them; they showed by their
murmurings that they were displeased with His providences.
“And the whole congregation of the children of Israel
murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness” (Ex.
16:2); “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which
murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the
children of Israel, which they murmur against me” (Num.
14:27). In the same passage it is charged that they tempted
God, “Because all those men which have seen my glory, and
my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and
have tempted me now these ten times, and have not
hearkened to my voice” (Num. 14:22) that is, they acted as if
He could be tempted. In unbelief they put Him to the proof.
GOD IS ESSENTIALLY BLESSED
He is called the blessed or happy God, “According to the
glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to
my trust” (I Tim. 1:11); “Which in his times he shall shew, who
is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord
of lords; “(I Tim. 6:15). This happiness can neither be added
to nor destroyed. Sin merits and receives His displeasure, but
it does not destroy His happiness. Righteousness in His moral
creatures may and does receive His approbation, but it adds
nothing to His essential happiness and glory. He was happy
and glorious before there were any creatures, and He will
remain happy even when hell is filled with the wicked. God’s
happiness rests upon three facts:
1. There is no moral conflict in God.
“Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is
infinite” (Ps. 147:5). God is at peace with Himself. He is
infinite in wisdom and spends no time in grieving over
mistakes. He is infinite in holiness and knows no remorse for
sin. While there are three persons in the Godhead, they are
an absolute unity and in perfect accord. Peace is the great
desideratum of the human race, but it belongs essentially to
God. He is called the God of peace: “Now the God of peace,
that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great
shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant” (Heb. 13:20). And there is harmony among all His
attributes. “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness
and peace have kissed each other” (Ps. 85:10).
2. God knows no limitations.
He is never at the end of Himself. His resources are never
diminished. He never faces an emergency. He knows nothing
of crises. He never resorts to any new deal, for His plans and
purposes are all eternal. Wisdom designed all His plans, and
His power executes them, therefore “Known unto God are all
his works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18). There
never was a time when God wondered what He would or
could do. He has no experiment station where He learns what
is best, for He naturally knows what is best. In all these points
man is in striking contrast to God. We are straitened in
ourselves, often at our wit’s end and helpless. We are limited
in power and wisdom. We are limited in time, but God is the
King of Eternity. Joshua wanted time to get his day’s work
done, and God lengthened the day for him. “Then spake
Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up
the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the
sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou,
Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the
moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon
their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the
sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go
down about a whole day” (Jos. 10:12,13). Napoleon, at
Waterloo, saw the shadows of the evening falling upon his
defeated army and is reported to have said, “O that I had the
power of Joshua to retard the march of the sun one hour!”
3. God’s happiness consists of His holiness.
Sin destroys happiness. Look at Adam and Eve in Eden “And
the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there
he put the man whom he had formed” (Gen. 2:8), before and
after their sin. “And they heard the voice of the LORD God
walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his
wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God
amongst the trees of the garden” (Gen. 3:8). Nothing to mar
their happiness until sin came. Sin promises happiness but
cannot produce it. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Sin is breaking
with God, and since God is the fountain and source of all true
happiness, when man broke with Him, he lost peace and joy.
No man in his natural state, as a sinner, has any true peace
and joy. These are fruits of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith”
(Gal. 5:22). The people of God will not be perfectly happy until
they are completely saved, and this will not be until they are
conformed to the image of Christ in resurrection glory. “As for
me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied,
when I awake, with thy likeness” (Ps. 17:15). “Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Rom. 4:8). Satan
gives a counterfeit happiness. He has built a fool’s paradise in
this world for his dupes. But the ever happy God will make His
children genuinely and eternally happy in a real and lasting
paradise. His grace has satisfied us with the imputed
righteousness of His Son for justification, and has also
created a thirst within us for personal righteousness, and that
thirst will be satisfied when we are glorified. Here is His
promise: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matt. 5:6). What a joy
to know that we shall some day be as good as we now want
to be!
“Only one life to live and soon is past
Only what’s done for Christ will last!”
Hoping to make the time I have left count for the glory of God.
THE INDEPENDENCY OF GOD
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