Dear Hope family,         

Thought for the Week                                                                          

God the Father’s Work 

Ephesians 1v9 “And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in Christ.” 

As we continue in our “Statement of Faith”, our second statement is, “We believe in … The love, grace and sovereignty of God in creating, sustaining, ruling, redeeming and judging the world.”  

This is an amazingly comprehensive statement of God’s work. Reflecting on this statement, I notice the following: 

• The love, grace and sovereignty of God fit together in all God’s works. This is incredible assurance that God does not let go of his love and grace when he is exercising his sovereignty. But there is also the warning that God exercises his sovereignty alongside his love. The two can be seen as two sides of the same coin, where we might be inclined to only look at one side at a time. 
• Finally, we have the whole Bible story here in 5 verbs: God created, sustains, rules, redeems and judges! How succinct! It is worth meditating on each of God’s actions. In your situation, what has God done, what is God doing and what might he be about to do? Maybe life is about what God is doing rather than what I am doing! 

Let’s keep the whole story of God as revealed in the Scriptures in mind. There is a past, a present and a future. They all lie in God’s hands and he is both loving and sovereign. There is therefore grace for the past and hope for the future. 

With love and blessing, 

Roland