“Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.” (Re 11:17 AV)
We know this refers to the second coming and the fact the Father gives the Son the right and responsibility to bring judgment upon the Earth. Jesus is coming back and no force on Earth can stop Him. He will take back what is rightfully His. He is the Creator God who allowed mankind the liberty of self-determination. All that has produced is a world of sin and suffering. The kingdoms of this world have become tools of Satan for the destruction of mankind and the attempted defeat of God. There will come a time when all this will end. Christians may not enjoy the condition of this present world, and rightfully so, but it will not always be like this. Jesus is coming and He will take back what mankind has ruined. However, we do not have to wait until then to have the assurance Jesus is in control. Or, I should say, the Father. The Father gives the world to the Son to clean up. Not to take control. God is always in control. He is sovereign. The things that happen do so because He causes or allows them to happen. There is nothing that happens outside of the sovereign hand of God. This doesn’t mean God causes evil. He allows it because He has chosen to allow man to have the ability of self-determination. This self-determination is meant for man to seek God and trust him from a heart that is free to choose. Unfortunately, that leaves open the possibility he will not. Such is the case for the vast majority. But never doubt that God is in control and He reigns.
I live in a dangerous neighborhood. We have had three murders in the last two years, many robberies, and this morning, a day-time mugging. It is easy to think the world is out of control and the LORD does not a care about it. We watch the news and the condition of our nation. What an embarrassment! We see the direction it is headed and as a believer, we are a bit anxious. It is easy to forget the LORD is always in control, even if we cannot see it. Things may get worse. How will we feel then? Things happen in our personal lives. As we get older, things get tougher. Physical challenges, reduced income, and worries about our retirement years linger. If we are not careful, the devil can convince us he is the power that controls all things and God has taken a vacation. God is not the God of deism. That is, He did not create all things, and then when He rested, it was permanent. The entire Bible is filled with divine intervention and interaction with those whom He created. God created that He might love. He would not leave to itself all that He created and then allow Satan to destroy it all. That would be contrary to His nature.
This point is really simple. Even though the context limits the actions mentioned above to His second coming, God is still in control. Although our hope can be in the future; and, it should be; that does not limit hope to the future. God is in control as much today as He is when Jesus returns. His hand is simply manifested in a different way. Today, He limits what government or mankind can or will do. The Spirit hinders mankind from going completely off the rails. During the seven-year tribulation, that will not be the case. But for now, the hand of God limits the destructive actions of Satan and mankind. He intervenes in events and lives all the time. God is always in control and we do not have to wait for the rapture to depend on this truth. The Father has not abdicated His throne to Satan or man. He still sits on high with His eyes and hands all over everything.
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