All right, it's been a while, but let's take our Bibles and turn to Romans. Romans chapter 11. We haven't quite finished this chapter. Closing verses here are Paul's doxology of praise. And with Thanksgiving being this week, I thought it'd be good for us to come back to Romans this week. Look at this grand hymn of praise. Particularly verse 36, but we'll start back at verse 33 in our reading. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments, and how unscrutable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? or who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. Now the occasion for this hymn of praise here is Paul has just finished the first section of his epistle. All the instruction he's given, all the doctrine, the doctrine of justification by faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone, and so appropriately so, to God alone be the glory. And that is why he composes this hymn of praise. The occasion for it, he's been remembering all that he's written, all that there is about justification and no condemnation, all there is about God accepting sinners because of their faith in His Son, who died as their substitute, taking on their sin, clothing them in exchange with His righteousness, making them acceptable to God. Such things about God's eternal love and grace is what makes Paul sing here. But sing about what, exactly? Well, what does the text say? We see here he is looking at God. He is praising God for who he is and what he has done. First of all, as we considered last time, and since it's been a while, we'll review a little bit, his incomprehensible wisdom and infinite knowledge, verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. Now the knowledge for which Paul sings God's praises here is not his omniscient his omniscience in knowing all things, but rather, since the occasion is praising him for his wonderful redemption, Paul is praising God here for knowing us as his redeemed people. In other words, that foreknowledge that is expressed in his electing us unto salvation. And then the wisdom for which Paul sings is God's mind-blowing way of bringing salvation to pass. In the near context, chapters 9 through 11, you see this great wisdom of God worked out. For who rejects a people in order to save them? Yet that is exactly what God did to the Jews. He rejected the Jews in order to save Gentiles, in order that the Jews would get jealous over the Gentiles seeing all the blessings they received from God, and make them jealous enough to want God in the end, and that's exactly what happens in chapter 11. Who thinks of such a plan like that? What high knowledge and magnificent wisdom. But in the wider context of Romans, Who sacrifices his son in order to reconcile with his enemies? Who does that? And yet that's what we find in the book of Romans. That's what God did because that was the only thing that could make it happen. We would never think of such a thing. We would make salvation dependent on good work, say. But we all know we have none of those things, which shows exactly how dumb we are. Our wisdom falls far short, but God's outrageous ways work. He is so much wiser. And in the second part of verse 33, we see his unsearchable judgments and untraceable paths. This is like Isaiah 55.9, where Isaiah writes, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. You see, though Paul has with great wisdom, taught us and instructed us in the hidden counsels of God from before time, things like God's sovereign electing grace, Paul says, he and we still do not come even close to knowing anything about God. We don't fully understand the bestowing of his mercy. We don't understand his hardening of hearts. We do not fully understand God closing the eyes and ears of those people who need his truth. We don't fully understand why those who live at a time when Israel's disobedience will be removed and they receive forgiveness when those before that day are condemned. We just don't understand the mind of God. And we certainly do not understand why we have received mercy when we know ourselves as we do. In this we acknowledge the richness of the wisdom and knowledge of God. In verses 34 and 35, then, we come to what we haven't covered yet, and that is God's independence of man. In these verses, Paul's glance shifts, as it were. He's going back and forth. He hasn't taken his eyes off of God, but he's looking also at the man who is marveling at the wonders and truths of God. And what he sees is a stark contrast. There's God's unsearchable grandeur on the one hand, and the poverty of man's small knowledge on the other. In verse 34 he asks questions. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? And then he adds in verse 35, or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? First, who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? Now this is a quote from Isaiah 40, verses 13-14, but there's also parts of it that is seen in God's questioning of Job toward the end of that book. And the end result of all that questioning of God, questioning, were you there when I, were you there, do you do, it shows all the grandeur, majesty, and wisdom, and knowledge of God there in the book of Job. And when you come to the end of it all, the result is that no human being, however wise, can teach God a thing. God is perfect in wisdom, while we are limited. And the limited knowledge that we do has, where'd we get it? From Him. So how do we expect to tell Him something He doesn't know? And yet, isn't that how man treats God? Why did you do this? You know, things bad happen, and they turn on God. They think He doesn't know what He's doing. God is perfect in wisdom. We are so shallow in wisdom, and what we have is given us from Him, so how in the world can we ever hope to be His counselor? Together, these questions remind us of the self-sufficiency, sovereignty, and independence of God, while reminding us that we have nothing to contribute and nothing to add to what God does. And as verse 35 continues, we cannot place God under obligation ourselves by giving anything to Him. For what do we have that has not already been given to us by God? Everything we have, everything we are, has originated with God. And this is exactly what Paul has emphasized throughout the book. Some think that because of their goodness, God must save them. I mean, I'm not as bad as this guy, so therefore you must accept me." God is somehow indebted to them to save them because of the way they live. But we know from Paul's writing there that we are saved by divine grace apart from anything human. That's his point in chapters 1 through 4. That explains the depth of the human depravity and inability and shows how God has reached out to save us anyway through Jesus Christ, completely apart from anything in us. We are saved through faith only in who Christ is and what He has done for us. It is not of ourselves, but only of God's initiative. And others will say, well, okay, I'm saved, but so long as I am faithful, God will keep me. As long as I am serving, as long as I am giving him, as long as I am worshiping him, then God will keep me. But we know, as Paul has told us in chapters five through eight, that we are secure in our salvation apart from any human work. just as we have nothing to contribute to our justification, so also we have nothing to contribute to keep it. It is true that there are things that we must do, being believers in God, and that we will do them if we are true believers, but that does not mean that we give anything to God in this area. What we do is a response to what He has already done in us. In fact, He is enabling us to do those works. In fact, when Paul gets to the end of that section in chapter 8 and reflects on the certainty of our persevering in faith, he bases it not on what we have done, but totally on what God has done for us. It is God who works all things together for good. Not we cooperating with Him. It is God who works them all together for good. It is God who foreknew. It is God who predestined. It is God who justified, called, and glorifies. It is all of God from beginning to end. And then there were the Jews. They thought that because they were children of Abraham, they automatically get into heaven. That's what the Jews said to John the Baptist, and John the Baptist says, God can make children of Abraham out of these rocks. And so Paul writes in Romans 9-11, not all Israel are Israel, for not all are children of Abraham, because they are his offspring. He says, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, it's not because of works, but because of Him who calls. It's God who calls us, not we who call Him. It's, as John said, John 1, 13, we are born, again, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God, all things have their source in him. So by our own works, no one can boast before God. No one can give anything to God and say, you have to do whatever. And the reason why man can lay God under no obligation is that God himself is all and in all. He's the source, the means, and the end of all things. And that's verse 36. For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. This, lastly, is His ultimacy. The ultimacy of God. Here in this verse, we have a God-centered theology followed by a God-centered doxology. And they both point to God as the ultimate, final, or most extreme degree above anything that exists. Note the prepositions that he uses here. From, through, and to, from Him, through Him, and to Him. Number one, all things are from God. He is the source of all things. His will is the origin of everything in existence. Number two, All things are through Him, for He is the agent by whom all things are created, sustained, and preserved. And three, all things are to Him, for He is the goal of all things. All things tend to His glory as their final end. If we ask where all things come from, in the beginning as well as today, the answer must be from God. If we ask how all these things came into being and remain in being, our answer is through God. If we ask why everything came into being, our answer must be for and to God. There are other such statements in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 8, 6. For us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ through whom are all things and through whom we exist. Ephesians 4, 6, there is one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Here again is the supremacy and preeminence and ultimacy of God over all things. Colossians 1.16, for by him 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. You look at that verse and you say there's nothing that lies outside of the description given there. Hebrews 2.10 mentions him for whom and by whom all things exist. Everything that exists has its source, its center, and its goal, the God of heaven. If we think that the universe revolves around us, or that we are responsible to ordering our lives, then according to this verse, we are in gross error. We are man-centered secular humanists at that point. And yet, isn't that the natural inclination of the natural heart? The greatest illustration of that in the Bible is found in Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the greatest empire on earth in history. Nebuchadnezzar was the leader of the Babylonian Empire. And one day while Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof of his royal palace, overlooking his hanging gardens and the aqueducts that came to water them, and looking at everything that he had accomplished, Daniel 4.30 says that he said, Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty? Isn't that the same words that Paul uses here of God? Nebuchadnezzar said Babylon, along with its empire, was from him. I built it, he says. And then next, what does he say? By my mighty power, through me, and for the glory of my majesty. Now, of course, God didn't agree with that, and he judged him for that arrogance. He brought insanity to Nebuchadnezzar. And so for seven years, he lived and ate and acted like a wild beast. His fingernails grew, his hair grew long. It was like he was a beast. He ate with the beast, he slept with the beast, he lived with the beast, everything. He was a beast for seven years, uncontrollable, untamable. At the end of that seven years, God gave him his sanity back and his kingdom back. And what were the words on his lips? Verses 34 and 35 of Daniel 4. At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me. And I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored Him who lives forever. For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. And he does according to his will among the hosts of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay his hand or say to him, what have you done?" In other words, Nebuchadnezzar had learned that secular humanism is a crazy way of looking at the world. Anyone who thinks he or she is the center of their universe or that are in control of their destiny is spiritually insane. But the regenerate mind is a different mind. It's a renewed mind. As Paul will say in chapter 12 and verse 2, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. The renewed mind, the regenerated mind is different. This mind thinks differently. This mind has a God-centered worldview, a worldview that places all things as centered in God. Now, I want to apply this God-centered theology three ways, which really captures the meaning of all things. God is ultimate in creation, in providence and history, and in salvation. We only have, today we'll be looking at the first one. We see his ultimacy in creation. Are not all things from God? I mean, have any of us here today created like God has created? We require raw materials, resources, in order to create things. God created Out of nothing is the term in Genesis 1-1. Out of nothing He created the heavens and the earth. God is the one from whom everything has come into existence. Everything has their source in God. Even the devil is God's devil. The concept and plan of creation came from God's mind, and no one else, because there's no one else around. But not only has the plan of creation come from God, the actual carrying out of that plan was through Him as well, for He is the Creator. John 1, 3, all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. Hebrews 1, 2, He has spoken by His Son through whom He created the world. Genesis 1-1, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The heavens, the earth, everything in heaven, everything on the earth, everything under the earth. Angelic beings, human beings, animal beings, the sun, the moon, the stars, this universe or any other universe. The atmosphere, the sea, the plants, all substance, all matter, every micron, all things were made by God. But through Him also, all of this is sustained. He not only created all things, He holds them together. It is He who directs them. He sustains them. He provides for them. He rules over them. Colossians 117, in Him all things consist or are held together. As the song says, He has the whole world in His hands. And if He were to let go, everything would go into complete chaos. there would be a meltdown of the universe as every atom explodes. Why is it that atoms hold together? Scientists say there's no reason why it shouldn't, but it's held together. Why? In Him all things consist. In Him all things are held together. And then, for what reason? were the heavens and earth created? What was the purpose of creation? It is for or to Him. Now we naturally think the universe and all creation is here for us to see and taste and smell. It is for us to enjoy, experience and explore. But since God planned it, Before any of us existed, the motive must be found entirely in and of Himself. Creation must be to the praise of His glory. Isaiah chapter 6, verse 3, the whole earth is full of His glory. And so the air we breathe is His air. The food we eat is His food. The sunrise that we enjoy is His sunrise. We are standing on His planet. This is all for God, and it shows forth His greatness. Calvin is quoted as saying many times and often, the entire universe is but a theater for the glory of God. It's a stage on which He displays His greatness and His majesty. In other words, it's for God to show off His greatness and for us to be aware of His majesty. Psalm 19.1, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His hands, His handiwork. Romans 1, 19 and 20, what can be known about God is made plain because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that he has made. Every moment of every day and everything that happens every moment of every day is bearing witness to the supremacy and ultimacy of God. I have a quote to you from Albert Barnes from his commentary on this passage. The reason or end for which all things were formed is to promote his honor and glory. It is not to promote his happiness. for he was eternally happy. It's not to add anything to him, for he is infinite, but that he might act as God and have the honor and praise that is due to God. And that is why we so strongly oppose the lie of naturalistic evolution. It is a frontal attack on the glory of God. Evolution seeks to displace God as the source of all things. It pivots on the premise of random chance, like the Big Bang, and natural selection as the reason for the ongoing existence of everything. But that flies in the face of Romans 11, verse 36. The reality of the issue is that everything came into being because God said, let there be light, and there was light. It's because God said, let there be waters, and let the dry land appear, and let the vegetation come, and let the animals come, and let us make man in our image. And it was so. Everything in the universe is from God. Everything is then sustained through God's creative power. and everything exists to glorify God, and to believe any other way, as Paul says in Romans 3, 4, that God be true and every man a liar. So, you see, God is ultimate over everything, and so he owes us nothing. Yet because of His own glory and according to His good pleasure, He gave us all creation to enjoy. And so we can go out in the fall and look at the leaves and the colors and just be taken back at the glory and splendor of it all. We can look at, and I have always loved to look at a mountain stream. There's just something peaceful about it. You look at creation and we can take so much things from it. But He's given it to us to enjoy and so it is we who are obligated to Him, right? To love and serve and worship and praise Him. everything about us we owe to God we are obligated to God we can't give him anything to obligate him to us but he gives us everything and so we are obligated to him we owe our life and every breath that we take to him Paul says to the Athenian philosophers in in Acts chapter 17 verse 25 he himself gives to all mankind life breath and everything. And down in verse 28 he says, in Him we live and move and have our being. And if that's the case, verse 36 at the last part, to Him be the glory forever. David says in Psalm 139 that we owe our bodies to Him. Verse 13 and 14, you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother's womb. And what is David's reaction to that, recognizing that our bodies come from God? I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. It is God who gives us our intelligence. In Job chapter 38, verse 36, God is speaking to Job in his own ultimacy and rhetorically asks Job, Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind? In other words, God alone be praised. And according to Jesus in Matthew chapter 6, it is God who gives us our daily bread. And it is God who gives and provides for our daily needs. What we shall eat, what we shall drink, what we shall wear. You see how all things are from Him and through Him. David says in Psalm 40, verse 5, many, O Lord, my God, are your wonderful works which you have done. And your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to you in order. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. And so what is David's conclusion to such meditation on God? Drop down to verse 16 of Psalm 40. May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you, saying continually, great is the Lord. To God is to go all the glory, all the praise, all the worship, because everything about us, everything we have, everything we enjoy in creation is given to us by God, and so we owe Him. We owe Him our service, we owe Him our love, we owe Him our worship, and we owe Him praise. But there is another great thing, before we close here, that we enjoy, that's from Him, through Him, and to Him, which we'll spend more time on next week. But Psalm 40, verse 16, mentions it, because I left that middle phrase out earlier. Notice it. May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. May those who love your salvation say continually, Great is the Lord. Those who love your salvation say, Great is my faith. Great is my goodness. No, great is the Lord. Because why? Salvation doesn't find its source in us, nor does it come by means of anything we do, nor is it for our Benefit in it is but it isn't that's not the end it is for his glory And so we sing great is the Lord and worthy to be praised You see our salvation finds its source its means and its goal in God not us For there's nothing in us that would obligate God to save us to save anyone and Actually, He's obligated to condemn every one of us because the wages of sin is death. And we're all sinners, aren't we? There's nothing good about any of us. So if salvation is ours, it is ours only and totally from Him, through Him, and so to Him must go the glory. Ephesians 2.9, it is not of works. Why? Lest any man should boast. Why shouldn't man boast? Because to God alone belongs the glory, and that's why we're not saved by works, but by grace through faith in Christ. Romans 9, 16, it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. Why? So that God will receive the glory and the praise. You see, as Paul says in Ephesians 2, it was God who was rich in mercy because of His great love toward us. which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins. He made us alive together in Christ, for by grace you have been saved. And He raised us up together, and He made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace, and in His kindness, torn us in Christ Jesus. All things exist for the grand goal of God receiving all the glory and all the praise. And so when you leave this place today and you go out in creation, on your way home, you see whatever, and it fills you with joy, give God the praise. When you go home and you have your meal with your loved ones, and this Thursday when you do so, Know that all things that you are enjoying come from Him, and so to Him be praised. When you go to work, be thankful, because He gave you the strength to do your job, and He put it in the mind of your boss to hire you in the first place, and He blesses your boss so that you can have the job. It doesn't go out of business. All things come from Him. To God be praised. and in your relative health, even if you have a cold. To God be praised! Because He gives you the very breath to breathe. You are because of Him. To God be praised. Let's pray. My dear Heavenly Father, after looking into the Scripture and seeing you for all that you are and all of your glory and majesty, we humble ourselves because we are so undeserving of anything from your hand. Yet everything that we are and everything that we have, everything that we enjoy, our families, our health, our bodies, our minds, everything comes from You. And so we are obligated to praise You. And may praise be continually upon our mouths and in our hearts. May we never get arrogant and think that we are in control. but know always that you are holding us together, that you are guiding us, that you are preserving us, that you are ruling us. And we owe our existence. And more than that, we owe our salvation to you. And we thank you that you didn't leave it up to us because we would have come up with some stupid thing to get it that doesn't work. And yet you gave your son what wisdom. to die for us, to provide us with salvation. O God, thank you. Thank you for your great plan of creation and your great plan of salvation. For by it we came into being, by one we came into being, and by the other we came into spiritual existence, with spiritual life and eternal life. Thank you, Lord Jesus, and thank you, Father, for all that you have done. And we say with Paul that from you and through you and to you belong all the glory. To you be glory forever and ever. Amen.