Rebecca and I are in Switzerland, and I am teaching on the Reformation. For the next several days I will be providing commentary, answering some questions that might have come to your mind as you have thought about these 16th-Century events that changed world history.
This picture is of the Reformation Wall in Geneva, which highlights four great reformers. The second from the left is Calvin, and if you could see him up close you would notice that he stands a bit taller than the others—and is set more prominently to the front.
Question: How did Calvin’s influence spread around …
There is nowhere we can go where God is not—even if we wanted to, we cannot flee from His presence.
"Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me." - Psalm 139:7–10
God knows the secrets of the heart; there are no parts you can hide from Him.
"If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart." - Psalm 44:20–21
Does your heart condemn you with guilt, shame, or malice? Thankfully, God's understanding of us is greater than what others or even we believe about ourselves.
"By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything." - 1 John 3:19–20
Did you know that you were known by God as long as He has existed? And for those in Christ, He has loved you for all eternity—past, present, and into the future.
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." - Romans 8:29
The omniscience of God can be a terrifying reality, but also one of the most comforting truths of His character. He who knows us the best, loves us the most.
"O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar." - Psalm 139:1–2
God declares the end from the beginning. He knows all things—and this has huge implications for our Christian lives.
"For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.'" - Isaiah 46:9b–10
Are we willing to accept the attributes of God that we aren't so comfortable with—such as His vengeance, wrath, and jealousy?
"You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you—for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth." - Deuteronomy 6:14–15
Our ideas of God are always too small. We are not dealing with a tame God, but the God of the Bible who is jealous and wrathful.
"The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies." - Nahum 1:2
To be jealous for God's name means that we have zeal to see Him honored: the kind of jealousy God commends, not the kind the world provokes.
"Therefore thus says the LORD GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name." - Ezekiel 39:25
