Focus: The First Cause (Pt.2)

Text: Gen.21:6

"And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me."

God is the First Cause in the universe; all other causes are secondary. He makes things happen. No one can make anything happen without God's enabling. Moses tells all Israel that God is the one who has given them the power to make wealth. That means that successes are only achieved by God's enabling. 

The psalmist makes us understand that except God builds a house, builders build in vain, and except He watches over a city, the watchmen watch in vain. The reason your downfalls do not end your life is because "the eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…" (Dt.33:27). He is the reason you survive life's pitfalls and downfalls.

God's doing gives efficacy to man's doing. John says, "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven" (Jh.3:27). 

All good gifts come from God. Human life is God's gift. Man only owns what God bestows, and truly, all that we own, we owe to Him.

The Lord Jesus Christ as a human being says concerning Himself, "The Son can do nothing of himself… I can of mine own self do nothing… I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things" (Jh.5:19,30; 8:28). Then He says to us, "For without me ye can do nothing" (Jh.15:5). He depended on His Father for everything He said and did, and in the same vein, we can do nothing apart from Him. God is the First Cause in the world. Being and doing are made possible by God.

God MADE Sarah laugh. Till the day of her death, she was always smiling and laughing. As long as Isaac was alive, Sarah's laughter would know no bounds, and certainly no end. At last God came through for her. The promise maker became the promise keeper. Her laughter survived her. Her laughter lived on even after her death. I believe she smiled or laughed her way into the afterlife.

Joseph's story is another example of God's activity behind the scenes. The Word says, "And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD MADE all that he did to prosper in his hand" (Gen.39:3). God made Joseph prosper in all he did, and his Egyptian master could see it. While he was in prison, it is recorded that "the keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD MADE it to prosper" (Gen.39:23). It was evident to the keeper of the prison that Joseph was divinely supported in all he did. He could feel a supernatural presence around Joseph. Joseph succeeded by God.

When Joseph had his first son, we read, "And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath MADE me forget all my toil, and all my father's house" (Gen.41:51). On the arrival of the second son, we read, "And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath CAUSED me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction" (Gen.41:52). In the first son, God made him forget the pain of the past, and in the second son, God made him presently fruitful. God turned his bad past into a beautiful and wonderful present.

God is still in the making business. He made Sarah laugh. He made room for Isaac to survive the onslaught of his enemies, to expand his space, and to succeed in life. He prospered to the degree that the Philistines envied him. God made Joseph prosper in Potiphar's house and in the prison. Wherever Joseph found himself the presence of God in his life guaranteed his survival and success. God made him forget the pain of past years. God made him fruitful and successful in a foreign land. 

God will do the same for you. Follow Him obediently and faithfully. You will see God's glory.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter