Yijun Chen sharing

Dear friends, do you sometimes find that your current situation is not what supposed to be? Do you find you now receive some heavenly guidance that contradicts the previous ones?

If so, please continue reading. Hope this sharing may help you with this kind of problems.

Our question is, since God never changes, He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, then why the recent guidance He gives me is against the previous one? How should I deal with this?

In the bible, there are some examples which we can study, and based on the biblical stories, we can answer this question. In this short sharing, let me only bring two stories: Abraham offers Isaac as a sacrifice, and Jesus gave the great commission but asks His disciples to stay in Jerusalem.

Here we can ask a few questions about these two stories:

1. What did God say about His plans? And how did God go against His own will in man's eyes?

In the first case, God promised Abraham to have offspring like stars in the heaven (Gen 15), and He shall be the father of many nations (Gen 17), but later God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac to Him (Gen 22). Had that been done, God might have broken the vow that Abraham will have numerous offspring and be a father of many, because Isaac at that time was childless. 

In the second case, Jesus gave the Great Commission to His disciples that they should go and preach the Gospel to all nations, including those are in the uttermost part of the earth (Mat 28). But He also told them to wait in Jerusalem, to wait for what Father had promised, what may later turn out to be the Holy Spirit (Lk 24 and Act 1). If those disciples only waited in Jerusalem, they would not let the Gospel reach the uttermost point of the earth.

2. Did God really do something to cancel or even go against His earlier revelation or covenants? 

No. When Abraham raised his knife and about to slay his own son, God sent one angel to stop him and arranged one ram to be sacrificed in Isaac's stead. And Jesus eventually sent out His disciples, and no one returned to Jerusalem.

3. What do earlier, later revelation represent?

God will give Abraham offspring, based on whom He would use to construct the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ and to prepare for His first coming. These things are vital part of His eternal salvation, His eternal will. And Abraham will be a father of many nations is at least a long-time goal. In the same way, to preach the Gospel to the uttermost end of the earth is also one of His eternal will to bring salvation to mankind. 
Both His eternal will and long-time goal are not done within a short period of time. Thousands of years may not be enough.

On the other hand, for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, and for the disciples to wait in Jerusalem is what command them to do at present time. 
And to carry out these missions only need a relatively short period of time. For sacrificing Isaac, from God's manifestation in Abraham's dream to Abraham raised his knife, three days. For waiting in Jerusalem, from Jesus ascending into heaven till the Holy Spirit filled the disciples, ten days. 

4. What's the relationship between the earlier and the later revelations, if they are not contradictory?

The earlier revelation is revealing God's eternal will, all others, including the later revelation is to carry out His eternal plan. The eternal plan will never ever be changed, or altered, by any means.

In other words, latter revelations are detailed implements of His eternal will during one specific point of time in history. 

5. How can the seemingly incompatible revelations reconcile with each other?

In the first case, as discussed in the answer to question 3, God is building up the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ through Abraham and his offspring, and Isaac is part of that. Moreover, the sacrifice story is a rehearsal or manifestation of what would happen two thousand years after that ---- God sacrificed His Only Begotten Son as the Atonement of many. And God also set Abraham as our model ---- the father of faith. 

In the second case, the Holy Spirit is the absolute necessity of being a witness to Jesus Christ, without Whom no one has the power to confess Jesus as the Lord and Saviour, not to mention to evangelize the unbelievers. 

6. So, what to do if we encounter something similar as these two examples?

As Abraham and those disciples did, they submit themselves to a newer, or a more recent guidance, regardless of what they or others think it supposed to be. And we shall do it likewise.

7. From this brief discussion, what kinds of attributes do God have, or in other words, who God is?

He is faithful and immutable, and will never overthrow or go against what He said, did in the past.
He reveals Himself and His plans to mankind gradually, or step by step.
What He does currently may seem not reasonable or comprehensible to us, but it will eventually turn out to be that due to the limitedness of ourselves we can't understand Him.
The crises are God's pen of writing beautiful stories and water to make man's spirituality flourish.

I need to say that without His enlightenment on me, I would have no ability to write this sharing and post it publically. It is by His grace that I am blessed as a channel of His love to others. May this help people to know God better especially in their difficult times, and give Him glory, and with the power from the One who strengthens us we grow in Him continually. May the glory of His grace be blessed! Amen!