But God…
Currently, I am reading through the book of Acts. Two words keep jumping off the page at me, “but God.” I just realized that those two simple words are packed with meaning.
I did a search and found that “but God” occurs 61 times in the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible. There are several key instances that are really neat.
We see these two words used in relation to Noah. (The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. BUT GOD remembered Noah…. Genesis 7:24-8:1)
These two words really jump off the page in the story of Joseph. Joseph illustrates to us in profound ways the sovereignty of God. Check out these verses.
Genesis 45:6,7 - For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. BUT GOD sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Genesis 50:20 - You intended to harm me, BUT GOD intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
The story of Joseph can be summarized in two words, “but God.”
There are more instances in the Old Testament, but let’s skip over to the New Testament. These two words occur frequently in the book of Acts.
Acts 2:23,24 - This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. BUT GOD raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Acts 3:15 - You killed the author of life, BUT GOD raised him from the dead.
Acts 7:5 - He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. BUT GOD promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.
Acts 7:9,10 - Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. BUT GOD was with him and rescued him from all his troubles.
Acts 10:39,40 - We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, BUT GOD raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.
Acts 13:29,30 - When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. BUT GOD raised him from the dead….
I think these two words, “but God,” really jump off the page at me because they link two statements that do not go together. The first half of the statement is something that is terribly wrong, and the second half of the statement is something redeemed.
These two words amaze me. They are the greatest conjunction in the whole Bible. They are perhaps the greatest conjunction in all of history. Man was dead in his sins and destined for hell…but God. I was a sinner condemned in my sin…but God. These two simple words, “but God,” should be the testimony of everyone one of us.
The whole of redemptive history and the main point of the Bible is “but God.” Those two words are the turning point of all of human history.
Praise God that He sovereignly controls this world and that we are not left to ourselves. Praise God for “but God.”