Main A Unique Vessel A Strong Stand A Reformer and Shepherd

Introduction

Genesis begins with God creating the heavens and the earth. Then something happened causing the earth to become waste, empty, and full of darkness. This damage, inflicted on God’s creation, was the work of Satan, who still seeks to frustrate the accomplishment of God’s desire on the earth. The devil’s work, however, gave God the further opportunity to manifest His wisdom. As the Spirit, He came in to brood over that situation of degradation, to bring about a recovery. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5, Recovery Version).

God will often allow an evil situation to reach a full state of development before intervening. This was certainly true of the Reformation. Although God has always had a testimony on the earth, as far as the mass of humanity was concerned all of the vital truths of the gospel had become buried or obscured during the Dark Ages and were replaced by a system of superstition. The truth was covered over. Instead of the call to repent and believe on Him, human merit was preached. Idols created by man took the place of Christ. Ritualistic pagan ceremonies replaced the simple worship of God in spirit and reality. The law and the letter replaced the Spirit and the word. A worldly hierarchy patterned after the Roman Empire replaced the local elders. When the works of darkness reached such a state of fruition, the Lord intervened by raising up a unique vessel for that age, Martin Luther.