At GWC, students are immersed in this breath-taking vision of history: that Christ remains unchanging—yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8 NIV). Though the world may rage and life’s path may twist with unforeseen trials, God’s providence is unwavering, ensuring that all things work for the good of those He has called (Romans 8:28 NIV).
When our minds are overburdened, some resort to inscribing vital tasks upon their wrists or hands with a ballpoint pen. In a similar yet infinitely profound manner, God has done the same—not for His own remembrance, but for ours. He declares that our names are inscribed upon His hands (Isaiah 49:16 NIV), a divine assurance to Israel that He will never forget His people.
The Hebrew term Isaiah employs in this verse conveys the notion of being “chiselled” or “engraved,” evoking a resonance with the word for “statute”. The very sound of the term suggests the act of carving—an indelible, deliberate inscription. Consider this: our names are not merely written but engraved upon the very palms of God’s hands, as if decreed into His being. His hands bear His “law”, and in them, He holds you and me.
It should astonish no one that the Old Testament speaks in such a manner, for in the boundless reaches of eternity, God had already ordained the sending of His Son to redeem His people. Before the cosmos was woven into being, before the river of time first flowed, the Lamb was appointed to be slain (Revelation 13:8 NIV). The sovereign decrees of God are neither hindered by time nor swayed by the shifting tides of creation.
As we carry out our God-given task at College of shaping minds via a classical theological education, nurturing hearts devoted to Christian service and training voices to effectively communicate the word of God, we can be assured of this: That whatever ministry God, in His wisdom, entrusts to a graduate for the advancing of Christ’s Kingdom, that sacred calling was long ago etched, in cruciform love, upon the palms of His hands.
