RECOGNIZING THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

[This article originally published here:  Wild Boar Issue #2 - July 1996 ]

Recognizing the sovereignty of God is indispensable to having the eternal perspective.

One simply cannot see life from a "God's-eye" point of view without knowing some things about God. And one of the most important things that one can know about God is that he is in control. God reigns over his creation with uncontested authority. And he exercises that authority to accomplish his sovereign will.

Why is this so important? For one thing, Christians believe in the doctrine of divine providence. That is, we believe that God works in our individual lives to care for us, to sanctify us, and to make sure that "all things work together for good to those whole love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom 8:28). But this belief in divine providence would be meaningless if God is not in sovereign control. We could have no confidence that God can pull off what he says he can in Romans 8:28. We could have no assurance that the evil and suffering we endure in this life is "working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2Cor 4:17). We could have no surety about the promises of God.

For another thing, a god who is not sovereign is not the God of the Scriptures, the God who has revealed himself to us. The God of holy writ is the one "who works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Eph 1:11). He does not ask our permission to do what he desires to do. As God himself queries, "Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as his counselor has taught him?" (Is 40:13). Elsewhere, the psalmist declares, "But our God is in heaven; he does whatever he pleases" (Ps 115:3). Isaiah records an even bolder declaration, proclaiming God's sovereignty over the course of history: "I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not as yet done, saying 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure'" (Is 46:9b-10).

And let there be no mistake about the extent of God's sovereignty. It extends to everything, even to the actions and destinies of individual human beings. Daniel writes, "He does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'" (Dan 4:35). And Paul reminds us that God says, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion" and asks, "Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?" (Rom 9:15, 21).

These are hard truths for prideful men to swallow, but these are truths about God nonetheless. Yet these truths are not revealed to us for our hurt (except for hurting our pride), but for our comfort. As noted above, God's sovereignty guarantees the fulfillment of his promises to his people. So, if we would know the God who is, and have the eternal perspective, we must know that God is sovereign. Soli Deo Gloria!