God Is Sovereign

As I dwell on each of God’s attributes, they all inspire awe and worship, but God’s sovereignty is the attribute that sustained me through health trials, cancer diagnosis, and my Dad’s death. God’s sovereignty gives me comfort, hope, and encouragement because no matter how out-of-control things appear, God is still and always will be in complete control over everything that exists including times and seasons.

Sovereign is sometimes applied to specific people or nations. Webster defines the noun form as “one that exercises supreme authority within a limited sphere.” As an adjective, Webster defines sovereign as “superlative in quality, possessed of supreme power, absolute or unlimited in extent, independent or enjoying autonomy, and relating to, characteristic of, or befitting a supreme ruler.”

Did you notice in the noun usage the supreme authority is within a limited sphere? Whenever sovereign (noun or adjective) is used in relation to earthly people and nations, it is within a limited sphere. If it is limited, how can it really be supreme or absolute? There is only One who is truly supreme, absolute, and independent of everything else in creation because He is the Creator.

A.W. Pink described God’s sovereignty as the “exercise of His supremacy.”^[1] John Owen in connecting God’s sovereignty to His providence wrote: “[It is an] effable act or work of Almighty God, whereby he cherishes, sustains, and governs the world, or all things by him created, moving them, agreeably to those natures which he endowed them withal in the beginning, unto those ends which he has proposed.”^[2]

A.W. Tozer summed up God’s sovereignty as His omnipotence, wisdom, and authority. R.C. Sproul explained the scope of God’s sovereignty as encompassing creating, sustaining and governing all of creation, providence, redemption and judgment (Romans 9:21). These are just four categories Sproul used to picture God’s total sovereignty over all things.

Let’s weigh several passages from Scripture which describe God’s sovereignty. I’ll start with a few of my favorites.

“He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings’ he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding” (Daniel 2:21). Mankind can’t even consistently and accurately predict the weather, yet God controls times and seasons. Although mankind can vote a leader in or out of office or remove them by force, ultimately, they are not the ones who control earthly rulers. God is. We can study our whole lives, but we will not have wisdom apart from God sovereignly giving it to us.

“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2; see also Isaiah 46:10). God has absolute power, authority, and control. Nothing and no one can thwart His purposes.

“In him we have an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). God reigns over all that is. Everything is according to His will, and He has the right to work everything according to His will. God cannot be hindered, stopped, or compelled to do anything. R.C. Sproul spoke of God’s will as God wills what happens before it happens including the way by which it happens.

“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3).

“Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps” (Psalm 135:6). He is the Creator of all that is. Life and breath of every living thing is in the hand of God (Job 12:10). God is transcendent, meaning “He is separate from His creation and not dependent on the created order in any way.”^[3] God does not have to answer to anyone because there is no one above Him. He can do as He pleases.

God has absolute authority in that He is more than able to do what He wills to do. He cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13) . “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god’” (Isaiah 44:6). It is unimaginable that the omnipotent, Creator of everything in existence would have to ask permission to act.

Every command God gives is a declaration of His sovereignty (Genesis 2:16). The wind and the waves obey Him (Matthew 8:27). When God answers Job out of the whirlwind, His response is filled with testimonies to His sovereignty over all creation (Job 38-41). God is sovereign over Satan. In the story of Job, God limited (commanded) what Satan was allowed to inflict on Job. God had and still does have absolute authority over Satan. Because we know God is good and does good, if God permits something as in the case of Job, we know that God has deemed it wise and good.

In case we are tempted to think there is some area God is not sovereign over, Mark Jones’ statement should give us pause: “If God does not order all things, then he has given up his responsibility to us and to himself. Both are impossibilities.”^[4]

We can understand God’s sovereignty in part, but there is also a mystery about it. God is sovereign, but He has also given us free will. They seem opposed to each other, and yet, both truths are in Scripture. We see this most clearly in Jesus’ crucifixion.

“²² “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— ²³ this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”^[5]

First, we see God’s sovereignty – Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. This was God’s plan of salvation from before time. Not only did He plan it, but God was sovereign over numerous details throughout history that culminated in the birth of Jesus at a specific time during the reign of the Roman Empire. He was sovereign over the people, places, and times that all fulfilled prophecy.

Second, we see man’s free will – Peter addressing a Jewish audience at Pentecost said it was they who crucified and killed Jesus by the hands of lawless men. Mankind exercised freewill in condemning and putting Jesus to death.

Another example of God’s sovereignty and man’s free will exercised within the boundaries of God’s will is Joseph. Joseph’s brothers, envious of him, conspired to kill him, but instead, sold him into slavery. Joseph did well in Potiphar’s house, but when falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, he ended up in prison. God then raised Joseph up to second in command under Pharoah. God gave Joseph insight to store up food for a coming famine that not only prospered Pharoah and fed the Egyptians in the famine, but also provided food for Joseph’s family when they sought to buy food in Egypt not knowing Joseph was alive and in a position of power. When Jacob died, Joseph’s brothers were afraid of what Jospeh would do to them. Joseph responded: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20). Joseph’s brothers exercised their free will in acting evilly against Joseph, but their choices were still under God’s sovereign purposes that could not be thwarted.

Man’s free will is always within the framework of God’s sovereignty. He never relinquishes His control, and yet, at the same time it pleases Him to give us choices within His framework. This topic could be discussed and debated for years, but I think what is important is to know that both God’s sovereignty and His gift of allowing us to make choices are true. They are both in Scripture, and it is not something we can fully understand this side of heaven.

God’s sovereignty assures us that nothing will ever take Him by surprise, catch Him unaware, or slip by Him. There is no detail too small or too big that He does not control. All that He has purposed, He will do because He has absolute, infinite power, authority, and wisdom.

Reflection

1.    How does God’s sovereignty give you comfort, encouragement, and/or hope in a current circumstance?

2.    Discuss the implications of God not being sovereign over even one detail of creation. How would it connect to other “God is…” truths?

3.    When we sin, we say that we are in control. God does not have the right to command what we do. Sometimes we seek to control people and situations, stemming from pride or worry. What is an area you have sought to usurp God’s sovereignty? What specifically do you need to surrender to God’s sovereignty?

For Further Study

1.    Read the following passages, write what you learn about God’s sovereignty and other “God is…”truths working in harmony with His sovereignty, and discuss it through text or in-person with others in your small group: Psalm 104; Ecclesiastes 3:14; Isaiah 46:10; Deuteronomy 4:39; 32:39-40; Job 33:13; Jeremiah 18:6; Daniel 4:3, 35; Nahum 1:3.

2.    Discuss with your small group God’s sovereignty in relation to sharing the Gospel.

3.    Memorize one of the verses from “God Is Sovereign”.

4.    Write out a prayer praising God for His sovereignty. Thank Him for a specific way His sovereignty has brought you comfort, hope, or encouragement.

^[1] Pink, A.W. The Attributes of GOD In Modern English. (Dolores Kimball, 2020).

^[2] Owen, John. A Display of Arminianism in The Works of John Owen, vol. 10, The Death of Christ, ed. William H Goold (1862; repr., Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1965), 31.

^[3] “Denying God’s Transcendence: Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.Org.” Denying God’s Transcendence, Ligonier Ministries, 8 Dec. 2008, learn.ligonier.org/devotionals/denying-gods-transcendence.

^[4] Jones, Mark. God Is: A Devotional Guide to the Attributes of God (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017), 118.

^[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ac 2:22–23.