The Sweet Sovereignty of Almighty God
“The LORD has established His throne in the heavens,
and His kingdom rules over all.”
—Psalm 103:19
“Whatever the LORD pleases, He does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.”
—Psalm 135:6
God is sovereign over all the universe. There is nothing over which He does not reign. Even the devil is subject to Him; despite all of his schemes, strategies and plots, he is still subject to God. As Martin Luther said, “Even the devil is God’s devil.” God rules over the hearts of men even though man might attempt to object to it. We can do nothing without His allowance.
God rules, and He will bring everything to pass according to His plan. The multiple evils of mankind, e.g., his desire to redefine sin, nullify God’s presence, mute His majesty, and lessen His potency because of the abundance of sin, will not stop God from working out His purposes. No matter how bad this world gets, no matter how many people turn from God, refusing His Lordship and rejecting His decrees, God will rule. Man’s rebellion does not matter in the slightest bit to God, no more than one rain drop can destroy a mountain. Not that He doesn’t care about man; on the contrary, He cares about man so much that He gave His Son to die for our sins, which makes the rejecting of His Son all the greater. To reject the love of a person is one thing, but to reject the love of God is quite another. Especially since the expression of His love was so costly. He gave of Himself for us so that we might not die in our sins, but have life with Him. To reject the costliest gift ever given has dire and eternal consequences.
No one can thwart God’s plan. As Job said, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted”—Job 42:2. His majesty, power and Kingdom will stand forever. He is the Creator; we are the creation. When wickedness came to be so prevalent during the time of Noah, God simply washed them all away. It was not a huge feat for Him to flood the earth, no more than it was for Him to create the universe. God does whatever He pleases because He is the sovereign ruler over all. He has ALL-power, knows everything, is everywhere, and is altogether beautiful, wise, kind, good, patient, loving, merciful, faithful, truthful, and pure. He is self-existent, self-sustaining, and self-sufficient. He is transcendent, spirit, and Tri-unity without division, one God revealing Himself in three different Persons. He is eternal, infinite, immense, thrice holy, and completely perfect. He does whatever He pleases because He is God. He is the author of salvation from beginning to end, predestining us for His own good pleasure since the dawn of time (Ephesians 1:11).
There is nothing over which He does not reign. While the wickedness of man is allowed to continue for a time, it will not continue forever. As the book of Acts says, “…He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead”—Acts 17:31. Yes, God will judge all of the inhabitants of the earth. As the book of Revelation says,
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire”—Revelation 20:11-15.
At the end of time, Christ will reign manifestly. Those who have trusted in His substitutionary death on the cross will spend eternity in His presence, experiencing joy and pleasures far beyond our current ability to understand. How then should we presently respond to this truth of God’s sovereignty? In repentance, gratitude and praise. We respond in repentance because we have far too long failed to trust in Him and live life in the knowledge that He rules and can handle anything life throws at us. In gratitude because we know that by ourselves we were lost and dead in our sins—it wasn’t until He, in His mercy, sent His Son to die for us that we could be saved. And even then, we could not respond to His wonderful gift unless the Spirit of God brought the truth alive to our minds. And thirdly, we are to respond in wondrous praise. God reigns! He will bring to pass everything that He has promised. The righteous will be rewarded and the wicked judged! May God bring it to pass as He has promised, and may we spend our days in faith and stewardship knowing that God has entrusted us with a task: to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). May we do so in joy, knowing that He is God and He reigns! Amen.
and His kingdom rules over all.”
—Psalm 103:19
“Whatever the LORD pleases, He does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.”
—Psalm 135:6
God is sovereign over all the universe. There is nothing over which He does not reign. Even the devil is subject to Him; despite all of his schemes, strategies and plots, he is still subject to God. As Martin Luther said, “Even the devil is God’s devil.” God rules over the hearts of men even though man might attempt to object to it. We can do nothing without His allowance.
God rules, and He will bring everything to pass according to His plan. The multiple evils of mankind, e.g., his desire to redefine sin, nullify God’s presence, mute His majesty, and lessen His potency because of the abundance of sin, will not stop God from working out His purposes. No matter how bad this world gets, no matter how many people turn from God, refusing His Lordship and rejecting His decrees, God will rule. Man’s rebellion does not matter in the slightest bit to God, no more than one rain drop can destroy a mountain. Not that He doesn’t care about man; on the contrary, He cares about man so much that He gave His Son to die for our sins, which makes the rejecting of His Son all the greater. To reject the love of a person is one thing, but to reject the love of God is quite another. Especially since the expression of His love was so costly. He gave of Himself for us so that we might not die in our sins, but have life with Him. To reject the costliest gift ever given has dire and eternal consequences.
No one can thwart God’s plan. As Job said, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted”—Job 42:2. His majesty, power and Kingdom will stand forever. He is the Creator; we are the creation. When wickedness came to be so prevalent during the time of Noah, God simply washed them all away. It was not a huge feat for Him to flood the earth, no more than it was for Him to create the universe. God does whatever He pleases because He is the sovereign ruler over all. He has ALL-power, knows everything, is everywhere, and is altogether beautiful, wise, kind, good, patient, loving, merciful, faithful, truthful, and pure. He is self-existent, self-sustaining, and self-sufficient. He is transcendent, spirit, and Tri-unity without division, one God revealing Himself in three different Persons. He is eternal, infinite, immense, thrice holy, and completely perfect. He does whatever He pleases because He is God. He is the author of salvation from beginning to end, predestining us for His own good pleasure since the dawn of time (Ephesians 1:11).
There is nothing over which He does not reign. While the wickedness of man is allowed to continue for a time, it will not continue forever. As the book of Acts says, “…He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead”—Acts 17:31. Yes, God will judge all of the inhabitants of the earth. As the book of Revelation says,
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire”—Revelation 20:11-15.
At the end of time, Christ will reign manifestly. Those who have trusted in His substitutionary death on the cross will spend eternity in His presence, experiencing joy and pleasures far beyond our current ability to understand. How then should we presently respond to this truth of God’s sovereignty? In repentance, gratitude and praise. We respond in repentance because we have far too long failed to trust in Him and live life in the knowledge that He rules and can handle anything life throws at us. In gratitude because we know that by ourselves we were lost and dead in our sins—it wasn’t until He, in His mercy, sent His Son to die for us that we could be saved. And even then, we could not respond to His wonderful gift unless the Spirit of God brought the truth alive to our minds. And thirdly, we are to respond in wondrous praise. God reigns! He will bring to pass everything that He has promised. The righteous will be rewarded and the wicked judged! May God bring it to pass as He has promised, and may we spend our days in faith and stewardship knowing that God has entrusted us with a task: to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). May we do so in joy, knowing that He is God and He reigns! Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment