His sovereignty is the manifestation of the Almighty God in His created realm.
“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who
dwell therein” Psalm 24:1
“Our God is in the heavens; He does all that he pleases.” Psalm 115:3
“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’?” Isaiah 45:9
- Being infinitely elevated above the highest creature, He is the Most High, Lord of heaven and earth.
- He is subject to none, influenced by none, absolutely independent; God does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases. None can thwart Him, no one can hinder Him.
His own Word expressly declares:
“My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” Isaiah. 46:10
“He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand” Daniel 4:35
Divine sovereignty means that God is God. He is on the Throne of the universe, directing all things, working all things “after the counsel of His own will“ (Ephesians 1:11).
Rightly did Charles Spurgeon say ….
There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God’s Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that Sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children ought more earnestly to contend than the doctrine of their Master over all creation—the Kingship of God over all the works of His own hands—the Throne of God and His right to sit upon that Throne. On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldings, no truth of which they have made such a football, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on His throne. They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion worlds and make stars. They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow His bounties. They will allow Him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends His throne, His creatures then gnash their teeth… for God on His throne is not the God they love. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. It is God upon His throne that we trust.
“All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” Daniel 4:35
Evidenced In the Heavens and In the Earth
Read: Matthew 28:18; Psalms 103:19
The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them. Psalms 89:11
“I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.” Isaiah 45:7
“It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.” Jeremiah 27:5
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,
by whom also he made the worlds. Hebrews 1:2
Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Hebrews 1:3
God is the creator of this universe and so He has continual authority over it.
- A miracle is when God changes the created world to suit His purpose.
- An act of Providence is when God works in His created realm to suit His purpose.
Sovereignty of God vs. Man
Read: Jeremiah 10:23
Matthew 5:45 ~ “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Acts 2:23 ~ “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”
Acts 4:28 ~ “in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place”
Romans 9:19-21 ~ “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use?”
Mankind lives under the Sovereignty of God. This does not mean…
- Man is not a free agent (free agent vs. free will)
- Self determination to act freely within the character of man
- Man is held without excuse
- Man is independent of God
- God created this world in which we find ourselves. He owns it and He is running it according to His own sovereign good pleasure.
- God has lost none of His power, and it is highly dishonoring to Him to suppose that He is struggling along with the human race, doing the best He can to persuade men to do right, but unable to accomplish His eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose.
- Any system which teaches that the serious intentions of God can in some cases be defeated, and that man, who is not only a creature but a sinful creature, can exercise veto power over the plans of Almighty God, is in striking contrast to the biblical idea of his immeasurable exaltation by which He is removed from all weaknesses of humanity.
- Since God is unlimited in all other resources, no unforeseen emergencies can arise. To assume that His plan has any possibility to fail and that He strives to no effect, is to reduce Him to the level of His creatures and make Him no God at all.
- God Is Sovereign even when our eyes do not see or our minds cannot comprehend. We are not His Judge to examine Him and determine what He can and cannot do based upon our logic.
God is God, and without His Sovereignty then He is a mere man, or super human at best.
God’s Sovereignty is…
- Universal – Over all things
- Absolute – Affects every aspect of creation
- Immutable – Unchangeable, full in authority
Apparent Difficulties
- Those who reject the sovereignty of God do so believing that this makes God the author or giver of sin. Therefore, he gives the devil the authority to do evil and therefore God can be blamed for the wickedness of this world.
- There are those who also reject the sovereignty of God because in their understanding it infringes on the free will of man. If God is sovereign over all then they say this makes man nothing more than a robot filling pre-determined will that cannot be changed.
- The sovereignty of God is also blamed for the same infringement on the prayer life of a believer as is His immutability (we will be looking at this further in The Immutability of God).