We live in an everchanging world. Scientific consensus changes. Political platforms change. Moral standards seemingly change from one day to the next.
In such an era of uncertainty, is there any place for the Christian to find stability and comfort? The biblical answer, of course, is a resounding yes and amen. The meticulous rule of God over this world is a solace for the Christian soul.
God’s sovereign control is our unshakable foundation. All Christian confidence lies in this truth! Even when we cannot see it, we know God is actively working out His perfect will in every detail of life.
In this post, we’ll explore what it means for God to be sovereign, not as a concept for debate, but as a truth that should fill our hearts with hope. It’s a precious and indispensable doctrine that points us to trust Christ fully and rest in God’s unchanging control over all things.
What should come to our mind when we think of the sovereign of God? First,
Awesome Aseity
When we think about God’s sovereignty, we should remember His awe-inspiring self-sufficiency. Job says to Yahweh, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).
It is significant that God’s covenant name is used (Job 42:1). Our triune God is the eternal I AM (cf. Exodus 3:14). ‘Aseity’ is a term that simply means God exists from Himself—He depends on nothing and no one.
The sovereignty of God reminds us of God’s uniqueness. In this particular sense, there is no Venn Diagram you can draw whereby God overlaps with anything else. He is in His own circle infinitely distinct from His creation. He is the Blessed and Only Sovereign (cf. 1 Tim. 6:15).
The meticulous rule of God over this world is a solace for the Christian soul.
Like Job, the sovereignty of God ought to cause us to put our hands to our mouths and simply worship. Only God is awesome–we use this word far too cavalierly.It is this God Whom we are called to adore. A God whose will is not changed by you. A God whose plans are not frustrated by creation. A God who is independent.
The sovereignty of God draws our mind to His awesome aseity. secondly, to His:
Absolute Authority
The Lord’s rule is His alone. Question 10 of the Baptist Catechism asks: What are the decrees of God? It answers, “The decrees of God are his eternal purpose according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass (Eph. 1:4, 11; Rom. 9:22-23; Is. 46:10; Lam. 3:37).”
What God eternally decrees to happen, happens and nothing that happens can or does happen apart from His decree.
God is meticulously sovereign over nature. Commentator David Howard notes, “God rules over all natural laws and can do whatever He chooses to do.” His way is in the whirlwind (cf. Nahum 1:3).
God is sovereign over nations. God plants nations and plucks them up. God builds nations and breaks them down (cf. Jeremiah 1:10).
How can God do this? Because He has absolute authority. He alone has the sovereign right to do with His creation what He wants.
God is sovereign over individuals. No person is in control of his or her first birth. You did not choose your parents. Your country. The time period in which you were born. The circumstances surrounding your birth. God displays His authority over all of this.
God is also sovereign over the salvation of individuals. Romans 9:18 is quite clear:“So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.” We know Paul is speaking of individual salvation here because of the very objections he anticipates in v.19ff.
God has absolute authority over salvation. He will save whom He will for His glory because He is sovereign. This is His right. He rules over all.
Awesome Aseity, Absolute Authority, thirdly, God’s Sovereignty draws our minds and hearts to His:
Accomplishing Ability
No purpose of God can be thwarted. God is not only able to accomplish all that He desires to accomplish, but He actually does accomplish all that He ultimately pleases to accomplish. A few more verses to consider:
- PSALM 115:3 – Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
- PROVERBS 16:33 – The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.
- PROVERBS 21:1 – The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord.; he turns it wherever he will.
- DANIEL 4:35 – 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?”
- AMOS 3:6b – Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord.has done it?
- ISAIAH 46:9-10 – remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
From the seemingly inconsequential roll of the dice to the decisions of kings, to the safety of or destruction of cities, to the sparing the life of a presidential candidate, and to every single act, finding a job or recovering (or not) from an illness, God perfectly and sovereignly accomplishes every single one of His holy purposes. Even when life feels uncertain or unfair, we must trust His rule.
The Second London Baptist Confession of Faith speaks of this beautifully in 3.1: (I’ve left the footnotes for you to consider the passages referenced)
1. From all eternity God decreed everything that occurs, without reference to anything outside himself.[1] He did this by the perfectly wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably. Yet God did this in such a way that he is neither the author of sin nor has fellowship with any in their sin.[2] This decree does not violate the will of the creature or take away the free working or contingency of second causes. On the contrary, these are established by God’s decree.[3] In this decree God’s wisdom is displayed in directing all things, and his power and faithfulness are demonstrated in accomplishing his decree.[4]
[1]Isaiah 46:10; Ephesians 1:11; Hebrews 6:17; Romans 9:15, 18. [2]James 1:13; 1 John 1:5. [3]Acts 4:27, 28; John 19:11. [4]Numbers 23:19; Ephesians 1:3–5.
God has accomplishing ability. He accomplishes whatsoever He pleases to accomplish. Should He desire to bring every soul to heaven, He could have done that. Should He have desired to send every soul to Hell, He could have done that.
And should He choose some to pour out His grace upon some while passing over others in His justice, magnifying the freedom of His sovereignty, He can do that. He does do that. It is His own sovereign prerogative.
All that God desires to accomplish, He has the ability to accomplish, and He will and does accomplish. All hearts are in His hands. He may leave them to their deceitful treachery, or He may transform them by His sovereign grace. There is no breathing sinner beyond hope! He will accomplish all His purposes for His glory.
What should we think of when we hear the phrase “God is sovereign”? Awesome Aseity, Absolute Authority, Accomplishing Ability, and finally:
All-Encompassing Activity
God almighty controls everything with precision. Consider Ephesians 1:11, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will…”
The word for “works” in this text is the word we get “energy” from. It’s present active. This means Paul’s idea here is not that God “worked” or that God “will work”, though both are true. The point is God is presently working.
Presently working in what things? Well, the word “things” is not in the Greek Text. It just says “all.” I’ve heard many of my non-Calvinist friends say, “all means all!” Well, here I certainly agree. All means all in this verse.
All things are worked according the counsel of His will. Not by chance. Not by mere human will or action. Not by the evil of Satan. The Lord reigns over it all.
All that God desires to accomplish, He has the ability to accomplish, and He will and does accomplish.
Where is God working today? Everywhere. But in what events? All of them. The rain drop, the dust particle, Neptune’s orbit, where the deer sleeps, where the bullet flies. Everything.
You see, even in some Christian circles there is a thought of the watchmaker God. The God who winds up the earth and watches what happens. Or some say, He knows what will happen and what could happen, but he’s not working out His decree in all that happens. Or some say He involves Himself in the creation at times but for the most part it just sort of runs on its own.
None of this is true. In fact, if these ideas were pressed to their conclusion, they actually entertain blasphemy. God doesn’t learn. He is not reactionary. The universe doesn’t run on its own power!
The sovereignty of God means all-encompassing activity on His part. D. James Kennedy wrote, “According to Scripture God controls everything from the mightiest galaxy to the most infinitesimal atom.”
Lorainne Boettener noted, “[God] exerts not merely a general influence, but actually rules in the world which He has created.”
God’s activity in the world today is all-encompassing. From cancer cells to corrupt governments He works it all toward His holy purposes. He is meticulously upholding, directing, arranging, and governing it all, from the greatest to the least, by His perfectly wise and holy providence.
He is not the author of sin. He does not have fellowship with those in their sins. Mankind is truly responsible for our actions, while, simultaneously, God methodically governs all things to happen for reasons beyond our understanding. Even in fearful or sorrowful moments, we can trust that He is working all things for the ultimate good of the church (Romans 8:28).
In fact, God’s all-encompassing activity reminds us that at just the right time, He sent forth His Son to redeem His people from their sins. Jesus did everything exactly right for a perfect salvation. He fulfilled all righteousness. He, without sin, was made sin for us, bearing our sins in His body on the tree, suffering under God’s wrath in our place. On the third day, He sovereignly rose again from the dead perfectly accomplishing God’s sovereign plan.
In time, God the Holy Spirit applies redemption to the souls the elect by His sovereign grace. Without God’s sovereignty there is no gospel. There is no hope for sinners who are not called to control the wind (John 3:8) but to repent of their sins and believe the gospel of sovereign grace!
Spurgeon preached:
Surely, beloved, we cannot be wrong in loving the doctrine of free, unmerited, distinguishing grace, when we see it…as the brightest jewel in the crown of our covenant God. Do not be afraid of election and sovereignty. The time is come when our ministers must tell us more about them; or if not, our souls will be so lean and starved that we shall mutiny for the bread of life. O, may God send us more thorough gospel men, who will preach sovereign grace as the glory of the gospel.
I think it probable that many churches feel lean and starved, even superficial, because they will not feast themselves upon the sovereignty of God. We must recover a robust understanding of God’s wonderful sovereignty and its intricate connection with the gospel.
Without God’s sovereignty there is no gospel.
Consider, friend, whose hands do you want the universe in? Yours? You can’t even control a toothache and you want to oversee galaxies?
Do you really want it in Satan’s hand? That Ancient Foe who seeks our ruin?
Are you really going to posit a view of the world today that is simply random and meaningless as God watches in helpless surrender to your free will? What a pathetic and unworthy God that would be!
Whose hands do you want salvation in? Do you really want to put salvation in the decision of sinners? Who would be saved!?
The triune God who is perfectly holy, perfectly wise, perfectly good, perfectly just, perfectly perfect in His essence and all of His actions is in precise and scrupulous control of all things. His will cannot be thwarted and all He has decreed and only what He has decreed comes to pass.
This is good! Why? Because it means all of His promises will prevail. All of His people will endure to the end. The Lamb who was slain will receive the full reward for His suffering. The godly will enter into eternal reward. The wicked will suffer eternal judgment. And nothing in this life, no matter how seemingly miniscule, inexplicable, painful, sad, or frustrating, nothing whatsoever, is meaningless.
In a world full of uncertainty and trial, remember these words: Awesome Aseity, Absolute Authority, Accomplishing Ability, and All-Encompassing Activity. This is the God we serve.
All our hope is the Blessed and Only Sovereign.
