Sovereignty

The concept of the sovereignty of God can be a difficult one, even for believers who affirm it. The Bible holds that God alone is sovereign. Paul says that the Lord Jesus Christ is "He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords" (1 Tim 6:15). Jesus claimed, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me" (Matt 28:18). Beyond that we know that God is omnipotent. In Rev 19:6 we are treated to the well-known chorus, "Hallelujah: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Now, we think of "omnipotent" as meaning something like "able to do whatever He wants", but the real concept is "possessing all power". Do you have the power to do something (you know, like breathe or get up in the morning or make decisions at work or ...)? The reason you have that power is because it is on loan from God. And this omnipotence insures His sovereignty. ("The Lord God omnipotent reigneth," where "omnipotent" assures "reign".)

Sovereignty says that God works all things after the counsel of His will (Eph 1:11). That is, everything that occurs happens because He either directly or indirectly causes (or allows) it to happen. Remember 9/11? The doctrine of God's sovereignty would say that when those Islamic militants ran aircraft into those buildings, it was God's intention that it happen. "Oh, no, no, no!" you might protest (perhaps even angrily). "That was a product of man's sin, not God's will." Well, okay, now think that through. If a group of extremists managed to pull off something that God never would have allowed and never intended, then there are ramifications. First, that whole "only Sovereign" thing isn't quite accurate. Second, God's promise to work all things together for good (Rom 8:28) is in serious jeopardy. Finally, Jesus wasn't quite accurate when He said that all authority was given to Him, was He? There are, apparently, those who can countermand His authority. No, if we are going to assign some things to others and not to God's divine authority, then we are going to negate God's sovereignty. If you want to remain consistent with Scripture, you need to affirm that God works all things after the counsel of His will ... even if it is something evil done by sinful people.

The interesting thing to me is that we seem to have this worked unconsciously into our language. Take, for instance, the very common phrase "act of God". When an event occurs that seems to have no human cause, we refer to it as an "act of God". Things like the devastation of a hurricane, a bird-strike on an airplane that brings it down, and some other such thing are recognized as "acts of God". We may deny it vehemently, but it's still in the language.

Or how about the term "design"? The notion is hotly contested in the Evolution vs Creation debate -- "Intelligent Design". Still, try watching a nature video on TV (premised solely on Evolution) and you'll find that it's almost impossible for them to avoid the term "design". Since random events cannot "design", it would seem that it must have been a Sovereign who did it.

One that occurred to me recently was interesting. Often you'll find a kid who has an unusual skill at math or sports or some other endeavor. We want to encourage them. We set up special classes or courses or even schools for them. And we have a standard term for them. You've probably already thought of it. We call them "gifted". What does that mean? A "gift" is not something you earn or merit. It's something given to you. "Gifted" people, then, we recognize inherently as having received (from whom?) a special gift that they didn't provide for themselves and obviously none of us provided for them. It is a gift from his or her Maker. Or, to put it another way, it is a gift from the Sovereign God.

God's Sovereignty (capital "S" intended) can be a real tough thing to work through. It takes some thought, some reading, some reasoning, and, yes, some faith. But, as I said before, if you are going to be consistent with Scripture and logic, it is unavoidable. Even our language has it worked into it. It's something we know intrinsically. I suspect it is our rebellious nature that prevents it from being an obvious certainty to many.