Sovereignty

If Christianity is actually a religion that is spawned by God, it would be expected that there would be concepts in it that are not quite ... human. And, of course, it doesn't take long to find them. "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials" is not quite the standard human thought. "Blessed are the poor in spirit" is not the kind of thing that would naturally spring to mind. There are, in the Bible, concepts for which new words or uses of words were invented because it wasn't the standard human idea. We all know, as an example, the phrase, "He knew her ... in the biblical sense." That's because our version of "knowing" someone is not the biblical sense as when "Adam knew Eve" (Gen 4:1). But that's just a phrase, almost a euphemism. There are real changes elsewhere. Take, for instance, the Greek for "grace" which meant in Greek simply "favor" but which was redefined as "unmerited favor" because that wasn't the norm, but that described God's favor towards us. There is the highest form of "love" which meant in Greek a real intimacy, but in biblical terms it went beyond that to a revolutionary concept of loving without receiving anything in return -- unconditionally. Definitely not a normal human concept.

Sovereignty is one of these concepts. It's not a typical human concept because, well, it doesn't exist in the human environment. We can have a "sovereign" in human terms. He would be someone in power, someone with supreme authority, that sort of thing. But, let's face it, if he was a "sovereign" like the biblical concept, it would never stop. He couldn't be overthrown. He couldn't be removed. He couldn't be replaced. If he was sovereign in the biblical sense, no one would have the ability to oppose him. And, of course, in human terms that doesn't happen.

God, on the other hand, is called the "only Sovereign" (1 Tim 6:15). He is not the Lord and King, but "the King of kings and Lord of lords" (1 Tim 6:15; Rev 17:14; 19:16). There are kings and there are lords and there are sovereigns, but our God falls in a different classification, the only Sovereign. Unlike human sovereigns, He is absolutely Sovereign. What He wills is what happens ... always (Eph 1:11). A sparrow doesn't fall without His approval (Matt 10:29). Satan operates within His command (Job 1:12). People cannot even sin without His allowing it for His good purposes (Gen 50:20; Prov 16:4, 9; Acts 4:27-28). This, my brothers and sisters, is not human sovereignty. This is something else. This is a Sovereignty that only God possesses.

This kind of Sovereignty is truly unique. It is truly divine. It is truly supernatural. As such, it is unnatural. Thus, it is highly likely that you and I will question it from time to time. I've never met a person who didn't, at least on occasion if not regularly, deny it entirely. "God is not in charge of the weather, the buildings that fall;" (Luke 13:4-5) "or the evil that men do" (Luke 13:1-3). "That stuff is outside His control." You'd think so, wouldn't you? And you'd be mistaken. But that's because God's Sovereignty is unique and divine and supernatural. You won't find it in your local neighborhood or city or government. It is His alone. So it may not be clear or fully understandable to you and me. That's okay. That's what you expect from the divine. The finite cannot encompass the infinite. I would recommend, however, that even if you don't understand it, you enjoy it. There is no safer place to be than in the hands of the only Sovereign, the King of kings, the Lord of lords. That's a good place indeed.