The Sovereignty Of God

Let us look very closely at the word “sovereignty.”

Sovereignty: This word means supreme power and authority. It also means self-governing, which implies that there is no other power that can govern God. Below are some verses that clearly express this supreme power.

Isaiah 41:4

Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.

God has called or named all the generations of mankind that would inhabit the earth from the beginning of creation. It is God who called the nations and the peoples of those nations by name– before they were ever brought into existence.

Consider that the word “sovereign” also refers to the fact that there were no others of God’s kind. He was alone.

Deuteronomy 32:39

See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

Psalms 41:13

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

I want to establish here that our God is One. He is the only God. There is no other god. He is the only one of his kind; and that being the only true and living God. He has no beginning nor end. He is from everlasting to everlasting.

Everlasting to Everlasting:

It might be hard for the world, and even the Body of Christ, to comprehend something that is from everlasting to everlasting. But I will try my best to explain this great mystery.

We can all agree that God is eternal, and that he exists in eternity. We can also agree that eternity refers to all that existed before time. In other words, time exists from “In the beginning to the end.” Whereas, eternity has no beginning nor end.

Now I want you to think of time as a book of which you are the author. You give the book a title, “The Earth.” You determine the subject matter of the book. But you also determine the first characters to be placed in the book and their roles, which is righteousness, (obedience to their Creator). However, each character is created with a will which gives them the ability to obey or to disobey their Creator.

It is the intent of the Author or Creator for the first two characters to procreate and populate the earth. However, they betray the Creator with disobedience, allowing sin and death to rule their world.

You might have many chapters in the book, along with hundreds of characters (whom you know by name, before they are born into this world of time and sin).

I also want you to consider that the only world the characters are aware of is the pages of the book. But you know the beginning and end of the book and of each character. You know all the things each of them will say or do during their role in the book. But this knowledge is also judged by the disposition of the heart of each character.

Therefore, knowing beforehand the choices each of the characters will make allows you to predetermine how and what roles they will play in accomplishing your purpose. You've seen their choices to honor or to dishonor you in eternity.

With the stroke of your pen, you can change or even end each of their lives. They live and even die from the first chapter to the last. You see and know everything pertaining to each of them. You control every aspect of their existence. This is the world you created for them.

Nevertheless, there is a place that exists outside of the book. It is the world you live in. The characters in the book know nothing of your world. For them, your world has no beginning or end, for it is beyond their existence. It is beyond the chapters they live in.

Neither do they know anything about you, the author and finisher of their existence. All they know is that someone or something gave them life within the confines of the chapters of the book they live in.

Now the only way they could ever know you or your world is that you write yourself into the book. This is what God did when he sent Jesus to dwell in the world of time.

Romans 3:23-26

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Now we come to the essence of our story. The characters in the book needed to know their creator and his purpose for their lives. They also needed to know his mind and heart regarding their sin.

through the forbearance of God;

We need to understand that in Adam all had sinned and died. This phrase, “through the forbearance of God,” implies that God tolerated with self-restraint, the evil of mankind. Though he made man to ultimately become his holy habitation, He endured thousands of years of evil, blasphemy and hatred of all things pertaining to righteousness. This is the legacy of Adam.

We must see salvation from God’s perspective.

1 Peter 1:2

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.

1. The entire human race was guilty before God. All were fit for hell.
2. But God, wanting to declare to the world his righteousness, sent forth Jesus Christ as a propitiation for our sins.
3. But this is something he was not obligated to do. He owed the world nothing. But for the sake of his own purpose, (the procuring of sons), he offered the world an opportunity to escape the upcoming judgment.
4. All were doomed and damned. But God made a way of escape for those who would accept his propitiation for sin.
5. In this situation, the Lord is quite justified in saying, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.”
6. Therefore, it is not by any merit of man that salvation was offered. But it was and is the mercy of God who made it available.

Thus, His selection or election of the vessels upon whom he would bestow salvation was based on His foresight and foreknowledge of their choice to accept his Christ or to reject him.

This is why every New Testament writer emphasizes God’s grace and mercy.

Romans 9:16

So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Again the scripture declares that the election of God was not based on the will or the striving of men, but the mercy of God alone.

Romans 9:17-18

17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Some would declare the above statement as unfair. But it is quite the contrary. Our God owes us nothing. But in his love and purpose, he chose to grant the highest honour that can be bestowed on an individual, which is the right to be called a son of God– upon all the lost that would accept Jesus as their Saviour.

Romans 9:19-22

19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

21 -- Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

Here we see the sovereignty, power, and mercy of God. All vessels who reject godliness are fitted for destruction. Therefore, God, knowing they will never submit to Him, is justified in using them to show forth his power and wrath against sin.

2 Peter 1:10

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

While humanity was characterized by sin and rebellion against God, His choice extended to even those of us who lived in trespasses and sins. God is dealing with you according to his knowledge of the disposition of your heart. You can choose to serve him with all your heart, soul, and mind. We have heard the gospel. We are without excuse. Choose godliness and live.