The Sovereignty of God

“I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please...What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.” (Isaiah 46:9-11)

The meaning of sovereignty could be summed up in this way, to be sovereign is to possess supreme power and authority so that one is in complete control and can accomplish whatever he pleases.

God’s sovereignty is one of the most important principles in Christian theology.  God is preeminent in power and authority.  God’s sovereignty is a natural consequence of His omniscience (knowledge), omnipotence (authority), and omnipresence (present everywhere at the same time).   When we speak of the sovereignty of God, we mean He rules the universe.    

The Sovereignty of God is the biblical teaching that all things are under God's rule and control, and that nothing happens without His direction or permission. God works not just some things, but all things according to the counsel of His own will.   “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” (Ephesians 1:11)

His purposes are all-encompassing and never obstructed (See Isaiah 46:11); nothing takes Him by surprise.  The sovereignty of God is not only that God has the power and right to govern all things, but that He does so, always and without exception.  In other words, God is not merely sovereign in principle, but also sovereign in practice.

God's sovereignty is a stumbling block for atheists and unbelievers, who demand that if God is in total control, that he eliminate all evil and suffering from the world.  But God is absolutely sovereign, and human pride despises the suggestion that God orders everything, controls everything, rules over everything.  The Christian's answer is that the human mind cannot grasp why God allows evil; instead, we are called to have faith in God's goodness and love.

The Westminster Confession of Faith says, "God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably, ordain whatever comes to pass." 1

God has the ability to do anything, to take action and intervene in any situation, but He often chooses to act indirectly or to allow certain things for reasons of His own.  In any case, His will is advanced.  God’s “sovereignty” means that He is absolute in authority and unrestricted in His supremacy. Everything that happens is, at the very least, the result of God’s permissive will.  This holds true even if certain specific things are not what He would prefer.  The right of God to allow mankind’s free choices is just as necessary for true sovereignty as His ability to enact His will, wherever and however He chooses.

In the church, one can expect the Christian to embrace the doctrine of the sovereignty of God as both biblical and true.  This may be done in principle but not necessarily in practice.  Our problems with God’s sovereignty most often come where the “rubber meets the road:” 

God is truly and perfectly sovereign.  That means He is the highest and greatest being there is, He controls everything, His will is absolute, and He does whatever He pleases.  When we hear that stated, we can understand it reasonably well, and we can usually handle it until God allows something that we do not like.  Then our normal reaction is to resist the doctrine of His sovereignty.  Rather than finding comfort in it, we find that it gets us upset with God.  If He can do whatever He pleases, why does He allow us to suffer?  Our problem is a misunderstanding of the doctrine and an inadequate knowledge of God.

It is extremely important for every Christian to understand the doctrine of the sovereignty of God.  The attribute of God’s sovereignty troubles many people and it troubles many Christians.  But the sovereignty of God is crucial because it is taught in the Bible and because it is the basis for godly living. We must look to the Word of God and the Spirit of God to teach us what we need to know about God’s sovereignty.

As I searched the Scriptures for a concise definition of divine sovereignty I was surprised that it was not found in the writings of the apostle Paul in the New Testament, not in the Law of Moses, and not from one of the great prophets like Isaiah or Jeremiah.

But the clearest definition of God’s sovereignty comes from the lips of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.  There we find not a resentful acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty, but an expression of worship and praise, “I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?” (Daniel 4:34, 35)

This acknowledgment of the sovereignty of God is made by a man who knew more of human sovereignty than any American ever could.  Among the kings of history, this king is “You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory…” (Daniel 2:37)

In our world, we have no political leader or ruler who even approaches the kind of human sovereignty we see in Nebuchadnezzar.  The Office of President of the United States is a position of great power, but it is not an example of sovereignty.  Presidents may be criticized (if not removed from office) for sexual or moral improprieties.  They certainly do not find it possible to pass every bill, create every program, or appoint every official that pleases them. 

Nebuchadnezzar was a man of great military and political power.  He ruled the nation (Babylon) with an iron fist, and Babylon dominated all other world powers of that day.  He was the commander who defeated and destroyed Jerusalem and who led most of the Jews into Babylonian captivity.  But the God of the Jews is the one true God.  And God chose to demonstrate His sovereignty over history and over all the nations of the earth by bringing Nebuchadnezzar to his knees in submission to, and the worship of, Himself.

The king’s words indicate his recognition that the God of Daniel is a sovereign God.  Daniel’s “god” is not just “God,” but the “God of gods.”  He is the God who is sovereign not only over heavenly powers, but over earthly powers as well.  And so he also refers to God as “Lord of kings.” 

In case we think king Nebuchadnezzar was different from any of us, we should consider that ours is a day in which individuals seek to be sovereign.  They want to be autonomous and independent, the captains of their own souls, the masters of their own fate.  Perhaps more than any other age, self-hood prevails.  This is the age of “the Me Generation”, just as the Scriptures foretold. (See 2 Timothy 3:1,2a)  I saw a brochure one time for a seminar which promised to teach “Ten Steps to Success.”  Every single step is dominated by the word “self.”  We, like Nebuchadnezzar, and like his predecessor and ours, Satan, want to be “gods.”  We wish to dethrone the one true God and to enthrone ourselves.

Let Nebuchadnezzar be our teacher, and let us humbly bow the knee to Him from whom, through whom, and to whom are all things).

“The LORD has established His throne in the heavens; And His sovereignty rules over all.” (Psalm 103:19)

Footnote:
¹ Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter III.

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