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God is a self-existent and completely independent being, sovereign over all the world, sovereign over all He made. The phrase ‘God is sovereign’ means that the Lord has the right, the wisdom, the authority, the power and the discretion to do whatever He wills to do. In eternity past God had ordained all things that would happen, and He carries out his will freely and discretionarily. “When He opens a door, no one can close it, and when He closes it, no one can open it.” (Revelation 3:7). As Paul says in Ephesians 1:11, “He works all thing according to the counsel of his will.” God has complete control over our history, present and future. All beings in heaven, on earth and in the world below are under his rules. All things in heaven and on earth belong to God and are under his reign and power. God exercises his dominion on all created beings, on earth, in heaven and in the sea. He is not under someone’s authority nor is He held accountable for his deeds, for all his deeds are righteous. Psalms 95:3 says, “The LORD is a mighty God, a mighty King over all the gods.” Psalms 93:1,3: “The LORD is King. He is clothed with majesty and strength. The LORD rules supreme in Heaven, greater than the roar of the ocean, more powerful than the waves of the sea.”
All things work according to his decree and purpose. The Lord is worthy of all praise, glory, thanks and worship. He rules on earth and in heaven. He is sovereign over the angels. God is enthroned above the winged creatures. Revelation 4:8-11 tells us: “Day and night they never stop singing: ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.’ The four living creatures sing songs of glory and honour and thanks to the One who sits on the throne, who lives for ever and ever. When they do so, the twenty-four elders fall down before the One who sits on the throne, and worship Him who lives for ever and ever. They throw their crowns down in front of the throne and say: ‘Our Lord and God! You are worthy to receive glory, honour, and power. For You created all things, and by your will they were given existence and life.”
When we talk about the attributes of our God, we can only ever scratch the surface because of who God is. Words are not enough to describe this magnificent, unique and great being nor do we have the capability as human beings to fully grasp God’s character. It is revealed in all He made and in everything He does. The sovereignty of our God is revealed in creation* , in salvation* and in sanctification*; God is sovereign over death*, sovereign over rulers and authorities*; He has sovereignty over our wellbeing*; God is sovereign over evil and our will in general*; the will of the Lord is sovereign*; God is the Sovereign Judge*; the Lord is sovereign over believers* and over the world*.
God’s Sovereignty and Creation.
God alone is the Creator. He breathed all things into existence. Nothing came into being apart from the work of God the Creator. “All things were created by Him, and all things exist through Him and for Him.” (Romans 11:36). He is the beginning and the end of all things, the Alpha and the Omega, the source of life and the Word through whom all things came into being. God is a self-existent being, the Word through whom all things were made. John 1:1-5 says, “In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God and the Word was God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. Through Him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without Him. The Word was the source of life. And this life brought light to humanity. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.”
Christ is the Word, the source of all life. “For through Him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including the spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through Him and for Him. Christ existed before all things, and in union with Him all things have their proper place.” (Colossians 1:16-17).The Lord says in Isaiah 45:7, “I created both light and darkness; I bring both blessing and disaster. I, the LORD, do all things.” The Lord is sovereign over all that He made. God decided the numbers of the stars and He calls each one by name. He controls the waves of the sea and the wind. “He brings storm clouds from the ends of the earth; He makes lightning for the storms, and He brings out the wind from his storeroom.” (Psalms 135:7). Job 12:15 says, “Drought comes when God withholds rain; floods come when He turns water loose.” Psalms 95:4-5: “He rules over the whole earth, from the deepest caves to the highest hills. He rules over the sea, which He made; the land also, which He himself formed.”
The Lord is also sovereign over the human race. It is He who decides what skin color people may have, their ethnicity, the time they come into existence and the number of days they spend on this earth. Before creation everything was decided upon by the Sovereign Lord. “He controls the times and the seasons; He makes and unmakes kings; it is He who gives wisdom and understanding. He reveals things that are deep and secret; He knows what is hidden in darkness, and He himself is surrounded by light.” (Daniel 2:21-22). As for us we are nothing but clay pots made by God. He made some of us for special occasions and others for ordinary use. This distinction is sovereignly ordained by God. Some of us are the objects of his anger and others are the objects of his mercy. On these He has poured out his grace and love.
But those who are the objects of his wrath are doomed to destruction. And the truth is: no human being has to power nor the merit to earn God’s mercy, nor can one oppose God from casting his wrath upon them. None of us deserves mercy from God, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). Mercy is a gift from God. He molds us and predestines us, either to receive his mercy, grace and love or to be children of wrath. And everything is done according to his own free will, in order to reveal his glory. As Paul says in Romans 9:18, “God has mercy on anyone He wishes, and He makes stubborn anyone He wishes.” And He does this for his own glory and purpose.
God molds people, blesses them with different skills or gifts and places them in different environments. He makes some poor and others rich; He blesses some with faith and makes them his sons and daughters, but gives others over to their depraved minds; He restrains some and makes others stubborn in order to show his anger and to make his power known. And as the Scripture says, “Everything depends, not on what human beings want or do, but only on God’s mercy.” (Romans 9:6). As we take a look back in the Old Testament, we are told for example that for his own glory, when the Lord was taking his people out of Egypt, He purposely hardened the king’s heart in order to reveal his anger against the king and the people of Egypt but also his love and grace towards the people of Israel.
Through this expression of wrath against one people on one hand and the act of mercy and grace to the benefit of the other on the other hand, God’s power and glory were revealed. We all know that the Lord is all-powerful, and that if He willed He could miraculously pull Israel out of Egypt in a blink of an eye. But instead the Lord decided to use the king; He made him stubborn so that his servant Moses could perform all the miracles that God had given him the power to do, and in this way the whole world would see the glory of God and his anger on display. When the Lord appears to Moses in the burning bush, before sending him to Egypt, the Lord commands Moses: “Now that you are going back to Egypt, be sure to perform before the king all the miracles which I have given you the power to do. But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not let the people go. Then you must tell him that I, the LORD, say, ‘Israel is my firstborn son. I told you to let my son go, so that he might worship Me, but you refused. Now I am going to kill your firstborn son.” (Exodus 4:21-23).
And later when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, He commanded Moses, “Tell Aaron everything I command you, and he will tell the king to let the Israelites leave his country. But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not listen to you, no matter how many terrifying things I do in Egypt. Then I will bring severe punishment on Egypt and lead the tribes of my people out of the land. The Egyptians will then know that I am the LORD, when I raise my hand against them and bring the Israelites out of their country.” (Exodus 7:2-5). The Lord sends his servant Moses to Egypt for one reason: to order the king of Egypt to let God’s people go. Meanwhile the Lord hardens the king’s heart so that he opposes his will. And by doing so, the Lord has one purpose: to display his glory and power to the entire world, through all the miracles He performs for Israel and all the plagues that He sends upon Egypt. And thus says the Lord to the king of Egypt: “I made you king in order to use you to show my power and to spread my fame over the whole world.” (Romans 9:17).
Every life belongs to the Lord. All things in creation are under the mighty and glorious dominion of the God Almighty, the source of all things both seen and unseen, physical and spiritual. He has predestined all things to a specific purpose. And He has the power and the right to use them to display his glory, his wrath and goodness. The Lord uses what He created to save or to punish people. For example, the Lord used the same flood to destroy the ancient world and to save Noah and his family, by keeping his ark afloat. The Lord brings destruction on those who rebel against Him. He gives a command and the earth quakes. At his command water runs loose and mountains pour out smoke. He sends hailstones, plagues, famine and war to punish the ungodly.
All people, whether weak or strong, big or small, wicked or good, belong to the Lord because He made them all and He rules over them all. He controls the breath of life He has given them and He uses them for his own purpose. The Lord breathed all things into existence and has determined the purpose, the beginning and the end of all things. We are here today and gone tomorrow. Every living being, all nations are under God’s dominion. As Isaiah 40:15 says, “To the LORD the nations are nothing, no more than a drop of water; the distant islands are as light as dust.” The Lord rules over them all and frustrates their purposes, but his plans endure for ever. The Lord holds our lives in his hands. We do not tell Him what to do or how to do things in our lives. He works all things according to his will and He treats us according to his grace and mercy.
The command of the Lord brought the universe into being. With this same command He will put an end to all things. Heaven and earth will pass away. But the Word, the Creator will be sovereign forever. For thus says the Lord in Haggai 2:6-9, “Before long I will shake heaven and earth, land and sea. I will overthrow all the nations, and their treasures will be brought here, and the Temple will be filled with wealth. All the silver and gold of the world is mine. The new Temple will be more splendid than the old one, and there I will give my people prosperity and peace.”
God’s Sovereignty in Salvation
God is the Sovereign Saviour. He has complete control over our salvation. In eternity past, the Lord God Almighty sovereignly chose those He willed to redeem and sanctify for his own glory and the glory of his Son, regardless of what they would do. God decided He would save the elects through his Son, not because of their works but as the result of his mercy, love and grace. We contribute nothing to our salvation. It was perfectly designed long before creation by the Almighty God. We can do nothing to change our condition as sinners. No one has the capability to pay for his sins in order to be reconciled to God. God is in charge of our salvation. Our election and redemption and even our glorification are gifts from God, the result of his grace. It is God who chooses those He redeems, it is God who provides the atonement that is required for the redemption of the chosen ones to be fulfilled. “Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made Him share our sin in order that in union with Him we might share the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God offered his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, as the propitiation for our sins.
Thanks to the physical death of Christ on the cross, those whom God had chosen before creation have been legally justified before God, for Christ took their sins upon Himself and his righteousness has been imputed to them. That is their sins have been forgiven, and God treats them as righteous. No human being can atone for his own sin, no one can appease God’s wrath. As Paul says in Ephesians 1:11, “God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what He had decided from the very beginning.” Romans 8:29-30 tells us: “Those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.” As we can see, everything here is done by the Lord – from the beginning He chose those who would benefit from his grace and predestined them to be like his own Son. He also justifies them through their faith in Christ, the faith that He Himself has given them, and He will glorify them on the day to come. (cf. Romans 9:10-13).
Our salvation is sovereignly orchestrated by God and is brought to completion through the perfect work of Christ on the cross. He laid down his life for the elects, his chosen ones. He is the Saviour, the only way to be right with God. “Salvation is to be found through Him alone; in all the world there is no one else whom God has given who can save us.” (Acts 4:12). And thus says the Lord in Luke 10:22, “My Father has given Me all things. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” There is no other way to receive salvation apart from Christ. Salvation is by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
In the same way we contribute nothing to our natural birth, we contribute nothing to our spiritual birth. This new birth that seals our life in union with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is simply the result of God’s grace, mercy and love. It is a gift from God and we cannot control it. It was programmed before creation by God, the Master of our salvation; He is God the Saviour. No one can enter his Kingdom unless He Himself saves that person. No one can come to Christ unless God chooses them and offers them as a gift to his own Son. And so the Lord Jesus says in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him to Me; and I will raise him to life on the last day.” It is the Lord who blesses us with the saving faith in order to draw us to his Son. He makes us willing and able to obey his own purpose.
Your works cannot save you, your sacrifice and performance cannot save you nor can someone else other than the Son of God. Salvation is God’s gift to those whom He chose and blessed with faith in Christ; it is God’s gift to the elects, those on whom He has poured out his mercy and grace. It is not a reward for a work done, it is not earned; rather it is a revelation of God’s grace. It is freely given by God to those who believe in Christ. As the Scripture says, “His choice is based on his grace, not on what they have done. For if God’s choice were based on what people do, then his grace would not be real grace.” (Romans 11:6). But among the fallen men and women of all generations, the Lord has kept for Himself those who will worship Him for eternity. On them He has poured out his Spirit and He sanctifies them so that the can bear fruit. This choice was made by God, not by these men and women. And thus says the Lord to his disciples in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures.”
The Lord also says in John 3:5, “No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.” This new birth called regeneration is not the result of one’s effort; it is a supernatural work fully and exclusively done by God’s Spirit. You cannot receive this new birth, unless the Spirit lives in you. And it is God who blesses us with his Spirit; it is God’s gift to the elects. There is no salvation by works; no one is good enough to be right in God’s sight. “For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved.” (Romans 10:10). We contribute nothing to our salvation. Our election, redemption, sanctification and glorification are God’s sovereign and exclusive prerogatives. For his own glory and for the fulfillment of his purpose, the Lord acts according to his mercy, grace and love.
God’s Sovereignty in Sanctification
Sanctification is the cleansing, the progressive act of purification of believers from all their filthiness. Contrary to our justification which occurs once in our lifetime as ordained by God, sanctification is a lifelong process. As long as we (believers) live, we are sanctified each and every day. And just like it is God who chooses those He redeems, He is also in charge of our sanctification. Those who belong to Christ are sanctified by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God works in us, both to make us willing to obey God and to make us able to fulfill God’s own purpose. And thus says the Lord in Ezekiel 36:25-27, “I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean from all your idols and everything else that has defiled you. I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. I will put my Spirit in you and I will see to it that you follow my laws and keep all the commands I have given you.” It is God’s power that works in us to cleanse us. As Paul says in Ephesians 1:20, “This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength which He used when He raised Christ from death and seated Him at his right side in the heavenly world.”
There is no other way to separate ourselves from sin. We do not have the power to cleanse ourselves from our idols and filths. It is the Lord who cleanses us of all our impurities; it is not something we can achieve on our own. That is to say: unless the Spirit of Christ lives in you, you cannot be a born again, you can never become holy, and nor can you enter to Kingdom of God. Our sanctification is a work done exclusively by the Holy Spirit who lives in us. God’s Spirit works in us who believe in Christ so that we may become holy and live the life that God has prepared for us. The Spirit moves us from on level of holiness to the next.
In his final instructions to the church of Thessalonica, Paul in his first letter commends the church to the Lord’s grace, so that the believers may be sanctified by the Lord. He says in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, “May the God who gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being – spirit, soul, and body – free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you will do it, because He is faithful.” When the Lord prays for all his disciples in John 17, He commends them to the grace of the Father. He says in verse 17: “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” God’s word is Spirit; the Spirit is Christ. We are sanctified by Christ, we are made holy by his Spirit. In our life in union with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we are made new and ruled by the Spirit of Christ. As servants of the new covenant, it is God who makes us capable of serving it. It is God who gradually purifies us and prepares us for our upcoming glorification.
God’s Sovereignty over death
God’s sovereignty over death is revealed to us in three folds: God is an immortal being. He lives forever. He was, He is and He will forever be the Living God. 1 Timothy 6:16 says, “He alone is immortal; He lives in the light that no one can approach. No one has ever seen Him; no one can ever see Him. To Him be honour and eternal dominion! Amen.” Our God is an eternal being. Just like the Lord is self-existent, meaning there is absolutely no external cause to his existence, nothing can end his being. So death does not and cannot rule over Him, death has no power over Him. He always was and will always be God. And so Moses in his prayer says to God: “Before You created the hills or brought the world into being, You were eternally God, and will be God for ever.” (Psalms 90:2). Hebrews 1:10-12 says, “You, Lord, in the beginning created the earth, and with your own hands you made the heavens. They will disappear, but You will remain; they will all wear out like clothes. You will fold them up like a coat, and they will be changed like clothes. But You are always the same, and your life never ends.”
On the other hand death is an instrument designed and controlled by God –“The LORD kills and restore to life; He sends people to the world of the dead and brings them back again.” (1 Samuel 2:6). Death is the ultimate judgement that God pronounces against the entire human race after the fall of the first man Adam. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit from the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad, the Lord says to Adam: “You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again.” (Genesis 3:19).
The Lord thus condemned Adam and all his descendants, that is, the whole human race, to the same fate. And so people of all generations die as the result of God’s judgement, because of the sin of our first parents. We all are mortal beings, no one escapes death. Also, God has the power to kill both body and soul. Just as it is God who gives life, it is Him who takes it back. It is the Lord who determines when and how each person has to die. In Revelation 13:10, concerning the Great Tribulation for example, the Lord says: “Whoever is meant to be captured will be captured; whoever is meant to be killed by the sword will surely be killed by the sword.”
Even the physical death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross was predetermined by the Sovereign Father. The accusation and trial, the time, the way and the venue of the death of the Son, everything was set by God the Father and the Son knew and testified about it all. In John 3:14-15, referring to the way He was going to die, the Lord Jesus says, “As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the desert, in the same way the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” The Lord here was telling people that He will be hanged on the tree, He will die by crucifixion. According to Jewish traditions, anyone who was found guilty of a crime that deserved death was to be stoned until they died, not crucified. Surely our Lord was not guilty, for He knew no sin. But He came to die for our sins. The Lord also had a foreknowledge of his accusers and murderers; He knew exactly where and when He would be crucified and He spoke about it.
We have a report from Matthew 16:21 where the Lord speaks plainly to his disciples about his death. He says to them: “I must go to Jerusalem and suffer much from the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. I will be put to death, but three days later I will be raised to life.” Many times the Lord speaks about his death and resurrection. Matthew 17:22 says, “When the disciples all came together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be handed over to people who will kill Him; but three days later He will be raised to life.” (see also Luke 13:33 & Mark 8:31). The Lord had a foreknowledge of his betrayal, arrest, trial, death and resurrection. And He spoke about all these things before they happened. Why? To make his accusers and murderers understand, to make the crowd and each generation understand that everything was predetermined by God, not by men. The people who accused and crucified Jesus were just some instruments used by God to fulfill his plan.
The death of Christ was not planned by men, no human being took his life from Him. Rather He willingly went to the cross. And thus says the Lord in John 10:17-18, “The Father loves Me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again. No one takes my life away from Me. I give it up of my own free will. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back. This is what my Father has commanded Me to do.” The Son willingly laid down his life to redeem us; He took our place upon the cross and suffered the wrath of God for our sake, because it was the will of the Father that He should suffer to bring forgiveness of sins. It was God who set up everything for the death of his Son. Our Lord Himself testifies to this truth when, on the night He was betrayed by Judas, He says to his eleven disciples before his arrest: “This very night all of you will run away and leave Me, for the scripture says, ‘God will kill the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’” (Matthew 26:31).
There is nothing one can do to change the day and the circumstances of his death. God has authority over every circumstance of our life and death. It is God who determines our coming into being, it is also Him who rules over our death. He has sovereignly predetermined and set the time for all things, from birth to death. Death only strikes us in the moment and circumstances planned by God. It is God who ordains and controls the end of life of all his creatures. And thus says the Lord in Matthew 10:29, “For only a penny you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s consent.” This is an evidence that God’s sovereignty is manifested even in the death of that which human beings may consider as insignificant. There is then no doubt that the sovereignty of God is just as evident in the death of the people He created. In the same way that God is the source of all lives, for by Him all things came into being, God controls death. He alone determines the day and the circumstance of the death of every living being. Just like “not one thing in all creation was made without Him”, the death of every human being, of every living creature is predetermined by the Lord God Almighty.
Furthermore, God has the power to restore to life, the power to conquer death. The Lord is the resurrection and the life. He has the power to raise people from death. And thus declares the Lord in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Me will live, even though they die; and all those who live and believe in Me will never die.” During his ministry on earth, the Lord raised many people from death. Just to give a few examples, in John 11:43, the Lord called out, in a loud voice, Lazarus who was dead and had spent four days in the tomb. Verse 44 tells us that Lazarus “came out, his hands and feet wrapped in grave clothes, and with a cloth round his face.”
We also have in Luke 7:11-15 the story of the son of a widow in a town called Nain – “Just as He (the Lord) arrived at the gate of the town, a funeral procession was coming out. The dead man was the only son of a woman who was a widow, and a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart was filled with pity for her, and He said to her, ‘Don’t cry.’ Then He walked over and touched the coffin, and the men carrying it stopped. Jesus said, ‘Young man! Get up, I tell you!’ The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave Him back to his mother.” Before the coming of our Lord into the world, some God’s prophets raised many dead as well, and after the coming of the Messiah, his Apostles received from Him the power to raise the dead. On the Day of Judgement the Lord will raise all the dead. They will appear before Him in order to be judged. Christ will take into his Kingdom those who died believing in Him, and those who rejected Him will face the second death.
On the cross the Lord also conquered death for his chosen ones, the elects. Christ died so that everyone who believes in Him may not die but have eternal life. God has given us victory over death through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He paid the wage for our sin. He defeated death on the cross. The Lord conquered the grave three days after his death. “He was shown with great power to be the Son of God by being raised from death.” (Romans 1:4). 1 Corinthians 15:20 says, “He has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.” All who believe in Christ will be raised on the last day, and on the new earth death will be no more. Death and Hades will be thrown in the lake of fire. God’s children will live forever in his presence. Revelation 21:4 tells us, “He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared.” As promised through the prophet Isaiah, “He will suddenly remove the cloud of sorrow that has been hanging over all the nations. The Sovereign LORD will destroy death for ever! He will wipe away the tears from everyone’s eyes and take away the disgrace his people have suffered throughout the world.” (Isaiah 25:7-8).
God’s Sovereignty over Rulers
The Lord is sovereign over all authorities and powers of the heavenly Kingdom. Enthroned above the winged creatures and seated at the right-hand side of the Father in Heaven, “Christ rules there above all heavenly rulers, authorities, powers, and lords; He has a title superior to all titles of authority in this world and in the next.” (Ephesians 1:21). All the angels of heaven are under the authority of Christ, day and night they worship and serve Him. Hebrews 1:14 says, Angels “are spirits who serve God and are sent by Him to help those who are to receive salvation.” Angels are God’s messengers – (cf. Judges 6:11-13; Luke 1:11-20; 26-37). The heavenly angels are also there to carry out the death penalty that God pronounces against men who disobey Him; they are executioners of God’s punishment on the human race. (cf. 2 Samuel 24:16; Revelation 8:5; Revelation 16:1-12 & 17-21; Ezekiel 10:2).
God is the Lord and King, the supreme Ruler, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords – all knees bow before Him. He is sovereign over earthly rulers and powers. These receive their authority from God. As Paul says in Romans 13:1, “No authority exists without God’s permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God.” This means that they rule only because the Lord has approved of them, and they can only reign for the time the Lord has set for them to reign and it is the Lord who decides how many people they will rule over. We see this for example when the Lord told the prophet Jeremiah to send a message to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon through their ambassadors who had come to Jerusalem to see King Zedekiah. The Lord commands them to submit to the kingship of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia.
The Sovereign Lord declares in Jeremiah 27:5-8, “By my great power and strength I created the world, the human race, and all the animals that live on the earth; and I give it to anyone I choose. I am the one who has placed all these nations under the power of my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, and I have made even the wild animals serve him. All nations will serve him, and they will serve his son and his grandson until the time comes for his own nation to fall. Then his nation will serve powerful nations and great kings. But if any nation or kingdom will not submit to his rule, then I will punish that nation by war, starvation, and disease until I have let Nebuchadnezzar destroy it completely.”
God’s is also sovereign over evil spiritual powers and demonic forces. “He is supreme over every spiritual ruler and authority.” (Colossians 2:10). The Lord rules over Satan and his agents, all the fallen angels that Satan has drawn with himself in his rebellion against God. None of these beings can move to the left nor to the right unless the Sovereign Lord, the Lord God Almighty wills it. In the garden, when Satan led Adam and Eve into sin, “the LORD God said to the snake, ‘You will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: from now on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live. I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head and you will bite her offspring’s heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15).
We see in this judgement an impressive manifestation of God’s sovereignty as the Lord pronounces curse over Satan. In the beginning when God created all things, Satan, like any other created being was good and privileged. Man was also good and privileged as he lived in the glorious presence of God; he lived under God’s care, protection and provision. As we can read in Genesis 2:8, “The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there He put the man He had formed. He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit.” (Genesis 2:8-9).Verse 10,“A stream flowed in Eden and watered the garden.” So all man had to do was to freely enjoy the fruit of this garden, in the glorious presence of the Lord God Almighty. But when man disobeyed God all these privileges were revoked. God cursed the ground, threw man out of the garden where He now has to work hard his entire life to earn his bread.
The same thing happened to Satan: God cursed him and took back all the privileges He had granted him when he was created. This is an expression of God’s sovereignty over this previously angelic being who led a rebellion against God, taking in his fall many other angels. He is now the ruler of this world and alongside him are all the fallen angels, the evil spirits of this world. But like other created beings, these cannot function unless the Lord wills it. The Lord rules over every spiritual demonic force of this world. In the New Testament, we are provided with several testimonies of our Lord Jesus Christ casting out demons – this is a revelation of his sovereignty over demonic forces. We need to note that God does not associate with Satan, but He uses Satan to accomplish his own purpose, in order to demonstrate his supreme greatness and goodness. We see this for example with Job – in order to test the faith of his servant Job, the Lord allowed Satan to strip Job of all that he had, even of his health. (cf. Job 1 & 2).
God is sovereign over all the demonic forces of the spiritual world. There is no one like the Lord. He is the beginning and the end, the only King to whom all knees bow. Psalms 97:3-6 says, “Fire goes in front of Him and burns up his enemies round Him. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees it and trembles. The hills melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the nations see his glory.” The Lord alone is to be worshipped and praised. He tolerates no rival. “Everyone who worships idols is put to shame; all the gods bow down before the LORD.” (Psalms 97:7). No ruler and power can overthrow his sovereignty. Daniel 4:34-35 says, “He will rule for ever, and his Kingdom will last for all time. He looks on the people of the earth as nothing; angels in heaven and people on earth are under his control. No one can oppose his will or question what He does.”
“God is strong and always victorious; both deceived and deceiver are in his power. He takes away the wisdom of rulers and makes leaders act like fools. (Because of his pride and failure to submit to God, King Nebuchadnezzar was driven out of human society and into the wilderness where he spent seven years living like a beast. cf. Daniel 4:28-33). He dethrones kings and makes them prisoners. (cf. 2 Kings 24:15; Jeremiah 52:1-11). The Lord humbles priests and men of power. He silences those who are trusted, and takes the wisdom of old people away. He disgraces those in power and puts an end to the strength of rulers. He sends light to places dark as death. He makes nations strong and great, but then He defeats and destroys them. (cf. Jeremiah 27:6-7). He makes their leaders foolish and lets them wander confused and lost; they grope in the dark and stagger like drunkards.” (Job 12:16-25). No one can have the authority to rule over others unless God wills it to be so. When the Jewish authorities brought our Lord before Pilate, He asked the Lord where He came from. The Lord did not answer and so Pilate said to Him: “Remember, I have the authority to set you free and also to have you crucified.’ The Lord’s answer to Him was: “You have authority over Me only because it was given to you by God.” (John 19:10-11).
God is the one who ordains certain individuals as kings or rulers, and He uses them either to raise a nation or to destroy it. God often sends good leaders to rule over a nation whose people honour the Lord and do not depart from his way. He also sends evil leaders as a rebuke to any nation whose people do not honour the Lord, but have given their hearts to sexual immorality, idolatry and all kinds of evil. We can see this in many countries around the world today. Because many nations have rejected God, He has given them evil rulers as judgement for their rebellion against Him. Both good and evil rulers are under God’s authority. All kings and rulers of the earth receive their authority from God, and so not only are they to rule according to his will, but they will also account for everything they do as leaders, apart from the fact that like any other human being they must appear before the Sovereign Lord, the King of all kings, because when they fulfill their duties they are working for God.
God’s Sovereignty over our Wellbeing
Our life is exclusively and entirely sustained by God’s gracious care and protection. If the Lord does not provide for our needs, as an individual or a nation, we will have nothing. It is God who provides rain for our crops to grow. Job 12:15 says, “Drought comes when God withholds rain; floods come when He turns water loose.” The Lord blesses those who honour Him and curses those who disobey Him. He sends on these, disaster, trouble and confusion in everything they do. He punishes disobedient nations with starvation, war, famine, deadly diseases and natural disasters. (cf. Deuteronomy 28). He give rebellious people over to their reprobate minds, and they do the things they are not supposed to do, and in this way they compound their punishment for the Last Day.
We deserve nothing good from the Lord. But out of the fullness of his grace the Lord constantly exercises protection and care for his creatures. He is always present in our lives to procure to us the care and protection we need. It is God who provides for our physical and spiritual needs. The Lord alone protects us against physical attacks – Proverbs 21:31 says: “You can get horses ready for battle, but it is the LORD who gives victory.” And as far as maintaining our physical wellbeing is concerned, it is the Lord who keeps us healthy and strong. God alone has the power to keep us in good shape. He is the one who heals our diseases and broken hearts and keeps us safe from all hidden dangers and all deadly diseases. He protects and defends us against our enemies. He helps us trample down lions and snakes. When we are in trouble the Lord rescues us. “God is our shelter and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” (Psalms 46:1).
It is the Lord who offers us spiritual protection. The Lord alone protects us against the Devil’s tricks and against sin. It is the Lord who protects us against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world. By Him we are able to put out the burning arrows shot by the Evil One. The Lord is our deliverer from sin and depravity. We do not have the capability to separate ourselves from the evilness of our flesh. The Spirit of God is our restrainer – those who do not have the Spirit of God in them, as the result of their rejection of the Son of God, are given over to their depraved mind and they remain slave of sin and death. But those who honour the Lord are led by the Holy Spirit. In this way the Lord does not allow us to be tested beyond our power to remain firm. At the time we are put to the test, He gives us the strength to endure it, and so provides us with a way out.
In the fullness of his grace, the Lord restrains us who believe in Christ from being evil. He has blessed us with his Spirit. And the Spirit controls us. The Lord has also blessed us with his word, the sword that the Spirit gives us. Hebrews 4:12 says: “The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart.” God’s word gives us the capability to understand the will of God, to examine ourselves and see if we are in the faith or not. It teaches us everything we need to know about God.
The word of God is life, it is Spirit-breathed, it is the light for the soul. As Paul says in his second letter to Timothy, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.” (2 Timothy 3:16). The word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Those who reject the word of God live according to their natural desires; they remain spiritually blinded and dead and God gives them over to their depraved minds. Any nation without God’s restraining grace falls into depravity, sexual immorality, violence, injustice, corruption, perversion, idolatry and all kinds of evil. As an individual or a nation, we cannot be physically or spiritually healthy unless we put God in the center of our lives. “God says, ‘I will protect those who acknowledge Me as LORD. When they call to Me, I will answer them; when they are in trouble, I will be with them. I will rescue them and honour them. I will reward them with long life; I will save them.” (Psalms 91:14-16).
Many people in this world are unaware that no human being can guarantee his own wellbeing. They reject God’s laws and commands and rely on their own effort and performance; they put their trust in mortal beings; they chase after what the world has to offer, because they think their wellbeing depends on acquiring all sorts of things and filling their homes with all kinds of earthly treasures. But 1 John 2:15-17 says, “Do not love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you do not love the Father. Everything that belongs to the world – what the sinful self desires, what people see and want, and everything in this world that people are so proud of – none of this comes from the Father; it comes from the world. The world and everything in it that people desire is passing away; but those who do the will of God live for ever.”
We cannot find comfort in the things of this world; they are meant to pass. The Lord is our Creator and He rules over our wellbeing. It’s in Him alone that one can find comfort. He does not promise anyone health, wealth or any sort of material comfort in this world. But rather He promises life to those who do his will, those who trust in his Son. Unless you put your trust in the Lord Jesus you will never receive this promise. He is the one God has chosen to bring people into the experience of the heavenly blessings. Christ is the key to access the everlasting welfare God has prepared for those who renounce to self and to the world and follow Him. I urge you today to stop chasing the wind, repent of your sins and believe in Christ. That’s all you have to do to inherit the everlasting glory God has promised.
The Sovereignty of God over evil and our will in general
We are the cause of evil; it comes from our hearts. But the Lord has power over it. Although the Lord never does anything evil, (because He is holy, just and good), not a single evil act takes place outside his will. Evil only happens because the Lord wills it to happen. He ordains it in order to demonstrate his goodness. He has the power to thwart our evil actions. People may plan evil but it is the will of God that is going to be done. And what men mean for evil God means it for good. God allows evil to happen so that his goodness can be subsequently revealed. He turns evil into good for his own righteous purpose and for the good of his people. Genesis 37 gives us a good account of God’s sovereignty over evil. Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him. They beat him and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. God allowed their evil actions to take place so that He could later use Joseph to fulfill his own purpose. For many years after Joseph had been living in Egypt, separated from the rest of his family and thought to be dead by his parents, the king of Egypt had two dreams. But no one in his entourage was able to interpret his dreams for him. These dreams were initiated by God to tell the king about what the Lord was going to do in Egypt.
The reason why God allowed Joseph to be sold as a slave by his brothers was that God intended to make Joseph interpret the king’s dreams. Joseph then interpreted the king’s dreams and told him that God had ordained that the land of Egypt was going to have seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of famine. Then, the Lord used Joseph to bring about a plan that would help people not to starve. (cf. Genesis 41:33-41). So God allowed the evil schemes against Joseph to happen because He wanted to prevent famine from hitting the people. And so Joseph says to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “You plotted evil against me, but God turned it into good, in order to preserve the lives of many people who are alive today because of what happened.”
Even the most outrageous evil of human existence, the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ by his own people, was ordained by God. It was God’s will that his Son would be crucified. Many people still today do not know that Christ’s death was orchestrated by God, in order to satisfy the righteous demand of the Law. It pleased God to crush Him. Matthew tells us how the Jewish chief priest, the elders and the teachers of the Law jeered at Christ on the cross. They said: “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself! Isn’t He the King of Israel? If He comes down off the cross now, we will believe in Him! He trusts in God and claims to be God’s Son. Well, then, let us see if God wants to save Him now!” (Matthew 27:42-43).
Obviously, these people did not understand that God had decreed the death of his own Son in order to redeem his people. Christ was delivered to be killed according to the will of God. The Gentiles and the people of Israel gathered to do what God by his power and will had already decided would happen. It was the will of God that Christ should suffer. Isaiah 53:10 tells us: “The LORD says, ‘It was my will that He should suffer; his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness.’” Ephesians 1:4 says, “Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before Him.” Ephesians 1:5, “Because of his love God had already decided that through Jesus Christ He would make us his sons and daughters – this was his pleasure and purpose.”
He sent his only begotten Son into the world to carry our sins. By his blood we have been made pure and justified before the Holy God, according to his purpose and will. Christ’s death on the cross was not a misfortune or an accidental death, for God had decreed it before the beginning. As Paul says in Ephesians 1:9-10, “In all his wisdom and insight God did what He had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan He had already decided to complete by means of Christ. This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as Head.”
On the other hand, God is our restrainer: it is He who preserves us from being evil, by pouring out his saving grace upon us. It is this grace that allows us not to indulge in evil. But when people rebel against God, He withholds his saving grace from them. And we know that human beings are inherently evil, there is no good in them. So, when God withholds his saving grace from someone who does not honour Him, they are given over to their filthy mind and they do the things they are not supposed to do; they commit more evil and even boast about their sins. It is God’s grace that restrains us from committing evil actions. When this restraining grace also known as saving grace is absent in someone’s life, the person is enslaved by sin and evil. The opposite is true for those on whom God has poured out his grace, those who are the objects of his mercy and love – they are controlled by God’s Spirit and the Spirit sanctifies them in order to conform them to the image of Christ the Saviour. And the more they grow in their walk with Christ, lesser are the sins they commit. For they are no longer ruled by sin, but rather by the Spirit of God.
Not only is God sovereign over evil, but He also exercises his sovereignty over our will in general. “People may plan all kinds of things, but the LORD’s will is going to be done.” (Proverbs 19:21). For our existence is not about what we want, it is not about our plans or desires, but about what God wants and has ordained. We did not ask to be created; it was the will of God to create us, and He did so for his own glory. He molded us as He willed. In the same way, we cannot decide of what He has to do for us nor of the way He wants to use us to show his glory. And thus says the Lord in Isaiah 45:11-12, “You have no right to question Me about my children or to tell Me what I ought to do! I am the One who made the earth and created the human race to live there.” As Paul says in Romans 9:20, “A clay pot does not ask the man who made it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”. God makes the decision and acts. It is his will that is done, whatever our desire may be. And so if our heart desires something, it can never be granted to us, unless it is within the will of God, unless it has been ordained by God. If anything we plan comes to succeed, it is only because God has given his consent. We have no power to stand against what the Lord has planned.
We cannot move to the left nor can we move to the right, unless the Lord wills it. We make plans in our lives, but God directs our actions. There is nothing we can achieve in this life unless the Lord enables us to succeed in our goals. Everything we do, whether good or evil, only happens as the result of God’s will. God never bends to our will. Instead, He frustrates the plans of the wicked. In the Book of Acts, we have a brilliant demonstration of God’s sovereignty over people’s will. The High Priest and all his companions and members of the local party of the Sadducees became extremely jealous of the Apostles because they had been performing miracles and wonders by the power of the Holy Spirit and were winning many people to Christ through the teaching and preaching of the Gospel. Acts 5:18-21 says, “They arrested the Apostles and put them in the public jail. But that night an angel of the Lord opened the prison gates, led the Apostles out, and said to them, ‘Go and stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new life.’ The Apostles obeyed, and at dawn they entered the Temple and started teaching.”
Verse 33 tells us that, “When the members of the Council heard this, they were so furious that they wanted to have the Apostles put to death.” But Gamaliel, who was a teacher of the Law and a Pharisee told them: “Do not take any action against these men. Leave them alone! If what they have planned and done is of human origin, it will disappear, but if it comes from God, you cannot possibly defeat them. You could find yourselves fighting against God! The Council followed Gamaliel’s advice. They called the Apostles in, had them whipped, and ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and then they set them free. As the Apostles left the Council, they were happy, because God had considered them worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of Jesus. And every day in the Temple and in people’s homes they continued to teach and preach the Good News about Jesus the Messiah.” (Acts 5:38-42).
We see here that the Jewish authorities had come together to carry out their evil schemes, in order to stop the preaching of the Gospel and the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ. In their human mind, I believe that when they arrested the Apostles and put them in jail, they were more than certain that what they had long longed for had come to succeed. They had always wanted to stop the Gospel from being preached. They hated the Messiah when He was among them and ended up crucifying Him, despite knowing that Christ was innocent. Now they wanted to be done with his Apostles so that the preaching of the Gospel would not take place any longer. For they knew the Apostles were doing what they were called to do by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. But what they did not know or refuse to believe, until Gamaliel told them was the worthlessness of their will, as opposed to God’s sovereign will.
Are you one of those who think they can do whatever pleases them and get away with their evil deeds? Are you one of those who say they do not need God to tell them what to do? Know that you will be crushed in your pride by the Holy God who reigns over all things. I urge you today to lay down your pride and give up your evil ways. Repent of your sins and throw yourself on the mercy of Christ. Believe in Him! He will pull you out of the darkness and cleanse you of your filth, and you will share in his glory.
The Sovereignty of God’s will
God can do everything He wants. (cf. Job 42:2). Everything happens as God has predestined and planned. No one and nothing can stand against his will. (cf. 1 Chronicles 29:11-12). No one can oppose his decree. The Lord raises some to glory and condemn others to misery, according to his own mercy and grace. He alone directs the course of our lives and all the events that mark our existence. Job 12:14 says, “When God tears down, who can rebuild, and who can free those God imprisons?” We must keep in mind that the entire universe is under the control of the Lord. Nothing happens by accident nor as a result of human power. We can do nothing without Christ – beginning with the breath of life He gives us, our entire life lies in his hand. When God gives us breath we live, but when He takes it away we die. In the same way that the Lord controls life and death, any other event relating to all that God has created occurs according to His decree and at the very moment He intended.
No one can oppose what God has ordained. It is written: “All things are done according to God’s plan and decision.” (Ephesians 1:11). God does whatever pleases Him. Lamentations 3:37–38 says, “The will of the Lord alone is always carried out. Good and evil alike take place at his command.” Psalms 115:3, “Our God is in Heaven; He does whatever He wishes.” The Lord “does whatever He wishes in Heaven and on earth, in the seas and in the depths below.” (Psalms 135:6). The Sovereign Lord declares to Israel in Isaiah 43:10-13, “Besides Me there is no other god; there never was and never will be. I alone am the LORD, the only one who can save you. I predicted what would happen, and then I came to your aid. No foreign god has ever done this; you are my witnesses. I am God and always will be. No one can escape my power; no one can change what I do.”
The LORD Almighty alone plans everything and makes it happen. When He stretches out his arm to punish, no one can stop Him. He raises some and crushes others. The Lord humbles whoever He wishes and shows his mercy and kindness to those He has chosen. Isaiah 40:23, “He brings down powerful rulers and reduces them to nothing. They are like young plants, just set out and barely rooted. When the LORD sends a wind, they dry up and blow away like straw.” God directs our actions and rules over the nations – “The Lord frustrates the purposes of the nations; He keeps them from carrying out their plans. But his plans endure for ever; his purposes last eternally.” (Psalms 33:10-11). Proverbs 16:9 says, “You may make plans, but God directs your actions.” Proverbs 16:33, “People cast lots to learn God’s will, but God Himself determines the answer.” Proverbs 19:21, “People may plan all kinds of things, but the LORD’s will is going to be done.” Proverbs 21:1, “The LORD controls the mind of a king as easily as He directs the course of a stream.”
We cannot change the course of our existence or prevent the events the Lord has ordained from happening. God foretold what would happen and his plan never fails. He does everything He intends to do. Everything happens just as the Lord has designed and planned. We do not have the power to change the time God set for trials into a time of peace. The Lord has predetermined everything that affects all people of all ages, good and bad alike. There is nothing we can do about it, apart from following what the Lord tells us to do, which is to pray so that our faith may be strengthened and we will be able to live safely through moments of persecution, suffering and trials. This is the only way to overcome difficult moments in our lives. We cannot change a thing, but we can safely live through those moments by trusting ourselves to the power and strength of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who controls all things. For it is written: “God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know what is going to happen next.” (Ecclesiastes 7:14).
God the Sovereign Judge
God alone is the Judge of all. One day we will all stand before the throne of the Sovereign and Holy God. For it is written: “I have set a time for judgement, says God, and I will judge with fairness.” (Psalms 75:2). Verse 6-8: “Judgement does not come from the east or from the west, from the north or from the south; it is God who is the judge, condemning some and acquitting others. The LORD holds a cup in his hand, filled with the strong wine of his anger. He pours it out, and all the wicked drink it; they drink it down to the last drop.” Hebrews 4:13, “It is to Him that we must all give an account of ourselves.” “God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).“When the Son of Man comes as King and all the angels with Him, He will sit on his royal throne, and the people of all the nations will be gathered before Him. He will put the righteous people on his right and the others on his left.’’ (Matthew 25:31-33). “God will reward every person according to what each has done.” To those who keep on doing good and seek glory, honour and immortal life, God will give eternal life. (cf. Romans 2:6-7).
But people who are selfish and reject what is right, in order to follow what is wrong will face the wrath of God; they will suffer eternal disgrace. (cf. Romans 2:8-9). It is written: “God’s anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known.” (Romans 1:18). “The Lord’s anger is a storm, a furious wind that will rage over the heads of the wicked. It will not end until He has done all that He intends to do. In days to come his people will understand this clearly.” (Jeremiah 30:23-24). “All of us will stand before God to be judged by Him. For the Scripture says: ‘As surely as I am the Living God, says the Lord, everyone will kneel before Me, and everyone will confess that I am God. Every one of us, then, will have to give an account of ourselves to God.” (Romans 14:10-12).
The Lord will judge us for all our deeds and every harmful word we have ever spoken. On that day, God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, will judge the secret thoughts of all. The Lord Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:36-37, “You can be sure that on Judgement Day everyone will have to give account of every useless word he has ever spoken. Your words will be used to judge you – to declare you either innocent or guilty.” Hebrews 13:4, “God will judge those who are immoral and those who commit adultery.” On the Day of Judgement, the Lord will say to the wicked: “Away from Me, you that are under God’s curse! Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels!” (Matthew 25:41). Isaiah 13:6,11, “The Day of the LORD is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. Everyone‘s hands will hang limp, and everyone’s courage will fail. The LORD says, ‘I will bring disaster on the earth and punish all the wicked for their sins. I will humble everyone who is proud and punish everyone who is arrogant and cruel.”
The Lord will judge the living and the dead; no one will escape his righteous judgements. Good and bad alike will be judged, whether dead or alive. The dead will rise and account for their deeds. They will either be condemned or glorified, depending on how they treated the truth that sets people free. For those who believe in the Truth are set free from sin and death and they will receive eternal life. But those who reject the Truth remain under the wrath of God and will face the second death. The Lord Jesus Himself says in John 5:28-29: “Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.” “He will break the power of the wicked, but the power of the righteous will be increased.’’ (Psalms 75:10). “When the Lord comes to rule the earth, He will rule the peoples of the world with justice and fairness.” (Psalms 96:13). Thus says the Lord in John 12:48, “Those who reject Me and do not accept my message have one who will judge them. The words I have spoken will be their judge on the last day.”
God’s Sovereignty over Believers
God is the Only Head of his people. As Ephesians 1:22-23 says, “God put all things under Christ’s feet and gave Him to the church as Supreme Lord over all things. The church is Christ’s body, the completion of Him who Himself completes all things everywhere.” The Lord is the only Teacher, the only Father and the only Leader of his flock. He tells us in Matthew 23:8-10, “You must not be called ‘Teacher’, because you are all members of one family and have only one Teacher. And you must not call anyone here on earth ‘Father’, because you have only the one Father in heaven. Nor should you be called ‘Leader’, because your one and only Leader is the Messiah.”
On this, Dr. John Macarthur wrote: 'Any so-called minister who exalts his own office and his own position into that of a priest, a mediator is perverted in his claim. There is only one High Priest and one Mediator between men and God, the man Christ Jesus. Any so-called minister who declares himself an authority over the church is a deceiver and a liar. Any so-called minister who says he exercises his power over the church is a deceiver and an antichrist. Any minister who views himself as anything more than a simple Christian equal to every other Christian has corrupted himself. Any so-called minister who claims to be the head of the church dishonours the Son of God to whom that title belongs exclusively. Any so-called minister who claims the name Holy Father dishonours the True Father, God, to whom that title belongs exclusively. And thus did Jesus say, ‘Call no man Father.’ Any so-called minister who takes the title vicar or a replacement for Christ dishonours the Holy Spirit who is in the world today, and who possesses truly that title exclusively. Any professing Christian who treats a so-called pastor, a minister or a priest as if he were anything more than any other believer dishonours the Lord Jesus Christ to whom all honour belongs totally and exclusively.'
Christ is the only Teacher, for He alone is the source of wisdom; He is wisdom. Proverbs 2:6, “It is the LORD who gives wisdom; from Him come knowledge and understanding.” Romans 11:33-35 says: “How great are God’s riches! How deep are his wisdom and knowledge! Who can explain his decisions? Who can understand his ways? As the Scripture says: ‘Who knows the mind of the Lord? Who is able to give Him advice? Who has ever given Him anything, so that He had to pay it back?” As the Father, it is God who gives us life – He is our Creator and Redeemer. He sacrificed his only Son to reconcile us to Himself so that we can spend eternity with Him in Heaven. It was his will since the beginning to redeem his people. It was God’s plan to save people from his own wrath. As Paul says in Ephesians 1:5, “Because of his love God had already decided that through Jesus Christ He would make us his sons and daughters – this was his pleasure and purpose.” “It was not because of any good deeds that we ourselves had done, but because of his own mercy that He saved us, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us. God poured out the Holy Spirit abundantly on us through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that by his grace we might be put right with God and come into possession of the eternal life we hope for.” (Titus 3:5-7).
1 John 3:1 says, “His love for us is so great that we are called God’s children – and so, in fact, we are. This is why the world does not know us: it has not known God.” We are God’s children through adoption, born of Him through Christ the Saviour. We were dead in our transgressions, held captives by sin and death. But through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we have been brought from death to life by the glorious power of God’s grace and love, the same God who raised Christ from death. For by raising Christ from death, God has given us a new life. To borrow Paul’s words, our old being was put to death with Christ on the cross; we shared his death and were buried with Him. By raising Christ from death, God also raised us who were baptised into union with Christ’s death on the cross. As Paul says in Romans 6:4, “By our baptism, then, we were buried with Him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.” “In our union with Christ He has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world.” (Ephesians 1:3).
God has blessed us with the Holy Spirit and has set us apart from non-believers. And He Himself is our Leader, we are not ruled by Satan, we are not ruled by the world, we are not ruled by a man. We travel the Road of Holiness, shepherded by the Lord our Saviour. Christ is our Leader, the Head of his church, the Shepherd of his flock. Christ is the one who leads his sheep to the sheepfold. He laid down his life for his sheep and was and still is an example to us. The Lord is the source of our patience and encouragement, the source of our hope and peace. We are under his Lordship and are bound by his laws and commands. We do not live by the standards set by this world, but rather by the standard set by God. Christ Himself is our standard.
As Christians we look up to our Lord Jesus Christ and we no longer live for ourselves but for Christ. We are Christ’s slaves. He ransomed us at the cost of his own life. We therefore belong to Him, we are his servants and He is the Keeper of our souls. By Him we now live. “He died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but only for Him who died and was raised to life for their sake.” (2 Corinthians 5:15). Christ is the exalted One, our Great High Priest. He alone “is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through Him, because He lives for ever to plead with God for them.” (Hebrews 7:25). Christ is the only Shepherd, the only Leader of his sheep. Colossians 1:20, “Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to Himself. God made peace through his Son’s blood on the cross and so brought back to Himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.” By means of the physical death of Christ, God has made us his friends, in order to bring us, holy, pure and faultless into his presence. We are bound forever to our Lord. We cannot separate ourselves from our God, nor can the world. We follow our Lord wherever He goes. We hear the voice of our Shepherd and we listen to Him. No one can snatch us away from Him. He controls and guides us.
There are many so-called churches across the world today that are run by all kinds of deceivers, who consider themselves as gods, fathers, mediators between their congregation and God or even as dispensers of grace. They bear big titles and give themselves authority that goes beyond the normal authority Christ has given to the church. This is a blatant usurpation, an attack on the authority of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Anyone who seeks to follow Christ must remain vigilant and be on guard against such deceivers. “There is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and through whom we live.” (1 Corinthians 8:6). And there is only one way to be right before the Holy and Sovereign Lord God Almighty: it is through faith alone, in God’s own Son, the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He is the means by which sins are forgiven and men are justified before God. He gave Himself to redeem everyone who believes in Him.
God’s Sovereignty over the World
He who lives in us is greater than he who lives in the world. The Spirit who is in us is more powerful than the spirit in those who belong to the world. God rules supreme over the world, and gives us victory over the world by means of our faith in Christ Jesus. And so, every child of God, that is any person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God, can defeat the world. Neither trouble nor hardship, neither persecution nor hunger, neither poverty nor danger or death has power over God’s children. As Paul says in Romans 8:37, “In all these things we have complete victory through Him who loved us!” The Lord tells us in John 16:33, “The world will make you suffer. But be brave! I have defeated the world!” The Lord our God is the one who fights against our enemies to give us victory. He is also our shield against temptation – He does not allow us to be tempted beyond our power to remain firm. At the time we are put to the test, He gives us the strength to endure it and provides us with a way out. We have at our disposal the whole armour of our God. This enables us to stand up against the Devil’s evil tricks.
Our Lord put us in this world and He knows that the battle we fight is not carnal, but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark world. Through Christ, God has given us the truth that sets free and righteousness to make peace with God and to make us his children. As the result we have been blessed with all the heavenly blessings. God also gives us faith as a shield to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One, and the Good News of peace as a buttress to stand firm. The Spirit of God also gives us the sword (the word of God) to attack and to defend ourselves, and the helmet of salvation to overcome sin and death. And we have communion times with our Heavenly Father through prayer. This is where our joy, the joy of believers and our victory over the world come from: it is from God Himself, from the love He has for his chosen ones in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. And no one can separate us from the love of Christ: “neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above nor the world below – there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39).
Conclusion
Greater than the Sovereign Lord there is none. His dominion extends over all He made and is revealed in all He does. No event takes place unless the Sovereign Lord ordains it. We can do nothing unless the Lord wills it, and what He does no one can undo it. The entire course of our existence is ruled by God. The Lord exercises his dominion over the entire universe. Let’s give thanks to the Lord for his supreme greatness, his sovereign grace, mercy and love. He is worthy of all praise and worship. He rules with justice and love. To Him be glory and honour for ever and ever. For by his mercy and grace we have been made alive. We were dead in our trespasses. But the Lord loved us so much that He did not spare the life of his beloved Son. He made Him become sin for us. Christ willingly offered Himself as the propitiation for our sins in order to reconcile us to God. As the result of Christ’s love for us, God, in the fullness of his grace, has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.
Through his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, God has gifted us with faith, hope and love. Heaven and earth will pass away, but these gifts will remain forever. We rejoice in Christ because by Him we have been chosen and have become heirs of the Kingdom of God. The Lord had chosen us before the foundation of the world for his own glory. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, “It is God Himself who has set us apart, who has placed his mark of ownership upon us, and who has given us the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the guarantee of all that He has in store for us.” May the grace of the Lord increase in us as we wait patiently for the return of our Saviour. May we live to his glory and continue to give Him praise and thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. By Him we have been made pure and we now live; by Him we stand strong and for Him we shall live. The Lord alone is to be feared and glorified. For He created all things and all power belongs to Him: the power to build up and the power to tear down; the power to plant and the power to pull up; the power to kill and the power to restore to life. And thus says the Lord in Matthew 10:28, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Are you still standing today? Remember this: every single breath that you take is a gift from God. You do not deserve it, you cannot pay for it nor can you control it. It can be taken away from you at any time by Him who gives life and takes it away. So use every opportunity you have to praise and thank God. Seek Him in everything you do. Strive for peace, submit to God’s will and be faithful to Christ. For one day we are all going to stand before the Lord to account for anything we have done during our life here on earth. Christ will judge both the living and the dead. Whether you will be dead or alive when the Lord returns, I exhort you now to ask yourself this question: ‘Will I be ready at his coming? Will I be ready when Christ returns in his glory to judge the world?’ It is important to note that when death strikes us, our fate is sealed; too late to change, too late and impossible to turn to the right path. Therefore, it is important to know where you are heading right now and what is waiting for you, what your reward will be at the Lord’s return. Are you going to receive from Him your share of the eternal glory because you believe in Him and walk with Him or will you instead be sent to hell, the eternal fire, because all your life you have rejected Christ the Saviour, the only One who could redeem you and give you eternal life?
I encourage anyone who is not in the faith to repent of their sins, to confess Christ as Lord and Saviour and to recognize their need of Christ. There is only one way for people to be saved, there is only one way to avoid the wrath of God: Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 says, “There is one God, and there is One who brings God and human beings together, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself to redeem everyone.” Those who reject God and do not obey the Good News about our Lord Jesus will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction; they will be separated from the presence of the Lord and from his glorious might. The place for them is the lake of fire and sulphur. And thus says the Lord in Mark 9:48, “There ‘the worms that eat them never die, and the fire that burns them is never put out.’” All that every sinner deserves is death. No one is worthy to escape hell based on his own performance.
No one can atone for his own sins. We are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Christ gave his own life on the cross “so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). This message is for you today. Do not harden your heart! Turn to Christ, cry out to Him! Repent of your sins and believe in Christ. He will cleanse you of all your sins and take you blameless into the glorious presence of the Father, where you will spend eternity in joy and peace.