The Sovereignty of God

THE SOVEREIGNITY OF GOD
" Know therefore this day and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord is
God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath: there is none else". (Deut
4:39] This is just one the many scriptures in which the Lord is telling us that He
is totally sovereign and completly in charge and control of everything that
is happening on this planet and in all of His creation. In Deut.32:39 God
declares "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" From this and several other verses like Isaia 45:7, we can get the
sure impression that our God wants us to know that He is doing it all. From
beginning to end, the bible is full of verses which are speaking of the Lords total
power and sovereignity. Therefore it is hard to understand why so many
believers keep denying the Lord's doings in their lives! One of the reasons seems to
be the wrong application of the Mens free will doctrine. It is true that the
Lord has given menkind the opportunity to choose (Josh.24:l5 and
Deut.30:19].To choose Him and choose between right and wrong. However the word also makes
clear that with this opportunity to choose, He stil remains in charge and
control. Many times the word shows that He keeps pulling the strings so to speak.
He does it in al kinds and different ways. It is good to look up some of these
scriptures: His eyes upon them(Ezra 5:5] Sending an evil
spirit(Judg.9:23]Harden their hearts or spirits Exod.14:4 and Deut2:30] Stirring them
up{Cyprus](lchr.5:26 and 2chr.36:22] Turning kings hearts (prov.21:l]. Specially the
remarkable story in 1King22:22/23 and 2Chron.18:2!/22, is lifting up part of the
veil hiding to us what is going on in the Lord's spiritual realm. It does show
clearly that He even uses evil Spirits some times to accomplish His will with
men although He gave them power to choose. The term mens free will seems to be a
misnomer in the light of these revelations from the Lord. Although He said
"choose you this day", many times He seems to steer and direct our wills and
actions. However He does it in a way so that we humans remain accountable and
responsible for our deeds. The parable of the potter and the clay (Jer.18:6 and
Rom.9:15/22) makes it very clear that He does what He wills and we cannot say
"why hast thou made me thus?" Verse 16 of Romans 9 sums it all up. Speaking of
us humans, He says "So it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth.
but of God that sheweth mercy" . As far as Satan is concerned and his power
over humans, we must realize that Satan is completely subject to God's will. He
can do only what our Heavenly Father allows him to do . The two prime
examples of this are found in the book of Job and in the saying of Jesus concerning
Peter(luke22;3l]. In both cases Satan had to get permission to do harm. God's
Word assures us that we the righteous, are in the Lord's hands(Ecl.9:l].
Although we must see to it that Satan does not have anything in us.(John14-30] The
only way for us to be in that state is to be washed clean of sin by the blood
of Jesus.
Therefore it is of primary importance that we believe and ask the Lord for
forgiveness all the time. Only then Satan has "nothing in us "
As far as our salvation is concerned, the doctrine of predestination is very
difficult to understand and seems to bring a lot of controversy. The most
important thing for us to know and remember: it is the ultimate desire of our
heavenly Father that all of menkind will be saved. There are several indications
of that in God's Word. For instance, the word WHOSOEVER in John 3:16 indicates
that Christ died for everybody. But there are conditions attached to our
salvation. The first one: we have to believe in Jesus. Many people are not willing
to fulfil the conditions and therefore were not, and are not going to be
saved. In that sense God has not chosen them.The Lord is the one who does the
choosing. There are many scriptures indicating this. One of the most well known,
declared by Jesus himself in John 15:16" you have not chosen me, but I have
chosen you." But we, as being chosen have to respond to His Love and believe in
Him. In the light of us having a choice, the biblical doctrine of
pre-destination is hard to understand with our carnal mind. However we are not required to
understand it, only to believe and accept it. Eph.1:4/12 is very clear, it even
states that before the foundation of the earth was laid, our Father has
chosen us. The total foreknowledge of God is impossible for us to grasp. It has to
do with God's timelesness. In His spiritual realm there is no time. Meaning no
past, present or future as we know it. This is an impossible concept to our
human mind and causes many useless debates. But we must believe and accept
God's Word. It will stand forever !
AMEN !