God: Sovereign and Independent

Rom 9:6-23, Ps 135:6
Introductory Thoughts

v The Sovereignty of God—God's rulership over the universe.

§ This concept is often spoken of in our day, but I fear that it is scarcely understood.

§ God is Sovereign, that is, He is THE BOSS, period.

§ God is subject to no one--no one can tell God what to do or judge His actions.

§ The concept of a sovereign, that is, a ruler with absolute authority who answers to no one, is unfamiliar to most Americans.

v We may hear of a dictator or "strongman" who has sovereign-like powers, but that is a far cry from the classic definition of a sovereign.

v In history, a sovereign was a ruler who had absolute authority and who had the right to that authority, usually by heredity or conquest

Ø A Sovereign WAS the nation

Ø The Sovereign WAS the law

Ø The Sovereign answered to no one

v Earthly Sovereigns were always limited and temporary. They controlled a nation, perhaps an empire, but never absolutely. And earthly sovereigns did not last--a knife, a bullet, poison, a fever, or at last, time, unseated every sovereign that ever lived--

v The Only True God is the Only True Sovereign.

· Omnipotence (next week’s topic) talks about God's Power and Ability—

· Sovereignty expresses His authority by right, and the absolute nature of His authority.

1. The Absolute Sovereignty of God—Psa 135:6 "Whatever the LORD pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places."

a. There are no “controls” on God except His own nature.

(1) No restriction on God by category of action—“whatever…”
(2) No external controls or restrictions on God—“…the LORD pleases…”
(3) No control or restrictions on God by difficulty—“…He Does…”
(4) No realm where He is not free to act—“…In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places…

b. God Rules! God is Sovereign, that is, He is a King Who answers to no one.
(1)Psa 115:3 But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.
(2) Dan 4:34 “…His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom is from generation to generation. 35 …He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, "What have You done?"
(3) Psa 22:28 For the kingdom is the Lord's, And He rules over the nations.
(4) Psa 103:19 The LORD has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all.
(5)Mat 28:18 "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

c. A key point to understand in this debate is this: if God does something or says He will do something, that thing is right by definition.

(1) You and I may or may not know what we are doing at any particular moment,
(2) GOD Always knows what HE is doing!

d. Some Prime Examples of God's Sovereignty at work

(1) Bringing Israel out of Egypt
(2) The Sovereign protection of Israel in Esther
(3) The raising up and bringing down of Babylonia
(4) The Cross of Christ

Acts 2:22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know; 23 "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;

Acts 4:26 The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the LORD and against His Christ.' 27 "For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 "to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.

2. Dealing with Sovereignty

a. Emotional and intellectual problems dealing with sovereignty—False and sentimental philosophical speculations about God are useless and meaningless, and they detract from properly honoring His person. Some examples of false speculations are below.

(1) False speculation #1 God created us out of need—for companionship, for someone to love—God has needs only we can meet

(2) False speculation #2 God is not in control of history or human events, either by design or by inability. In order to respect human will, He voluntarily refrains from exercising full power in those areas.

(3) False speculation #3 God is subject to arbitrary standards of fairness that are obvious to all people—this is a key point. (The defenders of the "fairness doctrine" treat their ideas as if they were self-evident. for they can produce no scriptural evidence for them.)

b. How these false speculations apply to life's situations.
(1) "This cannot be God's will"
(2) God wants to help you, but your faith is too weak"
(3) "God is not in control of this situation"
(4) "This is God's fault"
(5) "There cannot be a God with so much evil and misery in the world. If there is a God, he must be a cruel being."

c. The answer to all of these false ideas is to apply the truth of the Bible to them, and to ignore and renounce all dependence upon mere human philosophy or folklore.

(1) False speculation #1 God created us out of need: for companionship, for someone to love: God has needs only we can meet.
(a) Answer –God does not need anything from anyone....
(b) Rev 4:11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."
(c) Acts 17:24 "God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 "Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.


(2) False speculation #2 God is not in control of history or human events, either by design or by inability.
(a) Version 2 of the above—In order to respect human will, He voluntarily refrains from exercising full power in those areas.
(b)Isa 46:9 “…Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,' 11 … Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it…”

(3) False speculation #3 God is subject to arbitrary standards of fairness that are obvious to all people--this is a key point.

(a) (The defenders of the "fairness doctrine" treat their ideas as if they were self-evident. for they can produce no scriptural evidence for them.)
(b) To say that God must answer to an arbitrary standard of fairness is to say that there is a power above God. To invent a human standard, "fairness," and then place this standard above God, as something to which He must answer, this is sheer blasphemy!
(c) Remember what King Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way—Dan 4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, "What have You done?"

d. Where the rubber meets the road—God is sovereign in our trials.

(1) The book of Job is a book which gives the history of a servant of God who went through unimaginable trials.

(a) The unique thing about its message is that it shows the behind the scenes actions in the court of heaven which led to Job's trials. (Job 1:1-2:9).

(b)It also involves long discussions between Job and three friends trying to explain his trials. Job 2:9 through Chapter 31)

(c) This is followed by the speech of Elihu, a young man with more insight into the nature of God than Job and his friends (Chapters 32-37)

(d)Then there is a magnificent monologue by Jehovah Himself (Chapters 38-41)

(e) The last chapter in the book (42) is when Job realizes his misunderstandings about the nature of the universe and his lack of knowledge about the person of God.

(f) The book of Job teaches us that God uses our trials and tests to grow us and teach us about Himself--particularly about His sovereignty.

(2) Joseph (Genesis chapters 37-50) was a man with a fascinating life story

(a) Torn from his family by the treachery of his own brothers
(b)Cast into slavery in a foreign land, then into prison for a crime he did not commit
(c) He ends up as the prime minister of his world's major superpower, Egypt.
(d) Joseph's unique understanding of the sovereignty of God over trials constitutes one of the most powerful theological statements in the Bible.
(e) After the death of Jacob, Joseph's father, Joseph's brothers feared he would take revenge against them. His reply to them is classic, simple, short, and profound in its understanding of the nature of the universe under God's sovereign rulership:
(f) Gen 50:19 “…Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive…”

e. God sovereignly rules the universe with the predetermined goal of accomplishing His plan for redemption and glory.

(1) We don't know the details of His plans until they come into the open,
(2) But God is on the throne, and He is in charge
(3) He rules by right, and His rule IS right.

f. What happens to a man or woman who really sees and understands the Sovereignty of God? It completely changes the way they think about everything—especially how they think about God and their own failings.

(1) Job understood—Job 42:1-6
(2) Daniel understood—Dan 2:19-23

Dan 2:20 Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. 21 And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings;

(3) God's Answer to Job—God told Job to "Shut up and listen" Job 42:4 "You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' "

g. A Vision of God and Its Effect on Job—Job 42:5-6 "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

h. Job was not suffering from low self-esteem—he was reacting to realistic self-esteem for the first time. Job had seen God as He is, and by comparison, Job saw no good in himself...

(1) Paganism tries to teach people that they are "god," but this approach leads ultimately to despair and total self-hatred
(2) Paganism teaches young people that they are an accident of natural processes, a mere blob of cells
(3) So young people see no purpose nor meaning to life.....the self-worship of paganism leads to despair and self-hatred.....

i. The Bible does not teach self-esteem....it teaches God esteem--and realistic self-assessment.
(1)The principle of the Holy Paradox—Mat 23:12 "...whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
(2) The answer to the whole problem of self-esteem is to know God and to know who you are in God.
(3) As a human being, I am a special creation of a loving God, and I am worthy of a measure of dignity for that reason alone.

j. God's other servants who have seen His Glory

(1) 1 Kings 19:9-20 -- Elijah on the mountain.
(2) Moses
(3) Manoah and his wife (Samson's parents)
(4) Elijah
(5) Isaiah
(6) The shepherds
(7) The disciples on the mount of transfiguration
(8) Stephen
(9) Paul


3. Lost Mankind’s Reaction to a Sovereign God—rebellion.

a. Remember again the first temptation: "Ye shall be as gods......."

(1) The pagan belief which directly opposes the sovereignty of God—"Self Determination”, "I did it my way..."
(2) The rebellious human race shakes its collective fist at God and says, "We don't need you..." Or, as the Jews told Pilate,
(a) John 19:15 “… Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
(b)This was a fulfillment of prophecy, for Israel of old was accused by Hosea:

Hosea 10:3 For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?

(3) Well did Jesus depict Israel’s reaction to the Gospel in the following parable:

Luke 19:12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
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Luke 19:27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.


b. False "gods" that result from human understanding

(1) The "Do Nothing" "god" of Deism: this "divine being" does not intervene in the natural processes of this world.

(2) The "Know Nothing" "god" of liberalism: this so-called "god" has changed his mind about all he ever taught us.

(3) The "You Ask for It You've Got It" "god" of the "name it and claim it" crowd: this is a "god" with some power who is basically an errand boy for anyone with enough faith to twist his arm.

(4) The "I Wish I Could" "god" of Arminianism: This is an all-powerful being who cannot use his power to really save people. This "god" is restrained because of some sense of fairness

(5) The "I Will if You Will" "god" of tepid modern evangelicalism: this divine being is about like Barak, who told Deborah that he would go to battle if she would go with him.


4. The Sovereign God and The People of God—Ps 135:6 "Whatever the LORD pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places."


a. Wrong approaches Found among Professing Christians

(1) Philosophy—especially dime store, armchair, "folk" philosophy. You can almost take it for granted that whatever you learned from these sources about the nature of God, the problem of evil, and the real way the universe runs, is all wrong.

(2) Speculation—Just don't do it. If there is no clear scripture on which to plant your feet, don't tread on the ground.

(3) Attempts at full understanding—It is OK to say "I don't know."

(4) Oversimplification: The problems of the world and the questions of unbelievers in need will not be answered by a "Forrest Gump" approach to theology. It is true that "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so," is the bottom line for believers, but more knowledge and maturity is required to defend the faith and evangelize the world.

1 Pet 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

(5) Emotion, i.e., "your heart."--Jer 17:9 says the heart is not to be trusted, and this is a topic on which the heart is most certainly not to be trusted.

b. Right approach—
(1) Study the scriptures, pray for understanding.
(2) Faith, submission, and obedience to what the Word of God says