The Sovereignty of God

Any student of the bible who thinks about God, one ought to come into mind is God’s sovereignty. The sovereignty of God is deeply rooted in his attributes. Several of them are crucial in his ability to reign over all things. When we say God is sovereign we mean:

First: God is before all things (Col. 1:17)

Gen 1:1,”In the beginning God…” before there was anything, there was God.

Ps. 90:2 “From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” There never was a time when God was not. He existed even before all things.

Rev. 1:8; 1:17; 21:6 He is called “The First”, the “beginning” and “the Alpha”

John 17:5, Matt 13:35, 25:34; John 17:24; Rev. 13:8; 17:8

The bible often speak of God as being there “before the world began” God was not only before all things but he is before all time: 2 tim 1:9 In the verse, it also implies before the beginning of anything, God was there already.

The phrase “In the beginning God” we can see the ff:

1. God was there before anything began to exist
2. God was never part of the beginning because he already existed before anything came to existence

Second: God created all things:

Gen 1:1 ”in the beginning God created the heavens and earth”

John 1:3 “through him (God v.1&2 ) all things were made, w/o him nothing has been made

Col. 1:16 “for by him all thing were created…….”
The bible speaks that God created the heavens and earth in the beginning, Further the bible speaks also that God was the there before time began

2 Tim1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, So God who was already operating in his sovereignty when he called us according to his own purpose and grace even before time begun. In fact in heb 1:2 God brought time in existence.“frame the worlds” literally “the ages”properly an age; by extension perpetuity (also past); by implication the world; from the Greek word (ahee-ohn' of the word worlds)

Third, God upholds all things God not only created all things, but he upholds all things

Heb 1:3 “upholding all things”

Col 1:17 Paul adds, not only God is before all thing, He all things hold together( NIV) , Consist ( KJV )

Rev. 4:11 John inform us that God not only brought all things into existence but he keeps them in existence. Both are true for “they were created and have their being” from God.

1 Cor 8:6; Rom 11:36 “there is one Lord, Jesus Christ through whom all things came and through him we live”

Heb 2:10 “through who everything exist”

Fourth: God is above all things

The God is before all things created and who is upholding is also beyond them. He is transcendent

Eph 4:6 “Paul affirmed, there is one God and father of all, who is over all and through all and in all

Ps. 8:1 “how majestic is your name in all the earth” you have set your glory above the heavens (universe)

Ps 57:5 “be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let you glory be over all the earth”

Ps 97:9; 108:5 “for you o Lord are the most high over all the eath you are exalted above all gods.”

Fifth, God knows all things

What is more, the God of the bible knows all things. He has omniscience

Ps 147:5 “His understanding is infinite”

Isa 46:10 “God knows the end from the beginning”

Ps 139:4 “before a word in my tongue you know it completely
v.6 to lofty for me to attain

Heb 4:13 “nothing in all creation is hidden from Him. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes to him we must give account”

Rom 11:33 unlimited in knowledge “on the depth of His riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable his judgments and his paths tracing out

Application:

You know sometimes it’s hard to think the sovereign of God when we are crippled by the worries in life. It gets even hard to accept that the Christian God who is before all things, created all things, uphold all things and knows all things in the midst of our stock – piled problem. Because of that it gets even easier to believe that those problems we have are more sovereign than the sovereignty of the God that we believe. However, the bible exhorts us to trust God in spite of our infirmities. I guess it boils down to how much we really believe the sovereignty of God as opposed to just believing it our of necessity of being a believer. On this article, I would like offer two challenge to everyone, including myself.

First, which one characterizes our mental condition these days? Is it the sovereignty of the God that we believe, that we confidently bet our lives that he will helps us make it through? Or is it the sovereignty of our worries in life, that is the horror of our infirmities and worries in life are more influential and much more sovereign than the sovereignty of God?

Second, one of the result of the sovereignty of God in our lives is found in (col 1:13), God has deliver us from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of his dear son” Can He (God) not out of his sovereignty get us our of our own bootstrap of worries and infirmities in our lives? God knows our problems and the solution to them even before they came to our lives.

I hope and pray that God grant us the will to believe more than we do so that his sovereignty dominates our lives.