The Sovereignty of God, what do we mean by this expression? The Sovereignty of God refers to the supremacy of God, the kingship of God, the Godhood God. To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that God is God. To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is the Most High, doing according to His will in heaven, and on earth. To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power in heaven and earth, so that none can defeat His counsels, frustrate His purpose, or resist His will (Psalm 115:3). To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is "The Governor among the nations" (Psalm 22:28), setting up kingdoms, overthrowing empires, and determining the course of dynasties as pleases Him. To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is the “King of kings, and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15).
The Sovereignty of the God of Scripture is absolute, irresistible, and infinite. When we say that God is Sovereign we affirm His right to govern the universe that He has made for His own glory, just as He pleases. We affirm that His right is the right of the Potter over the clay, that He may mold that clay into whatsoever form He chooses. We affirm that He is under no rule or law outside of His own will and nature, that He is a law unto Himself that He is under no obligation to give an account of His actions to any. He is Sovereign in all His attributes, the exercise of His power and His will. Pharaoh dared to hinder Israel from going forth to worship Jehovah in the wilderness, what happened? God exercised His power, His people were delivered and their cruel taskmasters slain. When Israel entered the land of Canaan, the city of Jericho barred their progress, what happened? Israel did not draw a bow nor strike a blow; the Lord stretched forth His hand and the walls fell down flat. However, the miracle was never repeated, no other city fell as Jericho fell; every other city had to be captured by the sword.
The exercise of the power of God is revealed in David’s deliverance from the hand of Goliath, the giant; the mouths of the lions were closed and Daniel escaped unhurt; the three Hebrew children were cast into the burning fiery furnace and came forth unharmed. However, God did not always exercise His power to deliver His people from the hands of their enemies. In Hebrews 11:36 and 37, we are told the people of God “experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, ill treated, tormented” Why were these people of God not delivered like the others? Why did God exercise His power and rescue some and not the others? Why allow Stephen to be stoned to death, and then deliver Peter from prison? Why did God endow Methuselah with a vitality that enabled him to outlive all his contemporaries? Why did God impart to Samson a physical strength that no other human has ever possessed? The answer to all of these questions is, because God is Sovereign, and being Sovereign He does as He pleases.
The Sovereign exercise of God’s mercy was displayed when He became flesh and dwelt among men.
During one of the Feasts of the Jews, the Lord Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He came to the Pool of Bethesda where there lay a great multitude of people, some blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. Among this multitude, there was a man that had an infirmity thirty-eight years. What happened? "When Jesus saw him He asked him if he wanted to be made whole. The man answers Him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool, but when I am coming, another steps down before me. Jesus said to him, rise, take up your bed, and walk, and immediately the man was made whole, took up his bed, and walked (John 5:3-9). Why was this one man singled out from all the others? We are not told that he cried out, “Lord, have mercy on me." There is not a word in the narrative that intimates that this man possessed any qualifications that entitled him to receive special favor. Here then was a case of the Sovereign exercise of Divine mercy, for it was just as easy for Christ to heal that multitude as this one certain man. But He did not. He put forth His power and relieved the wretchedness of this one particular sufferer, and for some reason known only to Him, He declined to do the same for the others.
God is sovereign in the exercise of His power, mercy, and His love. When we say that God is Sovereign in the exercise of His love, we mean that He loves whom He chooses. God does not love everybody, that is a hard saying, if He did, He would love the Devil. God does not love the Devil, because there is nothing in him to love; because there is nothing in him to attract the heart of God. Nor is there anything to attract God’s love in any of the fallen sons of Adam, for all of them are, by nature, “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). If then there is nothing in any member of the human race to attract God’s love, then it necessarily follows that the cause of His love must be found in Himself, which is only another way of saying that the exercise of God’s love towards the fallen sons of men is according to His own good pleasure.
In the final analysis, the exercise of God’s love must be traced back to His Sovereignty or, otherwise, He would love by rule; and if He loved by rule, then is He under a law of love, and if He is under a law of love then is He not supreme, but is Himself ruled by law. The exercise of God’s love is according to His own Sovereign pleasure is also clear from the language of Ephesians 1:3-5, where we read, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,” according to what, the good pleasure of His will.
God is sovereign in the exercise of His power, mercy, love, and grace.
God’s exercising of His grace is necessary if favor is to be shown to the undeserving. God’s grace is the antithesis of justice. Justice demands the impartial enforcement of law. Justice requires that each shall receive his legitimate due. Justice bestows no favors and is no respecter of persons. Justice shows no pity and knows no mercy. But after justice has been fully satisfied, grace flows forth. Divine grace is not exercised at the expense of justice, but “grace reigns through righteousness” (Romans 5:21).
However, grace is the unmerited favor of God. Since grace is the unmerited favor of God, no one can claim it as his or her inalienable right. If grace is unearned and undeserved, then no one is entitled to it. If grace is a gift, then no one can demand it. Therefore, as salvation is by grace, the gift of God, then He bestows it on whom He pleases. Because salvation is by grace, the very chief of sinners is not beyond the reach of God’s mercy. Because salvation is by grace, boasting is excluded and God gets all the glory. Grace is no servant of man, dependent upon the creature for its success.
The doctrines of grace touch every aspect of the Christian life, and determine, whether our faith will be God-centered, or man-centered. If we realize that all things are meant to result in His glory, and that we are but vessels of mercy, made for honor and glory, we will live our lives to reflect the glory of the divine and majestic Creator who made us and sustains us. Our lives will be seen not as our own, we will live for the One who formed us, made us, and sustains us every moment.
The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ was one of the greatest events in the history of the universe, and yet its actual occurrence was not made known to all mankind; instead, it was specially revealed to the Bethlehem shepherds and wise men of the East. God could have sent a company of angels to every nation and announce the birth of the Seed of the woman that will bruise the head of the serpent, but He did not. God could have readily attracted the attention of all mankind to the “star”; but He did not. Why? Because God is Sovereign and dispenses His favors as He pleases. Note particularly the two classes to whom the birth of the Savior was made known, illiterate shepherds and men from a far country. No angel stood before the Sanhedrin and announced the advent of Israel’s Messiah. No “star” appeared to the scribes and lawyers as they, in their pride and self-righteousness, searched the Scriptures. They searched diligently to find out where He should be born, and yet it was not made known to them when He would come. What a display of God’s grace, the illiterate shepherds singled out for peculiar honor, and the learned and eminent passed by. Why was the birth of the Savior revealed to these foreigners, and not to those in whose midst He was born? In the revealing of the birth of the Savior to the shepherds and the men from the east we see the exercising of God’s grace, bestowing His favors on whom He pleases, often on the most unlikely and unworthy.
