As we enter into the months of July and August, we will be pausing our Genesis series and taking time to study systematic theology. We know that the foundation of our faith is the Person and work of Jesus Christ. He is the rock of our salvation (Ps 62:1) and chief cornerstone (Isa 28:16–17; 1 Pet 2:6).
What is systematic theology? Theology is simply the “the study of God.” So systematic theology is the study of the teachings found in the Bible—about who God is, who we are, why the world exists, etc., and how all these teachings in Scriptures relate to each other. The apostle Paul told us to, “Teach the things which are in agreement with sound doctrine” which means healthy teaching. Why? Because it produces men and women of good character whose lifestyle identifies them as true Christians (Titus 2:1 AMP).
Today we will begin with the doctrine of God’s Sovereignty, the preeminence, power, and authority of God. What does the Bible teach about God’s sovereignty?
The Lord has established His throne in the heavens; and His sovereignty rules over all (Ps. 103:19 NASB).
He is the Creator of all things and this means that everything on the earth belongs to Him.
Col. 1:16-17 says:
For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [that is by His activity] and for Him. And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.] (Col 1:16-17 AMP).
For the LORD is a great God and a great King above all gods, in whose hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are also His. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and His hands formed the dry land (Ps 95:3-5).
Every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine (Ps 50:10-12).
God is the giver and sustainer of life:
In His hand is the life of every living thing (Job 12:10).
Nehemiah wrote,
You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before You (Neh 9:6).
God is the Almighty Creator and is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and everywhere present and His sovereignty is the natural consequence of these attributes. God knows all things past, present, and future. There is no limit to His power or knowledge, nothing ever takes God by surprise, nothing overwhelms Him. Because of His sovereignty He knows every outcome of every decision and event in history before it even happens because He sees the past, present, and future at the same time. He is outside or beyond time, space, and matter and is yet is fully everywhere at the same time.
As Creator of the universe and owner of everything on the earth, God has the right to do what He wants with what He has created. The Bible records how Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, was lifted up in pride and glorified himself, was judged by God for this, and then how Nebuchadnezzar came to his senses. After all this, he praised, honored, and glorified the Most High God. Nebuchadnezzar came to realize that only God’s dominion is an everlasting dominion, from generation to generation. He does what He wills and no one can stay His hand or say to Him, “What have you done?” (Dan 4:34-35). However, we see throughout the Scriptures that, though God is sovereign, preeminent, and omnipotent, He is a benevolent King. God’s love, mercy, and grace, as well as his holiness, justice, and wrath, are all good, right and perfect.
God is not only the One who created the earth and owns everything in it, He controls nature (Job 9.5-9; Ps 104:14, 135:5-7; Matt 5.45; Mark 4.39) and the destiny of nations (Dan 2.21, 4.24-25; Isa 10.5-12; Job 12.23; Ps 47:7-8, 66.7; Acts 17:26). He controls the course of history and the major phenomena of fulfilled prophecy – from the detailed predictions concerning the family lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the key prophecies of Isaiah and Micah concerning the birth of Messiah, to the detailed prophecies in Daniel about the Hellenistic period. Scripture is full of predictions and fulfillment - a fact that must be factored into any attempt to understand the nature of God’s relationship to history and humanity.
The Lord is also sovereign in the circumstances of the lives of individual persons (1 Sam 2.6-7; Ps 31:14-15; Gal 1:15-16; 1 Cor 4:6-7, 12:4-11) and directs the animal kingdom (Ps 104.21-29). In the book of Daniel, He shut and opened the mouths of lions. I just read an interesting news article posted three days ago on July 4th. It was a story about a man in Alabama who was attacked four times by a bull shark in the Gulf of Mexico. In the final attack the bull shark bit his arm and dragged him 20 feet (3 meters) down to the ocean floor. The man said:
“When I was on the bottom, that's when the good Lord and I had a conversation, and I asked him to get me back up to the surface, at least give me a chance to see my kids one more time."
All of a sudden the shark pulled him to the surface and he said, "I have no explanation for it, but the shark went to the surface with my right hand in his mouth and my left hand was on his nose, and he pushed me 140 meters directly towards the beach. I was going so fast that people on the beach who saw it said it looked like I was on skis.” This shark pushed the man right on the sandbar, about 10 meters off the beach, and then he "wiggled" away from the shark. This sounds like a Jonah story.
So are we starting to understand why God’s sovereignty is so important? It means that we’re able to live with the assurance that God is present and active in the universe, in this world, and in our own personal lives. If we are a child of the God of the universe, we can go to bed and wake up with assurance that we are in His care and can, therefore, face the future confidently, knowing that God is always with us and will never abandon us. We can pray, knowing that God hears and answers our prayers according to His will. We can face danger, knowing that he is not unaware and uninvolved. We can trust that His plans for us are good, that He will fulfill them, and this gives us hope.
“For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose” (Is 46:9-10).
Because God is personal and benevolent, He doesn’t just create and sit back and do nothing with His creation, but, rather, He will always work for the good of His creation. What does Romans 8:28 say?
And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose (Rom 8:28 AMP).
This does not mean that we will be spared of hardships, trials, danger, or even death but God’s sovereignty assures us that even in silent, dark times God is right there with us. Spurgeon said:
There is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, they believe that Sovereignty hath ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all.
God’s sovereignty means that no one—including demons and humans who choose to violate his moral will can thwart his ultimate purpose.”
Remember the story of Joseph where his brothers sold him into slavery hoping never to see him again? 13 years later they met Joseph in Egypt who now had all the power to retaliate. But Joseph recognized God’s sovereignty in the big scheme of things and said to them: “You intended evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring about this present outcome, that many people would be kept alive [as they are this day]” (Gen 50:20 AMP). “God meant it for good” communicates that God didn’t simply make the best of a bad situation; on the contrary, fully aware of what Joseph’s brothers would do, and permitting their sin, God intended that the bad situation would be used for the good of multitudes of nations. While the brothers chose evil, God chose good. Both did as they chose, but God’s choice triumphed.
God’s sovereignty guarantees nothing will ultimately prevail over His plan, purposes, promises, or people. His sovereignty means that He has the power, wisdom, and authority to do anything He chooses within His creation. Whether or not He actually exerts that level of control in any given circumstance is another question. There is a lot of discussion and a wide spectrum of viewpoints about the extent God applies His sovereignty, specifically, how much control He exerts over the wills of people and over, when His control is direct and when it’s indirect.
We do know that God being the sovereign King means that at the end of time, every single person will stand before Him to give an account for his or her life. God as our Creator will judge each person with perfect justice (believers and unbelievers). The Scriptures teach that God as Sovereign King desires that every person on this earth would come to repentance and be reconciled to Him (2 Pet 3:9) and every person on this earth has been given the time and opportunity to make their peace with Him.
The way we understand God’s sovereignty will impact the way we understand God’s plan of salvation, the way we view evangelism, our own sense of identity and sense of security, our prayer life, our decision-making processes, moral responsibilities, spiritual growth, how we perceive the will of God, and how we handle the problem of evil. Next week we will talk about how the early church fathers (before the time of Augustine) understood God’s sovereignty as it related to free choice and the work of salvation. I hope this topic generates some good discussions.
