Who's in Charge?
Jeremiah 10:10 NASB "But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, And the nations cannot endure His indignation.
Jason Niemeyer was allowed to join 190 classmates on the football field at Oroville High School June 10, but the school barred him from speaking, the Scripps McClatchy news service said. The speech wasn't "at all up-front and in-your-face religious," he said. One version refers to "a friend who has personally helped me to achieve my goals, and I give Him the praise and glory for that." Niemeyer achieved a grade-point average above 4.0. (Fresh Illustrations http://www.freshministry.org/illustrations.html)
Though he earned the right to address his peers at his commencement, Jason could not, because he wanted to give God the praise and glory for helping Him achieve his goals.
What is this nation coming to?–pause
Many Christians are frustrated. The Christian Parents Information Network articulated the frustration on their web site when they wrote, "Not only have God, prayer, and the Bible been kicked out of school by a nine man oligarchy, but now, even the evidence of God shown through Creation science is no longer allowed to be shown." (Fresh Illustrations http://www.freshministry.org/illustrations.html)
The "nine man oligarchy" they refer to is, of course, the Supreme Court. In February 1963, the Supreme Court heard arguments on Abington Township School District v. Schempp. Four months later they ruled in favor of Schempp. The case has come to be known as the one that "Kicked God out of the schools." (Fresh Illustrations http://www.freshministry.org/illustrations.html)
In his poem, "Kicked Out of School"© 1999 Dr. Gene Howard draws a parallel between "kicking God out of School" and many of society's problems. This is the last stanza of the poem: "Remember when we had prayer, and God's commandments were read,/ and chewing gum and being tardy was the worst problem that we had./ Now murder, drugs, assault, teen pregnancy, and survival of the fittest rule, /but guns and knives were never a problem, till we kicked God out of school." (http://www.genehoward.com/poem-kos.htm)
Perhaps you've seen the bumper sticker that asks the question, "How can God Bless America when we kicked HIM out of our Schools?" (http://www.christianbumpersticker.org/)
Though I believe the courts have erred in their interpretation of the establishment clause of the first amendment, the phrase "Kicked God out of School" used by atheists and Christians alike offends me. It makes me ask the question "Who's in Charge here?"
Can the Supreme Court tell God where He can and cannot go?–pause
Can the ACLU restrain God in His activity?--pause
Do you, for a moment believe that God's Sovereignty is surrendered because an atheist throws a fit or a court makes a ruling?--pause
Who's in Charge? God is! He is Sovereign!
Paul wrote, 1 Tim. 1:17 NASB "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." According to Paul, God is Sovereign–the "King eternal."
Speaking to King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel said, Daniel 4:25 NASB " . . . the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind . . ." Speaking to the king of his captors, Daniel affirmed that God is Sovereign–"the ruler over the realm of mankind!"
In today's text, the lonely prophet Jeremiah said, "Jeremiah 10:10 NASB "But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, And the nations cannot endure His indignation." Jeremiah said it too, God is Sovereign–"the living God and the everlasting King!"
• Though men may rule, they do so under God's authority.
God delegated the care of the garden of Eden to Adam, Genesis 2:15 NASB "Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it." And God appoints rulers 2 Chron. 1:9 NASB "Now, O Lord God, Thy promise to my father David is fulfilled; for Thou hast made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth." But God continues to reign Psalm 22:28 NLT "For the Lord is king! He rules all the nations. And he controls the plight of His people," Later, King David wrote, Psalm 44:4 NLT "You are my King and my God. You command victories for your people."
• Everything and everybody belongs to God
Psalm 24:1 NLT The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.
Psalm 50:10 NLT For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.
• God controls what He owns
Psalm 29:10 NLT "The Lord rules over the floodwaters. The Lord reigns as king forever." When Jesus calmed the storm at sea, His disciples exclaimed: Matthew 8:27 NASB "What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"
Historically, Baptist have strongly believed in the Sovereignty of God. At this year's convention, SBC President Paige Patterson said, " . . . two distinct tributaries feed our Southern Baptist river–the sovereignty of God and the freedom and responsibility of man." (Fresh Illustrations http://www.freshministry.org/illustrations.html)
You may ask, "How can God be sovereign and man free?" How can God reign and a tragedy like Columbine take place?
While Satan buffeted him, Job must have thought that God wasn't watching. But He was! God was still in charge.
While Nehemiah served a Babylonian King, he must have thought God wasn't in charge any more, but He was and He had a plan for Nehemiah.
Jonah exercised his free will and had a whale of a time running from God. Though he tried to box with God, Jonah learned that God is in charge!
The Baptist Press for 6-28-99 carries the following headline: Columbine tragedy prompting new avenues of youth outreach.
Even as they grieve the loss of their daughter Cassie Bernall, Brad and Misty Bernall's home is a "lighthouse for Christ." According to Brad, "We have scores of kids coming in and out all the time. We know the people in our neighborhood . . . and I think that through all of this they know that we have something real and valuable." (Fresh Illustrations http://www.freshministry.org/illustrations.html)
Darrel Scott, testified before congress on May 27, 1999 about the school shooting in Colorado. His son watched the gunmen kill two of his friends and his daughter was martyred, after professing her faith in God to the members of the Trench-coat mafia. During his testimony he read a poem he wrote about congress before he knew he would testify before them. Here's the poem: "'Your laws ignore our deepest needs/ Your words are empty air./ You've stripped away our heritage./ You've outlawed simple prayer./ Now gunshots fill our classrooms./ And precious children die./ You seek for answers everywhere./ And ask the question "WHY"?/ You regulate restrictive laws./ Through legislative creed./Add yet you fail to understand./ That God is what we need!'/
Even in tragedy, God is Sovereign. Darrel Scott was right, He is what we need. Will you acknowledge His Sovereignty today? Will you bow your knee to King Jesus?
