Sovereignty And Creation

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: