Is God Sovereign?
If God is love, then why does He allow so many bad things to happen? Why Doesn’t He Stop It? After all isn’t He Sovereign?
Many people say that they cannot believe in a God that allows evil, sends people to hell, etc. But this is because of misunderstanding or wrong teaching concerning the Sovereignty of God. They do not know God’s nature or character and therefore end up drawing the wrong conclusion.
First of all let’s look at the sovereignty of God. How we understand the sovereignty of God will determine a lot of things in our lives.
It is true that God is the supreme authority. He is completely independent, meaning that He governs Himself and is not answerable to anyone, but many Christians have explained sovereignty as “God controls everything. Nothing can happen except that which He wills or allows.” They say “you can never tell what God will do” and pray,
“God is it is your will….”. Those are all misconceptions.
“If It Be Your Will…”
God has bound Himself by His Word. He has limited His sovereignty placing limitations on it. He did that through His Word. The word is magnified above God’s Name; and His Name is powerful.
Psalm 138;2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving-kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Psalm 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
God’s Will…..
God’s Word is His will. You can know His will, and as a result you can be confident that you’ll receive because God does not change. If God changed He’d lie.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
(See also Malachi 3:6)
Hebrews 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
So when it says, “If we ask anything according to His will….”(See 1 John 5:13-14) what it is saying is, “ask anything according to His Word” and it’s yours. When you pray that Word you pray the will of God and you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have received.
Mark 11:22-24 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Seeing isn’t believing. Believing is seeing. You have to believe when you pray, not just when you see the manifestation of your prayer.
God Is In Control...
Another misapplication of the Sovereignty of God is that because God is sovereign, He must be in control of everything that happens; He must be responsible for everything that happens. If He didn’t will it, he allowed it. That sounds good, but it’s wrong.
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Psalms 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
Isaiah 24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
Ephesians 1:20-23 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Here we see several things: Genesis 1:28 —God gave dominion (ruler-ship to man) Psalms 115:16 God gave the earth to man to tend and to care for. Isaiah 24:5 The earth is suffering because man is breaking all of God’s laws or we might say, ways of doing things. We want to be independent and do our own thing which is resulting in destruction. Ephesians 1:20-23 Shows that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. This is a place of authority. Romans 8:17 tells us that we are “joint heirs with Christ.” That means that we have joint power of attorney. God has delegated His authority to man, but not all of it and not independent from Him. One cannot work without the other.
Our Will…
Even though we may have that position and power in Christ, the consequences of that aren’t immediately visible because we have a free will. It is entirely possible for someone to die even if they have the same Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead (Romans 8:11). They might not know that they have resurrection power inside of them, but even if they do, they can choose not to exercise it.
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
God shows us here that we have the power to choose between life and death, blessings and curses. It’s a choice. God tells us His will, “Choose life, so that you and your children may live,” but He doesn’t force it on us. If we choose life, we will undoubtedly enjoy the fruit of that. Is it God’s will you live in death and under the curse? No, He doesn’t will that or allow it, you choose whether you want that or not.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
What is God’s will? Are there people perishing?
We Are the Body of Christ
God has chosen to work through us. We are His body. According to Acts 1:8,
God has given His church the authority and power to witness. He won’t do it
directly. We are His ambassadors.
2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Matthew 28: 18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
He is making His appeal through us.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
If we do not resist the devil, he won’t flee. If we don’t cast out demons, they won’t go. God will not do it for us since He has committed and delegated His power to us. It’s His power, but it flows through us.
Many people fall into condemnation here. They say, “But are you saying it’s my fault that I’m sick and it’s my fault that person died and didn’t get healed?” Yes, exactly. While that doesn’t make us feel good, it’s the truth. John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
It says that knowing the truth makes us free. Knowing that it’s not God’s fault should bless us! Truth is liberating! When I realize that I am the problem, I can have peace because I can change. I can still learn and grow. If God is the problem, then I’m stuck because God does not change!
Learning Through Difficulty
While we can learn a lot from hardships, sickness, poverty, and everything of that nature, God is not the author of those things. If God sent Jesus to the cross to redeem us from the curse and deal with sin and its consequences and restore everything that was lost in the fall of Adam (Galatians 3:13-14), then why would He use it to perfect us?
In the Old Testament, God disciplined through sickness, plagues, and judgments, but Jesus had not yet come. In the New Covenant, God still disciplines, but he does things differently.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
