"Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time
he will pick himself up and continue." --Winston Churchill
Is God Really Sovereign?
--In other words: Is there anything outside of God's control? ...Is there ever even ONE thing or event --past, present or future-- which occurs totally on its own or at random, and is not under God's absolute control?
Your answer to this question is the main indicator of what and who you believe God to be... and it also determines how you'll respond to God and live out every day of your life.
So, ask yourself this question: Is there ever anything --or anyone-- outside of God's total control?
At times, virtually all people will answer "Yes" to this question. They answer yes, because almost all people feel that a vast number of things happen by chance or at random, whether it is the roll of dice or the path of a tornado. They also answer yes because in this world there is alot of pain and suffering --which many label as "evil"-- and people hate to attribute such things to a good and loving God. Furthermore --and most poignantly-- people say "yes," some things are outside of God's control because of man's free will to make choices many times every day, and such freedom does not seem possible if it is true that God is totally sovereign over the outcome of all events and choices.
In contrast to what most people think, the Bible answers this huge question with a clear "No," ...there is never even one thing --or one free-will decision-- which is outside of God's total control. In other words: The Bible teaches the absolute sovereignty of God.
We find this fact to be clearly demonstrated and verified by the words of scripture:
First of all, God is declared to be "the Creator of heaven and earth" (Gen. 14:9), and not only heaven and earth in general, but it is unambiguously asserted that "all things were created by him" (Col. 1:16). This includes every single thing --visible and invisible-- which exists in reality. God holds it all together from instant to instant, and he rules over it all.
There are a good number of verses --such as Jer. 32:17-- which establish the fact that nothing is too hard for God to accomplish. Jesus said that "with God all things are possible" (Mat. 19:26). Thus, there is nothing which God might choose to do which is impossible for him to do.
With regard to "random" or "chance"-occurrences, scripture unambiguously states (for example) that when the lot (pebbles used like dice) is thrown down, "its every decision is from the Lord" (Prov. 16:33). Thus, there is actually no such thing as a chance-occurrence, but every such outcome is determined and directed to be so by God's decision.
In Ephesians 1:11 we read that God "works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will." There can never be a single event, or human decision or action which does not exactly line up with God's purposes, because God acts and works in everything so that the process as well as the outcome is certain to conform exactly with God's plan for all things.
Daniel 4:35 (ESV) puts it this way: "all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?" ." --This powerfully establishes that there is no being which can frustrate, or defeat, or even delay the lineup of events which God has planned to bring about. No one even has the weight of authority to even question how it all takes place.
In Isaiah 46:9-11, God declares: "I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it."
--Without mincing any words, God asserts that every single thing he purposes to accomplish throughout all of history will occur, whether it involves the movement of nature or of man, it will be done. Period.
Psalm 135:6 states the huge principle: "Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps." --Everywhere in the universe, and to whatever depth may be plumbed, whatever God pleases and decides shall occur, that is exactly what he brings about... and there is no alternative course of events. The sovereign God is powerfully declared!
