The Sovereignty of God
Here is a glorious truth indeed! One to comfort saints and make sinners tremble. God is sovereign, the Lord is KING. Preach it upon the housetops and make it known! God is upon His throne. Let the whole earth be filled with His glory. What need there is to believe and to proclaim this doctrine in a day when men are so proud and lofty that they would occupy God’s throne if they could. “Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth” (Psa.96:10). We declare that “God is greater than man” (Job 33:12).
Man’s Knowledge
The existence of God is the greatest of all facts and the explanation for everything else. Evidence and reason combine to tell us that there is a God who is self-existent and independent. Creation and providence witness continually to our senses and by these works our minds discern the wondrous Being whom we know as God. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge” (Psa.19:1-2). In this way “the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen” and men everywhere have such knowledge of the divine attributes that they have no excuse for their disobedience (Rom.1:20). In the creation, preservation and government of the universe and all its myriad components they have certainly been shown the sovereignty of the Godhead.
God’s Majesty
If there were any doubt about this general testimony to a sovereign God then there is certainly none when we come to the special revelation which God has made of Himself. There we are confronted with the utter dignity of His being and perfection of His existence; every page of the Word of God breathes the spirit of the divine grandeur and majesty. Whether the subject is time or eternity, creation or providence, angels or men, the righteous or the wicked, it remains absolutely true: “the Lord sitteth King for ever” (Psa.29:10). He is clothed with the garments of majesty and is therefore greatly to be feared, reverenced and obeyed. “With God is terrible majesty” (Job 37:22). Holy angels fall on their faces before His throne and worship (Rev.7:11). Men who have learned this truth say in all humility: “blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise” (Neh.9:5).
There is no more majestic statement in the whole Bible than the one with which it opens: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”. The work of creation proceeds according to words of pure sovereignty, “Let there be...”. When man is made the Lord does pause to consult – not however with the holy angels but with Himself. The three Persons concur in the stupendous undertaking as they say, “Let us make man” (Gen.1:26). The Lord has created all things for His own pleasure (Rev.4:11). He is so gloriously high that He must bow Himself down to behold even the things that are in heaven, let alone those that are in the earth (Psa.113:5-6)!
Neither in the work of salvation does God take counsel with any but Himself, despite what many believe. Its terms were set in the everlasting covenant of grace when God promised Christ the Mediator an elect people upon His obedience unto death as their representative. It was when His people were ungodly, still without strength, without hope, without God in the world, that Christ died for them. But how will they receive this redemption? Will the Saviour stand by, pleading with them and begging them to let Him into their hearts? Will He bargain with them and reward them with a new heart when they perform the conditions of faith and repentance? This is surely “a god that cannot save” (Isa. 45:20). No, our Lord is “above all gods” (Psa.135:5). He will not vacate His throne for a moment but will majestically open the hearts of helpless sinners and subdue their rebellious wills.
God’s Power
A king without authority is a contradiction in terms, for “where the word of a king is, there is power” (Ecc.8:4). Many of the kings of this world though cannot govern their subjects as they would wish or fulfil their personal ambitions. Alexander the Great did conquer a great empire but he could not conquer his own heart. It is not so with the King of kings. “But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth” (Job 23:13). An absolute monarch with unlimited power, He is able to perform everything which seems good to Him in heaven, earth or hell. All His subjects are under His dominion and sway (Psa.103:19). His power is irresistible; “none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Dan.4:35).
When men put forth their strength they employ their arm and so Scripture speaks in the same way of God. His arm was stretched out to fashion the universe (Jer.32:17); it parted the waters of the Red sea for Israel to pass over (Isa. 52:9-10) and it works salvation for sinners (Isa.59:16). The same mighty power is ascribed to His hand: even His finger can perform miracles, deliver the Law and cast out devils.
There is no greater display of God’s power than the work of redemption. To accomplish it Christ became incarnate by “the power of the Highest” (Luke 1:35); the same Holy Spirit was given to Him without measure to sustain His humanity under the awful load of the divine wrath; He was raised from the dead by the power of God (2Cor.13:4). Greater yet in a sense is the might which is put forth in the application of the atonement. This is a work of omnipotence indeed. Not only are we dead in trespasses and sins but our fallen natures are “enmity against God” (Rom.8:7) and everything within us is opposed to holiness. Grace must overcome our blindness and stubbornness, our spiritual death. “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee” (Psa.65:4). What sovereign power it is that by the same gospel and even the same sermon the hearts of some are melted and others are left hardened in their sins!
Our Duty
It is said that Luther was frequently much offended at this doctrine, because it drove him to self-despair, but that he afterwards found that this sort of despair was profitable and connected to grace. We are blessed if we can see the sovereignty of God as it relates to the Lord Jesus Christ. Of Him God made choice as the Redeemer-King of the church: “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion” (Psa.2:6). He dwells in a palace (Psa.45:15). He sits upon an exalted throne, waited upon by adoring attendants (Isa.6:1-3). A crown of glory and honour has been set upon His head following His sufferings (Heb.2:7). All power has been given unto Him in heaven and in earth (Matt.28:18). He wields a sceptre of perfect righteousness in establishing His kingdom (Heb.1:8). The very ends of the earth have been promised to Him for His asking.
In the sovereignty of His mercy and grace the One who dwells in the high and holy place will also dwell in the meek and lowly heart of the believer in Christ. We must first “Kiss the Son” – turn from sin and put our trust in Him that we might be hidden from His wrath (Psa.2:12). Then as His people we are to join with Him in His intercession for the gathering of His church and the growth of His kingdom. Have we a lively sense of our dependency on the sovereignty of God when we pray? “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou are exalted as head above all” (1Chron.29:11). Though it is a day of small things His throne is not empty and never shall be. Oh, pray that we will see His power and glory in the sanctuary once again, and that many sinners would be won by the gospel of His sovereign grace!
