"We have this day returned the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun,
let His kingdom come." - Samuel Adams, 1776, as the Declaration of Independence was being signed.
The third chapter of the historic Westminster Confession of Faith opens with these words: "God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass" (adding the qualification that God is not the author of sin and that people aren't puppets). This statement was based on Eph. 1:11: "In Him we were predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will."
Psalm 115:3 states it this way, "Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him."
Psalm 135:6 says, "The LORD does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths." God is sovereign. He is in control.
The Church at large has tried to put man at the center of the Universe for so long in its sermons, books and articles that today, when we do hear a preacher talk about the Sovereignty of God, it actually seems very strange to our ears. We think "what new doctrine is this?" But the truth is that this is not a new concept at all, but in fact the classic, orthodox, Christian view of the God of the Bible.
Psalm 33:8-11 says, "Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the peoples of the world revere Him. For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm. The LORD foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever; the purposes of His heart through all generations."
Again we see this in Daniel 4:34, 35 - "At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified Him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No man can hold back His hand or say to Him: "what have you done?""
Regarding the Sovereignty of God, Dr. R. C. Sproul makes the point that if there were one maverick molecule out there somewhere apart from the plan of God, we would have no reason to hope in God. That one maverick molecule could be the one detail that defeats God's eternal purpose. If God is not in Sovereign control, perhaps that one "maverick molecule" could have got into the lungs of Jesus as a young baby and God's eternal plan of salvation could well have been derailed with Jesus dieing in infancy. As the old saying goes, "For lack of the nail, the shoe was lost. For lack of the shoe, the horse was lost. For lack of the horse, the rider was lost. For lack of the rider, the battle was lost. For lack of the battle, the war was lost."
In contrast to this picture, our God is All-Powerful (Omnipotent), and all of history is merely the outworking of His eternal plan. God not merely created the world, but His eternal power sustains it and continues its existence by the sheer exertion of His will - were God to "blink," all would come to an end.
A key biblical principle that helps illuminate God's Sovereignty is called concurrence. God's eternal purpose and humanity's purposes concur - that is, they take place at the same time. People have their plans, which may be good or may be evil, and people are responsible for the plans they make. God also has a plan, a plan which overrules all other plans. It should be a great comfort for us to know that God is in charge of history - that there's a purpose to history - it is His story.
God's control is absolute in the sense that men do only that which He has ordained that they should do; yet they are truly free agents in the sense that their decisions are their own, and they are morally responsible for them. While our motives may be impure, even our attempts to thwart God's eternal plan in fact only serve to further it.
In Genesis 45:5 and 50:20, the Bible tells us that God planned the attempted murder and enslavement of Joseph so that He could eventually rescue millions of people from famine. Joseph tells his brothers that their plan was wicked - "You intended it for evil." But God's plan trumped their plan, Joseph explains, "But God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
As my friend, Dr. James White declares, "The action of selling Joseph into slavery was, without question, an evil one. No one would argue this. Yet, Joseph says that God intended the action for good. God was working in the very same situation to bring about His intended purpose. The motivation of Joseph's brothers was evil: the purpose of God in the very same action was good and pure."
The commentary on this incident from Psalm 105:17 refers to God's activity in all this as an actual commissioning or sending of Joseph, "he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave."
Another example of this can be found in the Book of Acts. Here God is portrayed as actually planning the murder of Jesus, the worst sin of mankind in all history. Peter, in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit declared that Christ was "delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up..." (Acts 2:23, 24).
Later on, when Peter and John were arrested for their preaching, the Church prayed a prayer which included this idea that God had planned and orchestrated the events surrounding the crucifixion. In Acts 4:27, 28 the gathered saints prayed, "... both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done."
Regarding this incident, Dr. White writes, "The Church did not mis-speak this prayer. They acknowledged that what Herod and Pilate and the Jews had done to Jesus Christ in the crucifixion was exactly what God's power and will had decided beforehand should happen! But was not Pilate guilty in condemning Jesus? Of course! Was Herod free of condemnation? No! Were the Jewish leaders acting with pure motivations, or were their hearts filled with hatred toward the Christ? The answer is obvious. Yet, in this obviously evil action of condemning, and murdering, the sinless, pure Lamb of God, we see God's hand! It did not merely take place with His permission, but at His bidding! The motivations of those involved were evil, of this there is no doubt. Yet, can we think of any greater example where God's motivations were any higher, any purer? Can we think of any single event that will bring about more good, and result in more glory to God, than the death of Christ as the perfect substitute for God's people? Surely not!"
Christ's murderers were working out God's eternal plan, although they will be judged for their actions. That's part of the mystery of concurrence. This does not make human beings simply "puppets" - puppets do not have desires or wills; puppets do not make choices. People do! But God is the invisible hand at work in, behind and through the plans of mice and men, always accomplishing His eternal and unchanging purpose.
