Following Judah's Lion

The Sovereignty of God

The sovereignty of God is expansive. It knows no parameters and it knows no levels. It is everlasting and constant, and it does not have to reach everywhere since it is already there. There is no escaping it or even competing with it. God’s sovereignty permeates the entire universe from the largest quasar to the smallest atomic particle. Like the fish that swim and live beneath the ocean depths, so do all things material, invisible, or energy exist beneath the sovereignty of God. And from the moment a human egg is fertilized it awakens to life embedded in the ocean of God’s sovereignty. And when the aged lungs breathe their last, they expire underneath that same sovereignty. The course was run completely within the sovereignty of God.
The fish can only swim, and indeed only live, underneath the ocean. And even though they are affected by streams and currents, storms and waves, the Creator still allows those fish some latitude with the direction of their swim. They have a brain that is geared to function as a guide to food, safety, and knowledge of things that they were never taught. And every man, operating with the limitless sovereignty of God, has been given a free will that is never in competition with God’s sovereignty and is never a threat to the integrity of that same sovereignty. And such is the capability, mystery, and the surpassing glory of God’s sovereignty. No human act can abrogate God’s sovereignty even though many human acts are against the divine template. They still are seated at the table of His sovereignty.
“Why would a good God” allow all these unspeakable acts of horror and violence? And therein lies the mystery, at least from this side of eternity. All we know about God, and especially all we know of God through the Lord Jesus, leads us to faith in all we do not understand, which is far greater than we are prone to admit. And although things are said and done that are antichrist and at conflict with the nature and will of God, we still believe God is in complete control. His sovereignty has never been in danger or its limits stretched. And given the monstrosity of man’s rebellion and the grisliness of his sin, we still must believe what we cannot see or understand; namely, that God’s sovereignty is intact and still in full force. The better question is "Why would a good God want us?"
But God cannot deny Himself. And if God is the direct author of all sin, from the rape of an infant to the torture of an elderly woman, then His sovereignty is nothing more than a platform for all kinds of acts that are in direct violation of His teachings to His own creation. The world would be like a garage where a deranged serial killer captures his victims and delights in their fear, pain, and death. And even a basic understanding of the unfathomable evil that lives and ravages the human race must at least draw us to the conclusion that God’s sovereignty has allowed man to operate with a God given level of freedom. But if God derives pleasure from sin, and if He is the orchestrator of that sin, then His nature is not love, good, and holy. And that scenario would render Him a demented puppeteer, not unlike a child pulling the wings off of flies.
And God has seen, and knew afore time, that man would use his freedom to get himself into an eternal mess from which he can never extricate himself. The Creator came down as one of us and has colored the ocean red and beckoned all fish to breathe in this life giving blood. It is not God’s nature to take on a miniscule project; He has offered salvation to all sinners. But as it is we have a role to play and an ocean to swim completely within the depths of God’s sovereignty. For if God orchestrates everything, and if man has no will of His own, then God seems to be an unfit overseer of this world. The entire universe is a colossal mess and is only getting worse, yet God derives pleasure from watching as the inevitable continuing to unravel?
God’s sovereignty is not at odds and inconsistent with the free will of man. And if indeed God is wholly and completely responsible for the entire history of creation with no substantive participation from the choice of sinners, the He must take responsibility for it all. The history of mankind is nothing to put on one’s resume and claim competency in ruling and reigning. Unless you factor in the free will of man, God is left with an incredible failure of His own doing, and as understood in some corners, clings to the miniscule few He has chosen to save as His glory. Oh no, dear ones, man is responsible for all of this mess. And the glory of God is redemption, paid for on that cross, and offered to every single sinner. And the fact that only a mere handful will find eternal life cannot be attributed to the myopic redemptive will of God, no, mankind will have to bear that burden as well.

And in the end, when all is revealed, we will worship Him with the eternal knowledge that

“He does all things well!”