What is God like? #9 - God is Sovereign

God is Sovereign

    In much of the writing and studies that I have seen concerning the attributes of God, the concepts of God's Intentionality and His Sovereignty overlap somewhat. God is most assuredly a Father, watching over all of His plans for His children, and He is the Architect of History, placing His loving hand upon the world and reaching forth to bless His loved ones with His ever watching eye. And yet there is one more aspect that needs to be added to bring the picture of God's sovereignty into focus, and that is that He is THE King of the universe, owing no allegiance to any created being and being below no other so-called god, demi-god, power or principality. On His desk is the motto: "The buck REALLY stops here!" His is the ultimate authority. 

    This issue of authority is very important. Many people own guns for one reason or another, but only certain people have the authority to use a gun to protect the public. A police officer has a gun, which is a kind of power or force, but it is the badge that the officer is wearing that gives him the authority to use the power of the gun to do his work. In fact, usually the badge is sufficient to do most of what the officer must do in a day. Simply displaying the authority as an officer of the law is enough for people to obey the directives and receive the protection, and occasional correction, from the officer. 

    God's authority is undiluted by delegation and absolute, and every creature and created thing is accountable to Him. In fact, the most common phrases for God are those associated with kings and rulers. He is called a great King, "For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods(Psa. 95:3). King Jehoshaphat prayed and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you"(2Chr. 20:5). The book of Acts quotes the Apostle Paul as having said this about this issue of the sovereignty of God, “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live."

    This business of being the Absolute Authority of the entire creation is so important to God that the first thing He said to His people to obey was the very first commandment, the command to have no other Gods, “You shall have no other gods before me.(Ex. 20:3)" As you may know, this issue of having other gods, idolatry, is a major theme of the history of God's people throughout time. Like annoying weeds in your garden, idolatry just keeps coming up over and over again. So much of the pain and destruction in our lives revolves around idolatry. Sure, none of us bows down to actual idols much anymore, but we have idols in our hearts. These are things like pride, greed, envy and jealousy, and the like. They lead to depression, loss, all kinds of addictions, and even death. Much of what we are doing in our lives with God is toppling these idols and finally setting up God as the only God in our hearts. In the book of Revelation there is a description of our future free from idols, in the new heavens and the new earth, when this problem eventually gets resolved, complete with a wedding, a great big party and a feast, and then a huge time of direct worship of God, complete with the greatest light show and music and sound of all time. When you think of it in these terms, putting down a little idol isn't that much of a big deal, is it?   

    And in the end, God, the Sovereign, Reigning, Loving Father, will have His way;

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son."(Rev. 21:1-7)

    So you see, it's the end of the Prodigal Son story on the Grand Scale, with the Intentionally Loving Father having gathered all of His wayward sons together in the planned inheritance He had in mind for them from the beginning when He said "Let there be..."