God alone is Sovereign

[Sac49]

I believe that understanding the Sovereingty of God is foundational to our faith, walk with Christ, trust in God, sanctification and ultimately our relationship with God the Father. I also believe that the Sovereingty of God is the most loved, hated and missunderstood of all the characters of God by both Christians and non Christians. In the words of C. H. Spurgeon "Men will allow God to be everywhere but upon His throne".

I dont claim to "know it all" or "understand it all" but lately i have seen quite a bit of the "questioning of the Sovereingty of God" here on CC. Everything from His creation to His "allowing" has been brought up in some way. Is God the reason for both good and evil?

When it comes to "defining" the Sovereingty of God, I like the words of John Piper.
"We dare not trust ourselves with this definition. We dare not bring our own ideas in this. We must listen to God."
We listen to God thru prayer and His Word. The Word of God is where we find what it means when we say that God alone is Sovereign. In prayer to the Holy Spirit is how we come to understand.

Isaiah 46:9-11 everything that has happened, is happening and will happen is purposed by God. (Also see Psalm 33:11).

Gods Sovereingty is shown both in nature and human affairs. Everything obeys God. By two words, "be still", Jesus silenced the wind and the waves. God sets up kings and deposes them. (Daniel 2:21).

We would have no savior without the Sovereingty of God. Our salvation was secured by the Sovereingty of God.

We as followers of Christ should humbly bow and submit to the Sovereingty of God.

 

[Magenta]

Isaiah 46:9-11 everything that has happened, is happening and will happen is purposed by God. (Also see Psalm 33:11).

That is not what it says at all. Your view promotes the idea that every evil committed by one man towards another is by the express will of God. You thereby assign evil to God. That is an abomination and a very poor understanding of the goodness, long suffering, love, mercy, and justice of God. God allowing evil is not to say He creates it, desires it, takes pleasure in it, or wills it to happen. Scripture attests to the fact that evil is actually restrained.

Isaiah 46:9-11
Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and
there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient
times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel
shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 11 Calling a ravenous
bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far
country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass;
I have purposed it, I will also do it.

 

[Urijah]

Psalm 96:10

[SUP]10 [/SUP]Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.

 

[Blain]

I think his sovereignty could be described as his power and his glory which is something I have very much wanted to come to know and experience about him. In my time with him he has allowed me to come to know different attributes of his heart from experience he poured his love into me on a level that my body could not handle even though it was merely a drop of his his love, he has allowed me to experience his holiness which is an absolute amazing feeling that no words can explain I don't even if know if the angels themselves have a tongue that describe that feeling of his holiness.

He has allowed me to experience his tenderness and warmth on a level that even to this I wish I could walk in forever he has allowed me to experience his beauty, basking it in awe and astonishment of it and just utterly stunned by it. All these things he has allowed me to see and experience first hand of himself of his heart and of his kingdom. But something I have always wanted to know is his power and glory his righteousness and his kingship I can just imagine being before his throne kneeling before him unable to even look up because the force and magnitude of his sovereignty i so strong that I just can't. I can see my self trembling because of his power and glory amazed beyond reason of his majesty and yet I see no fear in my eyes but rather I see a smile so big my face hurts.

This at least is what I have always imagine it would be like but to actually experience it and to actually know it first hand..... I will go through any storm in life just to have this

 

[NayborBear]

"Walk by faith...NOT, by sight!" = God's Sovereignty....Meaning?...Even WHEN something LOOKS bad in one's eyes, YET, you KNOW is OF God?...It's GOOD!

 

[Sac49]

This is not an "assigning" evil to God. This is an admition that God does allow certain "evil" things to happen due to His will and purpose for His glory.

Too what do we assign the crucifiction? Was this something that God did not see coming? Would we say that those who put Jesus on the cross were out of Gods control? Acts 4:28 "They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen" (NIV).Those mens grestest sin destroyed sin. God in His divine will allowed that to happen so that those of us who put our faith in Jesus might have eternal life.

Would you therefore say that God allows certain "evils" to happen due to His divine will or would you say that God is incapable of stopping certain "evils"?

 

[oldethennew]

how precious is this verse?

HEB. 11:1.
FAITH is the substance of things HOPED for and the evidence of things NOT SEEN..'

 

[Sac49]

how precious is this verse?

HEB. 11:1.
FAITH is the substance of things HOPED for and the evidence of things NOT SEEN..'

So true. And with this we can add "things NOT UNDERSTOOD."

I am sure we can all agree that God created satan. But why, then, would He allow satan to turn on Him in such a way? The only explanation i can give is, some how in a way we dont understand, God is allowing this for His glory. There are many things we do not understand about God but we must have faith that all things work for the good of those who love Him.

 

[Zmouth]

That is not what it says at all. Your view promotes the idea that every evil committed by one man towards another is by the express will of God. You thereby assign evil to God. That is an abomination and a very poor understanding of the goodness, long suffering, love, mercy, and justice of God.

The LORD creates it and the sinner partakes in it....

God allowing evil is not to say He creates it, desires it, takes pleasure in it, or wills it to happen. Scripture attests to the fact that evil is actually restrained.

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. Isa 45:7

 

[Amazing-Grace]

Oh how we love to put our God in a box but our God is not one dimentional - He has many sides to His character and He will allow evil in order to reveal His glory. He did this by changing Pharaoh's heart, He does it today by giving us free will knowing full well the the end result is often evil because of man's heart. God is love but that is only one side of His character.

Let's allow God to be God and to reign over our lives and trust Him.

 

[Depleted]

Sorry. Missed this the other day. (Good teaching.) But found this on my FB page today.