Our sovereign God

Paul was deeply concerned about his people, the nation of Israel. That they were seeking God’s approval in the wrong way (by works rather than by faith) brought him “great sorrow and unceasing anguish” (Rom 9:2). So, where does he turn for an answer but to the fact that the world is under the control of a sovereign God. Theologian, Wayne Grudem, explains that God’s omnipotence is his power to do what he decides to do, and his sovereignty is his right to determine what happens in his realm (Systematic Theology, pp. 216-17). This basic and powerful truth is clearly illustrated in verses 6-33 of chapter 9. That God is sovereign means that he has complete control of the course of history. That being so, let’s reflect on how it affects us some two millennia later.
         In our changing world there is one thing that remains steady, and that is God himself and his plan for the human race. We sometimes wonder why bad things happen since he is in charge. And the answer is that having “sons” who freely reflect his character requires the possibility of failure. Nothing short of this will do. God wants real sons whose lives display to the world what he is like. For this they had to be free. Freedom was a necessary qualification and in the first test, man made the fatal mistake. He yielded to the lure of personal gain rather than living within the boundaries of one necessary restriction. Human history records the continuing effects of that sin. But God, by the incalculable gift of his only Son, provided a way of return to all that God intended in the beginning. Because God is sovereign his will must, by definition, be done; and that provides order in a world of conflict.
         That sovereignty of God gives us a basic orientation for understanding life. We call it a Christian worldview. Of the various books and articles on the subject, I know of nothing better than James Sire’s excellent work The Universe Next Door. He reviews seven different worldviews and it is clear that, based on mutually acceptable characteristics, the Christian understanding of reality is the most compelling. We begin with a sovereign God and everything flows from that. I believe no one comes to faith in Christ on the basis of logic alone, but it is helpful to realize how consistent is a worldview based on the sovereignty of God. As Sire says, it is intellectually coherent, deals squarely with the data of reality, and is subjectively satisfying.
         Much more could be said, but it is enough for me to read and rejoice with Paul about the way God oversees the world that he has created.