at all...
No darkness
TheSovereignty of God
Is God Sovereign?
Before answering, there are two facts you might not know. Did you know the word sovereign does not appear in the King James Bible? It does appear in the forward, but it is referring to King James, not God. Did you know the definition for sovereign does not mean in control of everything? Check any dictionary.
The word sovereign was popularized in more recent history by the New International Version which uses it over three hundred times. In places where the King James would read, Lord God or Lord God Almighty, the NIV replaced it with sovereign. This would not be a big deal if we all had the same definition of the word, the problem is we don't. To some it simply means; supreme God or most high God or Lord God Almighty. But, to others the word means, in control of everything that happens.
So for the sake of simplicity and to avoid confusion we will change the question from; "Is God sovereign?" to "Is God in control of everything that happens?" Let’s go back to the beginning.
Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Who did God say has dominion over the fish of the sea? Who did God say had dominion over the fowl
of the air? Who did God say had dominion over the cattle? In fact, who did God say had dominion over
all the earth? Did He mean what He said?
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,
and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every
living thing that moveth upon the earth.
God blessed mankind and said; be fruitful, multiply, replenish, subdue and have dominion over all the earth. Was He lying? Was this a real blessing? Simple logic tells us that if God retained complete control then He did not give mankind dominion. If He did not really give mankind dominion, then He lied. Either God retained dominion/control or He gave it to man, it can't be both.
Psalms 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children
of men.
Even though God owns everything, even though God is all powerful, He decided to give us dominion over this earth until His final return. Remember, if He gave it to us that means we have it, not Him. If He retains control of everything then we have no dominion. If we don't have dominion, God lied.
To better understand what transpired lets use a "lease" as a metaphor. Because every lease is different, a contract needs to be drawn. The contract determines what each party is responsible for and the limitations of both. Lets say you entered a contract for an apartment that stated you had complete dominion over it (Gen 1:26). The contract also had a shocking clause that said the apartment actually became yours for the duration of the lease (Psalms 115:16) what would that mean to you? If the person who leased it to you showed up and painted or changed furniture around whenever they wanted wouldn't that be a breach of contract? In fact wouldn't it be a breach of contract if they entered your apartment for any reason without being invited?
Biblically, God leased the earth to mankind. If He intervenes without an invitation (prayer) He is in breach of contract, He lied. John Wesley put it something like this, "It seems as if God can do nothing on earth without faith filled prayers" Lets look at a few more verses.
Matthew 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
If God is in control of everything, if His will is always being done why would Jesus tell us to pray this
way? If God is in control of everything, this would be a completely worthless prayer. Did Jesus ever do or say anything worthless?
Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent
unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings, and ye would not!
God's want, His will, His desire was to gather the children of Jerusalem to Himself, but they wouldn't.
Jesus Himself said that His will was NOT done in this circumstance.
Psalms 78:40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! 41Yea, they
turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
How can we LIMIT God if He is in complete control?
Mark 6:5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and
healed them. 6And he marvelled because of their unbelief.
Here we are told that Jesus (could not) do any mighty work. It doesn’t say He would not, it says He
(could not). Then it tells us why, their unbelief.
At this point some of you might want to retreat back to tradition and say, "this is absurd God can do anything!" Really? God can't lie - Heb 6:18. God can't be tempted with evil - James 1:13. Beloved the fact is there are some things God can't do and if lying is one of them it brings us back to our first scipture. If God said WE have dominion of this earth and we don't, God was lying.
Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always RESIST the Holy Ghost: as your
fathers did, so do ye.
Brothers and sisters just use common sense. How can anyone resist (complete control)?
We could continue on verse after verse, but some would still hold to the tradition that God is in control.
So, rather than adding more scripture I would like to appeal to your heart with some simple questions.
Is God in control........... Of the rapist?
Is God in control........... Of the murderer?
Is God in control........... Of the pedophiles and child molesters?
Is God in control........... Of the pastor committing adultery?
Is God in control........... Of that last hateful or lustful thought you had?
Is God in control........... Of the gossip and backbiting that is going on in your church?
Is God in control........... Of false prophets that lead His people into lies and destruction?
Is God in control........... Of the spread of Islam?
Either God is in control or He isn't. If He is in control, then He lied about giving us dominion and it also means He is responsible for ALL evil. We know Jesus would never sanction the atrocities religion has ascribed to God.
Out of one side of our mouth we call child molesters the most evil of all people, out of the other side we say God is in control of it, what’s wrong with that picture?
By Tim Cooper
