The Sovereignty of God
There is confusion about the sovereignty of God.
On the one hand, we have the “Calvinist” line of thought which does not believe in free will, everything is predestined. God is in control of everything. God is all powerful, nothing or no one can oppose His will, therefore everything that happens is His will.
Here is a question: if God is in control, is He in control of you? Can you say that everything you have ever done was God’s will and wrought in God?
“God in is in charge, but not in control” – Bill Johnson.
This means that the ultimate plan that God has for the universe will be played out as He has said. But it does not mean that everything that happens is purposed and caused by Him.
James 4:7 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
This verse makes it clear that some things are of God, and some things are from the devil. We are to submit to the things from God, and resist the things that are from the devil.
Resist means to actively fight against, to not accept that outcome. Saying “whatever will be will be” is not actively fighting against the devil. If you believe trials are coming from God to teach you, you will not resist.
John 10:10 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
This verse contrasts the works of the devil vs. the works of Jesus.
1 John 3:8 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
Is God schizophrenic? Is He working against Himself? If everything is under God’s control, that means the devil is also, and just an instrument of God’s will.
Romans 8:28-31 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
People use this as a proof text that God predestines who will be saved and who won’t. That’s not what these verses say at all.
First, what is the predestination for, specifically? It is the determined plan to conform certain ones to the image of His Son. Which ones? Those whom He foreknew.
There is a big difference between foreknowledge and predestination. Predestination causes things to happen in a certain way. Foreknowledge knows what is going to happen ahead of time. God knows who is going to accept Jesus and be saved ahead of time because He lives outside of time. But the choice to accept Jesus or not is still up to us. And once a person does get saved, God has a predetermined course that that person will be conformed to the image of His Son.
To illustrate the difference between foreknowledge and predestination, let’s say I hand you a sealed envelope and ask you to pick a number between one and one billion. Unbeknownst to you, I have a time scope that allows me to look into the future and see events that haven’t happened yet, and I see you opening the envelope and the number written on a card inside, and you acknowledging that was the number you picked. So I write that number on a card and seal it in an envelope.
I had foreknowledge, i.e., I knew beforehand – what number you would pick. But it was still your choice.
“A typical teaching on the sovereignty of God puts Jesus in the driver’s seat with us as passengers. On the surface that sounds good. All of us have encountered the disastrous results of doing our own thing. We desire to be led of the Lord, and teaching that nothing happens but what God wills fits that nicely. However, the scriptures paint a picture of us behind the wheel of our own lives. We are the ones doing the driving. We are supposed to take directions from the Lord, but He doesn’t doing the driving for us.”
— Andrew Womack
Think of it this way – God is supposed to be our GPS (Global Positioning System); or maybe a better way of putting it is He is supposed to be our PGS (Personal Guidance System).
We say we want to fulfill God’s plan for our lives. He will give us directions and guidance – if we listen to it and follow it.
What happens when you don’t make a turn like the GPS instructs you to? “Rerouting…” It calculates another way to get to your destination, taking into consideration the path you are currently on.
That is the beauty of Romans 8:28.
There is not only one path to your destiny, and if you make a wrong turn somewhere, you will never get back on track. Although it is true that if you miss the directions He is giving, it will take you longer to get there. At some point you do need to start following the directions or you will never reach the destination.
“God is such a master at turning bad things for good, that there are many that think that those bad things were His will in the first place” — Bill Johnson
GPS will offer alternate routes that avoid bad traffic. Those routes may seem out of the way, but they will get you to your destination in better time than if you kept to your regular route. I used to have a commute in the Bay Area. It was only 31 miles, but the traffic in the Bay Area is notoriously bad. I would always turn Google Maps on, which would show me congested areas ahead, and suggest alternate routes and how much time I would save by taking them. Those alternate routes would take you off the freeway and through back roads and neighborhoods – some of them were really nice.
“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt 6:13; Luke 11:4). This is a prayer to lead us away from areas that would be a temptation (note that the root word also means a test or trial).
It is to be a partnership. God has a destiny and purpose for our lives, but that destiny is not along the lines of something you hate doing. Now it often can be something you feel unqualified for.
A person who was shy and hated speaking in front of people is called to be a preacher and a teacher, speaking in front of 1000’s (Bill Johnson). Paul the Apostle was very well versed in Jewish law, and God sends him to be the apostle to the Gentiles.
Did God Create Evil?
Or, if God is good, why is there so much evil and suffering?
This is a question that has been debated for centuries. I will not presume that I have the “definitive answer” to that question, but I will present my thoughts on this.
First of all, we have to differentiate “evil” from “calamity”. Evil is wrought by people doing bad things with bad motives. Calamity is bad things happening that aren’t caused by people doing something, such as natural disasters. Evil has a motive, calamity just happens.
If you believe in hard core predestination, that God is in control of everything, you would then have to believe that evil and calamity is in God’s will and plan.
- The rebellion of Lucifer who became Satan
- The fall of man
- Every sin of man
God did not create Satan to be Satan.
Ezekiel 28 speaks of two people; the first is the “prince of Tyre”. Vs. 2 establishes that this is a human monarch that lifted himself up in pride and thought himself to be a god.
Ezekiel 28:2 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,’ Yet you are a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god.
Vs. 3-10 God speaks to this human king through Isaiah to let him know that he is not a god and will be brought down low.
Then in vs. 12, he starts speaking of the king of Tyre. It is obvious that this is not a human.
Ezekiel 28:12-19 12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.
16 “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.
17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.
18 “You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you.
19 All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; You have become a horror, And shall be no more forever.” ‘ “
The Bible only mentions three powerful angels by name: Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. We call them archangels, although only Michael is actually labeled as an archangel in scripture. Michael is described as the warrior angel in charge of heaven’s angelic armies. Gabriel is the messenger angel, mentioned in Daniel 8:16 and Daniel 9:21, and of course as the angel that brought the message of John the Baptist’s birth to Zachariah, and Jesus’ birth to Mary.
Lucifer, the MorningStar, is designated “the covering cherub” here in Ezekiel 28. It has been thought that he was the worship leader in heaven, due mainly to a reference that musical instruments (timbrels and pipes) were somehow built into him (vs. 13).
Verse 15 is key, it shows that as God created him, Lucifer was perfect. Iniquity was “found in him”.
How is that possible? As far as I can see in the scriptures, every sentient being that God created has a free will – the ability to choose and follow God, or not.
Isaiah 14:12-17 12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.
16 “Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’
What was Lucifer’s sin, his rebellion, his iniquity that was found in him? He wanted to be like God, and have others worship him. He didn’t want to lead worship, he wanted to be worshipped. We are told that Lucifer’s downfall was caused by pride – he thought too highly of himself.
There was a war in heaven, and Lucifer was cast out. He became Satan, which means adversary. Satan became a bitter, hateful creature that wants nothing more than to mess up anything that God is doing.
- For more , see Dealing with El Diablo
Did God create evil?
Isaiah 45:7 KJV 7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
The Hebrew word translated evil in the KJV can also take on the meaning of bad, or calamity or adversity. Every translation besides the KJV translates it this way.
In the same verse, it says God creates darkness. What is darkness, anyway? It is the absence of light. You can create darkness by removing or blocking the light.
In a similar way, evil is the absence of good.
Isaiah 54:11-17 11 “O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal, And all your walls of precious stones.
13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children.
14 In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
15 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.
16 “Behold, I have created the blacksmith Who blows the coals in the fire, Who brings forth an instrument for his work; And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.
Although God did not create Lucifer to be evil, He takes responsibility for it. In vs. 14 He talks about oppression and terror coming against His people, but in vs. 15 He says they will surely assemble, but not by Me. God is not the one sending terror and oppression.
John 16:33 33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
The whole earth is under a curse, brought about when man decided to follow Satan rather than God.
Millenium and Eternity, when God is in Control
Isaiah 11:1-10 1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
6 “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.
10 “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.”
Revelation 22:1-3 1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.
We see here the affects when God really does take control. There will be peace – but it will be an enforced peace, as He “rules with a rod of iron”. During this period, Satan is imprisoned for 1000 years.
Even with the obvious benefits of God’s “physical” presence on earth and even the effect it has on creation itself, there will be those that resent His rule.
Revelation 20:7-10 7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison
8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Satan, ever the deceiver, will convince these that they can actually go up against God in the Holy City and overthrow Him. The conveniently gather together in one place, and God deals with them instantly.
