WRESTLING WITH SOVEREIGNTY
God’s sovereignty is one of the most difficult concepts to comprehend in Christian thought. Sovereignty implies that nothing in this world happens without God’s knowledge and permission. One of the questions that arises with the concept of sovereignty is that God appears to be partial in his dealing with man. Paul captures this thought in Romans 9:
10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: ………… “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 15 For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
God clearly makes a preference for Jacob over Esau and also hardens Pharaoh as he takes the Israelite nation out of Egypt. God can and does choose whom he wishes to have mercy on and the Bible makes no apology for that. It isn’t a statement that is politically correct by today’s fake worldly secular standards. We cannot fully understand sovereignty but can begin to appreciate it when we consider that fact that man is finite and in dealing with infinite God, there are many aspects of our universe that we don’t truly understand. Accepting the fact that man is man and God is God, is critical to deciphering sovereignty. We did not create ourselves and so the moment we begin to question or blame God, we undercut our very existence and our minds that flow from God. Paul picks up this thought in the next few verses,
19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?
The creator God could choose to do whatever he wishes with his creation and no questions can be asked thereof. He could choose to work out the lives of people in a manner he chooses. Consequently, some could end up in glory and others in destruction.
The other question that arises is how sovereignty coexists with human decision making. The Bible while declaring sovereignty to the fullest also declares the importance of man’s choice in creating one’s destiny to the fullest. In a way, it is true that we choose our destiny in response to the knowledge of God and specifically Christ. In the examples above, we also see how Esau by his choice despised his birthright and rejected God by his own choice. The Pharaoh rejected his conscience and the patterns of his forefathers by mistreating the Israelite nation and invited judgment on himself. In both instances we see how man’s choice in rejecting God coexisted with God’s sovereignty in dealing with man with the same end result.
Sovereignty cannot be deciphered by man’s intellect; however, it can be accepted and what follows is humility and worship, two of the greatest attributes man can possess here on earth.
