THE WILL OF OUR SOVEREIGN GOD

             "And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" (Daniel 4:34, 35). These are the words of Nebuchadnezzar written by Daniel. Over eight years prior to this God had decreed that Nebuchadnezzar would have a mental illness whereby he would think himself to be an animal and live in the fields for seven years. It happened just as God had promised, but his right mind had returned and he was back on his throne. He now realized that the God of Daniel was truly a sovereign God. He did not use the word sovereign, but he surely recognized it! The God we serve is truly sovereign as the supreme ruler of the universe and possesses absolute authority, infinite wisdom and unlimited power! He is (and always will be) sovereign in all His dealings with man!

            God's sovereignty was seen when He told the serpent, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15). He knew the Seed would be born of a woman who was a virgin and who had become pregnant without the involvement of a man. He knew the Seed of the woman would destroy Satan one day, and He knew Satan could only bruise the heel of the Seed of the woman. Her Seed would only be bruised in the heel (a non-deadly wound) by giving His life on the cross but being raised to live again.

            God's sovereignty was seen when He called Abraham from the Ur of the Chaldees and told him that a nation would come from his loins that would be a blessing to the world. Abraham was an old man whose wife was childless, so he had never been a father! Furthermore, God told him the Seed promised to the woman would come from his nation. "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice" (Genesis 22:18). God's sovereignty gave Isaac to them. When Isaac became a father to the twin sons Esau and Jacob, God's choice was Jacob to inherit the promise made to Abraham and Isaac. Jacob became the father of 12 sons, but the sovereignty of God chose the tribe of Judah to be the one through whom the promised Seed would come. Centuries later, God sovereignly looked upon the descendants of Judah and chose a young shepherd boy named David who became a King and the forerunner of the promised Seed who would one day be the King of kings and Lord of lords! All the men God chose would each become moral failures at times, but His sovereign will was carried out when Mary gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem. The coming of the Messiah to be the Savior of the world only depended on God's faithfulness to carry out His own sovereign will and not on the people He used.

            All the angels are beings who were created by the sovereign God to be His servants and offer up praise to Him. His will for them is expressed in Psalm 103:20, 21, "Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure". Obviously, God desired that they would keep His commandments, obey His word, and do His pleasure, but He did not mandate that they would have no other choice. So, Lucifer used his free will to rebel against God! God did not fail, but Lucifer did!

            God sovereignly created Adam and Eve in His own image and gave them a simple command to obey. "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16, 17). God's sovereign will created the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and placed it in the garden. He did not have to include it among the other trees! That tree was the only thing God placed on earth for Adam and Eve that was not put there for their benefit. God could have sovereignly made them like robots so they could only do the very things He commanded, but if He had done that how could they ever show love for Him and have a desire to please Him in their lives. God's sovereignty did not fail in making Adam and Eve as individuals with a choice to obey or disobey their Creator. God did not fail, but they surely did!  

            Our sovereign God used His own will in establishing the plan of salvation whereby all the descendants of Adam's race could be redeemed through the blood of His only begotten Son who was offered on the cross for our sins. Calvinism (Reformed Theology) uses the word 'sovereign' very often in presenting what they believe is God's plan of salvation. They believe God used His sovereignty before the foundation of the world to choose the only ones He wanted to save. According to them, the ones He chose were called His elect and at that time He gave them to the Son. Then, when Jesus came He would only have to die for them. Therefore, they believe God used His sovereignty to send to Hell all those He did not want to be saved. There are too many promises to all the 'who-so-evers' to accept what they teach!

            God's plan of salvation is to all who are convicted of their sins after hearing the Gospel of Jesus who will repent of their sins and place their faith in Jesus Christ for His great salvation. That is God's sovereign plan of salvation and it presents God's sovereign will for you to come to Him for salvation!

            The Calvinist has trouble believing that a sinful human can say 'No' to a sovereign God. There is only one reason that he can. It is the sovereign will of God that sinners have their own free will to receive or reject His offer of salvation! Others believe God sovereignly chose all who would be saved before the foundation of the world, but they still believe man has a free will. They say it's just hard for us to understand. It can't be understood because it is not true! You have a free will because God willed it!

            The Bible is the infallible and inerrant Word of our sovereign God and it clearly expresses His will for you to be saved! "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3, 4).