Man’s Dominion: God’s Sovereignty

In our neighborhood Bible study, we recently discussed the sovereignty of God.  That got me thinking; I always believed that God was sovereign, but He also gave us free will.   I never really delved into it, so I thought I would explore it further for this segment to help others.

God is the One and only Creator; as a Christian, we can all agree on that.  In creating, He gave men free will. Why?  He says in the Bible that love must be sincere.

(Romans 12:9-10) “Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.”

(Hebrews 10:22) “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

For love to be sincere, it must come from our hearts because we WANT to show it, give it, and live it.

God is the beginning and the end.  He has been through our trials and our lives ahead of us. He knows what we will do and say before we do it!

(Revelation 21:6) “And He said to me, 'It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”

(Psalm 139:4-6 NLT) “You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.  You go before me and follow me.  You place your hand of blessing on my head.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!”

This leads us to the concept of predestination, and many people hold varying beliefs about it.

(Romans 8:29) “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.”

To truly understand scripture, in some cases, you cannot take a verse at face value.  You would not say of a book, “That is a useless book,” IF YOU HAVE NOT READ IT!

This is one of those verses. So, let’s break down a couple of words.   The first is foreknew, it comes from the Greek,

 proginṓskō (from 4253 /pró, "before" and 1097 /ginṓskō, "to know") – properly, foreknow; used in the NT of "God pre-knowing all choices – and doing so without pre-determining (requiring) them" (G. Archer).

The second is predestined.  It rightly comes AFTER foreknew.  From the Greek

From pro and horizo; to limit in advance, i.e., (figuratively) predetermine -- determine before, ordain, predestinate.

 So, when we put it together, with Revelation 21:6, and Psalm 139:4-5, and foreknew from Romans 8:29, God went through our lives ahead of us, He knew the choices we would make, and what we would say (declare).  So, in that, He predestined, ordained.

He ordained the choices, what He knew we would make.  So, He did NOT CHOOSE FOR US. He ordained the choices He already knew we would make by our own free will that He gave us.

Free will, our choice.  So, God is sovereign, but He gave us, mankind, free will.

(Genesis 1:26-28) “Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Free will – Rev 3:20, John 7:17, Deuteronomy 30:19-20, Matthew 23:37

God is a covenant keeper; the covenant He made with mankind, He keeps and does not break.

( Deuteronomy 7:9) “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.”

(Psalm 105:8) “He remembers His covenant forever, The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations.”

And He does not lie, He is truth, and truth cannot deny itself.  He does not change His mind since He is a covenant-keeping God that keeps His promises.

 (Numbers 23:19) “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”

(Psalm 145:13 NLT) “For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does.”

Another big question people have in relation to God’s sovereignty is sickness. God does not give sickness; He is a good and loving Father.  If we are, by the Word of God, made in His image, would NOT give any sickness to our children, then we can know that neither will God.

Sickness is what is common to man.  It also comes from some of the bad choices we make.  Such as not eating properly, and in winter not dressing properly, and more.

(I Corinthians 10:13) No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Temptation in this verse is translated from the Greek:

From peirazo; a putting to proof (by experiment (of good), experience (of evil), solicitation, discipline or provocation); by implication, adversity 

Common to man translated from the Greek:

 442 anthrṓpinos (from 444 /ánthrōpos, "mankind, relating to human nature") – properly, human ("of mankind/human-kind"); (figuratively) what is limited (finite), i.e. confined to human effort (experience).

So, as we live in a fallen world— and we and the world are natural—all natural will fall away, not permanent.   So, due to that, there are germs, bacteria, etc., and sickness (adversity) happens—NOT FROM GOD.

(I John 2:16-17) “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.”

We make bad choices, and then there is Satan.  He was cast to earth.

( I Peter 5:8)  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

(Revelation 12:9) “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and His angels were cast out with him.”

So God is God Almighty, El Shaddai, Creator, Savior, and so much more.  He is sovereign, but He will NOT usurp His covenant and promises.

His ways are higher than ours.

(Isaiah 55:8-9) “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

And given that He sent His One and Only Son to die such a painful death on the cross, the love that it took to do that, it is reason enough to trust Him with our lives and in all situations.

(John 15:13) “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”