Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, part 11 – The essence of God – Sovereignty. Psa 47:7; 50:10; 115:3; 1Ch 29:11-12; 1Ti 2:4.Title: Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, part 11 – The essence of God – Sovereignty. Psa 47:7; 50:10; 115:3; 1Ch 29:11-12; 1Ti 2:4.
5. The essence of God part 1: Attributes that constitute God and are not commuted to beings.
Before we begin this part of our study it is extremely important to recognize:
The attributes of God are interwoven, interdependent, and always in harmony. We are to never omit any or emphasize one over another. This leads to error
The attributes of God form an interwoven and interdependent communion of facts and forces which harmonize in the Person of God. An omission or slighting of any of these, or any disproportionate emphasis upon any one of them cannot but lead to fundamental error of immeasurable magnitude.
Dr. Morris Roach has written: “The failure which we have just noted in an abnormal emphasis of God’s attributes may be corrected by the communion of attributes. Pantheism, polytheism, deism, materialism, idealism, and evolution reveal abnormalities in the character of God to which they subscribe their belief. The errors of all false conceptions of God could be corrected by an explanation of His true character as it is completely and systematically balanced by the communion of these elements of His nature. Christian theology is the only field which gives proper and proportionate thought to the character of God as a product of His attributes. It is not possible to ascribe power to God in the sense of ‘sheer almightiness.” Character cannot be the product of power. Love alone is not an all-inclusive attribute, and is not, in itself, a sufficient basis for character. Full and complete character cannot be ascribed where only a portion of the attributes of God are considered. Character in God is the product of all His attributes in their objective relationship one with the other.” (The Personality of God, unpublished dissertation (1933), Dallas Seminary, pp. 174-75).
A. Sovereignty
a) God is the Supreme Being of the universe (Heb 6:13), therefore the Highest King (Psa 47:7), and having absolute authority (Psa 50:10)
Heb 6:13 For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself
Ps 47:7 For God is the King of all the earth;
Ps 50:10 "For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills.
b) God has absolute will and does whatsoever He pleases – Psa 115:3, 1Sa 2:6-8; 1Chr 29:11-12.
This means that everything God has done, allowed, and prevented are in perfect accordance with His infallible and eternal pleasure.
Ps 115:3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.
[Hannah praying as she dedicates her son Samuel to serve God all his life] 1 Sam 2:6 "The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
1 Sam 2:7 "The Lord makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts.
1 Sam 2:8 "He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, And He set the world on them.
[David after the offering given to build the Temple of the Lord] 1 Chron 29:11 Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Thine is the dominion, O Lord, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all.
1 Chron 29:12 Both riches and honor come from Thee, and Thou dost rule over all, and in Thy hand is power and might; and it lies in Thy hand to make great, and to strengthen everyone. 13 Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name.
In these two passages both Hannah and David glorified the Sovereignty of God as they appealed to Him in grace – Hannah to have a son and David to be able to build a Temple.
c) The sovereignty of God always functions in total compatibility with all of His other divine attributes. -God is self-existent, which means He is eternal.
His perfect decisions from His sovereignty are compatible with His eternal and infinite self-existence. This means He is not like us in progressive decision making. His decisions before time, during time, and after time are the same.
-God is immutable and unchangeable.
Therefore, He has never had to reverse a decision. God does not have to be flexible, for He is perfect. As perfect, infinite, and eternal God, He never has to withdraw a decision. His decisions were perfect billions of years ago and they remain perfect in time.
-God’s integrity is incorruptible.
God’s decisions are perfect with regard to His integrity. Every decision is righteous and just. God’s sense of humour is also perfect, and there must be some amusement in heaven concerning the things we fail to understand.
-God’s gracious love toward us is perfect, based on His integrity.
This one blows Calvinism out of the water. God so loved the world. He does not condemn one person and save another based only on Sovereignty, but through love He acknowledges the free will of the creature to believe in Christ or to reject Him.
This is why the student of doctrine cannot overemphasize one characteristic of God and neglect another. They are all interwoven, interdependent, and in perfect harmony.
Therefore, all these add up to the fact that God cannot make a bad decision even once. And from His sovereignty, God has made billions and billions of decisions.
This includes the creation of Lucifer and Adam as well as you, your time in human history, your geographical location, your parents and siblings, your children, your PT and local church. This also includes all circumstances whether good, bad, adverse, or prosperous. If you are suffering because of bad decisions and therefore deservedly or undeservedly because of the bad decisions of another each circumstance perfectly fits God’s good pleasure under His Sovereign decree. Directed, allowed, or prevented all of God’s Sovereign decisions move perfectly toward His good pleasure.
[quote] “Yet since God cannot change, is immutable, it does not mean that He is immobile. If He consistently pursues a righteous course, His attitude must be adapted to every moral change in men. “God’s unchanging holiness requires him to treat the wicked differently from the righteous. When the righteous become wicked, his treatment of them must change. The sun is not fickle or partial because it melts the wax but hardens the clay, - the change is not in the sun but in the objects it shines upon.” (Strong, Systematic Theology, p. 124)
God’s perfect policy of grace is based on infinite, eternal, and sovereign decisions. This policy was established in eternity past in the divine decree and in that decree ….
It was God’s Sovereign decision to create each member of mankind to resolve the Angelic Conflict.
d) In His Sovereignty He pleased to give man free will – John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Deut 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,
Deut 30:20 by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."
d) The meeting place of the two wills is the cross, Matt 26:39.
Matt 26:39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt."
Christ’s free will met with God’s Sovereign will and acquiesced to make the issue of salvation in the free will of man and the Sovereign will of God one decision to believe on Christ for salvation.
The plan of God after salvation is based in Christ and His finished work and the word of God is His mind on the matter of His execution of God’s plan and so the believer’s continued free will in life is in communion with Sovereign will only in faith, but not faith in Christ all over again, but faith in the power ministry of God the HS and the inculcation of the word of God.
e) God’s Sovereign plan for the human race: There is perfect peace and highest destiny for those who, knowing the will of God, are subject to it. There is distress and anguish awaiting those who, knowing the will of God, disregard it. |