The sovereignty of God and the sovereignty of Man - A second look.

This subject will always be full of tension. Unfortunately, the tension is usually negative. Why? Because of man's distorted worldview of both matters. That is why I want to analyze it again. You may recall that I wrote an article entitled, "The will of God vs. the will of Man" some time ago. This will be an addendum to that article. This matter is so crucial to the nature of God and man that it deserves more treatment. My goal is to get you closer to the nature of God and the nature of man through this article - to provide Biblical insight so the tension we feel can become a positive instead of a negative. 

Is that possible? Can tension become positive? With clear Biblical explanation, I believe it can.

So, let us start with man since that is who we are. 

God at the beginning of time created man and gave him dominion over everything He created. Man had the absolute power to do anything he wanted within the confines of God's will. In other words. man was the sovereign of the earth. A sovereign is one who has absolute rule, total control. Where man tragically fell was when his sovereignty clashed with Almighty God's authority. We must remember man's rule has limits - meaning we cannot do anything we want without penalty. Our problem is that we do not want limitations. We do not like law and order. Because man is a usurper, he was kicked out of the Garden of Eden. Adam wanted to be like God, in every way. That is the reason he took the devil's lying words over God's and ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6). The reality was Adam and Eve were already like God. I am not saying they were God or little gods, but they were like God in this sense: They had intelligence; they had a moral compass; they had emotions; they had the ability to make choices and reason; they had the gift of communication and relationship. These are some of the things that made them God-like.  

The scripture said, "let us make man in our image after our likeness (Genesis 1:26). So when we see and relate to one another, we are looking at the made-image of God. Here is our problem: because of sin, God's image - that is mankind is ruined and depraved. Man no longer has the perfect beauty and innocence  he once had. That is why there is an ongoing war between God's will and man's will -  God's rule versus man's rule. Man has forgotten that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness of it (Psalm 24:1). God left man as the manager of His world.  We see that has turned out tragically. 

Now, let us look at the sovereignty of God.

As I have mentioned in the past, God's rule is autonomous - meaning His rule is absolute, no limits. God can do whatever He wants to do. Psalm 115:3 says, "our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases." When God created the heavens and earth, He did not ask for permission from anyone - no one was here! When He decided to create man, He did not need anyone's consent. God always fulfills His own will without apology. Unlike us, God has no authority He is accountable to. God is judgment proof - no one can ever successfully accuse God of evil. 

All the things that God is, man covets in an evil way: that complete dominion and total worship. And because he can never obtain "god-hood", he will forever be in conflict with his Maker, losing every time. 

So, how is the tension resolved between God and man? It starts with correctly recognizing the roles of each which I have explained above. See God is perfect so He does not have to adjust to us - we must submit to His Lordship. We are the offenders in the relationship so it is incumbent upon man to repent and humbly bow before the Lord of all the universe.

When one views the relationship of both the right way, then the tension dynamic is positive - Man understands his role, and he understands God's role. While we can never understand God fully, we can praise Him and trust that He is in control of the circumstances in our lives.

Concluding, our sovereignty is a gift and a trust God has granted. Since time began, man has continually abused that trust. We see that in our government and police forces. Since most men do not fear God, sin has run wild - it is the sovereign the world happily serves. This is an affront to God, and for His holiness' sake He must judge it. Like the devil said in Isaiah 14:14, "I will be like the Most High", man in his heart utters the same blasphemy to his own doom. 

The love God hates

”Love not the world neither the things that are in the world. Anyone that loves the world the love of the Father is not him.” 

                                                                                                                                     

                                                                                             - 2 John 2:15

As believers, it is absolutely imperative that we think as much like God as possible. In order for us to do that, we must know God’s word. As His children, it has to be our lifelong pursuit - the practical pursuit of holiness. Only then will we have the knowledge and awareness to conduct ourselves right in a world gone wrong. 

John commands us not to love the world. What does that mean? Does it mean we hate this current life? That we hate the planet and this creation? Are we to hate people? No. Rather we do not love this evil world system. As a matter of fact, the Bible says that to be friends with the world makes one an enemy of God (James 4:4). 

A terrible position for one to be in.

So, we all have to ask ourselves this question, do we want to be a friend of God or an enemy? Tragically there are many in this world who believe God is their friend when He is, in fact, their enemy.

We cannot be conformed to this world but we must be transformed the Bible tells us by the renewing of our minds so that we can prove what is good, acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2).  What it boils down to is that we have to get rid of the sin in our lives that is weighing us down like heavy baggage.

Sin is a master deceiver in that it tricks people (if they allow it) into thinking that what they are doing is not bad, but actually virtuous. Really? Absolutely. How do I know? Well, let's take homosexuality for example. There is now at least one commercial where a young girl is crying with joy that she is gay. Now, in the world's eyes that is a reason for celebration, but in the eyes of God that is reason for condemnation. Homosexuality is sin. It is part of this evil worldly system that He hates. People that celebrate the evil in this world loves the world's system. So guess what? You have made yourself an enemy of God. Only a lunatic wants to be an enemy of God Almighty!

In Isaiah 5:20 we read these words, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."

And why are thoughts of the world totally upside down?

Jesus Christ speaking to Nicodemus declared these words, "And this is the judgment: light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19).

This is why Jesus had to come, to bring the light of the gospel of truth so that He could expose the darkness of evil men's hearts, reveal to all their true sinful nature. Give them the ability to repent and believe the gospel truth and be saved.

So we all need to examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5). Are we truly in the faith, or are we deceived? Do we love the world's system of evil? Because if we do, the love of the Father is not in us. Are we living just for the now, or are we laying up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21)? Hopefully, this article is a good litmus test for all of us to see where our affections lie.

Bottom line, we are NOT to love this world's system, but rather we should have compassion for it, pray for it, and share the truth of the gospel with it.