First of 7 Sermons on the Laws for Your Spiritual Life

He’s God and We’re Not

The First Law For the Spiritual Life

1 Chronicles 29:9-15

This morning I want to share with you a message that I call “The First Law of the Spiritual Life.” There are some basic principle or truths of the Christian life. There are some basic truths I believe every believer needs to know in order to have a healthy relationship with God.

Actually there are seven of these basic laws that begin and end with God. So, this morning I want to begin a 7-part series on the 7 laws of spiritual growth beginning with this message, “He’s God and you’re not.” The Westminster Shorter Catechism says, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”

We were made for God. We were made to know God, to serve God, to love God, and to live forever with God.

Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.”

And in enjoying God, we will enjoy (in the truest and deepest sense) the life He has given us.

The spiritual life begins with this fundamental truth: He’s God and we’re not. Nothing is more basic than that. All spiritual reality begins with this truth, and if we skip this or ignore it or downplay it, nothing else will make much sense.

The First Law is so fundamental that we might easily find 300 verses that teach it. Here are just a few.

Job 23:13 says, “But He stands alone, and who can oppose Him? He does whatever He pleases.” Job understands that he cannot demand anything from the Lord. In and of himself, he has no power to change his situation and he can’t even demand a hearing to plead his case to the Lord. God does what He wants and Job is powerless to oppose Him.

In Job 42:2 he says, “I know that you can do all things: no plan of yours can be thwarted.”

After all he has gone through and questioned about God, he confesses that God is all-powerful. He does what He wants, and no one stands against Him.

In the 115th Psalm, the Psalmist repeats the same thought - “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.”

We read in Romans 11:33-36, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! 34 ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?’ 35’Who has ever given to God that God should repay him?’ 36’For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.’”

As Tony Evans puts it, “Everything in the universe is either caused by God or allowed by God. Nothing ever ‘just happens’ and nothing is caused by someone or something outside of God’s control. Some things He directly causes; other things He allows to happen.”

Our God reigns. The world does not yet see it, and sometimes we have trouble believing it because we don’t always see it either. But the truth remains and will not be changed: Our God reigns.

This truth or principle should fill our hearts with praise and if not then we don’t understand what the Bible says or we simply refuse to believe it. But this truth remains whether we understand or believe it. He is in charge of all things.

Even when it looks like He’s not ruling, He’s still in charge and He is ruling.

When chaos appears, He’s in charge of the chaos. When things start falling apart, He’s in charge of the falling apart.

Theologians call this doctrine the “Sovereignty of God.” The word “sovereign” means king or ruler or boss. God’s sovereignty means that He is calling the shots in the universe. He’s in charge of all things. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”

And that’s what I mean by the statement: “He’s God and we’re not.” He is the Creator and we are His creation. This is truly the most fundamental principle of the spiritual life. Until you understand this, and submit yourself to it, nothing in life will work right for you.

Every mistake you’ve ever made has come from forgetting who’s God and who’s not. I believe the first sin in the universe happened because Lucifer forgot who was God and who was not. Isaiah 14:13-14 seems to use poetic language to describe the very first act of rebellion against God: “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Note the five “I wills” of Lucifer.

When any created being attempts to become “like the Most High,” the only possible result can be severe judgment from God.

When we decide to “play God” and run our little portion of the universe, we will not escape judgment either.

Here are some statements that tell us about God and His freedom to do whatever He wants to do.

He is absolutely free to do whatever He wants to do.

He has the right to deal with us any way He chooses.

He doesn’t have to treat me the way He treats other people.

He doesn’t have to treat me today the way He treated me yesterday.

He can answer my prayers any way He chooses.

He will not tolerate any rivals to his throne. God made this the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me.”

He is not obligated to live up to my expectations or to explain Himself to me.

He doesn’t bind Himself to do what we expect Him to do.

There are many questions we would all like to ask.

Almost always our questions revolve around suffering, sadness, the death of loved ones, and times of personal disappointment. I have found that the greater the sadness, the less likely we are to fully understand it. No one can fully understand Him. He is perfect in all His ways.

He didn’t create us because He was lonely and he didn’t save us because heaven was empty.

He does not need our worship or our obedience or our missionary service or our prayers or anything else we do in order to be God. There is no lack of any kind with Him.

The fact that God created us is an act of His great love and His sovereign will. That we are saved is a miracle of sovereign grace. That He accepts our worship and rewards our obedience is a miracle of sovereign love.

We must come to the place where we understand that there is nothing good in us.

It is crucial that we get ourselves firmly grounded in the truth of God’s absolute sovereignty.

Some years ago, an old country preacher in east Tennessee was preaching and said, “God do what He want to do.” That’s terrible grammar but excellent theology.

God does exactly as He pleases, all the time, everywhere, in every situation. His ultimate will is always being done. He’s God – and we’re not!

As we think about this truth it ought to lead us to a calm confidence in God even in the midst of unexplainable tragedy. It should make us bold in our witness and strong in our prayers. And if we believe this, we will find the strength to persevere over the long haul, knowing that even our foolish mistakes cannot cancel God’s plans for us.

There is a fundamental choice that each of us must make every single day. It goes something like this. We can reject the First Law of spiritual life and decide to fight against it but that rebellion will lead to doubt and anger, bitterness, despair and finally to a hardened heart.

There have been some believers who have chosen this path. They end up dropping out of church altogether because they are so angry and rebellious that they refuse to worship anymore.

And there are some who choose this path and stay in church and end up as very angry Christians.

They are hard to get along with, stubborn and unkind because they are fighting against the Lord.

They come to church Sunday after Sunday, sitting in the pews, singing the hymns, praying the prayers, going through the motions, but their hearts are not in it because God did not appease them and they are angry at what God has or has not done.

There is another choice we can make. If we accept the First Law as true, and if we submit ourselves to God, and if we acknowledge that He is free to do what He wants to do, how He wants to do it, when He wants it done, and with whoever He wants to do it, our submission to His will leads to joyful praise.

It is not that we will praise God for the pain, suffering and sadness we may experience but we will praise God that He is able to work in, with, and through us in everything that happens, both the good and the bad, to accomplish His will, to make us more like Christ, and to bring glory to Himself, which is His purpose in our lives as the apostle says in Romans 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”

Psalm 115:3 reminds us that, “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.”

There is no such thing as luck or fate or chance. God is at work in all things at all times to accomplish His will in the universe. He does whatever pleases Him.

People who rebel against God do so because they want to go their own way, follow their own desires, do whatever they want when they want. This is true with Christians and non-Christians alike. They want to be “free” and they end up enslaved to sin, chained to addictive behaviors. People who rebel against God often find themselves locked in the prison of guilt and shame. There is no freedom in rebellion against God. There is only slavery.

But when we submit ourselves to our Heavenly Father, when we finally say, “Lord, you are God and I am not,” when we bow before Him, through our tears if necessary, then is when we discover true freedom.

This is what Jesus meant when He said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” “Those whom the Son sets free are free indeed.”

Our basic problem is that we have allowed God to be everywhere but on His throne. No wonder we are unhappy and frustrated and unfulfilled; No wonder life doesn’t work out right. It would be much better to say with the psalmist, in the 95th Psalm, “Come, let us bow down in worship, and let us kneel before the LORD our Maker!”

The good news is, if you and I really mean it, and let God be God then we can take a deep breath. Let God be God and all will be well.

Perhaps someone today will say, “Oh God, you win. The battle is over. I’m going to stop fighting you.”

There is abundant joy for those who will admit the most fundamental truth in the universe: He’s God and we’re not. This is the First Law of the successful Spiritual Life.

CONCLUSION/INVITATION

Today if you are here and not yet have accepted Christ as your Savior, why not do that this morning. You know that you are a sinner and that the end result of sin is death.

Christ died and took your sins on Himself providing forgiveness and the promise of eternal life for you. You have been trying to be your own god and have found you cannot do anything on your own but fail. Come this morning, and let Him be God in your life.