The Sovereingty of God (2)

Today we are going to hold a few things in tension. When I use that phrase, what I mean is we are going to make an attempt to hold on to two concepts that seem to be moving in opposite directions.

When two things are heading in opposite directions and we are holding onto both of them, it will inevitably create at sense of tension for us. So I want to acknowledge the tension right away so that we are surprised by the normal questions that might come up in our minds as we talk about these things. So I want to be honest from the very beginning and allow us all the permission to feel the tension…but I don’t want you to be pulled apart by it. Instead of holding on to these two very real concepts that we see played out in the Scriptures and also played out in the created world and being torn apart, I am hoping that we hold on and learn to enjoy the ride.

To hold onto things that are seemingly going in different directions from our limited perspective can seem futile, fatalistic and dangerous, but what I want to suggest today is that it can also be very fun and freeing.

How so? And also…what are we even talking about? Well let me tell you about an experience I had while I was in Texas at a playground with my 2 boys and three nieces.

If you want to get in shape, don’t go buy a gym membership…get married, have babies, wait for them to grow up just a bit and then take your kids to a park and try to keep up with them. (Or just babysit kids).

What you will notice if you have been to a playground lately is that so often the fun things at a park often have thing that move in two different directions. Think about a kid swinging. To make the experience fun you have to teach your kids to extend their legs and the retract their legs otherwise you are the one doing all the work of pushing and trying not to take a foot to the chest, neck or face. Or you have to do endless amounts of under-doggies! It really is exhausting. To make the experience of swinging fun you actually have to move in two opposite direction, but all they while you are anchored to something flexible and yet solid that is overhead.

Or thinking about the great thigh burning workout you can have when you get on a teeter totter with a toddler. The reality is, is that, I as a 42 year old man, weigh just a little bit more than my 2 year old niece! In order me to see a smile crack her face, beads of sweat had to start piling up on my face as I started a grueling leg workout. Teetor totters not moving in opposite directions are no fun. But even as they move in opposite directions they are anchored by a metal bar underneath that steadies them and allows us to have fun or at least a good leg workout.

Okay what are you even talking about! Well let me give you one more quick illustration. Lets say some of you grew up on a farm here and it was your job to move hay-bales up to a hayloft and you didn’t have modern equipment to do so.

I want you to imagine two ropes that go up to the top of a barn, but those two ropes go up so high that from your vantage point you can’t see where they end. From your vantage point they look like two separate ropes, but what you start to realize that when you pull down on one rope, the other one goes up…and when you pull down on the one that just went up, the other “seemingly seperprate” rope begins to go up.

In that moment logic kicks in and you realize that they must be connected in some way that is beyond what you can see. And in order to accomplish the task at hand you have to hold both ropes in tension to move the hay-bales up to the hayloft.

Holding things in tension doesn’t have to destroy you. It can actually be fun and freeing and accomplish that which you could never do on your own.

Pulleys are amazing, they give you a sense of super human strength and can accomplish for you want you couldn’t do without them.

Fulcrums are amazing and they allow teeter totters to exist.

And with the influence of gravity and overhead support swing sets can become a place where a sensation of soaring and flying can capture the imagination of the one swinging!

Okay…what are you talking about? I am talking about God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. Today we are going to try and hold these two scripture truths in tension, but hopefully we won’t be ripped apart by their reality; I am hoping that we we grab hold of them both through faith we begin to experience the freedom and enjoyment and victory to accomplish tasks in our lives that we would never accomplish without them. Holding onto these realities is the Ultimate VICTORY.

So enough playground talk…let’s enter into the real world and see if we can see God’s sovereignty demonstrated in the world of the bible and then see if we can embrace it’s wonderful, life giving, hope sustaining reality in our lives.

If we listen rightly to God’s message to us today...we will be equipped with a weapon so powerful that if we utilize it we will never be defenseless against attacks of: anxiety, thoughts of purposelessness, thoughts of insignificance, and the fear that torments us when we think that our lives are spinning out of control due to our own sin, or because of sins that have happened to us, or spinning out of control due to our schedules, or relationships, or the defects in our spouses, or the failings of our past, present or future. If we listen rightly to God’s message today we will be equipped with a “shield of faith, with which we can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

But this is only possible if we can begin to grasp the immensity of the sovereignty of God.

At the end of this message we are going to watch a video that I put together a while back to raise awareness of modern day martyrs of the faith. When you watch it you will be disturbed and you will question the sovereignty of God...but you must know is, that what sustained these people through the horrific acts that were done to them was their belief in the God’s sovereignty. More on this later.

So we have some lofty, life changing goals set before us. And they WILL NOT be employed unless God so chooses to bless us with His favor and by the convicting work of His Holy Spirit. Let’s trust God enough to let him hold the tension Let’s let it work for us instead of against us.

Let’s Pray

God is sovereign.

We are today going to anchor ourselves in just one passage. I could go to many many passages that address God’s sovereignty, but we will just look at one.

The word sovereign is ruling language. It indicates rulership and universal control. When you hear this term, you should think of a king who is ruling and reigning over his kingdom.

A sovereign is a ruler, a king, a lord, and Scripture often refers to God as the one who rules over all.

So, I want to take you to a base text and then make a few comments.

Isaiah 46:5 (ESV)

5 “To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?

First of all, we have already beat this drum from the beginning of this sermon series, but God is absolutely in a class of His own. In fact, that phraseology doesn’t even work…because it assumes that He is the best or has superiors skills than others in his classification and there are no others. He is unrivaled and absolutely and utterly unique. He is incomparable.

Well, let’s see this absolutely and utterly unique Divine Being is able to do.

Isaiah 46:8–11 (ESV)

8 “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, 9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ 11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.

Verse 10 is stunning.

God declares. (v. 10a)

Isaiah 46:10 (ESV)

10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

God declares. This amazing reality should floor us. To declare means to speak your ambitions. Now it is one thing to say your ambitions and it is another thing entirely to be able to pull them off in reality. Well we fall so short of this right? How are you doing with those New Years resolutions 79 days into 2022? (Ouch - low blow man)!

This is why our God is incomparable. His speaking IS His doing.

God declares the future happenings in the world He created. He has the foreknowledge of what will be, not because He is good at guessing and predicting outcomes, but because God has power and purposes to achieve.

God counsels (v. 10b)

Isaiah 46:10 (ESV)

10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

The word for “counsel” is the word that means; advise. He is His own advisor. He does what He says He will do, because unlike us He is completely consistent.

And His advice stands. His decision making is fixed and firm. His will is the result of His own Divine consultation. What happens in this world is not just willy nilly…it is the result of deliberate, intentional design.

AND

God purposes (v. 10c)

God is able to declare what happens because of His own Divine Consultation that stems from His purposes and intentions. WOW

What I have “said” or “declared” will stand. It will not, not happen. It is a certainty. It will certainly happen, because I have “purpose” in it happening. There are reasons being actualized with what we seeing taking place in the world.

Now I want to point something out with this word that is translated “Purpose.” The Hebrew word is “khav-fets” which means “delight or pleasure.”

So God is not only just CREATOR, but He is also a KING that has DELIGHTS and PLEASURES that He intends to gratify!

This is what theologians call God’s “efficacy.”

He alone has the ability to produce His desired and intended results. Nothing can prevent him from accomplishing his purposes because He delights in their actualization. He is both willing and able and the reason why is because He has a pleasurable outcome that He is going to accomplish.

We see this all over the place but just a few examples for our consideration:

Psalm 115:3 ESV

3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

Psalm 135:6 ESV

6 Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

Isaiah 43:13 ESV

13 Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?”

Verse 10 tells us that God declares what will most certainly happen because what happens in this world is the direct result of God’s delights.

And we should marvel and be stunned by this reality. But let’s take it one verse further because we only looked at verse 10…lets keep going a bit further to verse 11 and marvel at what God takes pleasure in...

Isaiah 46:11 (ESV)

11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.

He is pleased to call a “bird of prey from the east.” Do you know what “birds of prey” do? They have the ability to hunt, seize, carry off and devour their victims. And God is not referring to the animal kingdom He is is referring to “the man of my counsel from a far country.” Whoa…who is that and what does it mean?

Well it could refers to the Assyrian king Sennacherib who invaded the nothern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Hezekiah. He was successful in his invasion. He seized them and carried them off into exile.

Or it could refer to Cyrus who was a pagan King that was summoned to later on bring about the destruction of the Babylonian empire…an empire that had successfully invaded the southern Kingdom of Judah. The ones who had once seized God’s people and carried them off into exile will now be seized by another pagan king and be carried off into exile.

This is stunning, but when we look past the actual happenings what we see is a a God Who is pleased to work this outcome in this way.

Wow! This is beyond my pay grade.

And we are only half way through v. 11. Now let’s consider the 2nd half.

Isaiah 46:11 (ESV)

11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.

To quickly summarize:

I have said things…those things I have said, will happen because there is a pleasurable reason for which they are happening and so it will happen as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow morning. (PNW)

So here is my summary of these things so far.

MY SUMMARY –

God is the unequaled, solitary Being in the universe, Who is able to (Himself), actively execute and achieve all of His intentions that are rooted in His pleasurable purposes.

We should worship. Our jaws should hit the floor.

Nothing has ever happened, or will ever happen that God did not purpose to happen.

“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” - Abraham Kuyper

So this is the teaching from just one text that shows us God is sovereign. We could go to many, but we just chose this one today, but we just pulled on one rope…the sovereignty rope…what about the other rope called Human Responsibility? (TENSION)

Both must be yanked on in order to accomplish God’s purposes and that is exactly what we see in Phil. 2:12-13

Philippians 2:12–13 (ESV)

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

We are called to “obey” and “work out.” We have a real, tangible responsibility AND it is God Who is sovereignly working “in us” because he is “pleased to.”

We work, God works. God works, we work. God is sovereign and we have responsibility.

And do you know the first primary application that Paul applies in this text after showing us our responsibility?

Philippians 2:14 ESV

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing,

Don’t grumble! Don’t complain! Don’t dispute. Stick out like a star in a dark place. Be like an offspring of God in a crooked and twisted and depraved generation.

So Christians aren’t fatalist. Fatalism teaches that God, if he even exists, does all things arbitrarily and without purpose or without motive. We know that is not the way God portrays Himself in the Scriptures. He is personal. He rules and governs all things for His glory and out of love for His people. He works all things for their good.

Fatalism says “whatever will be will be” therefore do whatever you want to do, since it is all determined anyway. – this will end up in a bad place. The Bible teaches that man is responsible for his actions. He must obey God's law. He must respond to the Word. He must believe on Christ to be saved and after he is made into a new creation he is called to walk by faith and not by sight in a narrow path and in a manner that is worthy of the calling he has recieved so that they bear much fruit.

So we can see that humans have a MASSIVE responsibility and God is MASSIVELY sovereign.

But is any of this a comfort to us? This is the biblical teaching on God’s sovereignty and human responsibility, but open your eyes and look around and notice with me the mess that the world is in.

Look at all this mess. There is a lot of mess. We have been messed with and we have made a mess of our own lives.

Now many people, including myself wonder and sometimes out loud, “What good is it if God sovereign, look at this place?” Yes God is sovereign, but can we call into question His goodness? If God is in control, but is cold and capricious, than I am going to be compelled to cower in fear of Him. That would be a scary universes to live in.

To answer this question let’s go back to the playground for a moment.

We have already enjoyed the teeter totter and swing set of the interplay between the Sovereignty of God and our responsibility…but let’s head over to the monkey bars and switch out our human responsibility for God’s goodness and see how God’s sovereignty and His goodness coexist.

First of all…if you have ever watched America Ninja Warrior, are over 35 and haven’t done a pull up in 15 years, and if you are also curious to see if you could replicate what you are seeing those super-humans are doing with their bodies, let me ease your mind. You can’t. In your pride you might try, but pride comes before a fall. All your tendons will stretch like like bad elastic and you will come crashing down to the ground and suffer some blunt force trauma!

To make it across the monkey bars you have to hold on to a bar and then propel your body forward and hold onto another one. Sometimes you have to hold onto both and grab a breath or two, but as you start up again you will notice that there is a whole series of bars you have to hold onto to make progress.

The two bars that we need to progressively hold onto as we make our way across the playground of life is God’s sovereignty and God’s goodness.

There may not be a scarier thought in all of life than to be aware of a God who exercises universal efficacious control who is not bound by goodness.

If God is the all powerful divine being that is NOT bound by His own goodness, I don’t want to exist in universe because I would conduct my life in constantly worried and anxious waiting for the lightning bolt to come obliterate me at any moment for any reason.

So is God simultaneously sovereign and good?

Well I want to ease your mind with one quick verse and then quickly take a journey through the life of Jesus to see just how “good” God is!

Psalm 62:11–12 (ESV)

11 Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, 12 and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.

So this is the, quick take two of these verses and call me in the morning” version of pastoral care, here is a verse that demonstrates God has power and God possesses steadfast, that is loyal and faithful love towards us. Looks good on a refrigerator, but let’s look at the life of Jesus to see a more robust version of the same thing.

There was a time when Jesus was just showing up on the scene when Nathanael said to Philip,

John 1:46 (ESV)

46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Good question Nathanael…let’s take a journey and see.

One time there was a “theoretically good, law abiding” man who approached Jesus and said,

Luke 18:18–19 (ESV)

18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

First, Jesus makes sure that this guy understands that there is only ONE who is really “good” and that is God alone and then Jesus continues to dialogue with this man and exhorts him to keep all the commandments, sell all that he has and then distribute the money to the poor and then he gives him this one final command...

“Follow me.” - Luke 18:22

These are interesting words. This is an action that a Shepherd would want his sheep to do. The shepherd leads and the sheep follow.

Jesus is giving some authoritative commands to this man who had come to Him with his questions, but is Jesus giving good advise? Is He worth following?

Well we can see His credentials when we flip over to the the Gospel of John where He informs us that there are people that want to kill, steal and destroy us, but that He isn’t one of them. He says,

John 10:10 ESV

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Ok, Jesus well how are we going to have this abundant life that you talk about?

I feel like it is God is the one in His sovereignty that is trying to steal from me.

I feel like it is God in His sovereignty is the one who is trying to kill me.

I feel like it is God in His sovereignty that is the one who is trying to destroy me. Look at this mess. If God is so “good” and you promise to give abundant life to those who follow you, how are you going to pull that off?

Heres how…let’s keep reading.

John 10:11 ESV

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

I am the Good shepherd…follow me.

Let me assure you and comfort your hearts by demonstrating my goodness by “laying my life down for yours.” Let me show you my goodness by taking your place on a cross. Let me see if you can see my goodness as they pound nails in to my flesh, nails that should have been rightfully and justifiably pounded into yours. Watch me “lay down my life” as the “good shepherd” and see if that does anything to your wondering mind as to whether or not I am both sovereign and good!

And so now the argument comes full circle and we can tell Nathanael…the only thing that was good came out of Nazareth.

Sovereign and good. Christ crucified according to the sovereign plans of God, so that we could experience His goodness as we enjoy Communion with Him.

This is Good News.

This should be the only source of comfort for you. God is Sovereign and He has demonstrated that He is good. What more could you want in a Sovereign Being that was pleased to lay His life down for you?

Communion:

Coming out of communion

How is God’s sovereignty a comfort to me?

You embrace this tension by an act of your childlike faith. Children don’t understand everything parents do, so kids sometimes just have to trust and obey in order to experience blessing and personal happiness (Someone should write a song with those themes).

I want to hold out for you a few examples of when I did this right. I could list of millions of times when I to this wrong, but instead of me bleeding all over place, let me highlight a few times when I got this right.

My best friend in world died on the mission field in Indondesia. Phil Penner - We want to understand God and package him (but this will cheapen His glory and reduce Him) –

Elijah birth story

One final analogy before we watch a graphic video of modern day marvels who held tightly to the twin truths of God’s goodness and His sovereignty.

I want you to think of the sovereignty of God like the powerful current in a river. You can either fight against it and still be swept away or you can let it carry you.

Saul fought against it in and it hurt him. Acts 26:14

Acts 26:14 ESV

14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

Job flowed with it and he worshipped.

Job 1:20–22 ESV

20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Listen to these final words of Jesus and consider them as you watch this video.

Luke 12:32 ESV

32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

These people are modern day examples of Hebrews 10:32-35 Christians.

Hebrews 10:32–35 ESV

32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

Belief in God’s sovereignty is what sustained these people through the trials they faced.

PLAY THE VIDEO:

SING THE SONG: Sovereign Over Us / Shout to the Lord

Bendediction:

How does belief in the sovereignty of God combat worries, anxieties, fears and evils?

Helps me realize that it is not all up to me. The weight of the world is not on my shoulders!

It comforts me because purpose is powerful and it removes the burden of ultimate responsibility.

The point of the universe is GOD and His glory and not me.

Isaiah 45:5–7 ESV

5 I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. 7 I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.

What is your favorite thing to do at a playground?

Has thinking about God’s sovereignty, His goodness and our human responsibility increased your trust in God?

Are there difficulties or hardships in your life at this time that a more thorough understanding of God’s sovereignty will help you as you make your way through it?

How might your worries, anxieties and fears be curbed by a wholehearted embrace of God’s Sovereignty and Goodness?

Do you sometimes think of luck or lack thereof, as causing events to happen in your life? What if you viewed those outcomes as events under the control of your wise and loving heavenly Father. How does that make you feel differently about them and about the future generally?