The Amazing Sovereignty of God
But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
- Genesis 45:5 (NKJV)
And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 45:7-8 (NKJV)
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
- Genesis 50:20 (NKJV)
In my devotional reading I have been reading through the book of Genesis and I am struck by the almighty sovereignty of God. It resounds so clearly in the life of Joseph who was sold by his own brothers into slavery (Genesis 37:28) and told to his father, Jacob, that he was dead (Genesis 37:31-35). Even in bondage it seemed that Joseph's faith was always on the Lord God and yet he continued to suffer one setback after another (Genesis 39:19-23; 40:23). In the end, Joseph rises to power in Egypt and becomes the second most powerful man under Pharaoh (Genesis 41:42-45).
And despite all that took place in Joseph's life, his faithful focus on God leads him to conclude that God Himself used the evil acts of his brothers to bring about God's sovereign plan. Joseph amazingly recognized that God uses even the sinful acts of men to bring about His sovereign purposes. As Martin Luther said of Satan, "Even the devil is God's devil." Nothing and no one is above the sovereign rule of God and He is able to use even the sinful choices of men to bring about His divine purposes. That is simply amazing!
John Piper, in his book Spectacular Sins, points out that God used even the worst of sinners in the Bible to bring about His purposes. This is not a motivation to sin but it does show that God can use even our failures for His purposes. Piper points out that God used even the greatest sin in the Bible, the betrayal of the Son of God, to bring about His purpose in the death of His Son (Acts 2:23-24). While Peter pointed out that they crucified the Lord of glory and they needed to repent (Acts 2:37-38), he also saw that this happened because of God's sovereignty. God foreknow the sinful choices of men and He used them to glorify His name. Amazing is our God!
Some open theist believe that the future is partly open in that God does not know the free will choices of people but He acts based upon those choices. I agree that God created us with free will but I also believe in the absolute sovereignty of God and I believe that through foreknowledge, God foreknows all that will come to pass. I don't understand this sovereignty nor do I expect any theologian to be able to explain how people are free to make free choices yet God foreknows those free choices and His purposes are already set. As Robert Picirilli points out, "It is enough for me to know that God foreknows even sinful acts of men based on 1 Peter 1:20." Because God foreknew that Adam would fall, He still allowed Adam to make the free will choice to fall and He did not force Adam to sin or not to sin. He allowed the free will choice to come to pass though God foreknew it would come to pass (1 Peter 1:20).
God is not shocked, therefore, when people sin. He foreknows their acts. He foresees all that will come to pass (Isaiah 46; 8-11; 48:3-5). Nothing happens that God does not know about before it takes place and for His own purposes He allows things to come to pass (Romans 11:33-36).
For me, it is enough for me to simply trust in the Lord. I don't always have the answers why things happen in my life but I trust in the Lord. I lean on Him and His perfect wisdom. I am learning to bless His name even when difficult times come. That is not easy (James 1:2-5). Like any other person, I have, at times, wanted to simply give up on this journey of faith but like Peter, I run to Jesus and declare that there is no where else I can turn since He alone holds the words of eternal life (John 6:68-69). I am learning to wait on the Lord knowing that His purposes will come to pass in His perfect timing (Psalm 27:14 NKJV).
It is enough for me right now to simply bow before the Lord God and humbly declare, "You alone are sovereign and You alone reign forever more. Let me be in the center of Your will, obeying You, and I will bless Your name no matter what comes my way (Job 13:15)!"


