Last week in our study regarding the sovereignty of God, we studied how God’s sovereignty was an aspect of His character because it refers to “the unlimited power of God, who has sovereign control over the affairs of nature and history.” In addition, we also studied that when we read the 303 verses that mentions God’s sovereignty most of the times it is referring to God’s, “KINGDOM, KINGSHIP, REIGN, REALM, ROYAL DOMINION, ROYAL HONOR, ROYAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS.”
Even though the following verses do not contain the word “sovereign” we can easily see how they describe to us that God is sovereign.
Psalms 47:7-9
7 For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. 8 God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. 9 The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted.
Psalms 103:19
The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
Daniel 4:17
“‘The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.’
Also last week, we very briefly studied the sovereignty of God in relation to Jesus. This week we are going to briefly look at two portions of scripture that clearly demonstrate that Jesus, by His comments to others, perfectly understood God’s sovereignty by how it related to His very default situation at the time of His arrest and trial. Because of lack of space please read the accompanying insert to fully understand the context of each situation and Jesus’ words.
Matthew 26:47-54
53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”
These verses are a good example of how God’s sovereignty works through His will in a threatening situation. God’s will and sovereignty are not only expressed when He acts in our favor, which He could easily have done in this situation as Jesus so expressed in verse 53. In this instance God’s will and sovereignty are expressed by what He does not do in which Jesus clearly states in verse 54. Many times, we understand a situation only from our perspective. When we do, we fail to understand it from God’s perspective which is expressed by His will and stated in His Word as in this instance. God’s will and sovereignty is expressed in His authority and power not by what seems fair, reasonable or just.
John 18:33
36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
In this verse twice Jesus refers to His kingdom, “my kingdom”. How does Jesus’ statement in this verse relate to God’s sovereignty? In John 10:30 Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” Therefore, we know that Jesus and God are one. As a result, so is the expression and the scope of God’s sovereignty in and through Jesus. John 14:9-19, Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
There are many times in the gospels, we read that God’s sovereignty is expressed in Jesus’ words and actions. In relation to what Jesus was referring to “My kingdom is not of this world.”, and “…my kingdom is from another place.”; we must not forget the definitions of God’s sovereignty, “the unlimited power of God, who has sovereign control over the affairs of nature and history.” Which is referring to God’s “REIGN, REALM, ROYAL DOMINION, ROYAL HONOR, ROYAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS.” in all that Jesus said and did.
God’s Sovereignty is expressed in the authority and actions of His Church
Sometime between the resurrection of Jesus and His ascension to the Father, we read in Matthew 28:18-20, which is well known as the great commission, where Jesus is delegating His sovereign authority to the eleven apostles. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The commentator Warren Wiersbe explains very clearly how “authority” applies to these verses by saying, “In this verse, the word Power means “authority, the right to use power.” The Greek word in this verse for “authority” is exousia, which means delegated influence. So, the apostle’s “the right to use power” was received from Jesus as His delegated influence to them. Warren Wiersbe continues in his explanation of authority in this verse. ”The entire Gospel of Matthew stresses the authority of Jesus Christ. There was authority to His teaching (Matthew 7:29). He exercised authority in healing (Matthew 8:1-13), and even in forgiving sins (Matthew 9:6). He had authority over Satan, and He delegated that authority to His Apostles (Matthew 10:1). At the close of his Gospel, Matthew made it clear that Jesus has ALL authority. Since Jesus Christ today has all authority, we may obey Him without fear. No matter where He leads us, no matter what circumstances we face, He is in control. By His death and resurrection, Jesus defeated all enemies and won for Himself all authority.” The authority that believers have and how it is expressed by what we do in many instances is a reflection or representative of God’s sovereignty which is, “the unlimited power of God, who has sovereign control over the affairs of nature and history.”
This is very clearly seen in Acts 3:1-11 with the healing of the crippled beggar. Peter knew that it was by Jesus’ delegated authority that he had the right to use Jesus’ power to heal the crippled beggar. That is why he said and did the following in Acts 3:6-8, 6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk.
Peter knew that the power to heal the crippled beggar was not innate in him, but it was the sovereign authority and the Holy Spirit that he had received from Jesus that was going to heal that man. That is why he said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” “This was a statement of authority, again not intrinsic authority, but authority delegated to him by Jesus.”
Why such an in-depth study of the sovereignty of God and the authority we received from Jesus? The purpose is to give us the confidence of what the Bible teaches us about the sovereignty of God and have the faith in Jesus to use His authority when we pray for ourselves and or others.
Next week we will be looking at Acts 4:23-31, the “Believers’ Prayer”. A prayer acknowledging God’s sovereignty and authority as it related to the challenging situation they were confronting.
Pastor John
