| “SOVEREIGNTY: GOD GETS TO BE GOD” 1 Chronicles 29:1-20; Matthew 26:47-56 Olivet Covenant Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA © Rev. Linda Jaymes, 3/1/2009 |
In last week’s sermon on the doctrine of Divine Providence, I mentioned that in Calvin’s view, the doctrines of creation
and providence go hand in hand. His argument is that if we acknowledge that God is the Creator of all there is, we must also
realize that God would not abandon his creation but continues to govern and guide it. My own observation in regard to all these
doctrines and in fact everything having to do with God is that it all goes hand in hand. Our Triune God is the only perfectly
integrated being that exists, and so all individual doctrines and beliefs about God are woven very closely together. They overlap
and complement each other, the same way scripture does.
For example, we say that scripture interprets scripture and so what is written in one book of the Bible often explains
something written in another. Something written in the book of Revelation may actually become clearer to us when we read the
book of Daniel or one of the Gospels or even the book of Genesis. All of scripture hangs together because God is the subject
of scripture, the One revealed in scripture and the unifying thread that holds it all together. And so by studying all of scripture
we are able to understand not only the individual parts but also the big picture that God has revealed.
The same is true with these various doctrines that I’ve been preaching about. It’s impossible to completely separate or
divorce one doctrine from another—since they all have to do with God. And so today’s topic, the doctrine of God’s
Sovereignty, will have some overlap with some of the other doctrines we’ve studied over the last few weeks.
To explain the Sovereignty of God, let’s begin with a general definition of sovereignty. Various dictionaries define
sovereignty as the quality or state of being sovereign; the exercise of, or the right to exercise supreme power, or dominion,
sway or supremacy over a defined territory. An earthly “sovereign” is a king or queen or emperor who rules with absolute
authority over his or her subjects. Ultimate power rests in this one person, the sovereign. People who live in countries that are
still ruled by a monarchy probably understand the term better than we Americans who have never had a king. We have a
representative government that intentionally distributes power among its different branches, rather than in one person, because
we know that when it comes to humanity, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Thankfully, that is something we don’t have to worry about with God, since God is perfect, loving and good. And since,
as we discussed last week, “Father knows best.” we trust that in God’s Sovereignty He has the absolute right to do all things
according to his own good pleasure (Dan. 4:25, 35; Rom. 9:15-23; 1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 4:11). Actually, by definition, God is
already the Almighty, the Supreme Being, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, and so to say that God is Sovereign is almost
redundant. It’s like saying “God is God.” But maybe by saying that it helps to remind us that God truly is the Supreme ruler of
all.
Again, by definition, to say something is supreme or ultimate means there is nothing like it, nothing as good as it and
certainly nothing better than it or above it—and it’s the same with God, who is the Supreme Being. There is no one like Him;
there is no one in the same category or on the same level with Him, let alone above Him, there is no one who holds more power,
authority or control than God. God is Sovereign; the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of the universe is also the King and Ruler
over all. And so when we talk about the Sovereignty of God what we are saying is that God gets to be God, and our role is to
acknowledge and respect that reality and submit to God’s power and authority and rule.
Of course, that’s easier said than done. Too often we give verbal and intellectual assent to the idea of God’s sovereignty
while refusing to submit ourselves fully to his rule. We may turn over bits and pieces of our lives to God, but we tend to hold
many things back. Too often we live as if we don’t really think God knows what He’s doing; we don’t trust that Father knows
best and we live as if we know better! We pick and choose and try to obey those parts of his word that make sense to us while
disregarding others. We tend to create God in humanity’s now fallen and tarnished image, rather than trust that He is the
Sovereign that scripture describes. That’s why we need to be immersed in scripture. The Bible reiterates the nature of this
Sovereign God over and over again to make it clear that Almighty God, who created and who reigns in power and majesty over
all that is deserves our loyalty, love, respect and worship. Today’s Old Testament lesson gives us a good example of what that
looks like.
Toward the end of his life, king David of Israel made plans to build a Temple for this Sovereign God. But God decided
that David should not be the one to build it, because he was a man of war. God decided that David’s son, Solomon—a name
which means “peace”—should be the one to build the temple, and David respected and honored God’s decision in this matter.
David may have been king of Israel but he realized that his kingship was nothing compared to God’s. David accepted the fact
that “Father knows best” and was content to work on preparations for the temple and gathering building materials for it. David
also donated huge sums of his own money toward the project and inspired the people to give as well. In fact, they gave so
willingly and generously that everyone rejoiced to see such a positive attitude and spirit among the people of Israel.
David couldn’t help but respond with praise to God and as we heard, his prayer or song of praise is a beautiful example
and picture of his understanding of the Sovereignty of God. David praised the Sovereign God when he declared (1 Chronicles
29:11-13),
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.
David then went on to verbalize his amazement that this God of the Universe, the Sovereign over all, should make it
possible for David and the people to give as generously as they had. David acknowledged what we sing every week in response
to the offering of our gifts during worship, namely, the fact that everything we give to God comes from his hand in the first
place, and without his sovereign rule we would be a people without hope. After all, because God is our King we live solely by
his grace and at his pleasure and through his provision, and David was well aware of all this. He understood his place as a
subject of his Sovereign Lord. David’s words in Psalm 8 say it so beautifully, where he wonders “what is man that God is
mindful of him?” In more contemporary language we might say, “Why on earth does the King of the Universe want to have
anything to do with us humans?” Or to use Eugene Peterson’s concise words in The Message, “Why [does God] bother with
us?” Why, indeed?
I think part of the answer to that can be found in today’s New Testament lesson. I actually had a very hard time choosing
a New Testament lesson this week, and you may feel that this passage from Matthew is a rather peculiar choice. But the Holy
Spirit seemed to bring it to my mind and as I considered it, I came to the conclusion that it demonstrates God’s sovereignty on
two different levels.
On one level, it gives us that image of God’s sovereignty that I’ve been talking about, the one where God is clearly King of
the Universe. As Jesus was being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, one of his followers cut off the ear of one of the
servants of the Jewish high priest. I’m sure that disciple thought he was doing something admirable in his attempt to defend
Jesus from those arresting Him. But Jesus told him to put his sword away, explaining that there were more than twelve legions
of angels at Jesus’ disposal that He could call upon to rescue Him. That little sentence alone tells us two things about God’s
sovereignty: first of all, it reminds us that God is sovereign not only over us humans but also over the angels and all heavenly
beings, for they were all created by Him. Secondly, it tells us that the armies of our Sovereign God are numerous and
powerful. One Roman legion was made up of 6,000 infantry men and 120 cavalry, so if we do the math we discover that those
12 legions of angels at the Lord’s disposal totals more than 72,000! That’s a lot of angels!
The second level on which this passage demonstrates the Sovereignty of God is found in the same verse, but it is not so
obvious. It’s the part where Jesus doesn’t call on that army of angels to rescue Him! What I am trying to get at here is that
the Sovereignty of God isn’t always about a demonstration of power and authority as we humans would define it. In this case,
God’s Sovereignty is revealed in the Lord’s refusal to be rescued at all. God’s Sovereignty means that as King of the Universe
and Supreme Ruler over All, God can do anything He wants to do. That’s what I mean when I say that “God gets to be God.”
And in our Sovereign Lord’s “Godness” (as well as goodness) what He wants to do is save us. He chooses to go to the Cross
and give up his life because 1) it’s the only way that the prophecies contained in the Hebrew Scriptures can be fulfilled, and 2)
more importantly, it is also a vivid demonstration of God’s love for his creation and particularly and especially for us humans.
Therein lies at least a partial answer to that question of why God is mindful of humanity at all: simply because He has
chosen to love us. God has every right to do that, whether it makes any sense to us at all. After all, even strange choices and
decisions are the prerogative of kings and rulers. They get to do what they want; in this case, God gets to be God. And, I
might add, to quote something Bobbie King said during Bible Study this week, “God is doing an excellent job!”
As Sovereign, God decided long ago—from all eternity, in fact—to love us and to provide a way for us to be a part of his
eternal Kingdom. That “way” is Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us on the Cross. We acknowledge our thanksgiving for that
sacrifice every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, a word that means thanksgiving. For when we repent of
our sins and reaffirm our faith in the One who died for us, not only do we acknowledge that God gets to be God, but also that
each of us is so very thankful that He does.
Let us pray.
and providence go hand in hand. His argument is that if we acknowledge that God is the Creator of all there is, we must also
realize that God would not abandon his creation but continues to govern and guide it. My own observation in regard to all these
doctrines and in fact everything having to do with God is that it all goes hand in hand. Our Triune God is the only perfectly
integrated being that exists, and so all individual doctrines and beliefs about God are woven very closely together. They overlap
and complement each other, the same way scripture does.
For example, we say that scripture interprets scripture and so what is written in one book of the Bible often explains
something written in another. Something written in the book of Revelation may actually become clearer to us when we read the
book of Daniel or one of the Gospels or even the book of Genesis. All of scripture hangs together because God is the subject
of scripture, the One revealed in scripture and the unifying thread that holds it all together. And so by studying all of scripture
we are able to understand not only the individual parts but also the big picture that God has revealed.
The same is true with these various doctrines that I’ve been preaching about. It’s impossible to completely separate or
divorce one doctrine from another—since they all have to do with God. And so today’s topic, the doctrine of God’s
Sovereignty, will have some overlap with some of the other doctrines we’ve studied over the last few weeks.
To explain the Sovereignty of God, let’s begin with a general definition of sovereignty. Various dictionaries define
sovereignty as the quality or state of being sovereign; the exercise of, or the right to exercise supreme power, or dominion,
sway or supremacy over a defined territory. An earthly “sovereign” is a king or queen or emperor who rules with absolute
authority over his or her subjects. Ultimate power rests in this one person, the sovereign. People who live in countries that are
still ruled by a monarchy probably understand the term better than we Americans who have never had a king. We have a
representative government that intentionally distributes power among its different branches, rather than in one person, because
we know that when it comes to humanity, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Thankfully, that is something we don’t have to worry about with God, since God is perfect, loving and good. And since,
as we discussed last week, “Father knows best.” we trust that in God’s Sovereignty He has the absolute right to do all things
according to his own good pleasure (Dan. 4:25, 35; Rom. 9:15-23; 1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 4:11). Actually, by definition, God is
already the Almighty, the Supreme Being, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, and so to say that God is Sovereign is almost
redundant. It’s like saying “God is God.” But maybe by saying that it helps to remind us that God truly is the Supreme ruler of
all.
Again, by definition, to say something is supreme or ultimate means there is nothing like it, nothing as good as it and
certainly nothing better than it or above it—and it’s the same with God, who is the Supreme Being. There is no one like Him;
there is no one in the same category or on the same level with Him, let alone above Him, there is no one who holds more power,
authority or control than God. God is Sovereign; the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of the universe is also the King and Ruler
over all. And so when we talk about the Sovereignty of God what we are saying is that God gets to be God, and our role is to
acknowledge and respect that reality and submit to God’s power and authority and rule.
Of course, that’s easier said than done. Too often we give verbal and intellectual assent to the idea of God’s sovereignty
while refusing to submit ourselves fully to his rule. We may turn over bits and pieces of our lives to God, but we tend to hold
many things back. Too often we live as if we don’t really think God knows what He’s doing; we don’t trust that Father knows
best and we live as if we know better! We pick and choose and try to obey those parts of his word that make sense to us while
disregarding others. We tend to create God in humanity’s now fallen and tarnished image, rather than trust that He is the
Sovereign that scripture describes. That’s why we need to be immersed in scripture. The Bible reiterates the nature of this
Sovereign God over and over again to make it clear that Almighty God, who created and who reigns in power and majesty over
all that is deserves our loyalty, love, respect and worship. Today’s Old Testament lesson gives us a good example of what that
looks like.
Toward the end of his life, king David of Israel made plans to build a Temple for this Sovereign God. But God decided
that David should not be the one to build it, because he was a man of war. God decided that David’s son, Solomon—a name
which means “peace”—should be the one to build the temple, and David respected and honored God’s decision in this matter.
David may have been king of Israel but he realized that his kingship was nothing compared to God’s. David accepted the fact
that “Father knows best” and was content to work on preparations for the temple and gathering building materials for it. David
also donated huge sums of his own money toward the project and inspired the people to give as well. In fact, they gave so
willingly and generously that everyone rejoiced to see such a positive attitude and spirit among the people of Israel.
David couldn’t help but respond with praise to God and as we heard, his prayer or song of praise is a beautiful example
and picture of his understanding of the Sovereignty of God. David praised the Sovereign God when he declared (1 Chronicles
29:11-13),
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.
David then went on to verbalize his amazement that this God of the Universe, the Sovereign over all, should make it
possible for David and the people to give as generously as they had. David acknowledged what we sing every week in response
to the offering of our gifts during worship, namely, the fact that everything we give to God comes from his hand in the first
place, and without his sovereign rule we would be a people without hope. After all, because God is our King we live solely by
his grace and at his pleasure and through his provision, and David was well aware of all this. He understood his place as a
subject of his Sovereign Lord. David’s words in Psalm 8 say it so beautifully, where he wonders “what is man that God is
mindful of him?” In more contemporary language we might say, “Why on earth does the King of the Universe want to have
anything to do with us humans?” Or to use Eugene Peterson’s concise words in The Message, “Why [does God] bother with
us?” Why, indeed?
I think part of the answer to that can be found in today’s New Testament lesson. I actually had a very hard time choosing
a New Testament lesson this week, and you may feel that this passage from Matthew is a rather peculiar choice. But the Holy
Spirit seemed to bring it to my mind and as I considered it, I came to the conclusion that it demonstrates God’s sovereignty on
two different levels.
On one level, it gives us that image of God’s sovereignty that I’ve been talking about, the one where God is clearly King of
the Universe. As Jesus was being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, one of his followers cut off the ear of one of the
servants of the Jewish high priest. I’m sure that disciple thought he was doing something admirable in his attempt to defend
Jesus from those arresting Him. But Jesus told him to put his sword away, explaining that there were more than twelve legions
of angels at Jesus’ disposal that He could call upon to rescue Him. That little sentence alone tells us two things about God’s
sovereignty: first of all, it reminds us that God is sovereign not only over us humans but also over the angels and all heavenly
beings, for they were all created by Him. Secondly, it tells us that the armies of our Sovereign God are numerous and
powerful. One Roman legion was made up of 6,000 infantry men and 120 cavalry, so if we do the math we discover that those
12 legions of angels at the Lord’s disposal totals more than 72,000! That’s a lot of angels!
The second level on which this passage demonstrates the Sovereignty of God is found in the same verse, but it is not so
obvious. It’s the part where Jesus doesn’t call on that army of angels to rescue Him! What I am trying to get at here is that
the Sovereignty of God isn’t always about a demonstration of power and authority as we humans would define it. In this case,
God’s Sovereignty is revealed in the Lord’s refusal to be rescued at all. God’s Sovereignty means that as King of the Universe
and Supreme Ruler over All, God can do anything He wants to do. That’s what I mean when I say that “God gets to be God.”
And in our Sovereign Lord’s “Godness” (as well as goodness) what He wants to do is save us. He chooses to go to the Cross
and give up his life because 1) it’s the only way that the prophecies contained in the Hebrew Scriptures can be fulfilled, and 2)
more importantly, it is also a vivid demonstration of God’s love for his creation and particularly and especially for us humans.
Therein lies at least a partial answer to that question of why God is mindful of humanity at all: simply because He has
chosen to love us. God has every right to do that, whether it makes any sense to us at all. After all, even strange choices and
decisions are the prerogative of kings and rulers. They get to do what they want; in this case, God gets to be God. And, I
might add, to quote something Bobbie King said during Bible Study this week, “God is doing an excellent job!”
As Sovereign, God decided long ago—from all eternity, in fact—to love us and to provide a way for us to be a part of his
eternal Kingdom. That “way” is Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us on the Cross. We acknowledge our thanksgiving for that
sacrifice every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, a word that means thanksgiving. For when we repent of
our sins and reaffirm our faith in the One who died for us, not only do we acknowledge that God gets to be God, but also that
each of us is so very thankful that He does.
Let us pray.
