Jud. 11:12-28, Communicable Attributes (16, Sovereignty)

c)     Sovereignty: absolute authority over everything He has created. 

Psalm 2:4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision. Some may think God is cruel to laugh.  But in the previous verses the powerful people of earth announced their plan to throw off God’s authority.  That is a truly silly thought and produces the laughter.

Psalm 4:3 But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to Him.  Those who fear and seek God should take comfort in God’s authority over all creation.

Psalm 9:7 But the LORD shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment. God’s judgment throne is forever.  It will never be different: the only opinion that matters for any of us is God’s!

Psalm 33:11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations. Likewise, God’s plan(s) will always be fulfilled.  Our need is to be part of what He is doing.

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!  Since God is sovereign over all creation, all creation exists to exalt Him.

Psalm 141:8 But my eyes are upon You, O GOD the Lord; In You I take refuge; Do not leave my soul destitute. Again, sovereignty comforts God’s people.

Acts 17:24-27 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.  The truth that catches my attention is in v26.  God has preappointed the times and boundaries of the nations.  Over history nations have fought wars over boundaries (see today’s reading, esp. v23-24).  And note that the reason is so each nation, as they live in their land, will be moved to seek God.  God’s sovereignty exists in connection with all His attributes.  He is not arbitrary and unpredictable as the gods of this world.  Any “unpredictability” is the result of the foolishness of men and their refusal to pay attention to His word.

Revelation 19:6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!  This must be the heart of mankind today, not just in the future revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Again, this is a “communicable” attribute.  The God who created all things gave man dominion over that creation (Gen. 1:26-28).