What does it mean to say that God is Sovereign?
The older translations of the Bible don't use the title Sovereign, though many new translations have added it more as an interpretation over a translation. We know God is Sovereign because he is called a king; by definition, a king is a Sovereign. The Bible describes God as a Father, and in a household, a father is sovereign. I can go on with depictions of other sovereigns used to describe God, a master, over servants. These are positions that have authority. Sovereignty means authority, unchallengeable authority, or final authority. A king over his kingdom can order the death of a person or allow them to live depending on his mood or the rules he's set in place. Being able to make decisions without having to answer to anyone else is Sovereign. While a father tends to be more compassionate in that sense, or as Jesus said, "you being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will you Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him" Matthew 7:11. Yet, the father is sovereign over his household. Sovereignty is not always seen the same in the management of the one who is the authority. How a sovereign allows those under him or her to experience their authority is understood by knowing the person or living under the person, even, but not the best way is hearing about the person from those under their authority.
Do they allow freedom?
Do they micromanage?
Are they tyrannical?
Do they allow free choices, while still able to get the best results for the direction they are aiming?
As far as God's Sovereignty, understanding how he exercises it must be understood by studying the Scripture. Right from the beginning, we understand God as Creator. That alone gives him complete authority. Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." That sentence alone tells us God has unchallenged authority. Nothing exists without Him. As we read through the Bible, we can put in place the character of God and how he allows us to live under His authority. One thing we can learn for sure he allows us to choose autonomy over obedience. Our choice does not change his authority. As the ultimate authority, he also brings the consequences for our choices. We see that in Genesis 3 with Adam and Eve. He promised in Chapter 2, "from every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Another point to understand about sovereignty, a sovereign sets the rules and the consequences. What God laid out for Adam and Eve set up a clear understanding of how God exercises his Sovereignty in the world he created. He sets the rules and looks for our obedience. He could have forced it. The angels appear to have one direction they can go, obedience. While human beings are given rules and are allowed by the Sovereign God to obey or desire autonomy (serving the god of this world), our choice impacts our life and eternity, yet he gives them to us. The decisions we make, though many will say, are meticulously chosen by God; I believe God allows us to truly make them freely, and no matter what move we make, He will still accomplish His ends. He did not create us to be robots.
What does it mean that we were made in the image of God?
We are distinctive from animals because God created animals and specifically said, "now let Us make man in Our image." Humans have rationality, creativity, volition, and moral judgment. The latter is hard to know how much was present before the fall. We can read about the fall in Genesis 3. The moral judgment allows us to recognize what is right and wrong. Without the fall, there would be no wrong to distinguish from good. "God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good." He could have made us like the angels, obedience to Him without question, but it appears that they obey with joy. In 1 Peter 1:10-12, we read that angels "long to look into these things." The things concerning salvation. Even though they are obedient, He reveals His sovereignty by allowing the angels' curiosity.
He could have made us like animals. Animals are exclusively instinctive beings. Instead, he chose to make mankind, so that we would choose Him back. He chose to make us so that we would remember His benefits, Psalms 103&104, and willingly obey and worship Him. He made us so we would observe all He has created and bow to Him as Sovereign and willingly become His servants in friendship, John 15:15. He also allowed us to turn our backs on Him. We all choose one or the other. Many will say that choice was made for us, and we will come to one or the other conclusion based on God's decision for us before the beginning of time. There are Scriptures that may even appear to communicate that. I believe there is another, exegetical way, of reading those passages differently, in context.
The biblical character that comes to mind when I think of God as Sovereign of the heavens and earth and our opposition to Him in our quest for autonomy is Naaman. In 2 Kings 5, the characters' dynamics are a beautiful picture of God's goodness and our freedom, the love He offers us for our spiritual healing, through the story of the healing of Naaman's leprosy. The story opens with us learning that Naaman is the leader of the Syrian army. "By him, the LORD had given victory to Syria." It also says, "He was a mighty man of valor, but a leper." Even though he was a leader in Syria, his Israeli servant girl cared enough about him to communicate to his wife where he could find healing. The man of God in Israel. We read about the characteristic of humility in Naaman as he acts on the direction given by his wife from the servant Israeli girl. Jumping ahead, Naaman is directed by the man of God, Elisha, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean."
Simple instructions, no more difficult than what was directed to Adam, "from every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." The instruction is clear, obedience for them, both Adam and Naaman, a choice. Obedience brings one outcome, and disobedience another. Was it necessary to know why the particulars were set in place? NO! Why couldn't Adam and Eve eat from the fruit God said not to eat? Trusting/obedience or not was the test, and the specifics were not explained. In Naaman's case, he wanted an explanation. He thought, "Indeed (the man of God) will come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy. Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" That is what autonomy argues. It wants its cake and to eat it too. While it was Satan in the form of a snake that tempted Eve, and she then offered her husband the forbidden fruit, in Naaman's story, it was his own understanding that attempted to thwart him.
One of the faces of autonomy is looking to our own understanding, so we question what God directs. "Did God really say?" "Wouldn't this or that be better?" "It cannot be that simple." What we learn from the story of Naaman is while God is Sovereign, having the power to create and heal or not to heal, his compassion is new every morning. That is the kind of Sovereign, that is The LORD.
Alongside Naaman was another servant who honored and respected him and, at risk of his own life, he challenged he who was sovereign over him, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says, 'wash, and be clean?'" While Adam and Eve had God who walked with them in the garden, God gives us people who have been put in our life to offer us admonition and correction, so that we may be trained in righteousness. God demands we die to ourselves, not polish and shine our understanding, in a prideful uprising.
Our Sovereign Lord exercises His authority by telling us He "opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." We see that exhibited in Naaman's life. A man not even connected to Israel was offered healing by the Sovereign of the universe. A God who loves the world and gave His Son to die for the people in it. Naaman had to choose to obey. The instruction given by the man of God was God's instruction to Naaman to be obeyed or disobeyed.
As Sovereign, God offered Naaman the tool of a humble and bold servant to help him see the wisdom of following obediently the simple yet, grace-filled instruction. What Naaman would choose was truly his choice. Yet, the only way he'd be healed was obedience. To choose autonomy was to choose a life lived out until leprosy killed him. We get to choose to oppose God and live until sin kills us, never experiencing the freedom from sin and death offered by His Son. We also get to choose to humbly bow and recognize there is Only One True God, One Holy Sovereign, revealed to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, and receive life.
This is the same with every human that walks this earth. The Holy Spirit impresses on our hearts the need to live for the Sovereign Creator God. "When the Spirit comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment, John 16:8" We sense the convictions He brings, then each man, woman, or child chooses to ignore or relent. As 2 Kings reads, Naaman was offered clear instructions to begin walking in wholeness and health. We are told in Isaiah 53 that Jesus would come to bring wholeness and spiritual health. He died to bring us the offer of life, eternal life. Adam and Even had clear instructions from the Sovereign Lord of creation. He said, "It was very good," It would have remained good if obedience was their choice. Sadly, their choice brought death, not just to mankind but to all of creation. That is another thing we learn about God's Sovereignty. He allowed man's choice to sin, to impact His Creation. Why? Psalm 115:16 "...he has given the earth to mankind." He allowed man's choice to disobey to impact the place we were to live. That does not weaken God, far from it. It shows the graciousness of Him as Sovereign LORD. Adam and Eve received the consequences of their choice. Those who choose God through obediently following Jesus, seen in their fruit-bearing lifestyles, doing all that Jesus taught, will have the privilege of living on the new earth when His Son returns for us. Let me get back to Naaman.
Would Naaman choose autonomy stemming from a prideful heart, or would he obey the man of God and receive life? As we continue to read, we will see the words of his servant changed Naaman's mind "He went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, ... and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." It would be amazing if that was the end of the story. It is not. While Naaman was healed because he obeyed, physical healing is not the foremost gift God as the Sovereign Creator wants for any of us. He wants a restored relationship with each of us. Spiritual healing is God's aim for mankind.
He may heal, or answer our prayer concerns, but not simply for the sake of simply answering our prayer. What Adam and Eve broke, intimacy with the Sovereign, God corrected by sending His Son to bridge the divide where autonomy existed. He wants us to surrender and recognize He is the authority, not ourselves. We also can recognize that Satan is a defeated foe. Just like Naaman's leprosy, it had no power over him anymore. Through obedience, what held him captive was no longer his captor. He was set free because he chose to obey and honor the one who makes his dwelling place those who do so.
In God's Son, Jesus, all authority in heaven and earth is placed, Matthew 28:18-20. We are free to accept that and follow Him as LORD or to continue doing life our way, dying from the leprosy of the soul. Choosing our way, and autonomy over the freedom of following Christ is a death sentence. Naaman's story has a beautiful ending. He not only was healed physically, but spiritually. He recognized the God of Israel as the ONLY TRUE GOD. He swore allegiance to the God of Israel. Those who choose God and His Right as Creator, and Sovereign to exercise authority over our lives and the heavens and earth, will meet Naaman and hear his story from him one day. That is exciting to think about.
Remember, however, the Sovereign Creator of the universe wants you to choose Him. Not doing so doesn't thwart His ultimate plan, but the consequences are too great not to say, "Yes, LORD, whatever you say, I will obey. You are the Sovereign, and though I do not always understand, You have proven yourself as a good, good Father, an honorable King, and a gracious Master. I bow in humble submission and turn from autonomy to serving you, the ONE TRUE GOD! The Sovereign Creator of heaven and earth." Amen!
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