Lesson 1. God. A school on the foundations of the Christian faith that every Christian should know. The school consists of twelve lessons. The founder of the school is the Christian Bible Institute.
God’s Absolute Sovereignty
1. God—Author, Creator, and Lord of All That Exists
God is the One who created everything. His nature is such that He exists independently of anything and anyone. He is eternal. No one created Him. God is a Person who has existed eternally.
Since God is the Creator and Lord of all, absolutely everything that exists belongs to Him. He possesses absolute authority and absolute power to rule the entire Universe.
- Acts 17:24–28 “God, who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything. 26 And He made from one blood every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their dwelling, 27 that they should seek God, if perhaps they might reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us: 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being.”
- Isaiah 40:22–28 “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before Him; He stretches out the heavens like a thin fabric and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. 23 He brings princes to nothing and makes the judges of the earth meaningless. 24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely are they sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the ground, when He merely blows on them and they wither, and the whirlwind carries them away like stubble. 25 To whom then will you compare Me, and who is My equal? says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? Who brings out their host by number? He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one is missing. 27 Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel: ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my cause is disregarded by my God’? 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor grows weary; His understanding is unsearchable.”
2. God’s absolute sovereignty has always existed and continues to exist without interruption.
Although there are many situations in the world in which it seems to people that evil is prevailing, God has never lost His absolute authority over the universe.
- Psalm 145:13 “13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations.”
- Jeremiah 10:10–13 “10 But the Lord God is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation. 11 This is what you shall say to them: The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens. 12 He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. 13 When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth, produces lightning with the rain, and brings the wind out of His storehouses.”
- Lamentations 5:19 “19 You, Lord, remain forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation.”
3. God reigns over everything that exists
God’s sovereignty extends not only over all time, but also over everything that exists in the world. God has sufficient authority to govern everything and everyone.
- The sufficiency of God’s authority to govern everything: 1 Chronicles 29:11–12 “11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty; for everything in heaven and on earth is Yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all. 12 Wealth and honor come from You, and You reign over all; in Your hand are power and might, and in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.”
- Sovereignty over the authorities in this world:
- Daniel 4:31–32 “31 At the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me; then I blessed the Most High and praised and honored the Ever-Living One, whose dominion is an eternal dominion and whose kingdom endures from generation to generation. 32 All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing; He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
- Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like streams of water; He directs it wherever He wishes.”
- Sovereignty over the realm of the dead – Amos 9:2 “Though they dig down to the realm of the dead, from there My hand will take them; though they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down.”
- Sovereignty over the devil – Job 1:9–12 “9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not put a hedge around him, his household, and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But now stretch out Your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.’ 12 And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your hand; only do not stretch out your hand against him.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.”
- Sovereignty over all – Psalm 102:19 “The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.”
God’s absolute goodness
God is not only the absolute Sovereign; He is also absolute goodness. God is good, and therefore His nature determines what is good.
1. Goodness—the essence of God’s nature
- Everything God does is good: the word “good,” describing what God does, is used seven times in the first chapter of Genesis: 1:8, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31.
- The Bible explicitly affirms God’s goodness
2 Chronicles 5:13 “and when the trumpeters and singers were as one, making one sound to be heard in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord; and when they raised their voices with trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments, and praised the Lord, saying, ‘For He is good, for His mercy endures forever,’ the house—the house of the Lord—was filled with a cloud”
Psalm 24:8 “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He teaches sinners in the way.”
2. God—the true standard of goodness
The concepts of “good” or “bad,” “goodness” or “evil,” are defined differently in the cultures of various peoples and groups.
In His very essence, God is goodness. Since God is good, everything that rebels against God and His nature is evil.
Only God, the one absolute, self-sufficient Person and Creator of all that exists, can truly determine the standard of goodness.
- God determines what is good – Genesis 1:4
- God determines what is not good – Gen. 2:18
God’s absolute justice
1. God is the only absolute Lawgiver of the Universe
Every law has a lawgiver who is its author. To become a lawgiver, one must receive the right to do so from a higher authority. Since God is the highest and absolute authority, He Himself is the source of the right to establish laws.
- Isa. 33:22 “For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us.”
- Jas. 4:12 “There is one Lawgiver and Judge, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?”
2. God is the only true standard of justice
God, being absolute by nature, is also the only standard of justice. He cannot be unjust.
Some of God’s actions may be incomprehensible to us, but this is only because we do not possess complete information or because our standards of justice have been corrupted by the influence of our sinful nature.
- Exod. 18:19 The words addressed to Moses: “19 Now listen to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: stand before God for the people, and bring their cases before God; 20 teach them the statutes and laws [of God], and show them the way [of God] in which they must walk and the work they must do.”
- Ps. 19:7 “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether; 10 they are more desirable than gold, yes, than much pure gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”
- Rom. 1:28 “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.”
- Romans 9:18 “Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. 19 You will say to me: ‘Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?’ 20 But who are you, O man, to argue with God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it: ‘Why have you made me like this?’ 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?”
3. God’s laws are perfect. By His nature, God will fulfill each of His laws.
God is not only the Lawgiver but also the fulfiller of His laws. Since God is perfect, His laws cannot fail to be fulfilled. The Bible clearly testifies to the unchanging nature of God’s laws.
- Matthew 5:18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle will pass from the law until all is fulfilled.”
- Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”
- Jeremiah 1:12 “The Lord said to me: You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to fulfill it.”
Homework: Memorize Acts 17:24–28
Source: Christian Bible Institute
