The School of the Foundations of the Christian Faith “The Creator and His Creation.” Lesson 1. God and His Sovereignty. The school consists of 22 lessons. The founder of the school is the Christian Bible Institute.
1. God—the Author, Creator, and Lord of Everything That Exists
The Nature of God
God is the One who created everything. His nature is such that He exists independently of anything and anyone. He is eternal. He exists of Himself. No one created Him. God is the only Person who has existed eternally.
This makes God absolutely distinct from everything else that exists in the universe. He is the Creator, and everything else is His creation.
Deut. 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!
This means:
- God can do everything He wants
- Everything that exists in the universe exists for Him
- He establishes laws and rules for everyone
His sovereignty is guaranteed not only by His unique absolute nature, but also by His absolute wisdom and absolute power.
God’s Wisdom
God possesses absolute wisdom—absolute knowledge and absolute abilities that enable Him always to reach perfect decisions.
God’s Power
God also possesses absolute power. He is absolutely independent of everyone and everything, and He possesses absolute authority. This means that, being involved in the affairs of the universe, the earth, and humanity, God is absolutely unrestricted in His actions. He always does what He considers necessary. He has all the wisdom, power, and authority necessary for this.
When presenting God to the Athenian philosophers, Paul speaks of Him as the One who possesses real authority
Acts 17:24 God, who made the world and everything in it, is the Lord of heaven and earth. He does not live in temples built by human hands, Acts 17:25 nor does He need people to serve Him with their hands, as though He needed anything, for He Himself gives everyone life, breath, and everything else. Acts 17:26 From one man He made all humanity, so that people would inhabit the whole earth, having determined the appointed times and boundaries of their dwelling place.
Paul says that God not only created humanity but also appointed the predetermined times and boundaries of our lives. God did not ask us where or in what era we wanted to be born. We do not dictate terms to God; rather, God places us in the circumstances He considers necessary.
God not only has power. He truly governs all His creation, everything that exists in the universe. Dominion is God’s practical governance of everything taking place in the universe—dominion.
God’s Sovereignty
Since God is the Creator and Sovereign of all, absolutely everything that exists belongs to Him. He possesses absolute authority and absolute power to govern the entire universe.
The Bible contains many passages that speak about God’s sovereignty. Here are a few of them:
Psalm 113:11 Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.
Isaiah 40:22 He sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to live in. Isaiah 40:23 He reduces rulers to nothing and makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Isaiah 40:24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have they taken root in the ground, than He blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind carries them away like straw. Isaiah 40:25 “To whom will you compare Me? Who is My equal?” says the Holy One. Isaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created them? He who brings out their host by number and calls them all by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:27 How can you say, Jacob, and complain, Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord; my God has ignored my cause”? Isaiah 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding is unsearchable.
Foundations of God’s Sovereignty
God’s absolute sovereignty is a quality inherent in His nature. God did not receive this sovereignty from anyone. It is the natural state of God’s being. This truth is confirmed by numerous testimonies.
1. Biblical Foundation
The Bible begins with God as the absolute and central Person: “In the beginning God created.” Genesis 1:1
The Bible ends with God and His absolute, undeniable sovereignty—Revelation 1, 21–22, “the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.”
2. Logical Foundation
The existence of anything requires the existence of an absolute first cause, which is self-sufficient and self-existent by nature. Such a first cause can only be the absolute and perfect God.
3. Lexical Foundation
God’s absolute sovereignty is expressed in His name by which He revealed Himself to the people of Israel. The name Yahweh (often translated in the Russian Bible as “Lord”) means “I am who I am.” This expresses God’s absolute self-sufficiency and independence, Exod. 3:14; 6:3
3. God’s absolute sovereignty has always existed and continues to exist
Although there are many situations in the world in which it seems to people that evil is winning, God has never lost His absolute authority over the universe.
Ps. 145:13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your rule endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to His promises and gracious in all His deeds.
Jer. 10:10 But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and everlasting King. When He is angry, the earth trembles, and the nations cannot withstand His wrath. Jer. 10:11 Say this to them: The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth will disappear from the earth and from under the heavens. Jer. 10:12 But God made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. Jer. 10:13 When He raises His voice, the waters in the heavens roar; He brings up clouds from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from His storehouses.
Lam. 5:19 You, Lord, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation.
4. 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. God has enough authority and power to govern everything:
1 Chr. 29:11 Yours, Lord, are greatness and power, majesty, victory, and glory, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom. You are exalted as Head over all. 1 Chr. 29:12 Wealth and honor come from You; You rule over everything. In Your hands are strength and power to exalt and establish all things. God reigns over the authorities of this world
Dan. 4:31 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my reason returned to me. Then I blessed the Most High; I praised and honored Him who lives forever. His dominion is an everlasting dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to generation. Dan. 4:32 All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?” Dan. 4:33 At that same time, my reason returned to me, and my royal honor, splendor, and majesty were restored to me. My advisers and nobles sought me out, I was restored to my throne, and I became even greater than before.
Prov. 21:1 The king’s heart is like a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He directs it wherever He wishes.
God reigns over the underworld
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.
God reigns over the devil
Job 1:9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied to the Lord. Job 1:10 “Have You not placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his flocks and herds have filled the land. Job 1:11 But stretch out Your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” Job 1:12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, everything he has is in your hands, but do not lay a hand on the man himself.” Then Satan left the presence of the Lord.
God reigns over everything
Ps. 102:19 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His royal authority rules over all.
Review Questions:
- What is the sovereignty of God?
- How is God's absolute nature expressed?
- How is God's absolute wisdom expressed?
- How is God's absolute authority expressed?
- What is the dominion of God?
- What does God rule over?
Bible verse to memorize: Acts 17:24–26
Source: Christian Bible Institute
