God's Sovereignty In All Things
by Darrin Brooker
"I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."
These were the last
written words of Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City Bomber, before his death on
June 11th, 2001. It should not surprise us that an unbeliever would utter such
words. What should surprise us, and sadden us, is that many who profess Christ,
view their own salvation in much the same way. They view the moment of their
conversion as an independent act of human will performed by the creature and
not as a sovereign act of God performed in the creature.
Regrettably, the sovereignty of God is an issue little
talked about in our day. The truth of the matter is that many people are
selective in the areas they think and believe God to be sovereign. Oftentimes,
these same people will boldly assert that their 'free choice' was the causal
agent of their conversion and not the effectual calling of the Holy Spirit in
fulfilling God's decree of election. It is essential that this error be pointed
out as such because, simply put, if we do not regard God as the 'determining'
cause of our salvation then we do not regard God as sovereign in all things.
(Rom. 11:36) Jonathan Edwards once said that the sovereignty of God will be "the
stumbling-block on which thousands fall and perish; and if we go on contending
with God about his sovereignty, it will be our eternal ruin." If we do not
exalt God as sovereign, and sovereign in all things including the salvation of
His people, then we knowingly usurp the glory due His name.
For the true believer, God's sovereignty is the
greatest of all comforts and not some antiquated, theoretical doctrine, as many
would have it portrayed. We should feel secure in the fact that God chose a
people unto salvation before the creation of the world; that He sent His Son to
secure that salvation through His death on the cross; and that He sent His
Spirit to effectually call and eternally seal those for whom Christ died, in
order that none of them should be lost. (Eph. 1:3-14) Dear friends, what
greater comfort could there be than knowing our salvation, from beginning to
end, rests fully in the hands of Almighty God?
Let us resolve to acknowledge God as sovereign over
all things and heed the warning of Paul when he said, "... be no more
children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by
the sleight of men..." (Eph. 4:14) Let us safeguard our hearts and minds
and insure that we worship the sovereign God of scripture in all His glorious
attributes, rather than "the unknown god" (Acts 17: 23) of our own
imaginations. And may we not go through the intellectual exercise of merely
attaining a knowledge of God, but endeavour, with both heart and mind, to know
God Himself.