SUNESIS MINISTRIES

 

 

Written by Stuart Pattico

 

© 2007 Stuart Pattico. All rights reserved. No part of this document mat be produced or transmitted in any form without prior permission from the author.

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.

 

 

When we say that God is sovereign, we mean that God is in control of absolutely everything.

 

This doctrine can be properly defined by four points:

 

1. Nothing happens without God’s permission
2. This does not mean that everything that happens is God’s desire
3. Nevertheless, God uses everything that happens for His purpose
4. Ultimately, God’s purpose will prevail

 

Let us now explore these four points with examples from the Bible.

 

 

Nothing happens without God’s permission

 

Jesus taught us this aspect of God’s sovereignty by giving the following illustration:

 

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. (Matthew 10:29 KJV)

 

Here Jesus shows us that not even a bird falls from the sky without God’s permission. This reveals that God is in control of even the smallest details of everything that happens. As we shall see, God is in control of everything. However, such a statement causes many to question the ethical character of God. If He is in control of everything, why does He permit evil to function in this world? This question brings us on to the second point.

 

 

This does not mean that everything that happens is God’s desire

 

This point is demonstrated by comparing the following two passages of Scripture:

 

3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4)

 

14 Because^[a] narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:14)

 

1 Timothy 2:3-4 states clearly that God wants everybody to be saved. However, Jesus said in Matthew 7:14 that only few will be saved. God will permit this to be the case even though it is not His desire.

 

This is further seen when we simply look at what is happening in the world today. It is not God’s desire that people should die through war, famines, poverty, and earthquakes etc.

 

32 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 18:32)

 

Nevertheless, God permits these things to happen. Why? Firstly, God permits these things to happen because He appointed humans to have dominion over this world. When the first humans rebelled against God and yielded to the evil one (Satan), all these evil things entered into the world also. Evil has a legal claim on this world because man (who has dominion over the world) yielded to the evil one.

 

 

…through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12)

 

Secondly, God permits these things to happen because He will use even these things to accomplish His purpose. Satan did not score a point against God when he caused Adam and Eve to sin. Rather, God knew in advance that this would happen, and already decided to use the evil in this world as a tool to accomplish His own purpose.

 

Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. (Acts 15:18, KJV)

 

 

God uses everything that happens for His purpose

 

This point is revealed very clearly in the following portion of Scripture:

 

11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:11-12)

 

In this verse, Paul says that God works all things according the counsel of His will. The phrase ‘all things’ includes everything and excludes nothing. So everything that happens is being worked by God in accordance with the counsel of His will. What is this will? It is revealed in the next verse: “that we…should be to the praise of His glory”. This means that everything that happens in this world is actually happening for our good! Everything that happens is being used by God to make His people lives, character and conduct ‘to the praise of His glory’. This is amplified by Paul in his epistle to the Romans:

 

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:28-29)

 

 

In these two verses, Paul states that God causes all things to work together for our good. Again, ‘all things’ refers to absolutely everything that happens in the world. All these things work together for our good. What is this ‘good’ that he speaks of? This is revealed in the next verse: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son”. To put it simply, God is using everything that happens in the world to make His people more like Jesus. This is what it means to be ‘to the praise of His glory’.

 

 

Ultimately, God’s purpose will prevail

 

The Bible assures us that God’s purpose will always prevail. Here are just two scriptures that indicate this:

 

God is described as:

 

Declaring the end from the beginning,
      And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
      Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
      And I will do all My pleasure,’ (Isaiah 46:10)

 

There are many plans in a man’s heart,
      Nevertheless the LORD’s counsel—that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21)

 

God will do what He wants and no one will stop Him. We have said that His purpose it to make us ‘to the praise of His glory’ by making us like His Son Jesus. This is exactly what He will do. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reveals this intention of God:

 

Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25-27)

 

The apostle John had the privilege of being shown the future, and he was able to see the outcome of this intention:

7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” (Revelation 19:7)

We can be assured that God’s purpose will always prevail.

 

 

 

God’s Sovereignty In All Things

 

In order to broaden our appreciation of God’s sovereignty, various Scriptures are given below which show God’s sovereignty in everything.

 

 

God is control of which governments / rulers come of power:

 

 1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. (Romans 13:1-2)

 

the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses. (Daniel 4:32)

 

 

God is in control of what world rulers do:

 

1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD,
      Like the rivers of water;
      He turns it wherever He wishes. (Proverbs 21:1)

 

 

God is in control of all the good and bad things that happen in this world:

 

7 I form the light and create darkness,
      I make peace and create calamity;
      I, the LORD, do all these things.’ (Isaiah 45:7)

 

6 If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?
      If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it? (Amos 3:6)

 

 

God is in control of sickness and death:

 

39 ‘Now see that I, even I, am He,
      And there is no God besides Me;
      I kill and I make alive;
      I wound and I heal;
      Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand. (Deuteronomy 32:39)

 

 

26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26)

 

58 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, 59 then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses. 60 Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. 61 Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the LORD bring upon you until you are destroyed. (Deuteronomy 28:58-61)

 

 

God is in control of Satan and demons

 

6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain?”
So they said, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”…

23 Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you.” (1 Kings 22:6, 23)

 

 

14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. (1 Samuel 16:14, KJV)

 

 

26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes,^[c] which is opposite Galilee. 27 And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes,^[d] nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” 29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.
30 Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?”
And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.
32 Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. 33 Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. (Luke 8:26-33)

 

When the Bible speaks about God brining sickness upon someone, it doesn’t always mean that God is directly involved. God may only be involved in so much that He permits Satan and his demons to afflict someone with sickness. This is clearly seen in the Gospels, where Jesus would often cast out a demon in order to heal someone. This is also seen in the story of Job. At the beginning of the book we read that Satan afflicts Job. However, toward the end of the book, it says that God did it:

 

6 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.”
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. (Job 2:6-7)

 

and they consoled him [Job] and comforted him for all the adversity that the LORD had brought upon him. (Job 42:11)

 

 

God is in control of who is promoted:

 

6 For exaltation comes neither from the east
         Nor from the west nor from the south.
 7 But God is the Judge:
         He puts down one,
         And exalts another. (Psalm 75:6-7)

 

 

 

 

Why Does God Permit Suffering?

 

Seeing as God has control over all these things, why does He permit human suffering? The answer to this is threefold:

 

Firstly, as we have seen already, evil has a legal claim over the world.

 

Secondly, because the world refuses to believe in Jesus and receive His free forgiveness, it remains under God’s anger.

 

36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (John 3:36)

 

Thirdly, God permits human suffering so that He is glorified when people are healed, delivered, and when His power is demonstrated:

 

1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him…

6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. (John 9:1-3, 6-7)

 

 

God permits suffering upon His own people for the following reasons:

 

To develop godly character:

 

3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4)

 

2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4)

 

 

To chasten His people when they sin:

 

31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. (1 Corinthians 11:31)

 

14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. (James 5:14-15)

 

 

Notice in the above verse that it says “the Lord will raise him up”. This shows us that it is not God’s will that we should abide in sickness or disease. We must remember that in everything, God wants to show us His mercy and compassion:

 

11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. (James 5:11)

 

Job was someone who endured sickness. However, when he was healed he saw “the end intended by the Lord”. The Lord’s intention is to show us His compassion and mercy by healing us.

 

We must also remember that though Job’s trial, the Lord was also teaching the devil a lesson. The devil’s accusation (see Job 1:9-11, 2:4-5) was proved wrong and Job was triumphant over him. Sometimes God permits the devil to attack us just so that we can triumph over him and bring glory to God.

 

 

Let us summarise the main points we have covered in this article:

 

1. Nothing happens without God’s permission.

2. This does not mean that God likes everything that happens. However He permits these things to happen because of the presence of sin.

3. No matter what happens, God will use it for our good.

4. God’s purpose will prevail.

 

Let us conclude with following verse, where Joseph testifies of God’s good purpose, despite the evil treatment he received from his brothers:

 

20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. (Genesis 50:20)