Sovereign God, the Lord Yhwh.
I was recently asked why I had such trouble believing in a Sovereign God.
So I decided to do a word study on the word Sovereign.
Sovereign - Webster’s definition
Supreme in power. Possessing supreme dominion or jurisdiction, royal
Free of outside influence or control…the person having the highest power of authority in a state, as a king, queen, monarch.
Sovereignty
The state of being sovereign the supreme power in a state, an independent government.
This word is not found in Strong’s Concordance nor in the King James Version of the Bible. The word used there is Lord (as opposed to LORD which signifies the name of God - YHWH or Yahweh)
Lord - Websters
A person possessing supreme power and authority, as a ruler, governor, monarch.
Strong’s Concordance
Lord - Adoni- controller, master, ruler, sovereign
Psalm 8 - as I pray through it.
Oh LORD, our Lord
Oh YHWH our Master, Controller of the Universe, (but not puppet master)
Your name is Majestic (Hallowed be Thy Name)
Your glory and excellence is manifested by your works. (Romans 1)
Especially the starry heavens. You know each star by name and they sing your glory. (Job 38:7)
Babies know and praise the LORD in their innocence. And the enemy is silenced.
It is amazing that the LORD is mindful of man, that He visits him.
Not in Anger, but with grace and mercy.
You made man to have dominion over Your creation
You made man to care for, be stewards (the parables) of your creation.
I have no problem accepting the Sovereign God.
Nor do I have a problem accepting the God, who, when creating the most beautiful of His creatures, that which He created in His own image and likeness (male and female He created them Genesis 1:27) He gave them ability to choose. The responsibility to choose. It was the choice of man which allowed evil to come into the world. This was not part of the perfect plan of a loving God, in whom there is no darkness. It did not surprise Him, but it grieved His heart. It was not part of His perfect plan, but He had a plan to counter act the bad choices of mankind. The cross.
I am a teacher. I make plans for my class. Sometimes those plans go smoothly. Sometimes they do not. Sometimes, mid lesson I have to adjust my plans. The plan is for the whole class. But the class is made up of individuals. Sometimes an individual is responsible for the plan to go badly. Usually, in spite of the individual, the plan works out.
I am a parent. I know my children. I can predict how they will behave in certain circumstances. Sometimes they surprise me, some times they disappoint me. I never stop loving them. I am always there to help them recover and learn from their mistakes.
I am an imperfect human being, but I understand terms like King and Lord and Father and Bride and Mother Hen. I will not say that my sin was part of God’s perfect plan. Like everyone else, I fall short of His glorious plan for me. But it is my doing not His. He did not write my pain and sorrow and shame and shortcomings into my life before I was born. Some times things that seem bad are part of his plan. Like when we have to take yucky medicine to make us well, or get a shot to prevent illness. But evil and sin are not part of his plan. When we sin, it is going against His plan. perhaps that is the very definition of sin.
He created me with gifts and talents. He created me with a purpose. He bestowed and continues to bestow upon me grace. He shows me mercy. He leads me, not into temptation. He leads me. He attempts to lead us all. But he does not force the way.
He offers all grace, but does not force feed us. Once we turn our will over to Him, He uses us to do His will.
Jesus is the Way. Faith in Jesus is the only insurance we have. I believe in Jesus.
Part of the One God in Trinity.
Fulfiller of prophesy.
Born of a Virgin through Holy Spirit.
Teacher, Savior, Good Shepherd, Lamb of God
Died on the cross for the sins of the world.
Resurrected as proof of His power and Glory
Coming again to judge…
I claim Romans 10:9-10
“If you confess with your mouth the LORD Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
8 comments:
Hey, Sister,
I haven't been actively blogging or surfing for the past few weeks as well, was busy & just fell really sick...I am down with gastric flu & ulcers in the throat that boils me down with fever & pain...
Yet, I know I am healed in Jesus name, not trying to be...manage to wrote a new entry just on my blog after a long fiasco...pray for me the Devil is trying to deceive me with the pain...
Thank you for your concern, really appreciate your thoughts!
May the Lord keep you & bless you!
It is hard for me to beleive that God's perfect plan did not include evil, and He came to the realization later of His shortsight and was greived by it. This idea seams contradictory to me reasoning.
Because, the plan was either NOT perfect, or the planner was not God.
Suggesting that evil was itself an ill surprise, and unaticipated means that the plan was in-fact flawed. A flawed plan cannot come from God because God is Flawless.
If indeed this was the plan, and it is indeed from God, then it must not be flawed! and the flaw must lie in our understanding of it.
I can not concieve of a God that is flawless and yet grieves after imperfect , gone-wrong, and flawed planning.
To my reasoning, the true flawless God is The Perfect Creator of all that exists (seen or unseen), and every single creation has a purpose since our God is not a purposeless God.
He created good and evil so that He may test us in our love/fear, obedience to Him. In His love He created more good than bad. A cure for every disease (discovered yet or not). In His justice sent countless true Messengers, and Prophets, and revelations through them to enable, and guide us towards good, and provided clear guidance to what is evil. In His justice, He gave us free will, ability to reason, ability to love, ability to be compassionate before He sent all the revelations. He gave us control over a certain limited dominion. Our free will cannot negate the Will of God. If bad occurs, it occurs before God allows it occur. But, God does not cause evil to occur. He created is, and warned that people's certain actions will cause evil to occur, and guided us how to prevent and stay away from creating evil. Whose responsibility is it now?
Ofcourse, He is also Most Merciful, if He wishes, He can forgive and prevent harm upon falling on thosee who do evil.
I have some typos above that change the meaning:
"This idea seams contradictory to me reasoning.
Because, the plan was either NOT perfect, or the planner was not God." should be read as...
"This idea seams contradictory to me reasoning because, the plan was either NOT perfect, or the planner was not God."
"If bad occurs, it occurs before God allows it occur." shoud be read as...
"If bad occurs, it occurs NOT before God allows it to occur."
it is interesting to read the thoughts of those who are not typically western thinkers, as it is to read the thoughts of someone who once was and is no longer a follower of Jesus.
I do not believe that God created evil. I believe He created choice.
Obviously He was not surprised when mankind chose evil, after 1/3 of the angels did the same. Disappointed, but not surprised. Grieved but not caught off guard. He had a plan. A plan for the salvation of His children.
I hear ya! ;-)
I consider myself a follower of jesus...
Brainsyke - I believe it more likely that I am the former follower of Jesus she was referring to, not you. Or at least I am one of them. I don't think there is an accusation there.
As to your approaches on evil. First, I must say that to an extent I believe Brainsyke has the right of it. God's perfect plan can't leave room for something to exist that He didn't plan for. This would indicate a flaw. That which you call evil must be part of the plan.
Bear in mind though that evil is not a static thing that can be pointed to. A man shoots an innocent man, it is evil. A man shoots a man to save a bank full of hostages, not so evil. Whether or not something is wrong, or so wrong as to be called evil is a moral decision based on the guidance of God.
All manner of things exist, and we have choices about how to deal with them. We either deal with them in a Godly manner (good) or go against God's teachings (evil). God created a world in which we could theoretically stand opposed to him. That means God created the potential for evil, and we as men took that potential and have at times used it.
Wow..an interesting post..I like what you say "He offers all grace, but does not force feed us. Once we turn our will over to Him, He uses us to do His will." He definitely never forces..and gives us a choice..choose life that you may live. and then after all Jesus IS the way the truth and THE LIFE..that we may choose His way..know the truth and Live in Him and through Him...
Awesome post.
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