Category Archives: sovereignty of God

To grasp the vision of the immortal sons and daughters of God, we must confront the reality of God’s sovereignty. God is totally in control. He rules. He governs every detail of our lives and every event unfolding on earth. He is the Supreme Authority, acting according to His will without seeking our permission.

God oversees all that occurs within human governments. As these words are written and read, He is ruling. Nothing happens that He has not foreseen, ordained, or allowed. “The powers that be are ordained by God.” Their rise, influence, and wealth unfold under His sovereign hand. Every moment in history—past or present—flows from His purpose.

The old hymn declares, “Thou art the Potter, I am the clay…Have Thine own way.” Yet the weight of that truth escapes our finite minds. The Creator sits at His wheel, shaping human vessels from the clay He formed. Some He fashions for common use, others He refines for noble service. His workings often remain hidden, for His ways exceed human understanding. Some vessels are shaped for beauty and honor, others for ordinary tasks. And some, never brought to the kiln, are pressed back into the original lump, their brief form absorbed into His greater design.

But many resist this truth. They do not like the life they have been given—the “cards” God has dealt. When they learn that He has mercy on whom He wills, they protest: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists His will?” Paul answers, “But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?” (Rom. 9:18–21).

He is sovereign. He does what He desires with His creation. Yet humans imagine themselves masters of their own destiny. Even those who stride insignificantly across the world stage think themselves formidable.

Consider Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (605–562 B.C.). His encounters with Yahweh, recorded by Daniel, taught him the hard truth of divine sovereignty. Nebuchadnezzar ruled a vast and wealthy empire, and Babylon itself was a wonder of the ancient world. But he failed to acknowledge the Source of his greatness. He boasted, “Is not this great Babylon that I have built…by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?” This, despite being warned in a dream that he would be struck with madness for seven years, “that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will” (Dan. 4:17, 30).

The dream came to pass. For seven years he lived like a beast. But when his sanity returned, his pride was gone. He confessed, “I blessed the Most High…whose dominion is an everlasting dominion…all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing…none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, ‘What are You doing?’” (Dan. 4:34–37). The most powerful man on earth learned that God rules—and that all earth-dwellers must reckon with His sovereignty. Nebuchadnezzar discovered it the hard way. Kenneth Wayne Hancock