Grace & The Sovereignty of God

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14).

Genesis 1:1 reads, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Moses wrote these words as a statement of fact, not as a theory or idea to be argued or confirmed through human means. God is - always has been, always will be. Because God is and has created all that exists or permits to exist all that exists, He is sovereign. Because He is the sovereign Creator, He is Lord over His creation and has the freedom to do with His creation as He wills.

The God of Scripture depends on nothing and is accountable to no one for His existence or His actions. (Psalm 24:1-2) The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters. (Psalm 50:7-12) Hear, O My people . . . I am God, your God! I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are continually before Me. I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats out of your folds. For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness. (Act 17:24-27) God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. . . .

God is not obligated to man for anything. He does not owe it to anyone to pity or pardon them. If He does show pity, and if He does pardon the guilty, it is of His own free will to do so . . . He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:45). And the fact that He does do so is the result of His grace. (Romans 9:15-16) For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

When we recognize that it is God who decides each man’s destiny based on whether or not He determines to save him from sin, and this is a decision which only God Himself makes of His own free will, only then can we begin to realize and appreciate His amazing grace that saves us.

“Father in heaven, thank You for Your great grace shown toward me. I am awed by Your love, mercy, patience, and kindness, but I am overwhelmed by Your grace that makes all of these possible in my life. Thank You for Jesus who has made this possible, and Your Holy Spirit who has opened my eyes to these things. I thank You in the name of Jesus, Amen.”  

Pastor