MCC Podcasts
Theology Matters - Sovereignty
Thanks Ralph, and thanks for being one of those guys. It's so easy to love Do love you. It's a good man you notice that Rob got through that entire story Without using even one time The no doubt you notice us. He he told us that whole thing without using even one time the word Zweebok Did you notice that? That is an English word and of course, you know that Zweebok is what? It is it's a it's a sliced toasted bread, of course Nor did Rob use the word escalate Somebody in here has to know what it means to escalate You know what it means to escalate Don't worry swine It means to kiss and Rob got through his entire Story without using the word Zweebok or the word Osculate and He probably we want to thank him for getting through his whole story without using the word Zweebok or Osculate because I'm not sure Rob knows those words, but I'm pretty sure that Before I crafted this little introduction. I didn't know those words and most of us here didn't know those words those words are Very very rarely if ever used anymore in the language that we speak We wouldn't have known what they meant. They're not words that are a part of common use anymore Rob shared words that are more common for many of us like pain and change and depth and And small group and connection and love and people and words that mean a lot to us, but they're more common for us But there's another word that Rob didn't use although he certainly implied this word and it's obvious that he's acquainted with this topic It's a more common word, but one that also is Not so often used in common language and it's decreasing in use Let me ask you the question. When was the last time you used in common conversation? O saying the last 24 hours the word sovereignty I mean just imagine this conversation Parent to child I want you to clean your room because I Want you to express respect for my sovereignty over you? Yeah, no, we don't say it like that. How do we say it unless it's changed since I was raising little kids We say it the way same way Brenda says it to me just about every Sunday I want just because I told you so clean the room because I said so that's it, right? The sovereignty isn't even a word that is in our common language anymore now. It's in our Thinking hopefully, but it's not a word that we use all that often all aside from the occasional reference to Maybe a nation a sovereign nation You know the sovereignty of a nation therefore that nation has the right we mean by sovereignty to do what it pleases with its resource Resources and its own borders because it's a sovereign nation. We're not supposed to be up in its cheese all the time But it's not such a common word except in theological circles and in Conversations that get to a certain level of depth when we talk about what actually I would imagine that we come up in I could come up in the the boundaries class they could talk that you're leading Donna the idea of The sovereignty of God and how that the part that plays and all the things that we experience That's my topic this morning. That's the big word that makes a big difference in this series theology matters sovereignty The sovereignty of God and I could have approached this several ways We could have gone to some of the classic text about sovereignty and taught there which would have been fun really I chose to do it differently though I actually want to approach this topic of the sovereignty of God by means of a section of scripture that illustrates our represents our moves forward and Gives us a good example of the sovereignty of God. It's in the book of Romans it's a Text that some of you no doubt will be familiar with Romans chapter 8 Let me read Romans chapter 8 beginning at verse 28 In fact, would you stand with me as as I read this text just a few verses for now Paul says and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him Who have been called according to his purpose? For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son That he might be first born among many brothers and sisters And those he predestined he also called and those he called he also justified and those he justified He also glorified Romans 8 28 through 30 a Text that puts forth moves forward from the idea of the sovereignty of God May God had his blessing to his holy word his fully inspired message to us So go ahead and take your seeds So in reading Romans 8 28 and following and we're we're gonna meander around there for a little bit this morning God expresses his sovereignty By redirecting every human decision and circumstance Toward the support of his ultimate agenda. Did you catch that God expresses his sovereignty by? redirecting every human decision and Circumstance toward the support of his ultimate agenda That's in an in a nutshell what Romans 8 is saying got sovereignty of God all over the place in that text even though It's never specifically mentioned. It's it's there What we've been doing each week with these big words is sort of introducing the word Teaching a little bit about it so that you walk out of here at least was with a basic sort of starter understanding of what that big word means and then finishing by asking the question What's the difference does it actually make a big difference and making some observations about the difference the understanding of that particular topic that particular word that we Can make in our lives and we're not going to deviate from that today. Let's start with focusing on that big word sovereignty as implied in Romans 8 Here's a I think simple but helpful definition of sovereignty. No, it's not a complete definition. It's not a perfect definition This is a delicate intricate topic But this gets us pretty much there by sovereignty of God We mean just a handful of things first that God is the ultimate authority over all creation We also mean by sovereignty of God that he's not merely the official authority or the conceptual Authority over all creation, but the actual functional currently active authority over all creation So this is this is an activated authority. We're not waiting for it or just looking back at it It's it's it's happening now. He's currently the authority Thirdly we mean that this means that his ultimate agenda God's ultimate agenda, or he might say the will of God The plan of God the purpose of God His ultimate agenda cannot be thwarted and his power to accomplish that agenda is unhindered. I Didn't say his specific in detailed plan for your life cannot be thwarted I didn't say that his the next decision you should make you can choose to do it his way or your way that That you have no option except to do it his way But the ultimate plan God has for human history and the direction that history is moving based on that plan Cannot be thwarted no matter what we do no matter what we throw against it It's not dependent upon our obedience to the specific will of God in our lives or anything else It's moving toward the plan. He has for history and it cannot be thwarted that agenda is unhindered and Finally we mean by the sovereignty of God though. He may use them God isn't dependent upon secondary causes to affect his agenda He he doesn't need a battery recharge every once in a while. It doesn't do call in his assistance or depend upon anybody or anything To make sure that history moves to the place that God has it in mind for history to move So that's just a basic imperfect Little bit truncated definition of what we mean by the sovereignty Of God, that's the big word sovereignty if you boil sovereignty down and over simplify it But in a helpful way, which is what we're tempted to do I would say there are basically two things about sovereignty We need to take away and they're found in this text in Romans 8 The new American standard translation that I memorized Romans 828 and goes something like this for God We know that God causes all things to work together for good For those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose He causes all things to work together For good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose Here are the two things that I take from that text that are helpful for us if you boil down what sovereignty means and very Simple in fact overly simplified terms first. It's this that God causes things And there's a lot implied in that I mean the person who causes things is a person who has power to cause things Person who causes things is an initiator Primarily not always a reactor and always a responder God causes things I remember being particularly careful in the early days when I was a young life leader We gather together in South Sacramento for our club And I remember one time we were all praying as a team and in the middle before club that night And we're gonna meet with all these students and one of our leaders prayed a prayer that probably most of us have prayed I certainly have used this language in a prayer Lord help us to do this and help us to do that and help us to reach kids and help Us to be sensitive and help us to hear and that's a good prayer by the way But I remember in that evening in my living room thinking help us God cause us I remember that very then cause us to be able to Hear what these kids have to say and cause us to be sensitive and cause us to be Effective and it wasn't a harsh corrective. It was just a deeper insight for me But this is the God who causes things and this is a really fun text to look at if you studied in the original language Because you will not clearly find the word cause What actually is happening there is it's just a best translation we can come up with because you know Language has done always translate perfectly from in to English literally the text says something like this God works together all things he The the translation causes all things to work together is there inherent in the word But you have the idea of God's powerful activity to take whatever is thrown in his bucket and mix it together To have a different outcome that it otherwise might have had if it had been left by itself You have this idea of got all in one word God Meshes God works together everything to redirect it or to grab benefit from it that wouldn't have been there It's the idea of him steering thing. He reassigns them to serve his purpose. No matter what comes at him He reshapes in other words all things together works things together so they'll serve his agenda it doesn't mean that he fixes all the brokenness of the decisions we may His sovereignty is seen and that he causes things to happen and he's so good and so powerful so all Consuming that he can actually bring good even out of bad you have the nounal form of that same word that's translated works everything together or causes all things and The nounal form of that form of that verb is translated co-worker or companion or work partner And you have that sense of the companion in the co-worker the two people or three people or a team coming together to get a result God works everything together God causes all things to work together for good You might translate that this way. It's rough, but this is give you a sense of the causality the the force that's found in his sovereignty The text says this roughly we are certain and there's a sense. I'm trying to go into all of this But there's a sense that we are absolutely certain Have no doubt at all that God is currently using whatever we throw at him So there's that present sense of the verb there. He is currently causing Whatever we throw at him he's using it our decisions that we make the outcomes of them he's using whatever we throw at him Throughout our decisions for the accomplishment of good as he defines good. That's That's not in the verbiage of the text, but it's it's inherent in the thought of the text work together for good For those who love and follow him for those who have found their true destiny in place in his agenda for humanity Very very loose and rough, but that will give you the sense. I think of what that text Is saying I love the context of this text I love this text so much because it's so helpful and practical But sometimes we forget the context the broader context of the text Paul has just finished lamenting his own failures My goodness the things I want to do I don't do the things I don't want to do I do do any of you feeling very Pauline right now How can I be so committed to this and yet? Life comes out looking like this is recently recently. I was gonna say as recently as last week. Trust me It's been more recent than that Make a decision and you go back and think about it afterwards. What no world was I thinking? That's that's not who we are that's not who I am Why did we come to that decision and it seemed like the right ah? The things I want to do I don't do the things I don't want to do I do who will rescue me from this entrapment When will the duplicity stop? And then in that context he says I don't know but I know this for sure The God causes all things to work together for good For those who love him and are called according to his purpose. That's how strong he is That's how broad and dominant and certain his sovereignty is He's the ruler and he's active but The text goes on because God doesn't just cause things to happen in a vacuum He causes them in response to a plan to a purpose He not only causes things. That's the second point God plans or purposes things in other words his causing is informed by the future agenda that he has set for us that he He causes things to happen in light of where he knows history is going and where he knows He knows where are he wants our lives to go his causing is informed by His plan or his purpose. So those are the if you boil sovereignty down into a practical relevant nutshell It's about two things that God causes things and God purposes things He causes all things to work together for those who are who love the Lord and are what a call according to his agenda According to his purpose according to his desire And the reason Rob that one of the reasons that that hunger for more of him came to you is because of his plan because I want people to look like Christ and So he causes whatever you've experienced in life whatever you brought to it whatever childhood was like pulling all that stuff together To cause things in response to a plan Jeremiah 29 11, you know this God speaking to exiled Israel. I panicking Israel I know the plans that I have for you says the Lord. I got him planned out Romans 829 later in our same text He it's references this idea of God Presetting the destiny or the plan of every Christ follower and what does he preset that destiny to be that? We be conformed to the image of his son your destiny. You know it Your destiny is God plans it for you and that will inform everything He's causing and using in your life your destiny is to become more and more and more like Jesus The example of Jesus the way he lived the way he treated people the way he thought the things he taught to own them To have them incorporated into your fiber The sermon on the mound that's your destiny The plan of God transformation in the world and in our world actively today that's your destiny Your destiny is not to graduate from UCLA Or to be an engineer Your destiny is to be like Christ more and more and more and the rest Is window dressing that maybe helps to contribute to you experiencing that destiny? Ephesians 1 says you see this working out in Paul's theology God works all things It says in Ephesians 1 verse 11 check it out God works all things According to the counsel of his will there again You have that relationship between what God causes and what informs his causing they were going there and so I'm causing Everything to happen here in response to whatever you lay on my lap redirecting us to there Second Timothy 1 9 this even gets really specific because in second Timothy when Paul's talking to his disciple Timothy Paul's Arguing that both he and Timothy received their callings and their giftings based on what the ultimate Purpose of God required of them. So you have God not only taking whatever Our experiences are the good ones and the bad ones and using them and bonding them together and bringing a good result He also is distributing gifts and whispering little messages and equipping us with talents all based on the ultimate destiny that he has for us and for humanity God causes things and God purposes things his sovereignty is Expressed through the fact that he causes our every decision the good decisions hear me now and the rotten decisions To work together to serve his ultimate purpose for us and all of creation you get that the best decisions And the most destructive terrible decisions you've ever made God's not endorsing those decisions He's endorsing his purpose and expressing his sovereignty by taking the worst Consequences and the worst messes and the worst outcomes of the worst decisions you have ever made and Bringing them together and without Mitigating necessarily the natural consequences of that for you He's gonna take and redeem that and even bring something good out of the worst decision you've ever made that's sovereignty He's independent in the forming of that purpose and unhindered in the causing of everything to serve Causes things and he plans things and those are forever connected So the last question here is so what's the difference got the big word? What's the big difference well this is an exhaust this is I mean this list could be long if we were to brainstorm it I just have a few observations and they're not all the observations. They're the ones that come to my heart Here's the first one the God uses everything for good That doesn't mean he always erases as I said earlier the consequences of our unfortunate decisions Actually, I could almost say that he never erases him except that occasionally he does occasionally miraculously He'll minimize the consequences of one of our choices, but not usually Uses them. Yes, he races them. No, and you lock that one in So disappointment with God for not cleaning up the messes we create is unfair to God It's not logically consistent with any promise you see in scripture It's okay to be disappointed with God he understands that but it's really not fair to be disappointed with him for not doing What he never promised he was going to do in the first place what he promises is I will use I will find something good even in your worst night matters But to be disappointed with him because he didn't rescue us from financial message result of our decisions are to be disappointed with him because of evil still sometimes rains around this Those are human result the results of human decisions that are that have always been inconsistent with what God has been saying forever So disappointment with God for not cleaning up the message we create is unfair Expecting him however to bring something wonderful from those painful messes is completely in order There's the call out to God You said you would bring something good even out of this terrible terrible thing. I depend upon your sovereignty I remember your sovereignty. I'd love to see you express it here in fact you promised it So I'm looking for it and that actually gets us To the last part of this first big difference So look for something good to come from what you consider to be your most significant failures look for something good now There's a promise There will be something good that God will bring maybe many Some things out of the worst nightmares of your life even when they're not the result of your choices the worst oppressions and abuses That that that you've experienced in your life God wouldn't never plans for us to have that kind of pain and injustice in our lives But he's so good that even when somebody else's evil is Projected on to us whether we're innocent or not. He's so good that he says I'm still gonna bring something good even out of that terrible Unfair unplanned unblessed pain you experienced I'm gonna make you sensitive to people who have pain like nobody else is sensitive to people who have pain I'm gonna give you opportunities to grow in your ability to forgive that are gonna blow people away on the world Could you ever forgive that? Only by the power of Christ. There's always something good look for it. That's one of the big differences in understanding sovereignty Second I Love the fact that it's not possible then to make a decision that keeps you from an effective and promising future with God Now that's a dangerous statement to make because I don't mean to endorse passivity What the heck I don't have to think I don't have to plan. I don't have to make wise decisions I don't have to seek white counsel never have to read proverbs never have to read scripture because No matter what I do no matter how badly I mess it up God can bring good out of it It's not what we're saying obviously, okay But there are folks who believe the lie That everybody else has a promising future in their walk with God, but they don't because Their secrets are pretty severe and dark Sovereign teammates You can never mess it up so badly that you are kept from an affected promising future with God No matter what we bring to the table how much it stains the hardware God will bring something good. I can use even that he would say you back. That's what he's saying you today I can use even that you and I both wish you would have chosen differently or this would have happened to you Well, I can use that if you'll give it to me Let me craft you with your pain Let me rebuild you Because of your loss It's not possible to make a decision that keeps you from an effective promising future with God third of four that I have to offer you And then we'll finish Think of this if God's sovereignty allows him to bring good out of our worst decisions Imagine what he can do with our best ones That's kind of a fun thought If you are so good that you can bring good out of the bad that I introduce into my own life or the bad That somebody else introduces into my life What can you do with my good and wise and biblical and thoughtful decisions? If you're so good, you can bring positive stuff out of destructive stuff My goodness. What can you do with the healthy experiences? I've had in my life. This is really gonna be fun When this the sky is the limit You think about that that way if he's so good that he can bring good out of the bad What could he do with the good that we offer the wise decisions we make? And I suppose this last big different statement is Connected to the previous ones. Maybe they come out of it And that is at the sovereignty of God in this big different section Freezes followers to live by faith To reject a life of fear in other words the sovereignty of God allows life to become an adventure again The sovereignty of God gives us great security and from that security we say I am going to think through good decisions. I am going to live and make faith decisions I'm going to live the healthy kind of craziness and not the unhealthy disturbing Kind of craziness. I'm gonna live crazy in the way. I forgive. I'm gonna live crazily I guess would be the right way to put it in the way I give I'm gonna invest my life into something that cannot make sense except in The economy of God. How can you feel free to do that? What makes you free to go on an adventure like that the sovereignty of God? He causes things to happen and he plans things and then he causes stuff that moves us toward his plan I'm free to live like life is an adventure the way Christ wanted us to live it I'm free to be like Jesus. Why because no one will ever pull him off his throat There will never be a successful coup Not against our sovereign gives life freedom can you can you catch that? Just some of the big difference made by that big word I Think the rest of Romans eight Might even be the most powerful. So what of the entire? discussion Listen to this. I mean really really listen to this all the same context Paul starting out on man. How I wrap the things I want to do. I don't do don't do I want to do you know what I mean? Who's gonna rescue me from this? I'm sure of this God brings Good even out of my worst decision that then he jumps in on this what then shall we say in response to these things? We've sung this already if God is for us who can be against us He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also along with him graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen since he's sovereign? It is God who justifies who then can condemn since he's sovereign No one Christ Jesus who died more than that who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and also Interceding for us. So there you have that reference. You have a reference earlier to the Holy Spirit Interceding for the church and now you have the son of God the second person with the Trinity praying for you 35 who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword or terrible decision and the consequences of it separate us from the love of Christ as it is written for your Safe we face death all day long. We are considered as sheet to be slaughtered No in all these things. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us for I am convinced Paul says that neither death nor life Nor angels or demons neither the present nor the future nor any powers neither height nor depth nor anything else in all of creation We'll be able to separate us from the love of God That is in Christ Jesus our Lord this spoken by a guy who only sentences earlier Was struggling with the idea that he's way less than he dreams of being that he lives a life of duplicity from time to time at least in the details and He's still convinced because of the sovereignty of God the God who causes things and the God who plans things That nobody can separate him from God's love And that's because of the reign of the Lord Who causes and plans? Who works all things together to good for those who are called according to the destiny he has prescribed For the world and the people He created I'm thinking that maybe it's time we reintroduced that word sovereignty into common language and If not in our habits of speech At least in our habits of life I'm gonna give you a chance to respond and I'm just gonna ask you to stand and we're gonna end with this prayer And I'll pray and you respond in silent prayer But this is we're gonna pray based on one of the prayers of a w tozer in the pursuit of God his chapter Here that we're using isn't specifically about Sovereignty but the freedom that comes from recognizing the sovereignty of God. It's entitled the blessedness of Possessing nothing So it's as much about lordship the the reign of God over our decisions as it is about the ultimate sovereignty of God But let's pray using many of the same words and phrases he used in response Father I want to know you but my coward heart Fears to give up its toys I want to know you and all that's contained there but my coward heart God fears to believe in sovereignty Fears trusting your plan Fears experiencing what you might cause As I'm quiet before you will you correct that in me At least correct it for today I cannot part with those things without inward bleeding and I'm not trying to hide from you the terror of the separation I Come trembling But I do come God Root from my heart all these things all these fears All these old ways of thinking that I have cherished so long which have become a very part of my living self Root from my heart all of that so that I might enter and dwell there With you and you with me without rival Then shall you make the place of your feet glorious Then show my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it For yourself you will be the light of it There will be no night there Would you do that oh sovereign God? You know what God go ahead and cause And go ahead and plan Just cause and plan at the same time you breathe power upon me you might pray To yield to what you cause the hunger for what you plan To participate in those things In the name of Christ we pray and all God's people said amen