He no doubt thought he was being very profound, expounding new insights into human thinking and behaviour. He used many words to say what the Bible said many years ago: "As a person thinks within himself, so he is" (Proverbs 23:7).
To rephrase what the lecturer was saying: What we think about God is the most important thing about us. Nothing makes a greater impact on how we live than how we answer the question "Who is God?" How you and I respond to the events and people in our lives depends largely on how we answer that question.
A.W. Tozer said, "Wrong thinking about God leads to wrong living. . . . Our lives will not be greater than our concept of God." Tozer went on to say, "Inadequate living is the direct result of inadequate ideas of God." Living a life defeated by circumstances often comes from having a god that is too small to meet my needs, a god too limited to know what is best for me, a god too weak to take care of the situations I face.
How different is the God revealed in the Bible! There, God is described as holy, faithful, unchanging, loving, pure and good. The list of His wonderful qualities is endless, but none affects my day-to-day living as much as my realizing that God is "sovereign".
This strange-sounding Bible word "sovereignty" prompts two questions: "What does it mean that God is sovereign?" and "What response does God expect from me?"
The Bible tells the story of a man named Job. Job struggled to understand all the things that were happening to him, and he thought that he might know better than God. Finally, he realized: "Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges even the highest?" (Job 21:22).
2. God is all-powerful. The same principle holds true. If God lacked one bit of power, it would belong to someone else. God would then be a limited ruler and not sovereign.
3. God is absolutely free to do whatever He wants. If limits were placed upon Him, God would not be sovereign. Can you imagine the God of Heaven, the Creator, having to ask permission to do anything? And of whom would He ask? You? Me?
In our North American culture, we are prone to tell others how to lead us. We elect government officials and then tell them how to do their job. If we dislike what they do, we do not re-elect them. God's supremacy, however, does not depend on my vote, and since I do not vote Him into His position, I do not hold the right to dictate how He governs. If I did, He would not be sovereign.
That is the heart of the matter. The control is not mine. That makes many of us uncomfortable. The human condition is one which delights in trying to control people and circumstances. When things do not go the way we think they should, we get the idea they are out of control. But the question is: "Out of whose control?" Mine or yours perhaps, but not God's.
Sometimes we are overly independent. Because we find it difficult to submit to others who are in authority over us, we may also have trouble submitting to God's authority. However, just because I do not recognize God's supremacy, does not change it. The truth of the Bible remains: "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours" (I Chronicles 29:11).
Accepting God's total authority requires more than intellectual understanding. Because my limited human thinking prevents me from ever completely grasping the magnitude of God, I need to accept without fully understanding, to allow faith to take over. Acceptance must come before understanding.
Acceptance also includes allowing the knowledge of God to influence how I live. This brings me back to the question "What response does God expect from me?"
2. I have a great desire to know God better. This thirst for knowledge is not an intellectual exercise--a gaining of information--but it is a desire to have a more personal relationship with God. The better I know God through reading the Bible and through experiencing Him in my life, the more I love Him.
3. As my love grows, I learn to trust God. By definition of the word "sovereign", there is no one more trustworthy than God. God's unlimited knowledge, power, love and faithfulness make Him indisputably worthy of my trust. My trust is not based on how I see events unfolding, but on the very character of God. His actions will never go contrary to His nature.
The story of Joseph in the Old Testament section of the Bible is a prime example. Joseph was taunted by his brothers, left for dead, sold into slavery and wrongfully imprisoned, yet he never lost faith in God. Looking back, we are able to see how God controlled events, using what happened to Joseph to rescue the nation of Israel.
Can we see the events of our lives as part of God's plan? Can I trust that God is in control even when circumstances aren't going my way--even when there are difficulites and hardships? When I know God, I will know I can trust Him.
4. When I am able to trust, I am led to surrender. Surrender means letting God take charge of all aspects of my life and the lives of those I care about. He can do much better than I can with the circumstances and people in my life, so I can let God be God. My way ceases to be most important. I do not have to try to manipulate people and circumstances to bring about what I think is best; I let God do that. Surrender means letting go.
A woman grieving over the break-up of her 30-year marriage, a young woman trying to come to grips with a lifetime of abuse, a teenager with little hope for a meaningful future, a man who is angry at how things are going in his life--all have something in common. In order to cope, all of these people need to come to a point of full surrender to God. Without God, there is no hope, no help and no comfort.
Total surrender of all that is me is what the early Christian Paul meant when he wrote: "I urge you, brothers in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God" (Romans 12:1).
God is King. As His subjects, our role is to totally surrender to His sovereignty. When the sovereign is a loving, all-wise, trustworthy God, how happy I should be to surrender to His rule over me!
5. I worship God. Paul goes on to say that surrender is the highest act of worship I can give. Worship is a natural response to a sovereign God. Worship is more than singing songs, raising my hands, praying with the right words, quoting the correct words from the Bible. It is giving everything I have to Him, obeying Him in anything He might ask.
6. Part of obedience is giving up my time and efforts to serve God. No worthwhile servant performs acts of service in order to make himself look good; rather, he serves for the good of the kingdom and the glory of the king. So my life must be. Regardless of what the task may be, I do it for God. God will always reward faithful service when it is done an act of worship and love.
Humility, thankfulness, trust, surrender, worship and service are just some of the responses called for when I honestly reflect on who God is. What are the honest responses from your heart?
If you would like to know more about the God of the Bible, contact your local evangelical church or the staff at MB Herald (204-669-6575); mbheraldjc@columbiabiblebc.com or mbherald@mbconf.ca
Scriptures:
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1, The Bible.)
"Since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him." (Romans 1:20-21, The Bible)
"God sent the spirit of His Son into our hearts, the spirit who calls out, 'Father!' " (Galatians 4:6, The Bible)
"God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (I John 4:8-10, The Bible)
"Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Where can I go from Your Presence?
If I go up to the heavens, You are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there Your hand will guide me,
Your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me . . .
even the darkness will not be dark to You. . . .
For You created my inmost being."
(Psalm 139:7-13, The Bible)