Tommy Mann

Christians should be able to rest easy knowing that God is sovereign. According to the dictionary, to be sovereign means to be “supreme in rank or authority,” and God certainly is that. The word   reign  is right there in the word—as our Sovereign God, He reigns supreme over the universe He created.     The word sovereign does not appear in the Bible, but Isaiah 45:5-7 says, “I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.”   That sounds like sovereignty to me.   God does whatever He wants. He consults no one; He seeks advice from no one; He answers to no one. Psalm 115:3 tells us, “Our God is in the heavens;  He does all that he pleases .”   ...

Q. What is God’s providence? 
A. God’s providence is His completely holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing every creature and every action. In God’s providence He controls everything—living and nonliving—in the best way possible. We also use the word sovereign to refer to God’s providence. I like to define sovereignty this way: God is absolutely in control of everything, everywhere, at all times. Dr. Ron Lynch defines God’s sovereignty this way: God either authors or allows everything that happens. In Scripture we see God author many things. He was the author of the 10 Plagues in Egypt (Exodus 7-12) that led His people out of bondage. In those plagues we see God’s providence displayed over animals (death of cattle), nature (sea turned to blood, hailstorm, darkness), and mankind (boils, death). But we also see Him allowing something He didn’t author. In the beginning of Job God grants Satan permission to carry out an attack on His servant (ch1-2). ...