The goal of this gospel tract is twofold. First, to magnify and exalt the God of the Bible. Second, to do so by examining that attribute of God known as His Sovereignty. It seems necessary to mention two other excellencies of God as foundation for this study.

God is Singular

First it is necessary to understand the solitariness or singularity of God. That is, He is unique in the sense that there is no other Being like Him. "Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" (Ex.15:11). He is also unique in that He is completely self sufficient, in need of nothing or no one outside Himself. As we open the first pages of Scripture we read simply, yet profoundly, "In the beginning God ... " (Gen.1:1). Before anything was created there was only God. The fact that He created does not imply that He needed anything to add to Himself because the Bible says He does what He does "according to the good pleasure of His will" (Eph.1:5). God is singular. He gives to all but is enriched by none. He is "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which none can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see." (I Tim. 6:15-16). How can finite man believe that he has anything to offer God that He doesn’t already have within Himself? Far from benefiting God in any way, man cannot even know God except that He reveals Himself. God is Spirit but fallen man is not spiritual, he is carnal. (Jn.4:24; Rom 8:5-9). The Holy Spirit has to shine in the hearts of men to give them "the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (II Cor. 4:6). Jesus says that God gains nothing from man. "When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, we are unprofitable servants." (Lk. 17:10). God is perfectly happy and whole within Himself. In His solitude, before time began, He was under no obligation to create and had no personal gain from creation. He could have continued in His singular glory being content for eternity without making Himself known to any created being. "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance … All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will we liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto Him? It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers…" (Isa. 40:15-22).

God is Supreme

It is sad but true that the Almighty God is being represented in dishonorable ways by this generation. He rebuked Israel when He said to them "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself." (Ps. 50:21). Today God is represented by so-called Christians as one whose plans are easily thwarted by Satan, whose purposes constantly change and whose will is restricted by man’s will. People who refuse to see the Supreme God of the Bible have reduced His blood atonement to a mere inoculation against sin for those who choose to use it, and have watered down the power of the Holy Spirit to regenerate to a mere offer of the Gospel which sinners can do with as they please. Such trite representations in no way resemble the sovereign God of Holy Scripture. So-called Christians of today’s culture manufacture a god of their own liking. A god who can be resisted, frustrated and checkmated…a god they have formed in their own image, who is what they want him to be rather than what He actually is. The problem with this, of course, is that anything but an absolutely supreme and sovereign God is no God at all.

The absolute supremacy of God is plainly affirmed in the Word of God. "O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? And rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?" (II Chron. 20:6). "I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee." (Job 42:2). "But our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." (Ps.115:3). "There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD." (Pr. 21:30).

Inanimate matter, irrational creatures, all perform the Creator’s bidding. At His pleasure the Red Sea divided and the water stood up as walls, (Ex.14:21); the seas, the sun and the earth obey Him, (Josh. 10:13; Num. 16:32); animals do as He says, (I K. 17:6; Dan. 6:22); "Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places." (Ps. 135:6).

God’s supremacy is demonstrated in His perfect rule over the wills of men. "The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will." (Pr. 21:1). His universal supremacy is affirmed with equal force in the New Testament. The Apostle states unequivocally that God "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will." (Eph. 1:11). Men may boast of their "free will" but God’s Word warns that all of our intentions must be guided by the attitude that — if the Lord wills we shall do this or that. (Js. 4:13-15). Ultimately, our lives are not the product of our own doing, especially anything that is good. Every detail of them was ordained from eternity and is now ordered by the living, reigning God. "A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps." (Pr.16:9). The very length of our earthly existence is predetermined by the Sovereign God. (Ps.31:15).

God is the Almighty, Lord of heaven and earth, subject to none, influenced by none and absolutely independent of everyone. He does as He pleases, always as He pleases, only as He pleases, to whom He pleases, when He pleases, for whatever purpose He pleases. None can hinder Him; "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." (Isa. 46:10). "He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand ..." (Dan.4:35).

The Sovereign God of the universe exercises His supremacy by directing and "working all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11). The mighty God revealed in the Holy Bible is unrivaled and unlimited. "Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth." (Ps.135:6). "He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased." (Ps. 115:3). God is Sovereign and His will is supreme. He is a law unto Himself. Whatever He does is right. Only the most wicked rebel will call His sovereignty into question. And such rebels will face divine retribution. "Woe unto him who striveth with his Maker! … Shall the clay say to Him who fashioneth it, What makest thou?" (Isa. 45:9).

The Bible stresses the absolute supremacy and sovereignty of God. Any thought, philosophy or doctrine that teaches anything less is making a god of human fashioning, and is no god worthy of worship. A less than Sovereign God, or a little sovereign god, or a limited sovereign god, is no god at all, but only an idol. The sovereignty of God is no less displayed in the salvation of men than it is in the direction of nations, the forces of nature, the disposition of animals, or any of the events in time or eternity. Our salvation is as much the product of sovereignty as is all other works that are wrought by God. "HE CHOSE US in Him before the foundation of the world, … having predestined us to adoption as sons ... ACCORDING TO THE GOOD PLEASURE OF HIS WILL." (Eph. 1:4-5). The Apostle goes on to list the many spiritual blessings that we have received by grace, namely, redemption, forgiveness, enlightenment, inheritance, glory, and sealing by the Spirit (Eph 1:7-14). In the midst of all the spiritual blessings that God’s people have received he punctuates these thoughts with a recurring theme: "ACCORDING TO HIS GOOD PLEASURE WHICH HE PURPOSED IN HIMSELF" (Eph. 1:9); ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSE OF HIM WHO WORKS ALL THINGS ACCORDING TO THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL" (Eph.1:11). The Sovereign God could only save by Sovereign Grace. To save a person by cooperation with human will would diminish God’s sovereignty. One of the high and holy displays of God’s sovereignty is that He has "mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth." (Rom.9:18).

There are those who will complain that such an emphasis upon the sovereignty of God will offer people an excuse to be irresponsible and to ignore the fact that they are personally accountable. No spiritually born individual will adopt that attitude. The Spirit of God produces the fruit of righteousness in every born again believer. (Heb. 12-11). There are no believers, or unbelievers, who can escape personal accountability to God. (Phil. 2:9-11). God demands repentance for sin and requires that every person have faith in Jesus Christ, (Acts 17:30; I Jn. 3:23). Let it be stated clearly that there is no end to the sovereignty of God, while at the same time there is no end to the responsibility or accountability of man toward God. Our human minds humbly accept this as a mystery which exalts the Sovereign God.