Let God Be God

It is past time to step back and allow God to be God. Most assuredly, He will do it, anyway, as He neither asks or desires our puny permission. While mankind struggles with its identity, there are no such struggles among the Godhead. All His attributes are both known and fully developed. None depend on us or any of His creatures. He sits on the throne of heaven, secure in His divine right to govern all within His gaze, and all is within His gaze.

Still, there is an urge within mankind to view the Holy One through our own sin-stained lenses. This is unfortunately true for the believer as well as the unbeliever. We put faces on the Father Who is a Spirit. We make Jesus out to be a fair skinned feminized iconic image to hang on the wall with little to no threat to our daily lives. Worst still, we depict the Savior as still hanging from the cross, knowing full well that He is not there, He is risen victorious - but there He hangs.

We make bold statement about what God is like, what He would do and how He would do it. In so doing, our philosophies are informing out beliefs. However, it is our beliefs, developed based upon strong Biblical evidence, that should inform our philosophy. We should pull our preconceived notions out of the way and let God be God. There are some fundamental reasons we avoid doing so.

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”~Romans 9:19

What a telling, self-righteous, assault against the sovereignty of Almighty God! Within this verse, all mankind’s accusations against the Creator are summed up succinctly: God is responsible for everything that is wrong in our lives. He is the author of evil. We are being given a bum rap, as the fault lies squarely in the lap of God. God’s claim to sovereignty is used by His rebellious creatures to dare assign blame to Him. He is not given the praise and glory to whom even an earthly sovereign would be entitled. Man takes his knowledge of this essential element of God’s nature, twists it and charges Him with holding man to standards He does not observe, stacking the deck against them and somehow being a nefarious purveyor of power to play a game of chess with man as the pieces.

So, men respond to the Apostle Paul’s assertion of God’s sovereign rights with both accusation and indignation. “Well, Paul, if no one can resist His will, why are we responsible? Look, you said Pharaoh couldn’t resist His use of him as a pawn in opposing Moses and then punished all of Egypt for Pharaoh’s inability to resist. How is that fair or right, Paul? Explain how this is not God using men for evil purposes and then holding them accountable when they do evil!” 

Have you ever had questions like this? After all, the argument sounds logical, doesn’t it? Many people do make these arguments and they use it along with the best application of logic and reason. They point to Scripture teaching God’s will cannot be resisted or His purposes foiled and conclude God can do whatever He wants. So, then, He can use men for good or evil. If He uses them for evil, then they are not responsible for the evil they do, for it is God who makes them do so. How does He still condemn? Impeccable logic, isn’t it? There is one very important point: where does man get his credentials to question Almighty God? Paul addressed that immediately.

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ~Romans 9:20

Paul turns the question back on God’s accusers. “Who are YOU to question God?” This is echoed in the Book of Job Chapters 38-41. Paul’s thoughts are spoken to Job in even more direct manner. First, God showed His power over creation speaking through the whirlwind. Then He called out Job in a particularly humbling manner.

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.” ~Job 38:2-3

God goes on through the next four chapters challenging Job to meet His questions, to display his knowledge, and to establish his qualifications to question whether or not what God does is right or wrong. The result was a highly repentant Job. Unfortunately, Pail’s audience was not so readily deterred. Today’s doubters are even less capable of seeing the error of their arrogance. Make no mistake, arrogance is exactly what it is.

Man looks for any out to excuse himself from responsibility. “I don’t break God’s laws!” he exclaims. “I am not convinced there is a god in the first place and I do not accept the god of an ancient tribal people in any case,” he says, proclaiming his agnosticism. “Don’t quote Scripture at me! That old book is written by men and is of no value. I look to science for answers and that book and science do not agree.” Such an educated, astute man. When confronted with Paul, he responds, “He was a persecutor of the church, why would anyone listen to him?” To the Words of God to Job, the response would be, “Again. you make assertions with fables with no more credibility than those of Aesop!” 

Is there a pattern at work? You bet there is! By shifting blame to their Creator, man does not have to face his own depravity. He finds an excuse for his rebellion, after all, if God is responsible for evil, there is no reason for modern man to worship Him. If He is the cause of our infirmities, He cannot be a God of love. If His sovereignty can allow Him complete dominion over all He created, then man is no more than slaves at best and robots at worst, and rebellion is the only means to break free from tyranny. At least, that is how man has reacted to earthly tyrants. If God is simultaneously a god of good and evil, then truth, morality and ethics are open to interpretation and application as they conform to one’s own values, a system known as relativism. All this meets the needs of a sinful and disobedient people who prefer to remain alienated from One Who threatens their erroneous perception that they are the master of their fate. They refuse to answer the questions, “Who are you, O man?” and “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?”

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.~ Colossians 1:16

Man’s reasoning is, however, fatally flawed. It is flawed by the very attitude that drives them to push the idea of God away. It is caused by the sin nature and its resulting spiritual death. Paul speaks in Romans 1 to man’s depravity and in Romans 8 to man’s continued enmity towards their Maker and their affinity to His chief angelic enemy, Satan. The separation caused by this alienation prevents natural man from discerning spiritual things. Included in this is the inability to see with spiritual eyes that God maintains control through His heavenly control room.

Look at the verse above and think from the perspective of a centralized point of control. Scripture informs us that Christ is the “him” of this verse. Scripture also tells us where He is: sitting on the right-hand of God the Father. Where would that be, besides heaven’s throne room. That same throne room with the candlesticks and the bowls and the angelic creatures with multiple eyes and the 24 elders. You can do the study on this to make sure I’m not making it up. (I’m not) From a military perspective, that sounds an awful lot like a “situation,” or control room. The verse from Colossians 1 sounds a lot like  complete, total and absolute control: ALL things were created (1) by, (2) through and (3) for Christ. 

Furthermore, Jesus stated as recorded n Matthew 11:27, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” This sounds like a statement of authority to me, and authority carries with it the power needed to uphold that authority. In other words, control.

Yes, I know, the idea that God is in absolute control is laughable even to most Christians. If this were so, it would violate our conception of Him, as either a President/CEO type concerned only with the “big-picture” items, or else the cosmic watchmaker who wound things up and allows it to keep on ticking away. Others would say He would never violate the free-will of men. While it would be fun to discuss each of these from their purely philosophical aspects, these weighty ideas should seek reconciliation through Scripture. We have already seen some of the objections human reasoning and logic can bring to bear on the subject.

Besides, Scripture is quite clear, depicting God as the One and Only Absolute King of the Universe, ruling over all and doing everything He pleases. Refer to: Exo 15:18; 1Ch 29:11-12; 2Ch 20:6; and Ps 22:28. He is not only sovereign in some abstract way, retaining the right to exercise it in governing all things but choosing not to do so, but He actually and proactively ordains and brings to pass everything that takes place on earth. Refer to Deu 32:39; 1Sa 2:6-8; Job 9:12; 12:6-10; Ps 33:11; 115:3; 135:6; Isa 14:24; 45:7; Ac 15:17-18; and Eph 1:11. From the smallest matters of “chance,” such as the casting of dice (Pro 16:33), to the greatest events of the mightiest kingdoms of earth (Isa 45:1-4), God is actively bringing all things to pass according to His Own counsel, will and good pleasure. 

Nothing falls outside of His plans, governing the coincidental happenings (1Ki 22:20, 34, 37), to the actions of wicked men. Refer to: Ge 45:5; 50:20; Exo 4:21; Jdg 14:1-4; Ps 76:10; Pro 16:4; 21:1; Isa 44:28; Amo 3:6; Ac 2:22-23; and 4:27-28. He governs the good deeds of men (Joh 15:16; Eph 2:10; Phi 2:12-13), the actions of both evil spirits and good angels (1Sa 16:14-16; 1Ki 22:19-23; 1Ch 21:1/2Sa 24:1; Ps 103:20-21; and 104:4), the habits of animals (Num 22:28; 1Ki 17:4; Ps 29:9; Jer 8:7; Eze 32:4; Dan 6:22) and the operations of all creation (Ge 8:22; Ps 104:5-10; 13-14; 19-20; and Mk 4:39).

I challenge you to study the Scriptures for yourself. Examine them and see what He says of Himself through His inspired Word. It does make a difference whether you believe God is the absolute sovereign or not. If He is, all will go according to what is written in His Word, all the promises, all the message of redemption, all the teachings of His love, all the assurance that Jesus is the Messiah and that He bore all for you. If He is not completely sovereign, where is out hope? Where is our eternal security? Study to find the answer to the questions posed earlier: “Who are you, O man?” and “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” It is past time for us to finally let God be God.

(Here’s a hint: any answer that is not similar to that found in Job 40:4 or Isaiah 6:5 should be carefully reconsidered.)