Sovereign God

God is the giver and ender of life and He is sovereign in both. It seems that most would heartily agree that God is sovereign over the conception of a baby’s life, but would deny the notion that God is sovereign with regards to how we live and the manner in which we die.

James 4:13-15 And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.” (The Message)

Deut.32:39 “Don’t you see that I alone am God?

I kill and make live.

I wound and heal—

No one delivers from my power.(TLB)

There are a lot of verses to indicate and prove the notion that God is sovereign in life and death. We need to take comfort that the day of our physical birth and the day of our physical death have been ordained by God. Our finite mind cannot fully grasp this, but if we are able to comprehend we are trying to deify ourselves.

Isaiah 55: 8-9“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Our human responsibility is to respond to the gift of life He offers. We should be thankful for the physical life He has given us, but also for the gift of eternal life He has provided for us through the death and resurrection power of Christ. Our physical life is so brief. Just ‘many years’ ago I was so young, active and ambitious, but ‘now’ nearing the ‘sunset’ of my life, 74 years old, I can see and feel the difference, physically speaking. But I keep going, because I really love and enjoy serving my Master. It is not how long you live, but how well you live for God, that is more important. People continue to live for themselves-for fame, glory, and gold; without God. We are admonished in Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 to seek God in our early life. Chapter Ecc.12:1 says, “So remember your Creator while you are still young, before those dismal days and years come when you will say, “I don't enjoy life.”

Do you really enjoy life? Do you have the assurance of eternal life? There are only two things that will last forever: The Word of God, and the Souls of men. You have an immortal soul. Where do you like to live eternally? Heaven or Hell? God has determined your physical life and the manner and time of your death. Where do you like to live forever is your responsibility and choice. God has given you an awesome gift, the gift of choice. The consequences of that choice is not in your power to choose. If you trusted Christ as your Saviour, the consequence is-Heaven. If you rejected Christ, the consequence is-Hell.

Every day of our lives is written down in God’s book. The Bible says, “you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began.(Psalm 139:16, Good News). Why don’t you take the gift of eternal life? It is all by grace and by grace alone, through faith alone.