09/29/2023 – Glory to God for His Sovereignty
Exodus 9:12 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and did not hear them, as the LORD had said to Moses. 13 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Arise in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14 For I will this time send all my plagues to your heart, to your servants, and to your people, that you may understand that there is no other like me in all the earth.
In my experience as a pastor, I have learned that God’s sovereignty has always been the most difficult truth for anyone in the church and outside the church to accept. When we are faced with the reality that God is above our free will and He possesses all power and authority in the universe, our hearts tremble.
Many questions and discussions have been generated, for example, around God’s sovereignty in the deliverance of his people from Egypt. Pharaoh’s rebellion was the product of his sin. No one can blame God for their sin. God is holy and in no way is he tempted by evil or tempts anyone. But Pharaoh’s rebellion could not escape divine sovereignty. God allowed Pharaoh’s heart to harden so that his name would be glorified and so that his purpose of salvation would be fulfilled.
God uses his sovereignty to extend mercy to sinners. At the end of the path of our life we will marvel at God’s great mercy when we see the great multitude of his saved.
God’s sovereignty demands our absolute trust in Him and our complete submission to Him. Both demands are impossible for our flesh; but Christ taught us by his example how to do it. Christ affirmed the sovereignty of God with his teachings and with his life. He assured that everything he did and said he had received from the Father. He taught us to pray daily: Thy will be done, and He, being God, submitted perfectly to the will of the Father until the death of the cross.