“…from Him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:4-5). That’s John’s way of saying that God has always existed and has forever sat on the throne as the sovereign God over the universe of His creation.
Sometimes it’s good for us to remember who’s the boss. Well, not really the boss, but we need to know who’s in charge of the universe. Well, not really in charge of the universe, but it’s important to know who has control. Well, not really control, but who is sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Well, actually, it’s all of these traits mentioned. It’s important for our humility to know we are not “all that” and that we definitely are not in charge, but that there is a sovereign God who rules this world. It’s good for our sense of security to know that this all-powerful, all-protective God is OUR God and we belong to Him as His children.
The stars don’t choose whether or not to twinkle – they do what God says. The apple tree doesn’t decide to put out oranges this year because it’s tired of producing the same ole fruit – it does what God wills. Lions roar, flowers bloom, rivers run, winds blow – everything in God’s creation operates and acts according to God’s will, exactly as He created things to be. Only one of God’s creation has the free will to do or not to do God’s will – humans. God has a will for how we are to live; however, He grants us the freedom to choose whether or not we will do life His way or go against His will and selfishly do life our way. Unfortunately for us, when we choose our will over God’s will we commit sin and that causes separation from God. And that’s not good because we all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Thank God for Jesus, who repairs the bridge from God to us.
God could have created us as robots who always obey His will and have no freedom to do otherwise. It would comparable to buying a doll that you pull a string and it says exactly what it was programmed to do rather than having a child and taking the risk that the child may or may not choose to love and obey you. God took a chance that some of us would recognize His love, kindness, holiness, justice, and sovereignty and rather than try to escape His rule we love to submit to Him and acknowledge Him as the sovereign GOD of this entire world!
Read Revelation 11:15-19. Then listen to You Reign by MercyMe. After that, bow before the great I AM and rejoice and praise Him for being the sovereign God over your life AND have a great day close to the Lord.
Revelation 11:15-19
Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying,
“We give You thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the One who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.