Atheism professes that there is no God, and the question of the sovereignty of God over it, or over anything, simply does not arise.
Determinism holds that we don’t really make choices, that we are all just puppets in the hands of God, of evolution, of our genes, or of the universe. We have no soul. There is no evil. Our desires, choices and actions are the inevitable results of the chemical reactions in our bodies and the circumstances in which we live, not essentially different from sweat or saliva. Man is a machine.
Dualism says that there are two basic principles in the world, the principles of good and evil, God and Satan. Evil is self-existent. Good may be stronger than evil and its victory assured, but good does not rule evil. Evil exists on its own.
Post-modernism teaches that there is no objective truth, and that good and evil are simply constructs of the human mind. What is good to me may be evil to you, and what is evil to me may be good to you. You and I are both right. I am my own god, and I determine my own truth. If there is a God, surely no question of sovereignty over good or evil could be relevant.
Some might say that evil exists in the world because god is malevolent. Good, if there is such a thing, is an accident.
But the Bible teaches us that God is good, that he created all things and that he is sovereign over all his creatures. The question that has troubled Christians for centuries is the question of God’s sovereignty over evil. If he is sovereign over the Devil and wicked men, in what way exactly is that true? And how can it be that he can be sovereign over evil and yet not be its author?
In attempting to answer this question we must remember that we are dealing with the work of the eternal and incomprehensible God in his finite creation. How can we, who are his creatures, expect to comprehend fully the relationship of eternity to time, or to delve very deeply into the infinite wisdom of God that governs our lives?
Nevertheless, the Scriptural teaching is very clear. God is sovereign over Satan, wicked men and all evil. Let’s consider that briefly under four different categories.
First, he is sovereign over all the trouble and suffering that we experience, over fires and floods, diseases and injuries, and all the circumstances of life. By means of the Heidelberg Catechism, Question and Answer 27, many Christians have long confessed that the providence of God is the almighty and ever present power of God by which God upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty—all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but by his fatherly hand. “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things (Isa 45:7).”
Secondly, God rules over men and nations and over all their activities. In Isaiah 10 God says of Assyria that it was the rod in his hand for the punishment of his people Israel. He said of Cyrus the king of Persia, “He is my shepherd, and he shall perform all my pleasure, saying to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be built,’ and to the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid. (Isa 44:28).’” Jesus was delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God (Acts 2:23,24). Satan attacked Job, and Job confessed without sinning with his lips, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away (Job 1:21).”
He rules even over the activities of the soul, over heart, mind and will. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever he wishes (Prov 21:1).” He hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Ex 4:21, 7:3, 9:12, 10:1,20,27, 11:10, 14:4,8,17), to accomplish his own purposes through him.
He rules over angels and demons. In 1 Kings 22:19-22 we are shown that the Lord had purposed that Ahab would fight at Ramoth Gilead and die there. It also tells us how he accomplished his purpose. Micaiah the prophet saw the Lord in counsel with the host of heaven. They were standing on his right hand and on his left; both good and evil angels were present. A spirit (surely a fallen angel) proposed that he would be a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab’s prophets. The Lord said, “You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.” Micaiah then explained to Ahab, “The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you. (v.23).”
He rules over sin. To say that he permits sin does not cover all the Scriptural teaching. Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever his hand and purpose determined before to be done (Acts 4:27,28) in the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. He moved David to number the people (2 Sam 24:1) using Satan as his instrument (1 Chron 21:1), and then David confessed that he had sinned (2 Sam 24:10).
He has determined the eternal destinies of men, not according to their works, but according to his good pleasure. “He has mercy on whom he wills, and whom he wills he hardens. (Rom 9:18).”
He has determined ALL things in his eternal counsel, and it is this fact which makes prophecy possible. He can tell us what will happen both with regard to sin and righteousness because he has decreed it from before creation was.
Furthermore, his counsel is wise and good, not the arbitrary and purposeless exercise of power, but the means to make his name great and redeem a people for himself in Jesus Christ.
The objection that men raise to this straightforward teaching of Scripture is that it makes God the author of sin. It is not so, but the wisdom and power of God are so great that we cannot answer that question by our most profound thinking. Neither do the Scriptures answer it. They set the fact of his sovereignty before us and require us to believe it. They also make very clear that when we do good, we must give God the credit, and when we do evil, we must take the blame. We would have it the other way around, but it cannot be. It therefore remains for us to fear this mighty and holy God and to acknowledge that the explanation of his ways is far beyond the capacity of our weak minds.