This is my third installment in my ongoing theology thoughts. I have spent more time on this blog than either of the other two. It was much harder than I thought it would be. Without further ado here we go.
God is sovereign. He is in control. All power and authority are His. Does He at all times (from our point of view, He is of course not bound by time) exercise His right to all power and authority?
First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (I Timothy 2:1-4)
He (God our Savior) wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 18:14)
He doesn’t want the children to perish.
Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! Why should you die, O house of Israel?’ (Ezekiel 33:11)
He wanted the wicked to repent and live
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!” (Matthew 23:37)
Jesus wanted to gather Jerusalem but they would not be gathered.
I think the Bible clearly shows God does not always exercise His rights. I do not think this means He is not sovereign. He chooses when and how to exercise His authority. Let me give an analogy. My boss (Mike) at BMCR has the power and authority to fire me. He has not done that. Does that in any way lessen Mike’s authority and power? Not at all. Just because God does not do something in no way implies He can not.
How does this work out in life? I don’t know. God is much more than I will ever be able to comprehend. I do not and I never will, understand how His will and my will co-exist, nor how they interact with each other. That is ok.
Let me end with a quote from A.W. Tozer (he says what I’m trying to say in a clearer manner): “Here is my view: God sovereignly decreed that man should be free to exercise moral choice, and man from the beginning has fulfilled that decree by making his choice between good and evil. When he chooses to do evil, he does not thereby countervail the sovereign will of God but fulfills it, inasmuch as the eternal decree decided not which choice the man should make but that he should be free to make it. If in His absolute freedom God has willed to give man limited freedom, who is there to stay His hand or say, ‘What doest thou?’ Man’s will is free because God is sovereign. A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so.” (The Knowledge of the Holy, by A.W. Tozer, p. 110-111)
It is important that you the reader take what I have said and compare it to the rest of the Bible. Look at what I say through that lens and then decide if I am in error or not.
Edit 3/6/15
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I called, the more they went away from me. Hosea 11:1-2 (NIV)
I think this is in the same vein as the Matthew 23:37 verse.