Two Infallible Proofs that God Is Sovereign and Man Is Responsible

Some wrongly place the doctrine of an absolutely sovereign God in opposition to the idea that we are responsible for our actions. The Bible teaches us to believe both.

Abraham’s great-grandson Joseph was treated unjustly by his brothers – they sold him as a slave and deceived their father, Jacob, into thinking he was dead. He found himself as the chief servant of Potiphar, but then was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife (who had tried to seduce him) and landed in prison. In prison, Joseph met two of Pharoah’s servants, interpreted their dreams – one would die and one would be restored. The promise was made to remember Joseph before Pharoah, but forgotten for two years. Yet through all this, the Bible reminds us that the LORD was with Joseph (Gen. 39:2-3, 21, 23).

Finally, Pharoah dreamed two troubling dreams. Then the chief cupbearer remembered Joseph. God enabled Joseph to interpret Pharoah’s dreams, which told of a coming famine. Pharoah promoted Joseph to second-in-command and God used him to preserve Egypt through the famine. But God also used Joseph to keep His promise to Abraham to make his descendents like the number of the stars in the sky and the sand by the sea.

But what does this portion of the Bible teach about divine sovereignty and human responsibility? It is encapsulated in Joseph’s observation to his brothers:

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Gen. 50:20 ESV)

Joseph’s brothers did wrong. They sinned. They meant evil. But God did not merely “allow” them to do this. It was part of His plan. They unknowingly were advancing the means of their own preservation. God “meant it for good.”

But the ultimate proof of the fact that God is sovereign and man is responsible is seen in the cross.

Notice the words of Peter:

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know--this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. (Acts 2:22-23 ESV)

Also, notice the prayer offered two chapters later:

“Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’-- for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. (Acts 4:24-28 ESV)

The Scriptures are clear. God is sovereign and man is responsible. God predestined Jesus' death and yet it was wicked that He was crucified. How should we respond to these truths?

1. Have faith in God. This God is sovereign and He is good. And He always wins. Our opposition is futile, and God is always faithful. We must trust Him.
2. Take sin seriously. God’s sovereignty doesn’t negate the reality of sin. When we do wrong, it is still wrong, and we have this sovereign God to reckon with.
3. Hope in God. These passages about Joseph and Jesus teach that those who suffer for righteousness do so according to the plan of God. Evildoers unwittingly accomplish God’s sovereign purpose.
4. Marvel at the mystery of these two truths and praise God that He can take the wicked things we do and have had done to us and bring good out of them. The cross was the worst crime ever committed, from the standpoint of human responsibility. It was utterly reprehensible to treat the innocent Jesus in such a way. Yet it was God’s plan and out of the worst evil, He has brought the greatest good of glory for Himself and salvation for all who trust Him. Who else but God could do such a thing?

Beginning to Read with M'Cheyne

One of the helpful things about a Bible reading plan like M'Cheyne's is that the reader is immersed in four different areas of Scripture at once. In January, the calendar takes one through Genesis (chapters 1-32), Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (chapters 1-8), Matthew, Mark (chapters 1-3), Acts, and Romans (chapters 1-3).

One of the advantages of this variety is that one may observe the unity of the Bible quicker than consecutively reading through from Genesis to Revelation (although there's nothing wrong with that approach!). My wife and I have thoroughly been enjoying the private readings in our time alone with the Lord and the family readings in our time together. Once or twice a month I would like to post some reflections from one or more readings the calendar includes in that month. These will not usually be comprehensive summaries of the readings, but thoughts on certain key points. In addition, this could be a place where others who are reading through the Bible on M'Cheyne's plan could post comments reflecting on passages from the month.

Right away, the Bible shows us some key things about God and ourselves. God is the uncreated Creator. He is so powerful that He speaks and things come out of nothing. Everytime God speaks, it says "and it was so." He is good and wise and provides habitats and food for his creation. He creates spaces and then fills them. He makes promises and fulfills them (the readings in Ezra, Matthew, and Acts are replete with references to fulfillment). We have a faithful God who creates by His Word and keeps His promises.

He creates mankind out of the dust of the ground. But He makes Adam and Eve "in His image" to reflect His glory, to be fruitful and multiply, and to have dominion over the creation. Yet man rebels and spurns God's warning against disobedience. A curse comes on the earth and life as we know it (marriage, childbearing, and work being affected immediately) is changed forever. Death is now certain for man, and so the genealogies repeatedly say "...and he died," with the exception of Enoch, who walked with God and was taken by Him.

The definition of the kingdom of God advanced by writers like Graeme Goldsworthy and Vaughan Roberts seems to be seen early on in the Scriptures. What they call "God's people in God's place under God's rule enjoying God's blessing" is seen early on. When God created the world and placed Adam and Eve on the earth, they walked with Him in the garden of Eden, obeying Him and enjoying His blessing. But their disobedience changed all that. When deciding to make the rules themselves, they were banished from the garden and life was cursed. Yet there was hope for a return, as the promised seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent one day (Gen. 3:15, the first prophecy of the coming Redeemer, Jesus Christ). The rest of the Bible is about that return to being God's people in God's place under God's rule enjoying God's blessing, and aspects of that theme are present in the other passages of this month.

The story of Abraham is a cornerstone in setting the stage for the drama of redemptive history. Although there were instances and foreshadowings of God's redemptive plan in the early chapters of Genesis (such as the promise of 3:15, the taking of Enoch, and the salvation of Noah's family), things really start to unfold in Genesis 12. God calls Abram (later Abraham) to go into the land that He will show Him and promises to make him a great nation and give him a multitude of descendents. Abram had already started toward Canaan with his father, after they left Ur of the Chaldees, but God appeared specifically to Abram after his father's death to call him to the land. It is quite interesting that the very place God calls Abram from is in the area to which his descendents are later exiled for their disobedience (Chaldea/Babylon).

It is in Abraham, and ultimately, in Christ through whom all the promises of God are yes and amen, that all nations will be blessed. And Matthew recognizes that in the genealogy he gives of King Jesus, as the lineage is ultimately traced back to Abraham. He introduces the King, Jesus, who tells us with divine authority how God's people must live in order to enjoy the fullness of God's blessing (chapters 5-7).

In Ezra, we read of the exiles returning to the land. These were Jews who had been in captivity in Babylon, a consequence for them failing to worship God alone when they were in the promised land. But now God was granting mercy to go back and restore His public worship and live as His people again.

In the second chapter of Acts, we see at Pentecost a reversal of the confusion of languages that took place in Genesis 11, as everyone hears God's Word in their own language. People had been scattered because of their rebellion, but now God was saving people of different languages through the gospel of Jesus Christ. This, of course, is a prelude to the day that God's people from every tribe and tongue will be gathered to praise God in heaven (Rev. 5:9; 7:9).

That leaves us to ponder this question: are we headed toward the promised land of God or toward exile? There are only two ways to live and only two final destinations for eternity. Either we are trusting in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone or we are trusting ourselves. Christ was the God-man who was a sinless sacrifice for sinners, Who rose from the dead and lives forever and who is coming back to judge the world in righteousness. Everyone who trusts Him is accepted by God, but those who reject Him are rejected by God and will be forever banished from God's blessing. While God's people will enjoy His blessing forever in the new heaven and earth, those who reject Christ reject a place in the people of God who lovingly live under God's rule in God's place and enjoy His blessing forever. For those who die without Christ, this life is as good as it gets, because eternal conscious torment in the lake of fire is their destiny. But for those of us who are trusting Christ, this life is the worst it gets. We have much to look forward to in the age to come, and we have much to whet our appetites as we continue to read His Word this year. May this privilege of reading help you and me to live as much as possible as faithful, loving subjects of the King here and now so that we may enjoy Him all the more when we see the kingdom in its fullness.