The sovereignty of God demands our acceptance and faith in His supreme authority over all creation. We must recognize that He is with us, aware of every aspect of our lives, declaring, "I am with you." His counsel shall stand, and He will do all His pleasure, a reality we must be willing to live with, even during tragic times. Are we prepared to accept His will by faith, acknowledging Him as the true Sovereign Ruler, not just intellectually, but in the way we live? No force can thwart His purpose or resist His will, for He is the Almighty, possessing all power in heaven and earth. Neither time nor any being can turn Him aside from what He has set to accomplish. His management and control extend over all nations, setting up kingdoms and overthrowing empires as He determines. He governs with absolute authority, and we must adjust our thinking to this truth, trusting His decisions even when they seem incomprehensible or painful. God's sovereignty is shown in His foreordination of events before the foundation of the world, planning for every possibility with infinite wisdom. Nothing catches Him by surprise, and His purpose remains to bring us to willing cooperation, choosing Him as Lord and Master in everything. To suggest His plan is frustrated by sin is to diminish His greatness; instead, even our sins are turned to His praise through His righteous judgments. We affirm His right to govern the universe for His glory and pleasure by the way we live, understanding that He has power over us as clay, molding each person as He sees fit. He is under no obligation to account for His actions, operating according to His purpose, perspective, plan, and time schedule. His power may appear dormant for long periods, yet He exercises it as He wills, delivering some and not others, showing mercy to whom He chooses, when He chooses. This sovereignty extends to the delegation of power and gifts within the body, placing each of us as it pleases Him. We have no right to question why He has made us thus, for faith involves trusting His control, rooted in His pure love, power, and wisdom. Living by faith means accepting that He knows best what to do with our lives, shaping us into His image through a process of implicit trust, ensuring no disagreement in His Kingdom.

The sovereignty of God is fundamental to all understanding and practice, serving as the foundation that links intellectual belief to practical application. A recognition of God's sovereignty transforms mere acceptance into living faith, motivating us to turn understanding into works. Without this recognition, faith remains dead, lacking the drive to act, while action without balanced doctrine lacks purpose. God's sovereignty reaches the heart, aligning our emotions with His purpose, and establishes that He is Creator, unchallenged in His authority to do as He wills with anyone at any time. Understanding God's sovereignty places our relationship with Him in proper perspective, providing a sound basis for action and responsibility. He knows all His works from the beginning, a concept staggering to comprehend, yet it assures us that everything is under His control. Without reverent submission to His sovereignty, we cannot truly honor Him, nor find peace, often falling into discontentment and conflict. Accepting His will, even when His ways are inscrutable and beyond our finite understanding, leads to contentment despite unanswered questions about why He permits certain events or outcomes. The doctrine of God's sovereignty supplies the solid foundation for true religion, linking other doctrines and inspiring us to move forward, recognizing His greatness and His choice of us for reasons unknown. It mirrors the life of Jesus Christ, who always did what pleased the Father, setting a model for our way of life. This doctrine also provides a sense of absolute security, affirming that God is infinite power, wisdom, love, mercy, and goodness, ensuring we are secure in the hands of the Shepherd Christ, through all circumstances. Finally, the sovereignty of God aids in resigning ourselves to His will, not in fatalistic acquiescence, but in proving and accepting what is good and perfect in His purpose. Examples like Aaron, who held his peace when his sons were struck down, and David, who submitted to God's will during his son's rebellion, illustrate this acceptance without complaint, trusting in His ultimate plan over personal desires or superstitions.

God's sovereignty is the foundation of all creation and purpose, demonstrating His absolute right to govern as He sees fit. He chooses to act or refrain from acting based solely on His own will and purpose, as seen in His diverse interventions—knocking down the walls of Jericho uniquely, allowing Stephen to be stoned while preserving John through trials, healing Hezekiah but not Paul, and even healing a man who showed no faith while passing by others. He runs the show, holding supreme authority over His creation, and our faith must rest in this understanding, especially as we have accepted the blood of Jesus Christ and become His servants. He has every right to use us for His glory at all times, a condition we accept in baptism, vowing loyalty to a God who never changes, always employing His abilities, powers, and wisdom to fulfill His purpose for us individually and for all mankind. The question remains whether we are willing to live under His sovereign rule. We are not without evidence of His deep and intimate concern for our lives, but are we prepared to trust His perspective, power, wisdom, and love? This decision shapes the extent and enthusiasm of our cooperation with Him, influencing our growth and our true knowledge of God. His sovereignty extends to the exercise of His love and grace, choosing to favor some over others, as with Jacob over Esau, before their actions could influence His decision. He blesses whom He wills, not based on merit, but because He is God, exercising His prerogative to pour out blessings or withhold them according to His will. Even in our unworthiness, likened to worms in comparison to His greatness, He chooses to love and save us, persevering with us through His sovereign grace. He has ways to bring us to cooperation, ensuring every knee will bow before Him, and we are encouraged to willingly submit to make the journey easier. His grace reigns supreme over sin, justice, and death, given freely as He pleases, not because we earn or deserve it, but because He is merciful. Salvation, therefore, must be by grace, excluding all boasting and vanity, as He chooses the undeserving for His purpose. In creation, His sovereignty is displayed in the vast diversity and contrast of nature and humanity, crafting each element for His pleasure and our benefit. He is the ultimate Ruler, and no one can challenge His prerogative to govern as He wills. Our responsibility is to choose to live under His sovereignty, recognizing that everything is under His control, down to the fall of a sparrow. Murmuring against His care is seen as rebellion, challenging His wisdom and government, while a humble questioning of His ways is acceptable if the attitude honors His supreme authority.