God's Sovereignty Man's Free Will

 

How do the two work?

I have heard people ask

And to them, even for God.

This is an impossible task.

One must displace the other

At some time or another,

That is the only way

They can ever work together.

It won’t take rocket science

To see what I see

So, in my simple understanding

Here is what must be.

First it must be an absolute

That God is Sovereign,

After all, He is the Lord of lords

And the King of kings.

 

God is the only sovereignty

That has not been given,

All other so-called sovereignties-

For such, men have striven.

At the level of civil society

That is how sovereignty works,

The stronger takes the weaker

You don’t have to be an expert.

The stronger and the weaker:

These are two human groups,

They have repeatedly changed

In a consistent loop.

Like the World Powers

Of which we read in our history,

Each reign will last

Until the other succeeds.

None can conquer the World

Of this history is replete,

But man will try and try again

Thus, his failure he will repeat.

Man’s reign is always limited

Limited to time and space,

Contrary to this God is not

After all, He created the human race.

 

God gave man his free will

He gave him the ability to choose,

It is a facility that is given for a time

Which at death he will lose.

Lucifer, God also created

And to him He also gave free will,

But Satan forgot it was what he received

And failed in his overthrow bid.

God is omnipotent and omniscient

Creator and Ruler of all,

He is self-existent, the only I AM

And to do what He pleases is His call.

He is sovereign and man is not

Free will is a gift from Him,

Man is finite and God is not

But such a quest brought about the first sin.

That the two can work together

We may not fully understand

But nothing is impossible with God

And this is His divine plan.

I see it in the light of salvation,

God has given man a choice,

It’s just like in the garden of Eden

When man disobeyed God’s voice.

But God in His eternal wisdom

Worked around this catastrophe,

Hence, the coming of His beloved Son

To die for you and me.

Our free will remain intact,

We can say yes or no to God

But that free will is not unlimited,

If you doubt me, ask the Fraud.

Lucifer was the first, you’d recall

To truly understand this

And any that dares to join him

Is taking an eternal risk.

 

When we say yes to God

We are accepting His sovereignty

To order the affairs of our life

For all eternity.

In our ignorance and stupidity

Sometimes we may want to turn back

But having said yes to God,

He keeps each child on track.

This is not a violation

Of the free will He gave to us

But a commitment that God has made

On account of His Son Jesus.

Our free will need not oppose God

Even though sometimes it will

But that “yes” we have said to Him

Keeps us under his covering still.

God will do what is best by us

For His glory and our good

And His indwelling faithful Spirit

Will prompt us to do as we should.

He will not bully or bulldoze us

To do what we should do

But like a loving shepherd with silly sheep,

He will care for me and for you.

There are two theological camps

That claw at each other daily,

One holds the side of man’s free will

The other on God’s sovereignty.

Neither the twain can see

How the two can work together

But standing behind two deceased men

They refused to come together.

Perhaps like the blind man of old

They are not seeing much

And maybe, like that blind man of old

They need a second touch.

Both camps need to remember

It is Christ that died for man,

He did this by way of his own free will

Yet, in accordance with God’s plan.

So, the two can work together

As a matter of fact, they always do,

They combined to process salvation

Both for me and for you.

Man’s free will is limited

And though he has that facility now

There is a time that is yet to come

When all men will be forced to bow.

Subject your free will to God,

Do so willingly,

Do not wait until that time comes

When you will compulsorily.

Then, it will be to no avail

Redemption’s amnesty would have passed,

Therefore, while it is called today

Salvation’s offer you must grasp.

There is absolutely no violation

When we exchange our will for God’s,

The real bully is the devil

Don’t be taken in by this Fraud.

God’s sovereignty, man’s free will-

One is as evident as the other

And given the benefits salvation brings

Why should either be a bother?

God always keeps His word

And that is the key,

At the same time this cannot be said

For you and for me.

Stewart Russell © May 2020