We’ve seen that the Bible uses at least 4 different descriptions of the Counsels of God [1] in the Scriptures thus far. He speaks of them as “Immutable”, as “Faithful”, as “Wonderful” and as “Great”.
He further speaks of these Counsels in His Word as Sovereign . The Sovereignty of God can be defined as his absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure (Rom. 9:15–23; 1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 4:11)[2] . It specifically refers to the unlimited power of God, who has sovereign control over the affairs of men, nature and history (Is. 45:9–19; Rom. 8:18–39).[3]
The Bible declares that God is working out His sovereign plan of redemption for the world and that the conclusion is certain. Immediately after the Fall He talked about the curse of human sin and specified the cure for it. To the serpent He said,
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15).
The whole redemptive story of the Bible is the fulfillment of this prophecy by the sovereign God, as Paul clearly teaches in Romans 8–11.
The story of redemption from Genesis to Revelation is possible only because the sovereign God loves the created world, fallen though it is, and is able to do something about it. Without the sovereign love of the Father ministered to us through the Son and the Holy Spirit, there would be no real human freedom and no hope of everlasting life.[4]
Daniel 4:35 says:
34 And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever:
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
And His kingdom is from generation to generation.35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing;
He does according to His will in the army of heaven
And among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one can restrain His hand
Or say to Him, “What have You done?”
A prime example of human pride in the Scripture is the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar. When, at the end of his humbling process, he lifted his eyes and saw the God was a sovereign God, and that he (Nebuchadnezzar) was but a tool in God’s hand, he also understood that this understanding was a gracious one. He clearly recognizes that God is sovereign and that He does as He wills and no man can stop Him. He confesses that man is answerable to God and that will be held accountable to God.
All of this speaks of the sovereignty of the counsels of God! Those counsels are plans that cannot be overturned and are counsels that stand forever!
His Counsels are Eternal
Further, the counsels of God are Eternal counsels. Commenting on the receiving of His gracious commission to preach the mysteries of Gospel to the Gentiles from God, Paul said in Ephesians 3:8-11:
8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.
This purpose was an eternal purpose! It was not a plan cobbled together at the last minute in response to what the Pharisees and Sadducees and other opponents of the Gospel came up with. Paul was simply fulfilling the plan that God had in His mind from before the world was formed.
What is interesting in that verse in Ephesians is that Paul views that purpose as fully accomplished. The boldness he now has, he has because the purpose of God is already accomplished, accomplished by means of what Christ has done already. Now, of course, that points to Calvary and to the finished satisfaction provided there by our Lord’s broken body and shed blood. Paul added nothing to it by his own work – he looked back and rested on what was already accomplished. So ought you and I.
If we look to some earthly measure then our purpose is not eternal – it is temporal! Paul says that the purpose of God is eternal. He set his purposes back before time began – it was ever His purpose to look to the work of Christ on Calvary and base all there. It was never, NEVER in His mind to require obedience from men and ask them to adhere to a standard. It was always His desire to exalt His Son and thus lift up both the Son’s name and His own.
That ought to be our own purpose as well.
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[1] Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1995). Nelson's quick reference topical Bible index. Nelson's Quick reference (156). Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
[2] Easton, M. (1996, c1897). Easton's Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[3] Youngblood, R. F., Bruce, F. F., Harrison, R. K., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1995). Nelson's new illustrated Bible dictionary. Rev. ed. of: Nelson's illustrated Bible dictionary.; Includes index. Nashville: T. Nelson.
[4] Ibid.
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