“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)
God is both the first and final cause of all things, for He created all, He is Lord of all, and all things exist to serve His purposes and His glory. An artist has sovereignty (autonomy) over the picture he is painting. But the end for which he paints it is either the profit he will derive from it or the honor and credit of the skill he demonstrates by creating it. The “end” the painter has in mind for his work moves and excites him to perform it. This end possesses his mind and directs his activity until the work is complete. And once he adds the final stroke to it, he can sit triumphant in the outcome. In fact, this accomplishment is both the first and final cause for which the whole work is undertaken. God, as Creator of everything, is the sovereign end of all things. “For Your pleasure they are and were created,” (Rev. 4:11). “The Lord has made all things for Himself,” (Prov. 16:4). God, being the ultimate and chief end of all, possesses complete sovereignty and principal dominion over every single thing in His universe. All things flow from Him as the first cause and point to Him as the last end. Psalm 95:3-4 states, “The Lord is a great King above all gods. In His hand are all the deep places of the earth.” He is called Adonai, meaning “Lord Master” because He is God of all, over all, sustaining all by His power, for His glory. God both sources and supports life in His universe, so that all we are and have is owing to His preserving power. Even though the glory of God and His character is the end and purpose of all things, He bestows innumerable benefits on His people for their happiness. God gives believers life and being and also sustains them by the power of Christ and of His Spirit. He paid the ultimate price of His Son’s blood for our rescue from captivity which makes God sovereign over us by virtue of redemption as well as creation. As ransomed ones, we belong to Him because He redeemed us as well as created us. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 states, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price,” therefore your body and your spirit are God’s. Stephen Charnock said, “By this He acquired a right of another kind, and brought us from that uncontrollable lordship we affected over ourselves by the sin of Adam, that He might use us as His own peculiar people for His own glory and service; by this redemption there results to God a right over our bodies, over our spirits, over our services, as well as by creation. This is why Paul says, ‘you are bought,’ for a purchase cannot be made without a price paid.”- Lord, Your dominion is absolute over me. I have been created, and I have been redeemed. In both You show forth Your glory.
- If Your throne is in the heavens, Lord, there is nothing to control You here. If You are independent, You must necessarily be absolute. Your authority is unlimited, and Your lordship is supreme.
- You are the Great Preserver. You preserve both man and beast, the stars, the planets, the universe from beginning to end. When You had called the world into existence, You might have ordered it to return into its dark den of nothingness again, and ripped up every part of its foundation. But instead, You set Your glory in it by sending Your Christ to it.
- Redemption is a fruit of Your sovereignty, Lord. By Your absolute sovereignty You might have confirmed all the angels in their standing by grace and prevented the revolt of any of their number from You. When they revolted in heaven, You could have called out Your Son to assume the angelical form, as well as the human nature, or have exercised Your dominion in the destruction of men and devils, rather than in the redemption of any. You were under no obligation to restore either of them. But by grace, Your sovereign absolute grace, You have redeemed Your people through Christ, and them alone. The angels who fell have become devils. They are hard pressed to continue their revolt, and yet I know that the gates of hell shall not prevail, for You are sovereign and glorious in all You do for the good of Your people. Help me to adore You more and more for the glorious nature that You have. You are the final cause of all things, the glorious One in whom I trust. Let Your glory reign in my life – and conform me to the glory of Jesus Christ!
