The Sovereignty
Of God In Creation
A. W. Pink
"Thou
art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power: for Thou hast
created all things and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." Rev.
4:11
Sovereignty characterizes the whole Being of God, let us observe how it
marks all His ways and dealings.
In the great expanse of eternity, which stretches behind Genesis 1:1
,
the universe was unborn and creation existed only in the mind of the great
Creator. In His sovereign majesty God dwelt all alone. We refer to that
far distant period before the heavens and the earth were created. There
were then no angels to hymn God's praises, no creatures to occupy His notice
no rebels to be brought to subjection. The great God was all alone amid
the awful silence of His own vast universe. But even at that time, if time
it could be called, God was sovereign. He might create or not create according
to His own good pleasure. He might create this way or that way; He might
create one world or one million worlds, and who was there to resist His
will? He might call into existence a million different creatures and place
them on absolute equality, endowing them with the same faculties and placing
them in the same environment; or, He might create a million creatures each
differing from the others, and possessing nothing in common save their
creaturehood, and who was there to challenge His right? If He so pleased,
He might call into existence a world so immense that its dimensions were
utterly beyond finite computation; and were He so disposed, He might create
an organism so small that nothing but the most powerful microscope could
reveal its existence to human eyes. It was His sovereign right to create,
on the one hand, the exalted seraphim to burn around His throne, and on
the other hand, the tiny insect which dies the same hour that it is born.
If the mighty God chose to have one vast gradation in His universe, from
loftiest seraph to creeping reptile, from revolving worlds to floating
atoms, from macrocosm to mircrocosm, instead of making everything uniform,
who was there to question His sovereign pleasure?
Behold then the exercise of divine sovereignty long before man ever saw
the light. With whom took God counsel in the creation and disposition of
His creatures? See the birds as they fly through the air, the beasts as
they roam the earth, the fishes as they swim in the sea, and then ask,
Who was it that made them to differ? Was it not their Creator who sovereignly
assigned their various locations and adaptations to them!
Turn your eye to the heavens and observe the mysteries of divine sovereignty
which there confront the thoughful beholder: "There is one glory of the
sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for
one star differeth from another star in glory." ( 1 Cor. 15:41 )
But why should they? Why should the sun be more glorious than all the other
planets? Why should there be stars of the first magnitude and others of
the tenth? Why such amazing inequalities? Why should some of the heavenly
bodies be more favorably placed than others in their relation to the sun?
And why should there be "shooting stars," falling stars, "wandering stars"
( Jude 13 ) in a word, ruined stars? And the only possible answer
is, "For Thy pleasure they are and were created." ( Rev. 4:11 )
Come now to our own planet. Why should two-thirds of its surface be covered
with water, and why should so much of its remaining third be unfit for
human cultivation or habitation? Why should there be vast stretches of
marshes, deserts and icefields? Why should one country be so inferior,
topographically, from another? Why should one be fertile, and another almost
barren? Why should one be rich in minerals and another own none? Why should
the climate of one be congenial and healthy, and another uncongenial and
unhealthy? Why should one abound in rivers and lakes, and another be almost
devoid of them? Why should one be constantly troubled with earthquakes,
and another be almost entirely free from them? Why? Because thus it pleased
the Creator and Upholder of all things.
Look at the animal kingdom and note the wondrous variety. What comparison
is possible between the lion and the lamb, the bear and the kid, the elephant
and the mouse? Some, like the horse and the dog, are gifted with great
intelligence; while others, like sheep and swine, are almost devoid of
it. Why? Some are designed to be beasts of burden, while others enjoy a
life of freedom. But why should the mule and the donkey be shackled to
a life of drudgery, while the lion and tiger are allowed to roam the jungle
at their pleasure? Some are fit for food, others unfit; some are beautiful,
others ugly; some are endowed with great strength, others are quite helpless;
some are fleet of foot, others can scarcely crawl - contrast the hare and
the tortoise; some are of use to man, others appear to be quite valueless;
some live for centuries, others a few months at most; some are tame, others
fierce. But why all these variations and differences?
What is true of the animals is equally true of the birds and fishes. But
consider now the vegetable kingdom. why should roses have thorns, and lilies
grow without them? Why should one flower emit a fragrant aroma and another
have none? Why should one tree bear fruit which is wholesome and another
that which is poisonous? Why should one vegetable be capable of enduring
frost and another wither under it? Why should one apple tree be loaded
with fruit, and another tree of the same age and in the same orchard be
almost barren? Why should one plant flower a dozen times a year and another
bear blossoms but once a century? Truly, "whatsoever the Lord please, that
did He in heaven, and in the earth, in the seas, and all deep places."
( Psa. 135:6 )
Consider the angelic hosts. Surely we shall find uniformity here. But no;
there, as elsewhere, the same sovereign pleasure of the Creator is displayed.
Some are higher in rank than others; some are more powerful than others;
some are nearer to God than others. Scripture reveals a definite and well-defined
gradation in the angelic orders. From the archangel, past seraphim and
cherubim, we come to "principalities and powers," ( Eph. 3:10 )
and from principalities and powers to "rulers," ( Eph. 6:12 ) and
then to the angels themselves, and even among them we read of "the elect
angels." ( I Tim. 5:21 ) Again we ask, Why this inequality, this
difference in rank and order? And all we can say is "Our God is in the
heavens, He hath done what soever He hath pleased." ( Psa. 115:3 )
If then we see the sovereignty of God displayed throughout all creation,
why should it be thought a strange thing if we behold it operating in the
midst of the human family? Why should it be thought strange if to one God
is pleased to give five talents and another only one? Why should it be
thought strange if one is born with a robust constitution and another of
the same parents is frail and sickly? Why should it be thought strange
if Abel is cut off in his prime, while Cain is suffered to live on for
many years? Why should it be thought strange that some should be born black
and others white; some be born idiots and others with high intellectual
endowments; some be born constitutionally lethargic and others full of
energy; some he born with a temperament that is selfish, fiery, egotisical,
others who are naturally self-sacrificing, submissive and meek? Why should
it be thought strange if some are qualified by nature to lead and rule,
while others are only fitted to follow and serve? Heredity and envioronment
cannot account for all these variations and inequalities. No; it is God
who maketh one to differ from another. Why should He? "Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in Thy sight" must be our reply.
Learn then this basic truth, that the Creator is absolutely sovereign,
executing His own will, per-forming His own pleasures, and considering
nought but His own glory. "The Lord hath made all things FOR HIMSELF
."
( Prov. 16:4 ) And had He not a perfect right to? Since God
is God, who dare challenge His prerogative? To murmur against Him is rank
rebellion. To question His ways is to impugn His wisdom. To criticise Him
is sin of the deepest dye. Have we forgotten who He is? Behold, "All nations
before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing,
and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God?" ( Isa. 40:17-18
)
Return
To Elder Pink's Page
Return To Baptist Authors
Return To PBC Home