God is Always and Forever Reigning and Ruling

By Steven J. Hogan

~ A Saturday Morning Post #386 ~ 

Look at the world, and what do you see? Wars, invasions, persecution, evildoers, criminals, fraudsters, fakes, idolaters, liars, thieves, false teachers, demonic forces, etc. The world is in great turmoil! So what is God doing? Do you think He doesn’t know, doesn’t care, is too busy, is powerless, or is not involved? Of course not! Nothing in this world happens apart from the powerful, purposeful, sovereign God! 

As humans, we can physically see what is happening, but we cannot spiritually see that our sovereign Lord, the all-wise God, the all-powerful King, is the first cause, and He is always fulfilling His will. God is reigning over this world! He is in charge, He is in control, His purposes are being accomplished! He is building His kingdom! And everyone and everything is directed by God for His divine and eternal purposes – people, families, churches, businesses, leaders, nations and, yes, elections. In these last days, it’s all leading to the end of this age, to the day of Christ, to that time when God sends His Son back to earth, and everyone will see Him and be in awe, and everything will be gloriously different. 

Today, I am focusing on the fact that God reigns and rules, that He purposely and sovereignly governs all people and activities in this world. This truth of God’s comprehensive and eternal reign is vitally and fundamentally important to each one of us. 

Here are a number of passages about this relevant and needed truth:
* Exodus 15:18 – “The Lord shall reign forever and ever.”
* 1 Chronicles 16:31 – “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; and let them say among the nations ‘The Lord reigns.’”
* 1 Chronicles 29:11 – “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.”
* Job 12:9-10 – “Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?”
* Psalm 9:7 – “The Lord reigns forever; He has established His throne for judgment.” 

* Psalm 10:16 – “The Lord is King forever and ever; the nations will perish from His land.”
* Psalm 22:27-28 – “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will worship before Him, for the kingdom is the Lord’s and He rules over the nations.” 
* Psalm 29:10 – “The Lord sat as King at the flood; the Lord sits as King forever.”
* Psalm 45:6 – “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.”
* Psalm 47:7-8 – “God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a skillful psalm. God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne.” 

* Psalm 93:1 – “The Lord reigns, He is clothed in majesty; the Lord has clothed and girded Himself with strength; indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved. Your throne is established from of old. You are from everlasting.”  
* Psalm 96:10 – “Say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns.’ The world is firmly established; it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.”
* Psalm 97:1 – “The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice, let the many islands be glad.”
* Psalm 99:1 – “The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble; He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake.” 
* Psalm 103:19 – “The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.” 

* Psalm 145:11, 13 – “They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom and talk of Your power… Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations.”
* Psalm 146:10 – “The Lord will reign forever, Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord.”
* Isaiah 37:16 – “O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.”
* Daniel 2:21 – “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever. For wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings.”
* Daniel 2:44 – “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.” 

* Daniel 4:17 – “The decision is a command of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes”
* Daniel 4:34-35 – “His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. But He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
* Daniel 6:26 – “He is the living God and enduring forever, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, and His dominion will be forever.”
* Daniel 7:14 – “To Him was given dominion, glory, and sovereignty, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.”
* Matthew 6:9-10 – “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Isaiah 9:6-7 

* Romans 14:17 – “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
* 1 Corinthians 15:24-25 – “Then comes the end, when He (Christ) hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.”
* 1 Timothy 1:17 – “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
* Revelation 11:15 – “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”
* Revelation 15:3 – “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations.” 

These thirty passages are unquestionably and overwhelmingly clear in establishing that God is King, that He is the sovereign ruler over all people and all things. So what do we learn, what can we extract from these verses about God’s glorious reign and rule over this earth?

– God’s reign is eternal. His reign is from eternity past to eternity future.
– God’s reign is continual. He reigns all the time – every second, every day, every year, and forever.
– God’s reign is comprehensive, from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the largest and farthest star. He reigns over every plant, bird, fish, tree, insect, animal, cloud, molecule of water, particle of light, storm, lightning strike, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, person, angel, demon, and the devil himself. 

God’s reign is holy. No one can compare with Him; He is awesome above all beings; He is King over all that exists. “To whom then will you liken Me? All the nations are as nothing before Him… Its inhabitants are like grasshoppers… (He) reduces the rulers to nothing.” Is. 40:17-25
– God’s reign is just and He judges and punishes all sin, whether it relates to people, cities, or nations. Ps. 9:4-8
– God’s reign is wise for He always does what is right and He never does what is wrong.
– God can reign because He is God, and He is glorious. That is, He is holy, just, powerful, truthful, omniscient, omnipresent, unchanging, immortal, good, merciful, loving, forgiving, gracious, faithful, and eternal. Ps. 96

That God reigns means He is in charge, He is in control, and He does whatever He desires, whatever He chooses to do. Nothing happens apart from God. No one can challenge His rule. No one can change His purposes and plans. No one can thwart God, can prevent, can stop Him from carrying out His divine will. (Ps. 33:8-12). God is sovereign over all aspects of His creation, every square inch of this planet and this universe. He is intimately involved in the duties and activities of every person, church, business, leader, country, etc.
– God demonstrates His power, justice, and love so that people know He is God and is sovereign, and that they cannot do whatever they want, but that His plans will surely be carried out. “And they will know that I am the Lord.” Ezek. 7:27, Is. 46:9-11 

Because God is sovereign, people should fear Him, be humble before Him, love Him, worship Him, and serve Him. Not all people fear God at this time, but they will in the future. Phil. 2:9-11
– God’s reign is a Trinitarian rule, involving the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Matt. 28:19, 2 Cor. 13:14
– The kingdom of the world is ungodly, and God is sovereign over it.
– The kingdom of God is godly, and God is sovereign over it. And in His kingdom, there is always holiness, justice, love, joy, peace, truth, goodness, etc.
– God is sovereign over all people, yet all people are responsible for their sin. Both these statements are true but it is impossible to reconcile this in your own mind. The fact that God is sovereign does not negate man’s responsibility. You must know that God is sovereign over evil but He Himself is not evil. God is always holy and pure. 2 Sam. 10:12, Is. 6:3, Rom. 9:18-20 

God was sovereign over those who killed Jesus. He caused their evil actions to result in the salvation of billions of people. “This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hand of godless men, and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23). “There were gathered together against Your holy servant… Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur” (Acts 4:27-28). These verses specifically state that God was sovereign over the most evil action in history. He predetermined, He foreknew, He predestined, He brought about the death and resurrection of His own Son so as to save all those who would repent of their sins and believe that Jesus died to pay for their sins and then rose again.

God’s reign is seen in different ways at different times. God reigned when Adam and Eve were perfect (Gen. 1-2). God is reigning during this evil age, this time of Noah, the Jews, and the church (Gen. 3 – Rev. 19). Christ will visibly reign from Jerusalem during the millennial kingdom (Rev. 20). God and Christ will gloriously and perfectly reign during the eternal kingdom. Rev. 21-22, 1 Cor. 15:24-28 

Now that we live in the end-times, it is imperative that you understand the truth of God’s sovereignty in this world and in your own life and family. Times will be increasingly difficult – birth pains will get harder, the Antichrist will be ruling, and there will be great tribulation, persecution like you have never seen before. But God is sovereignly working, He is fulfilling His purposes! All that is and will be happening is part of His grand and glorious plan to bring about the end of this age, the return of Christ, and His visible reign over this world! “To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” Jude 25