God has set his throne in heaven; he rules over us all. He’s the King! Psalm 103:19 (NKJV)
Sovereignty and Dominion – The Control Series – Part 2
Jesus didn’t arrive on earth in a plume of smoke and fire, with an army of muscled and strong warriors, dressed for combat, war cry on their lips, ready to conquer and vanquish the earth.
NO.
The Kingdom of Jesus, the Kingdom of heaven, began the opposite way. Through sacrifice. Vulnerability. Death.
Even on the cross, God’s ‘sovereignty’ was questioned: the man dying next to Jesus asked, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39).
How often do we ask that of God?
We tend view control through the lens of contest: violent battles, clashes of power, a fight to the death, ending with a clear winner and a defeated loser. A zero-sum game.
But with the upside down nature of the Kingdom of God, the battle is fought on a layer beyond our circumstances. And the opposition is not humanity.
I don’t know why bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people, and a whole lot stuff happens in between. But I do know that our faith in God “points to the cross and says that, practically speaking, there is no evil so dark and so obscene – not even this – but that God can turn it to good.” (Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC).
God has absolute control of redemption, love, grace, peace and joy. God’s rule is extended upon the earth through the same means by which it was inaugurated – self-giving, sacrificial love. The gift of life given generously and vulnerability: the incarnation and crucifixion both pictures and testaments to the way God puts himself into us, for us.
His dominion and sovereignty are of love and grace, which in Christ knows no bounds.
Through the lens of the cross, sovereignty looks less like God playing chess with humanity, and more like him tenderly weaving love and grace through our lives. Through it all. Suffering has an incredible way of linking humanity and holiness. And this is where Christ is most beautiful. There are no limits to his kingdom, no jurisdiction to his love, no brokenness too restrictive for him to enter and soften, and eventually, heal. He makes his home in our hearts as they are.
And maybe we are like we dream to be, part of a sovereign family. A movement of people – Royals not by birth by but blood – weaving the threads of grace and love that have been sown into our lives, throughout the earth. And our sovereignty doesn’t place us “above” others, but rather, underneath and into their lives. Not as saviors; but as listeners, comforters, hope whispers and healing conduits: fellow sojourners just trying to make our way through this life as best and as fully as we can.
We may encounter all kinds of circumstances along the way – good and bad, beautiful and ugly. But the power of love and grace? The power of the cross? It's not controlled by the things we face and does not seek to control them either. They march to the beat of God’s eternal love for us. Pulsating freely through it all.
Sovereign.
Written by Lizzy Milani
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