The Popular Phrase Few Understand
Christians often say that God is in control or that God is sovereign. These phrases are meant to bring comfort or perspective, especially in difficult times. But most who use them do not understand what they mean. They imagine a God who at best arranges some circumstances in order to influence human decisions. Even when they speak of God’s will or decree, they often imagine it as something passive.
But Scripture does not present God’s will this way. When the Bible says that God ordains something, it does not mean that he watches it happen and chooses not to interfere. And it does not mean he merely arranges it or permits it to happen. It means he causes it. It means that nothing takes place unless he brings it about, directly and deliberately. To speak of divine ordination is to speak of authorship.
To Ordain Means to Cause
In Scripture, the will of God is not presented as passive or observational. It is the active cause of all things. He does not wait to see what will unfold. He speaks, and what he says becomes true. His word does not record outcomes. It establishes them. The future is not a field of possibilities. It is the effect of his decree.
Isaiah records God saying, “I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose'” (Isaiah 46:10). This is not observational language. It is causal. The Lord is not saying that he can guess the outcome. He is saying that he makes it. Every detail from beginning to end is declared and accomplished by him.
Proverbs tells us that “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Proverbs 16:33). In the most seemingly random and trivial event, God’s determination is final. What appears uncertain to man is already decided by God. Ephesians says that God “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). There is no exception. He does not observe and react. He causes all things, and he causes them according to his own purpose.
God Ordains the Big and the Small
This causality is not limited to grand and pivotal events. God ordains everything, from the rise and fall of kings to the path of a falling bird. Daniel tells us that God changes times and seasons, that he removes kings and sets up kings (Daniel 2:21). Jesus says that not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from the Father (Matthew 10:29). There is no level of creation beyond his reach, no scale too large or too small for his determination.
This includes the plans and thoughts of man. Proverbs says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). A person may think that he is acting freely, but every step he takes is ordered by the Lord. The will of man is not an autonomous realm. It is another sphere where God’s sovereignty is total.
Even the actions of evil men are under God’s ordination. When Joseph confronted his brothers in Egypt, he said, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). Their motives were wicked according to God’s control, but their action served God’s purpose for good, also under God’s control. The event was caused by God as part of his plan.
Nothing escapes divine ordination. Nothing takes place apart from God’s active will. This is what it means to say that God is sovereign. He does not merely rule over a world that moves on its own. He causes the world to move. He causes every thought, every choice, every event. From the greatest moments in history to the smallest movement of dust in the air, all things are ordained by God.
God Ordains Evil Without Being Evil
For many people, the idea that God causes all things seems acceptable until it reaches the existence of evil. They are willing to say that God causes nature, history, and even the thoughts of man, but they resist when it comes to sin. They prefer to say that God merely permits evil. This view attempts to protect God’s character, but it is arrogant and unnecessary, and it contradicts Scripture.
The Bible does not say that God passively permits evil. It says he plans it. It says he appoints it. It says he causes it to fulfill his purposes. The most obvious and unavoidable example is the crucifixion of Jesus. Peter says that Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” and yet says to the men of Israel, “you crucified and killed him by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23).
God did not merely allow the crucifixion. He predestined it. He sent his Son to be betrayed, condemned, and executed. He determined that evil men would rise up, that they would act with hatred and deceit, and that their sin would serve his will. This was not permission. It was authorship. The event was both sinful and foreordained. Nothing was left to chance or human whim. God caused it to happen, and those who did it were guilty.
This is not a contradiction. The actions are evil. God is not. The men are guilty. God is righteous. The sin is real. The plan is holy. Scripture teaches this plainly, and it is not the only example. God repeatedly uses wicked men to carry out judgment, shape history, and fulfill prophecy. He causes their actions without sharing their guilt. His ordination of sin does not make him a sinner. It makes him God.
This Is Why Faith Can Be Certain
Faith in God is not mere optimism. It is certainty. It is the assurance of what will happen, because it is grounded in the nature of God himself. The doctrine of divine ordination makes faith rational. It makes peace reasonable. It makes joy possible even in suffering.
Paul writes, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). This is not a vague encouragement. It is a logical necessity. If God works all things according to his purpose, and if his purpose is for our good, then every event is moving toward that outcome. There is no alternative.
This means that even when life seems uncertain, it is not. Even when our minds are attacked with doubt, there is no doubt in the will of God. Our faith does not rest on what we see. It rests on the certainty that God ordains all things.
A spiritual life without the anchor of divine ordination is unstable. It is always trying to read signs, measure outcomes, and predict possibilities. But faith that rests on God’s sovereign will is steady. It is not swayed by emotion or shaken by trial. It is fixed, because it is founded on the God who promises miracles, who causes all things and never fails.
The God Who Does All That He Pleases
Psalm 115 says, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3). This is a good statement of the doctrine. God does not seek approval. He does not submit to conditions. He does not consult any other will. He does what he pleases, and what he pleases becomes reality.
To believe in God is to believe in divine ordination. It is not an advanced doctrine for theological specialists. It is the very definition of God. The God of Scripture is the one who speaks and it is done. He is the one who forms light and creates darkness, who brings prosperity and creates disaster. He is the one who kills and makes alive, who wounds and heals, and from whose hand no one can deliver. Faith knows what he will do because he has made promises of miracles and blessings to his people, and promises of judgment and suffering for his enemies.
This is the God who deserves our faith. He is not one option among many. He is the one who ordains all things, and therefore all things will answer to him. He is the source of all meaning, the reason behind every moment, and the final judge of all things. The doctrine of divine ordination is the foundation of worship. To understand it is to fear God rightly, to trust him fully, and to worship him as the one who rules without limit and works all things for our good and for his glory.