Sermon Central
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The Sovereignty Of God Series
Contributed by Eddie Snipes on Oct 18, 2000 (message contributor)
Summary: Unless we understand the sovereignty of God, we can’t fully trust Him. This sermon takes an indepth look at the plan of God and His purpose for each of our lives.
P - stands for Plan
God has a perfect plan for every person’s life. Each time we lose sight of that perfect plan and quit pursuing God’s purpose for us, we get tempted to step outside of God’s will and abandon that plan. Each time we step out of God’s will and interject our own plan, we fall short of God’s perfect design. Because God is sovereign and He can see tomorrow and perfectly designs every moment of our life. When we quit walking by faith, we begin to think that we can do better and know better than God. In reality, we cut ourselves short each time we bypass God’s plan. Look at Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (NIV)
Most people are afraid of God’s plan and are unwilling to let go of their life. From a deep heart of longing to show His mercy, Jesus cried out,
" O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" (Matthew 23:37)
The same cry goes out to you. God calls saying, "How I long to gather you under My wings and fulfill in you My purpose", but will you come? Most people will not. They run from God’s plan even though their own plans always fall short. We are unwilling to sacrifice our own desires even though we see the promises of God extends. God designed you as an exact fit for His eternal purpose. Psalm 139 tells us that God formed our inward parts and has knitted us together in our mother’s womb. He fashioned the days and designed the path for our future before we ever had a day on earth. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Psalm 139:17-18a says, "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand." God put so much thought, detail and planning in every part of your life that if you could count God’s careful thoughts it would outnumber the sands of the earth.
When we don’t believe God’s plan is perfect, we will not trust Him to fulfill us. We also will not trust Him when we go through trials. As Christians, we are never promised that life will be pain-free. What we are promised is that God will use everything together to bring out the good in our lives and shape us for the future. God compares trials to refining gold. There is no easy way to refine gold. It must pass through the fire. As gold melts, the impurities float to the top and are removed. Fine gold is refined many times. The gold can be left unrefined, but it does not have much value. It is impurities that give gold its color. That is why white gold has greater value that yellow gold. Unknown to those of ancient times, when gold is purified to perfection, it looses all color and becomes transparent. This was unknown until modern technology made this possible. However, the Bible described this 2,000 years ago. In the book of Revelation, chapter 21 describes heaven. We are told that the walls of the new Jerusalem were pure gold like clear glass and the streets were pure gold like clear glass. This kind of purity is what God is trying to complete in our lives and only in the center of God’s will can God shape us.
