God Is In Control
Isaiah 45:6-7
Do you ever look at the things that happen in your life and the things that are going on the world around us and feel like everything is out of control? Questions arise. Why do things happen the way they do? Why do bad things happen to good people? Is everything just spinning out of control? Regardless how chaotic things may appear in the world or in your life understand that God is on His throne and God is in control.
I. All things are under God's Control.
A. God represents Himself in Scripture as the absolute Sovereign of His universe. God is in absolute control of all things, the world we live in, all nature, all governments, as well as your life and mine.
B. Psalm 24:1 "The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein."
C. In Isaiah 45 we see a focus on the sovereignty of God as He overrides and overrules. God is sovereignly working out his purpose in all of history and in our personal history to effect His perfect plan.
D. Isaiah 45:1-3 "Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates (double doors); and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, which call you by your name, am the God of Israel."
E. More than 150 years before Cyrus was born the Lord announces by name the deliverer that He would use to free the Israeli Babylonian exiles. In this remarkable prophecy God speaks of holding Cyrus's hand enabling him to subdue many nations including the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappodcians, Phrygians, the Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians, the Bactrians, Indians and Babylonians. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus said that Cyrus vanquished whatsoever country he invaded.
F. The armies of the Medes and Persians, under Cyrus, conquered the city of Babylon in a remarkable raid described in Daniel 5. According Herodotus, while King Belshazzar of Babylon held a reckless party, Cyrus conquered the city by diverting the flow of the Euphrates into a nearby swamp; thus lowering the level of the river so his troops could march through the water and under the river-gates. But they still would not have been able to enter, had not the bronze gates of the inner walls been left inexplicably unlocked. God opened the gates of the city of Babylon for Cyrus, exactly as he declared He would 200 years before it happened!- copied
G. Proverbs 21:1 “The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes."
H. Romans 13:1 “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God."
I. The point is that God is in control and that He can and that He is in control of all history. History is no more than "His Story."
J. Isaiah 45:4-6 "For Jacob My servant's sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other;"
K. God in His sovereignty will enable and use those who do not know Him for the ultimate good of His people in fulfilling His plan for them and that all may know that the LORD is God.
L. His purpose is two-fold:
1. To bring glory to His name - "... they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other"
a. It was only the Lord who could strengthen Cyrus - the pagan deities Marduk, Bel and Nebo were worthless. Only the Lord is God.
b. Isaiah 42:8 " I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another..."
c. Isaiah 43:7 "Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him."
2. To preserve a people for His glory - "For Jacob My servant’s sake, and Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name..."
a. God would use Cyrus to restore Israel into their land. When he conquered Babylon in 539 BC he took control over the Hebrew people in Babylonian captivity. Almost immediately he issued orders for the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
b. Ezra 4:1-2 " Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah."
c. God chooses His people and preserves them that they might be to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:12)
M. God is in control of absolutely everything. He is the creator and ultimate controller of all aspects of life.
N. Isaiah 46:9-10 "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.'"
O. Isaiah 45:7 "I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I the LORD do all these things."
P. Cyrus as a Persian was exposed to a dualistic concept of God and the world. Their good god who created light they called Ahura-mazda and the evil god creator of darkness was Angra-mainya. God was pointing out through Isaiah that there are not two gods or forces in heaven or on earth - one good and one bad, similar to the concept of “yin and yang”. All things are under His control. Nothing happens without His permission.
Q. “Undoubtedly the Lord is no representative of evil as such, but He does make use of evil so that it may bring forth good.” - John Calvin
R. God allows evil, and uses it to accomplish His eternal purpose of bringing together all things in Jesus.
S. God allowed a pagan king to be used for the sake of His chosen people.
II. All things work together for good for those who love the Lord
A. Romans 8:28-30 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."
B. However messy things look on the outside, God is at work behind the scenes in our lives to accomplish His eternal purpose. And He will accomplish it, for His own glory.
C. Ephesians 1:11 “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will."
D. In other words, God has a plan, and nothing is going to derail His plan as a whole and for us individually. Even when we stumble and fall nothing will prevent His plan from being accomplished.
E. But we need to note that the scriptures teach all things "work together for good" not that all things are good; and that they "work together for good to those who love God" - for those who are saved who have been called and have accept Christ as Lord.
III. Letting go and letting God brings peace
A. We often try to figure out the whys but understand as someone has said, "The Bible never once says 'Figure it out,' but over and over it says 'Trust God'. He's already got it all figured out! - copied
B. If you know Christ the writers of the New Testament assure us that our Father does indeed have everything under control in our lives.
C. One of the marks of spiritual; maturity is the quiet confidence that God is in control without the need to understand why He does what He does. - copied
D. Because God is in control we need to simply trust Him.
E. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 "He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."
F. Because God is in control we need to let go and let God. Letting go is admitting that we are really not in control and allowing God to control our lives.
G. We need to let go of our own will and submit to the will of God.
H. Letting go also means giving glory to God for everything that transpires in our lives.
I. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
J. Isaiah 45:21b- 24 "... there is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me. Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken the truth, And shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. It will be said to Me: Only in the LORD is righteousness and strength."
K. We can go willingly or we can go fighting, but ultimately as His child we will go where He leads us. Let go and let God. - copied
L. Chicago lawyer Horatio Spafford had already lost a son, Spafford later suffered more loss in the Chicago fire of 1871. Two years later, he tragically lost his four daughters in a terrible accident at sea. Yet it was Spafford who gave us the great hymn, "It is Well with My Soul," written not long after the death of his daughters. He writes: "When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
"When sorrows like sea billows roll;
"Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know,
"It is well, it is well, with my soul."
Spafford could not explain why God allowed such great loss, but he knew that God was in control and trusted him. Such peace comes as a result of receiving God's forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Spafford's third verse holds the key:
"My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
"My sin, not in part but the whole,
"Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
"Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!"
Receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and trust that the supreme judge of all the earth always does what is right.
