In this brief series of lessons, we look at the sovereignty of God, focusing on the fact that there are different aspects to the will of god: His permissive will, His determined will, His providential will, and His desired will.
These Bible lessons were taught by Pastor Gregg Bing in 2023 during the adult Sunday school class at Grace Bible Church in Fort Worth, TX.
Gregg Bing - May 31, 2020
The Will of God - Part 1
We examine different aspects of God's will. God is sovereign, meaning He has absolute power over the whole universe; He does as He pleases (Dan. 4:34-35; Isa. 14:24-27; Psalm 135:5-6). But, this does not mean He controls or causes everything that happens, whether good or bad. Being sovereign, God can choose to permit His creatures to make their own choices; He gives them free-will. God did this with His angels, which resulted in the fall of Satan and his angels. God did this with men, which resulted in the sin of Adam and Eve and the fall of mankind. Yet, God was not surprised by either of these falls. God has an eternal purpose (Eph. 3:10-11) to redeem and reconcile fallen mankind, which He ordained before time began; and which He accomplished through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. There are things God determines or decrees will happen. The clearest example of this is Christ's death and resurrection (Acts 2:22-24). Nothing and no one could have prevented this finished work of Christ. Those who worked together to put Jesus to death included Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel; but in doing so, they actually did what God's hand and God's purpose "determined before to be done" (Acts 4:27-28). In our next message, we go on to look at two more aspects of God's will: His providential will and His desired will.
Scripture References: Romans 11:33-35, Acts 4:27-28, Acts 2:22-24, Daniel 4:35, Ephesians 3:10-11
