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God’s Supreme Authority
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As the one and only God, God reigns supreme in the world. He has supreme power over all things. As such, God defeats his enemies and he fulfills his plans. A realization of this produces submission to and worship of the one and only God.
The Lord Is God – the Only God
Note that God stated that the “Lord” was the name by which he was to be known (cf. Note: God declared his actual name to be the “Lord”).
The Lord is God
Ps 100:3a Know that the Lord is God. NCV™
2Sam 7:28a Now, O sovereign Lord, you are the true God! NET
The Lord is God of heaven and earth
Deut 4:39 Today realize and carefully consider that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below – there is no other! NET
The Lord is God of all people
Jer 32:27a I am the Lord, the God of all humankind. NET
2Ki 19:15a Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: “Lord God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubs! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. NET
The Lord is the true and living God . . .
Jer 10:10 The Lord is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. When he shows his anger the earth shakes. None of the nations can stand up to his fury. NET
. . . He is the one and only God
Isa 45:21b-22 [God:] And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. 22“Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. ESV
God’s deeds show that he is the only God
Ps 86:10 [David:] For you are great and do amazing things. You alone are God. NET
Deut 32:39 [God:] See, I am the only God. There are no others. I kill, and I make alive. I wound, and I heal, and no one can rescue you from my power. GW
God Reigns Supreme
God reigns
Ps 96:10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! The world is established, it cannot be moved. He judges the nations fairly.” NET
God rules over all – over all the earth
1Chr 29:11-12 O Lord, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler of all. 12You are the source of wealth and honor; you rule over all. You possess strength and might to magnify and give strength to all. NET
Ps 47:2 For the sovereign Lord is awe-inspiring; he is the great king who rules the whole earth! NET
God rules over all nations and authorities
Ps 22:28 For the Lord is king and rules over the nations. NET
1Tim 6:15a The glorious God is the only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords. CEV
God will reign forever
Lam 5:19 But you, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. NET
God will impose his absolute rule on all
Rev 11:15-17 [John, describing a vision:] Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” 16Then the twenty-four elders who are seated on their thrones before God threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and worshiped God 17with these words: “We give you thanks, Lord God, the All–Powerful, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun to reign. NET
The proclamation in v. 15 and the final phrase “have begun to reign” (v. 17) may mean that at this point God has begun to impose his rule on all – the actualization of the kingdom (v. 15) implemented with the imposition of God’s great power (v. 17). Alternatively the past tense may be used here to indicate the certainty of God doing so in the future.
Note: All things belong to God
1Chr 29:11a Greatness, power, splendor, glory, and majesty are yours, Lord, because everything in heaven and on earth is yours. GW
All things belong to God – as he made all things – and it is because of this that God has the right to his sovereignty over all things.
God Has Power over All Things
See also:
God has power over the forces of evil
Col 2:15 God stripped the spiritual rulers and powers of their authority. With the cross, he won the victory and showed the world that they were powerless. NCV™
Rom 16:20a [Paul, to believers:] The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. NET
God has power over death, to raise the dead
2Cor 1:9 [Paul, speaking of his trials:] Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. NET
God has power over all aspects of nature, including: the earth; the skies; . . .
Job 9:5-7 Without warning he moves mountains and in anger he destroys them. 6God sends earthquakes and shakes the ground; he rocks the pillars that support the earth. 7He can keep the sun from rising, and the stars from shining at night. GNT
. . . and the waters
Ps 107:24-25, 29 They witnessed the acts of the Lord, his amazing feats on the deep water. 25He gave the order for a windstorm, and it stirred up the waves of the sea. … 29He calmed the storm, and the waves grew silent. NET
God has power over nations . . .
Dan 4:35 All who live on the earth are nothing compared to him. He does what he wishes with the heavenly armies and with those who live on earth. No one can hold back his power or say to him, ‘What did you do?’ ISV
Hab 3:6, 12 He [God] takes his battle position and shakes the earth; with a mere look he frightens the nations. The ancient mountains disintegrate; the primeval hills are flattened. He travels on the ancient roads. … 12You [God] furiously stomp on the earth, you angrily trample down the nations. NET
This poetically portrays God’s vastly superior power over nations.
. . . God can destroy nations
Zeph 3:6 [God:] I destroyed nations; their walled cities are in ruins. I turned their streets into ruins; no one passes through them. Their cities are desolate; no one lives there. NET
Hag 2:22a [God:] I will overthrow royal thrones and shatter the might of earthly kingdoms. NET
God has power over rulers and can bring them down
Isa 40:23 He brings down powerful rulers and reduces them to nothing. GNT
God Defeats His Enemies
No one can effectively oppose God . . .
Job 23:13 But he alone is God, and who can oppose him? God does as he pleases, … CEV
Jer 49:19b [God:] For there is no one like me, and there is no one who can call me to account. There is no ruler who can stand up against me. NET
. . . The plans of God’s enemies cannot succeed against him
Ps 21:11 [David, to God:] Though they plan evil against you, though they devise mischief, they will not succeed. ESV
Prov 21:30 There is no wisdom, understanding, or advice that can succeed against the Lord. NCV™
God takes vengeance on his enemies
Nah 1:2 The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. ESV
God repays his enemies for their deeds
Isa 59:18 The Lord will pay back his enemies for what they have done. He will show his anger to those who were against him; he will punish the people in faraway places as they deserve. NCV™
God destroys his enemies
Deut 7:10 But he will pay back those people who hate him. He will destroy them, and he will not be slow to pay back those who hate him. NCV™
1Sam 2:10a The Lord shatters his adversaries; he thunders against them from the heavens. The Lord executes judgment to the ends of the earth. NET
God Fulfills His Plans
God carries out his plans
Isa 14:24 The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow: “Be sure of this: Just as I have intended, so it will be; just as I have planned, it will happen. NET
God’s plans, which he fulfills, were determined long ago – from the beginning
Isa 25:1 [Isaiah:] O Lord, you are my God! I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame. For you have done extraordinary things, and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed. NET
Isa 46:10 [God:] From the beginning I revealed the end. From long ago I told you things that had not yet happened, saying, “My plan will stand, and I’ll do everything I intended to do.” GW
When the time comes, God’s plans are promptly fulfilled
Hab 2:3 [God, to Habakkuk:] For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. ESV
The reference is to the fulfillment of a prophetic vision from God.
God does not change his plans . . .
Num 23:19 God is not a human being, and he will not lie. He is not a human, and he does not change his mind. What he says he will do, he does. What he promises, he makes come true. NCV™
. . . though God may have reason to relent from something he proposed
Isa 38:1-5 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Give instructions to your household, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’” 2Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3“Please, Lord. Remember how I have served you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion, and how I have carried out your will.” Then Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4The Lord told Isaiah, 5“Go and tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will add fifteen years to your life, … NET
No one can thwart God’s plans . . .
Isa 14:27 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has a plan, and who can possibly frustrate it? His hand is ready to strike, and who can possibly stop it? NET
. . . Nor can anyone alter what God does
Eccl 3:14 [A wise teacher:] I also know that whatever God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it. God has made it this way, so that men will fear him. NET
Note that in such general usage, “men” contextually is intended to be inclusive of women.
God works everything for his plans
Prov 16:4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. ESV
Eph 1:11 In him [Christ] we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, … ESV
These verses appear to indicate that God works all things that exist or occur for the fulfillment of his plans.