All Authority

All Authority

“And Jesus said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18–20).

This passage of Scripture is one that is familiar to the majority of Christians. It is known throughout Christendom as the Great Commission. More often than not, the portion of these verses that captures our attention—and is most often emphasized by preachers and teachers of the gospel—is the “Go therefore…” section. But before those words, Jesus stated something that ought to be the root, the motivation, and the confidence of all Christian living: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”

What Jesus is declaring in this passage is that there is no situation and no location outside His sovereign rule. He wants us to understand that everything in heaven and on earth is under His ultimate command. God’s promises are only meaningful where He has control. And in light of Jesus’ words, there is no place, no time, and no event outside His authority.

I point this out because many people—Christians among them—are questioning God’s sovereign control in the events that presently grip our country and the rest of the world: social division, political unrest, racial tension, pandemics, and more. If God indeed is in control, then we must understand that even the current events surrounding us are being permitted by Him for His ultimate and eternal purposes, as well as His glory.

When I am convinced of God’s sovereignty, I can rest in political outcomes—even when I have not voted for the party who ultimately wins—because ultimate authority does not belong to political leaders but to God. “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1).

I remember the first time I read and pondered Proverbs 16:4: “The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.” Scripture tells us that both Pharaoh in the Exodus and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, were instruments of God’s choosing and using for His purposes in the history of Israel. God even referred to the brutal Nebuchadnezzar—who carried the nation of Israel into Babylonian captivity—as “My servant” (Jeremiah 43:10).

The late R.C. Sproul, one of my favorite preachers and writers, helped me embrace the fullness of God’s sovereignty and ultimate authority. He once said, “God has not left one maverick molecule in the universe.” In other words, there is nothing that can ever—or will ever—upset God’s perfect plan for the history of mankind. Just because we do not understand how God’s sovereignty and authority work together in the grand scope of history does not mean they do not.

At this point in my life, after walking with Jesus for fifty-three years, I am content to let God be God, resting in the words of Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things He reveals belong to us…”