There is entrenched teaching in certain sectors of the church that revolves around the doctrine of the Sovereignty of God. The thinking goes something like this.
God is sovereign.
God is sovereign over all things.
God is sovereign and everything that happens in the world must be approved or allowed by Him.
Since God is sovereign and I am sick, my sickness must be part of His plan
Since God allowed this sickness to happen it must have some redeeming purpose
The idea of sovereignty has to do with authority and rule. Kings and Queens are still today called sovereigns. We even talk about sovereign nations, those that have rule and authority over the people of a nation. They are independent of the rule of others.
When we use the word sovereign for God we are saying He has the right and authority to rule and reign over all of creation. The reason for this is:
God is eternal, all-powerful, and all-knowing
He is the creator of all things
He is, therefore, the ruler of all things and has all authority over His creation
In His sovereignty, God delegates authority to others,
God is the rightful ruler over all creation and He is the only one who has the right to say what is right and wrong. He is also the only one in all of creation who has the power and ability to enforce His rule.
If God is sovereign, then it seems logical that anything that happens in our lives takes place because it is His will. He is, after all, sovereign over everything. This is what many people believe and state in various ways.
Any statement that starts with the words, “God is allowing this sickness…” suggests that God is the one making the decision whether you are sick or not. If God is sovereign, then it must be a part of His plan. It must be serving Him some good purpose.
Other statements show how some think God is the source of sickness. “God must have a good reason for allowing this to happen.” “I don’t know what God is trying to do through this sickness, but as long as it touches someone’s life, it will be worth it.”
In making God sovereign over every event that takes place in the universe, we are making Him the one who is making the decision whether we are sick or not. He is the one determining if I am raped, robbed, abused in the home, and any other evil thing that happens in our lives.
In my mind, this is a twisted view of the Sovereignty of God.
God, in His sovereignty, gave man authority over the entire earth. It was His choice to do so. He warned mankind that there was life in following Him and death in disobedience. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God it unleashed every aspect of evil into the world. It actually placed Satan as the ruler of the world.
God still reigns as sovereign over the world, but He would not take back the rule of the world from Satan by sheer force. He would do it in a way that allowed man to rule as He decreed. That is why Jesus was born a man through the virgin Mary. A man lost the place of authority in the world and a man must win it back.
Jesus came to the earth to destroy the works of the devil. He came fully human/fully God to take back the lost world from Satan. His obedience to God and willingness to offer Himself for the sins of the world broke the power of the devil.
Jesus came announcing that the kingdom of God was at hand. The kingdom of God is where the rule of God is enforced. As Jesus preached about the kingdom of God, He healed the sick, cast out demons, and saved many.
Jesus saw sickness as an enemy of the people. He did not see sickness as something that God placed upon people. He saw just the opposite and moved with compassion to save, heal, and deliver as many as He could. Here are a few of the Scriptures that show God’s heart toward the people in the ministry of Jesus.
35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:35-36)
11 And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit, and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. . . 16 And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” (Luke 11:11, 16)
38 You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. (Acts 10:38)
The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)
14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” 23 And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished! 27 But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. (Mark 3:22-27)
8 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,And recovery of sight to the blind,To set free those who are oppressed,19 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19)
16 When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.” (Matthew 8:16-17)
24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. (2 Peter 2:24)
The Bible clearly shows that God sent Jesus to save people spiritually, physically, and emotinoally. None of these verses indicate that God is allowing sickness or is the source of sickness. The exact opposite is true. Jesus came to free people from all that oppresses them.
Jesus is the proof that God takes away sickness. Look at the various things the above verses point out.
Jesus cast our demons and healed the sick everywhere He went.
Jesus released people from the power of Satan showing it was God’s will to heal and not to make people sick.
Jesus had compassion for people because they were distressed and dispirited.
Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, the one behind sickness and oppression.
Jesus saw sickness and demonization as oppression and healed them.
Jesus bound the power of the strongman and set people free from His slavery.
Jesus came to preach the good news, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and free those who are oppressed.
Jesus came to fulfill the words of Isaiah the prophet, “He Himself took your infirmities and carried away your disease.”
Each of the above scriptures is the total opposite of what people say when they proclaim God is sovereign and I am sick because of His will. Jesus came to free us from the things that some are claiming God is allowing.
The kingdom of God is advancing by breaking the power of sin and the enemy. Jesus talked about the kingdom of the devil being against itself if He was casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub. The kingdom would fall apart.
I think the same holds true for God. If God is the one allowing sickness or demonic oppression, then wouldn’t it be contrary to God’s will for Jesus to heal? Why would Jesus heal people God allows to be sick?
The reason I believe Jesus heals is that it is God’s will is for people to be healed. All the verses point to this and I see nothing that suggests the sovereignty of God includes His permission or will for you to be sick. He sent Jesus to break the power of sickness and show that sickness is not His will.
P.S. If this post has changed you mind, let me know how in the comments below.
P.P.S. If you think God is sovereign and the source behind your sickness let me know why in the comments below.
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