The Sovereign God
What does it mean for something or someone to be sovereign? Ultimately, it comes down to the question of authority and who gets to have the final say. When we think of the family unit, it is the parents who are sovereign. When it comes to public life, it is the State that is sovereign. In both examples, we have images of bad parents and bad political leaders. But it doesn’t have to go that way. The duty and fidelity of a sovereign party is not to exercise power for personal gain but for the benefit of those under their rule. When we experience this kind of benevolence, it is profound and wonderful. It flows from the posture of a servant and not an authoritarian. Karl Barth was one of the leading theological voices in the 20th century. His understanding of the sovereignty of God stands as one of the most profound and influential contributions to modern theology. For Barth, God’s sovereignty is not primarily about raw power or domination but about God’s free self-determination to reveal Himself in love and grace. This view of divine sovereignty challenges traditional notions of God as a distant ruler or an all-controlling force; instead, it presents a vision of sovereignty that is deeply Christological, relational, and rooted in the character of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.
Central to Barth’s theology is the idea that God’s sovereignty is, first and foremost, an expression of His freedom. God is sovereign because He is free to be God in accordance with His own nature. Unlike human rulers who derive their authority from external circumstances, God’s sovereignty is grounded entirely in His self-existence and His self-determination. God is not conditioned by anything outside of Himself — He is free to act according to His will and His love. This is the freedom to love and to enter into a covenant relationship with humanity by his own will. God’s sovereignty is, therefore, not the sovereignty of a tyrant but of a Father who acts in grace and mercy. As Barth writes in Church Dogmatics II/1, “God’s sovereignty is His freedom in grace, the freedom in which He determines Himself in Jesus Christ to be our God.”
Paul said to the Colossians that Jesus is the very image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). Barth agrees and argues that the ultimate revelation of God’s sovereignty is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God’s sovereign authority is not revealed through acts of domination or force but through the incarnation (God in the flesh), crucifixion, and the resurrection of Christ. In Jesus, God’s sovereign freedom is expressed in humility and self-giving love. This self-giving love is a sovereign act of grace. In Church Dogmatics II/2, Barth writes, “Election (God choosing) is the sum of the Gospel — the good news that God has chosen to be God for us in Jesus Christ.” Again, as Paul said in Colossians, when we look at Jesus, we look at God, and what has God done? He has become like us in every way (except our sinfulness) so that we could be made to be like him (Col. 1:19-23). God’s sovereignty is not a doctrine of fear but a message of hope — the assurance that God freely chooses to be for us, with us, and in us through the saving work of Jesus Christ.
The question for you and me is whether we will submit to God’s loving rule or not.