If God is not Sovereign, God is not a Father

 By: Thomas F. Booher 

R.C. Sproul would say something like, "If God is not sovereign, God is not God." That's true. But more critically for today it must be brought out clearly, "If God is not sovereign, God is not a Father, and if God is not a Father, God is not God."

Sovereignty, Authority, Fore-ordination, having a grand purpose/plan, etc., especially relates to God as Father. The Son, as a man, inherits glory, power, and authority from the Father (not that the Son does not eternally have glory, power, authority, etc., He does) and came to do the Father's will.

Therefore, the Father receives the God-Man Jesus Christ back up into glory, the Son is given the gift of the Spirit to pour out, and Jesus can say, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." Who gives Jesus this authority? None other than the Father, for that is the authority that the Father has and gives to His Son in love.

What has many of our Evangelical and Reformed Churches done today? They have emasculated God. They have stripped Him of His sovereignty, especially in the areas of salvation/regenerating man, but even some Calvinists who believe in election, predestination, and that regeneration precedes faith, have undermined their theology by making God a merely motherly figure who agonizes and sorrows over the wickedness in the world and the unbelief of the people. Some really seem to complicate things when they say God still desires in His heart that every last person be saved, but alas, He has predestined/fore-ordained something differently.

All of this is a frustration to God's sovereignty, authority, plan, and goodness. It actually presents God as weak, conflicted, even desperate at times. This is not how God the Father actually is, nor should it be how any earthly father presents or conducts himself (even though every human father is a sinner that is weak, conflicted, and desperate at times -- it should not characterize them and must be mortified).

But since the Church has largely presented God in this way lately, is it any wonder we have weak, effeminate pastors, even "gay but celibate" ministers, have feminized worship, and have either directly or indirectly called men to behave in this fashion as well (after all, this is how God the Father is)?

God is masculine. He is a He. He is the Alpha and Omega. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He has all the glory, power, and honor in the world. He does whatever He pleases. He is not just the lord of the manor, but the lord of the Universe. He is the Creator.

God has designed men to respond to, admire, and even pursue strong, righteous, masculine leadership. After all, God is masculine, and has become a man/male in Christ Jesus. He has also designed women to receive and submit to righteous masculine leadership. While older women are to teach younger women, and women are to respond to that feminine instruction (Titus 2), men are not designed to respond to and receive feminine leadership/authority, etc. It is against nature, and it is not healthy for the woman or the man, and it does not reflect God's order or design well, because it does not reflect God as Sovereign Father well.

Authoritative femininity is an oxymoron. Authoritative masculinity, applied righteously, is the Father-rule of God. It is what we all need, man and woman alike. Men need strong male leaders, and women do too. Above all, we need the source of strong, righteous, sovereign masculinity, The Triune God of Scripture -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.