What A Sovereign God Cannot Do

One of the most common expressions one hears in Christian circles, especially for reassurance when things aren’t going well, is that “God is in control; He’s still on the throne.” Christians comfort themselves with these words—but what do they mean? Was God not “in control” when Satan rebelled and when Adam and Eve disobeyed, but now He is? Does God’s being in control mean that all the rape, murder, war, and multiplied evil is exactly what He planned and desires?

Christ asks us to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Why that prayer if we are already in God’s kingdom with Satan bound as John Calvin taught and Reconstructionists claim today? Could a world of rampant evil really be what God wills? Surely not!

“Wait a minute!” someone counters. “Are you suggesting that our omnipotent God is unable to effect His will upon Earth? What heresy is this! Paul clearly says that God ‘worketh all things after the counsel of his own will’ (Ephesians 1:11).”