SOVEREIGN LOVE is a six-session teaching series by Jason Clark based on his book, God Is (Not) In Control.
What if control is a flawed word to describe God’s sovereignty? What if there is an infinitely better word, a greater revelation, LOVE! Through a fresh look at God’s sovereignty, Jason invites us into a transforming encounter with the love and goodness of our heavenly Father.
The Whole Story Is Better Than You Think!
In this teaching series:
• You will discover how to know and experience God’s love
• You will discover the joy of interpreting scripture through a theology of Christ
• You will discover how to step away from the insecurity of a punishment focused God and live confident in our Father’s great affection
• You will discover how to daily access joy and hope
• You will develop a practical understanding of the sovereignty of God
A Family Story Ministries is a 501ce non-profit committed to teaching and releasing media content that is catalytic to an encounter with our Father’s always-good love.
On YouTube
Revelation & Intimacy (part one)
chapter 1
It’s Simple, God Is Good (part two)
chapters 2 & 3
Perspective & Maturity (part three)
chapters 4 & 5
Love Is Our Hermeneutic (part four)
chapters 6 & 7
God Doesn’t Do Punishment (part five)
chapters 8, 9 & 10
It’s About Freedom (part six)
chapters 11,12 & 13
On AUDIO / PODCAST
Revelation & Intimacy (part one)
chapter 1
It’s Simple, God Is Good (part two)
chapters 2 & 3
Perspective & Maturity (part three)
chapters 4 & 5
Love Is Our Hermeneutic (part four)
chapters 6 & 7
God Doesn’t Do Punishment (part five)
chapters 8, 9 & 10
It’s About Freedom (part six)
chapters 11,12 & 13
Sovereign Love
Because He is God, Jesus is the best way to know what God is like. Jesus told us if we have seen Him, we have seen the Father. He only said what He heard His Father say. (3) He only did what He saw His Father doing. (4) And the Spirit-filled, led, and empowered Him in everything He said and did. (5)
I believe God is sovereign – having supreme power or authority. (6) But I believe any thought regarding the sovereignty of God that isn’t found in the revelation of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection should be held suspect.
If Jesus is the true and fullest picture of what God is like, then Jesus is also the true and fullest way to discover God’s nature, His sovereignty.
And Jesus revealed God first and foremost as love. Everything Jesus did started and ended with love. God is love and He is always good. It says so in the Bible, the whole Bible, if you know how to look…
And Jesus, in His every breath, word, and action, revealed this Love as complete, as the whole story, as sovereign. That’s all in the whole Book as well. It just might require a little un-focusing to see it, a little unlearning to discover it…
Jesus was a perfect demonstration of God’s sovereignty and He revealed it as Love.
Sovereign Love healed the sick, fed the hungry, and raised the dead. Sovereign Love forgave the prostitute, the adulterer, the thief, and the liar. Sovereign Love fed the hungry, cast out demons, and calmed the storm. The power and authority of sovereign Love met and fully answered every fear and every need—physical, emotional, and spiritual.
Sovereign Love very much lived on earth, but He very much lived from heaven. And everywhere He went, the infinite narrative of Heaven, love, trumped the finite narrative on earth, fear. It always does.
But here is what’s truly amazing to me, never once did Sovereign love establish the kingdom of heaven on earth through acts of sovereign control.
While many of us believe the sovereignty of God has something to do with control, Jesus revealed the true definition of the sovereignty of God in the power and authority of sacrificial Love; a love perfectly displayed in His life, death, and resurrection.
Jesus Never Controlled
Jesus, being fully God, perfectly revealed God’s sovereignty. And Jesus spent His entire life revealing the sovereignty of God as love. A love with all authority, a love that was powerful and transformative, a love that forgave, and redeemed, and healed, and set free; love always sets us free.
And here is where it gets crazy good. Are you ready for this?
Jesus never once revealed God’s sovereignty as controlling. Not once did sovereign Love force anyone to His will.
Jesus, the exact revelation of supreme power and authority on earth, never controlled anyone. Whether He was with the sinner or the faithful, the poor or the rich, His absolute power and authority were always revealed through love, not control.
Sovereign Love, in supreme power and authority, stood before the Sanhedrin and later Pontius Pilate, was whipped, beaten and hung on a cross, gave His life and died, and not once did He control another person.
This was not sovereignty as the world understood it. This was something altogether different and absolutely stunning; Jesus redefined sovereignty as perfect love.
And when He rose in majesty and beauty and wonder and saving grace, He demonstrated the ultimate power and authority of sovereign love. Even death couldn’t hold Him down! Jesus put Death on notice. Nothing would ever be more powerful than perfect Love.
Jesus, in the mystery of fully man and fully God, deity in human form, and sovereignty perfectly revealed, lived on earth for thirty-three years and never once forced His will upon another. While He invited whole surrender, He never demanded, manipulated, or coerced it. No one was ever compelled into servitude, browbeaten into following Him or strong-armed into loving Him.
Jesus never once compromised free will. Please understand this, Sovereign Love never once revealed, through His actions and words, a desire or interest in controlling us.
When I look at God through the revelation of Jesus, I don’t see a God who seeks control. Quite the opposite, I see a God passionate about redeeming and empowering and setting free.
It bears repeating. Jesus is the best and truest way to discover God’s sovereignty. He is the whole story. And He changed the lens, He broke the code, He revealed a new paradigm, a truer narrative. His sovereign love unveils the mysteries and makes the hidden things plain.
This excerpt is taken from God Is (Not) In Control, Chapter One – Lady Liberty.
Jason Clark is a writer, speaker, and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.
A Family Story Ministries is a 501ce non-profit committed to teaching and releasing media content that is catalytic to an encounter with our Father’s always-good love.
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MORE ON SOVEREIGN LOVE…
Abrazos y abrazo de aprecio Soy Joselin Pinilla.
Estoy descubriendo ayer, esta pagina y este hermoso, tierno y real ministerio, estoy en Bogota, Colombia, no hablo, español, por favor tiene algún material, herramientas, en español ? o alguien habra traducido algo ? Gracias por ioncluirmen en tu lita de aprendizaje, estudio, amistad en Criato.
Hello, Joselin,
I don’t speak Spanish but was able to make out enough to understand you are asking for materials in Spanish. Sorry, but no, I do not have any books or teaching materials that have been translated.
Blessings
We are always looking for new material to study in our small group. Are there discussion questions to go with this six series teaching on God is not in control?
Hey Bonnie, unfortunately, there aren’t discussion questions or a corresponding workbook. But many have done small groups just by reading through the book and opening up time for conversation and questions. I have been able to meet with small groups over Facetime to connect and answer any questions. I’d be open to this if it was something that interested you all. Blessings!