Does God Have a Monopoly on Us?
A dear brother in Christ posed the provocative question, “What if God had a monopoly on us?” His question is more rhetorical, but my question is more inquisitive for the sake of the unbeliever.
First, I was taken with his use of the business term with Greek roots. “Mono” means one or only. “Poly” means many. Thus, in business, when one controls many, there is said to be a monopoly.
Second, it is a theological question because it queries who God is and what God does as God. There is an economy with God, and He either has a monopoly, or He has competition from men or devils.
Third, the object to be controlled in God’s economy is “you” or “us.” This might include believers, only, or it may also include unbelievers.
By now the discerning reader will recognize my brother’s question is really about sovereignty. Is God really sovereign (Ps 103:19; Dan 7:27; 1 Tim 6:15)? Does He sit in the heavens and do as He pleases (Ps 115:3; 135:6)? Are the hands of God tied by the competition or compliance of men or spirits?
Men love themselves more than they ought (Rom 12:3). The natural man is a product of Adam’s sin (Rom 5:12–21). He imagines himself to be lord of his own life. He feels that if he makes a decision to do something, and then goes and does it that he is somehow autonomous. The Bible informs us that men are slaves to sin (Rom 6:6, 16–20). A slave, of course, does not have autonomy. He is owned by another, who has the right to dictate the direction of that which belongs to him.
This brings the question of power into the equation. If one lives in the dominion of Satan (Acts 26:18), the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4), does the slave have the power to willfully rebel against this master, and would he even want to rebel? This is a question of will and ability (Jn 1:12–13; Rom 8:7).
The answer to this question is often a shock to adherents of man-centered theology, who remain under the influence of the great deceiver. Simply put, men love darkness (Jn 3:19) and they do not seek for God (Rom 3:11). In fact, they hate God (Rom 1:30) because of this question of monopoly. Does God have the right to do with His own as He pleases? He does, if He has a monopoly!
In his deception, Satan deceives men into thinking they are free, like God, which is what got Adam and Eve into trouble (Gen 3:5). They rebelled against God, who had afforded them the choice to know good from evil, with the consequence of death (Gen 2:17).
The benevolence of God was forfeited, and our first parents opted into slavery. In the predetermined plan of God (Acts 2:23), He decreed this fall of man (Gen 3), for His own glory. He would reveal more of His glorious attributes to the ones He created to worship Him. The more they do know of Him, the more they do worship Him.
In a monopoly with men, there is a series of decisions to be made, in order to accumulate more control of an industry or market. This leads to manipulation for profit. A right understanding of God is that He is the owner of absolutely everything (Ps 24:1; Lk 20:15). He created everything (Col 1:16), sustains everything (Heb 1:2–3), and controls everything (Ps 115:3; 135:6; Rom 11:36). His will is always accomplished (Ps 138:8; Eph 1:11), which is why He always causes everything to work together for good for His beloved elect (Rom 8:28).
In God’s economy, He has determined the end all things, including what is refuse and what is salvaged from the fall. Yes, Virginia, God does make junk! This is the essence of separation. There is dross, and there is gold, objects of wrath and objects of mercy (Rom 9:22–23). Again, to emphasize what is often missed: God is revealing Himself, and His purpose is to bring glory to Himself by doing so.
God’s monopoly of all things is captured in the biblical revelation that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil 2:11), in fact, He is Lord of all (Acts 10:36). Even the demons cry out at the prospect of His sovereign judgment of them. Can anyone ask, “Why did you make me this way?” Thus, we see that God’s monopoly is an absolute monopoly. He is the sovereign Lord, who has determined everything, wills everything, and works everything because everything is from Him, flows through Him and to Him (Rom 11:36).
The slave of Christ (Eph 6:6), transferred from bondage to sin and death in the domain of darkness, rejoices that God’s monopoly in salvation has brought him into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Col 1:13). The absolute monopoly has no competition and leaves nothing to condition or chance, as the Arminian and Open Theist erroneously suggest.
God has had, and always will have, a corner on the market of glory, and rightfully so because He is the only One (Dt 6:4). He does not share His glory with another (Is 42:8; 48:11), but for those bought for a price (1 Cor 6:20; 7:23), with the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet 1:19), there is great joy in knowing our monopolist God has ransomed and redeemed us (Mk 10:45; Gal 3:13).
It would be a tragedy for one to claim to know God, and then present Him as something less than the sovereign monopolist that He is in truth. May God add wisdom and understanding to us, as we learn what He has done, in making you an asset in His kingdom, unless, of course, you are a liability (2 Cor 13:5).
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
October 11, 2022
