Godly Governance
Government, authority, and structure, are more than a necessary evil… they reflect the mind of God… God’s way of achieving His goals… His way of building out reality and life itself.
- In God’s hands, government, authority, and structure are a blessing, the way of peace, security, and goodness for its subjects.
- In the hands of humans guided by God, we receive blessings such as family, school, community, business, and personal dignity under law.
- In the hands of humans who are in for their own selfish interests. Government, authority, and structure become a curse, a cause of strife, abuse, fear, distrust, confusion, and anxiety.
The question of the spirit in which government, authority, and structure are practiced is neatly summarized in Proverbs 29:2a. “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.”
You might see yourself as small, with no power or influence, and consider discussions of government or authority as irrelevant to you personally. Submission, obedience and endurance in suffering might seem closer to your own personal experience in life. Maybe it would be better to offer comfort, or even coping mechanisms for dealing with personal powerlessness in this life. To hunker down and patiently wait for a future when you are whisked away into a better world.
Submission, obedience, and endurance in suffering are all worthy subjects… and biblical as well. But, the good news of the Kingdom of God is not a program for simply getting through the storm of life… it is about a future promise of the Godly government, authority and structure necessary to create that better world.
The better world is not sitting out there waiting for us to walk through the door… we have to become part of it… part of the solution… that means learning what Godly government, authority and structure really is… and what it is not.
You Were Designed and Created to Govern
Genesis 1:26-28 from the beginning, humans were commissioned to exercise rule/dominion over the created things of the earth. Sandwiched in the middle here is the reason why… because you are created in God’s image. Even In the flesh you are created with the capacity, and the expectation that you will exercise authority and rule. But there is more…
1 John 3:1-3 When you are raised to glorious spirit-begotten life… you shall be fully “like Him”. Mature and fully formed in mind and outlook on many things, but especially in your preparedness to participate in Christ’s government, exercising delegated authority in righteousness, helping create the structure that brings peace, human dignity, and freedom from fear.
First fruits are called to more than their own personal salvation from death. They are called to be seated in power alongside Christ in the future… they are called to use this present time in the flesh to learn how to be that righteous the people will rejoice over. That learning is accomplished through the life changing power of His holy spirit… experienced within His Church.
In the Flesh
Our subject today is not the perfect government of God in the spirit realm, rather I want to discuss Godly government as we find it in the human realm. Today will only be an introduction.
Psalm 29:2b
Because of bad experiences at the hands of other humans. Many become opposed to the very idea of government, authority, even structure:
- In secular thinking, the epitome of such a view is Anarchism which sees freedom from external authority and coercion—as the highest good… because government, law, and social constraint restrict the natural liberty and self-development of individuals.
- In more spiritual circles, such thinking seeks to define their relationship with God free from any organized structure, recognition of ordained authority, or governance.
However, righteous government is an institution of God; it is the rule of God applied to all aspects of life all the way from His insistence that each of us learn to govern over our own mind… to His oversight of the entire universe.
In the human realm, although God sometimes intervenes in the course of human governments, Christ has not yet exercised “all authority [which] has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). God gave man the commission to rule over the earth (within limits)… humanity foolishly gave that power to Satan… that needs to be fixed.
The gospel of the coming kingdom of God is a message of how governance on earth (and presumably all creation) will be set right… “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.”
Hebrews 2:6-10 it begins with Jesus resurected… it extends to the firstfruits resurrected… then to all
In the present, the primary place we see Christ exercising authority, governing, imposing structure… is within His body, the Church… over which He is the head. it is here that we ourselves begin to learn righteous rule… we begin learning about righteous rule by learning to be governed.
Something, or someone, outside yourself sets the boundaries… and you learn to operate within these.
Can’t I learn that Lesson Elsewhere?
I can learn all about governance etc. In my family, or through my experience on the job, I don’t need some organization that calls itself God’s Church to learn this stuff.
Family, or your job are places where you will learn valuable and sometimes painful lessons about exercising and experiencing authority… BUT your relationships with family or at work are driven by different emotions and goals… natural affection, hormones, fear, money… factors everyone experiences… just by living in this material world.
The lessons you will learn through participation in Christ’s Church are driven by something different. They are driven by faith, conviction, and confidence in God… and therefore are of a different quality and character. This is the primary area where we see Christ executing authority within a setting that is unique and experienced only by those He chooses to work with.
In the world God grants authority to fallible human beings (Romans 13:1). So too God and Christ give authority to administrate His Church to fallible human beings. People who have been given God’s holy spirit… who are working towards the fullness of Christ… but who are not there yet.
1 Corinthians 12:28… Romans 12:8 administering (presiding over) is a gift of the spirit. We are all learning but some are just better at it than others. But that’s getting ahead of the message. Today we only have time to go over the first principle of Godly government… Being governed
God’s Intent For Humanity: Govern and Be Governed
We saw in Genesis that humans were intended to learn to govern, commissioned to govern first over creation and second within the family structure (one is the head the other is the helper). Both are delegated authority received from God (from whom all authoirty derives)… and the key to success in both arenas was obedience to Him as the ultimate authority.
However, Satan introduced a different spiritual outlook (focused on self fulfillment) that touched both arenas of human rule. Through deception they came to distrust God, and to reject God’s authority. And the human outlook on governance has never been right since.
- When humans govern their tendency is to misuse their power and abused the governed Matthew 20:25
- When they are governed they tend to despise authority 2 Peter 2:10
Self-reliance, selfishness, self centered thinking, opposition to righteous rule… leaves humanity incapable of righteous rule.
If we are not willing to be governed, we are not prepared to govern. If you cannot or will not submit to God’s governance then how are you preparing to govern in His name.
God exercises His authority… through Christ… through His Church.
You might prefer one human organization more than another. Where is the Church, who is the Church, where can I find it, how do I deal with human failures within the Church? Those are questions we try to help you answer and will continue to do so. But today’s point is this: there is no biblical model for submitting yourself to God… for allowing yourself to be governed… than through His Church.
You can lock yourself up in a high tower with your bible… study day and night… be zealous and scrupulous for God’s commands (as you understand them)… yet still not submitting yourself to His governance. Still not participating in His training program for the future governance, authority, and structure that makes the Kingdom of God work.
If you’re not part of the solution… you are part of the problem
