The Kingdom of God series - The Government of God Part Two

The Father had a specific design in mind when he created the earth and called it His footstool.  

And He had a specific design in mind when He created man and woman and put them in charge of the earth.  The earth was to be man’s domain and he was to rule over it even as he himself was being ruled by God.  

It was a plan so audacious that Satan, a now an unemployed cherub, sought to derail it and destroy it through malice and deceit and who is still trying to do so to this very day but will not succeed.  Jesus settled that matter when He yielded up the ghost on the cross but not before He had declared, “It is finished!”

But we are getting ahead of the story so let's back up and first talk about The Necessity of Government.

Here is what I call a working definition of government:  “the exercise of authority over a state, district, organization, institution, etc.; direction; control; rule; management;  the right, function, or power of governing; a system of ruling, controlling, etc.” (Webster's New American Standard Dict.)

All of these descriptions help us understand what government is about.  Take, for instance, the word "direction."  The purpose of government is to give direction, to guide activity, and to set boundaries for that activity.  It also serves to manage and control certain things important to preserving whatever it is supposed to be managing.

The need for government grows out of a need for order.  God used governmental authority when he created the world as we know it.  Listen to Genesis 1: 2 and 3:

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.

(Gen 1:2-3 NKJV)

Out of chaos God created order.  That is the function of government and governing.  At least that is what it was intended to be. 

God intended for man to extend the kind of government He had created in heaven, the invisible realm, into the visible world.

 

There is another word that is important to this discussion.  “Realm” is a key word because it is related to the idea of dominion.  A realm is a sphere of influence.  A king reigns over his realm or his sphere of influence.  If there is no realm, there is no rule.  If one has no territory or realm to rule or govern then it cannot truly be said that they reign or rule. 

With that in mind God’s sphere of influence, His realm, is the entire universe and all that is in it.  Man’s sphere of influence, his realm if you will, is the earth.

The author I quoted at the beginning of this section, Dr. Myles Munroe, has written extensively on the subject of the Kingdom of God and he offers this definition of dominion which is also related to the word realm.

To be given dominion means to be established as a sovereign, kingly ruler, master, governor, responsible for reigning over a designated territory, with the inherent authority to represent and embody as a symbol, the territory, resources and all that constitute that kingdom.

             (Myles Munroe, Rediscovering The Kingdom, 2004, p. 31)

As was said a moment ago, order necessitates some form of government.  Without it there is chaos.  In other words to have order there must be governing laws to bring about the order needed.

The Message translation of Genesis 1:2 and 3 puts it like this:

First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. God spoke: "Light!" And light appeared.

(Gen 1:1-3 MSG)

           

Order came out of chaos by God speaking authoritatively from a position of governmental power and exercising laws to accomplish His purpose.  By His very nature God is a god of order thus He is a god of laws and that implies government.  

This may shock some but God is governed.  It makes perfectly good sense when you think about it.  God is a moral being Himself or else He wouldn’t know how to create other moral beings.  That means He is governed by certain laws, laws that He has asked us to live by.  God has never asked us to be anything He isn’t willing to be Himself.

That's enough to think about for now.  In the next blog I will discuss what kind of government is the best form of government.  Stay tuned.