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failed to replace Satan. God set into
action a plan for mankind that would
last 6,000 years. Man, beginning
with Adam, would be allowed to
work out bis own governments and
social structures
apart
from God's.
God left Satan on tbe earth's throne
with lhe ability to influence humani–
ly.
Bul God did not step complelely
out of the picture! God not only
remains in complete control of the
Universe, but be also determines
j ust how far Satan can go in rul ing
over humanity. In the days of the
prophet Daniel God chose to reveal
to the king of Babylon- Nebu–
chadnezzar- that "the most High
ruleth in the kingdom of men, and
giveth il [authority in human gov–
ernment] to whomsoever he will ,
and setteth up over it the bases t of
men" (Dan. 4:17).
Throughout this 6 ,000-year peri–
od, man has been allowed to exper–
iment with all sorts of govern–
ments. Today, human governmenls
are often voted in--expressing (in
theory) lhe will "of tbe people."
But, again, discerning men real–
ize the limitations of the will of the
people. Thoreau points out: "All
voting is a sort of gaming, like
checkers or backgammon, wilh a
sl ight moral tinge to it, a playing
wilh right and wrong, with moral
questions.... Even voting for lhe
r ighl is ... only expressing to men
feebly your desire that it should
prevail."
But how does man determine
what is right without an absolute
standard ? God's Word reveals thal
human bei ngs are innately selfish
and self-centered to one degree or
anot her- regardless of political
ideology!
The Real Answer
Jesus Christ carne to this earth
wilh the announcement that a solu–
lion to human problems is com–
ing.
When Adam failed to qualify for
Satan's earlhly lhrone, God allowed
Salan lo continue occupying il (11
Cor. 4:4). But now God senl the
Word, who became the human J esus,
lo meet Satan in spiritual combat and
to qualify to replace Satan. Christ
could not, in fact, announce lhe solu-
20
tion until he had fi rs t qualified to
replace Satan. He
did
qual ify when
he resisted Satan and chose to obey
God and operate under bis govern–
ment (Matt. 4:1-11 ).
Once he had quali fied by over–
coming Satan, Christ began bis
ministry. What was it concerned
with? What was his announce–
ment?
"Now after that John was put
into prison, J esus carne into Gal i–
lee, preaching the gospel [good
news-for "gospel" means good
news] of the
kingdom of God,
and
saying, The time is ful fi lled and the
kingdom of God is at hand : repent
ye, and
believe the gospel"
(Mark
1:14-15).
Christ was delivering the
good
news
announcement that God is
going to restore His government on
earth. And that the ruler of the
governmenl of God on earth will be
Jesus Christ himself1 When asked
if he was a king, Christ answered,
"To this end was 1 born, and for
thi s cause carne J into the
world .. ." (John 18:37).
The World Tomorrow
What will the world be like under
lhe government of God? How will
human nature be changed ?
First, Salan will be replaced. He
wi ll be restrained from deceiving the
world for a thousand years (Rev.
20: 1-4). Then we read, " ... After
those days, sai lh the Lord, 1will put
my /aw
in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts: and will be
their God, and they shall be my
people. And they shall teach no more
every man bis neighbour, and every
man bis brother, saying, Know the
Lord: for they shall
al/
know me,
from the Jeast of them unto the
greatest of them, saith the Lord: for
1 wi ll forgive their iniqui ty, and 1
will remember their sin no more"
(Jer. 31:33-34).
Yes, God's
law
will serve as the
basis for His restored government.
Any kingdom mus t have four
things to qualify as a kingdom: 1) a
king or ruler , 2) laws, 3) ter ritory,
4) subjects.
Christ will be King, God's law
(summarized in Exodus 20 and kept
according to the spiritual intenl) will
be the basic legal code, imbued in
man by lhe Holy Spirit of God . The
whole earlh will be the
territory
of
the Kingdom of God. And God's
saints
will assist as rulers
in
the liter–
al Kingdom of God (Matt. 25:34;
Rev. 5: 10), and the mortal human
family will become heirs to that
Kingdom if they voiuntarily come
under that government and let God's
laws rule their lives. (Write for our
free booklet
What Is the Reward of
the Saved?
for a complete under–
standing.)
Christ, as lhe head of a perfect
governmenl thal combines church
and slate, wi ll come at or near the
close of this 6,000 years of man's
government. He will intervene, at
the last moment , when man finally
threatens to erase himself off the
face of the earth (Matt. 24:22, Joel
2:2). He will bring with Him the
so/ution
to man's problems- He
will replace Satan's governmenl and
man's governments with
God's gov–
ernment!
Man will be taught how to prop–
erly worship God ( Deut. 10:12).
His carnal, hostile nature toward
God (Rom. 8:7), will be replaced
by
God's
nature through His Holy
Spiril (Rom. 5:5).
One thousand years of joyous
prosperity and development will
follow man's 6,000 years of suffer–
ing (Rev. 20:4-6). You can be parl
of that Kingdom Christ preached.
lf
you'd like to know more aboul
this coming world government,
write for our
free
full-length book
The Incredib/e Human Potential.
lt
will reveal to you what you can
become- and it's
far
beyond what
you could ever conceive!
God has in store for you things
virtual ly beyond human comprehen–
sion. As the apos tle Paul s tated:
" This is my prayer. That God, the
God of our Lord Jesus Chr ist and
the all-glorious Father, wi ll give you
spiritual wisdom and the insight to
know more of him: that you may
receive thal inner illumination of lhe
spiril which will make you realise
how great
is the hope to which he is
cal ling you- the magnificence and
splendour of the inheritance prom–
ised to Christians-and how t remen–
dous is the power avai lable to us who
believe in God" (Eph. 1:1 7-19, J . B.
Phill ips t ranslation).
o
The PLAIN TRUTH