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achieving them, governments claim
to have the same basic goals. The
primary aims of human govern–
ment are peace and prosperity,
often collectively referred to as the
" common good." Through history,
governments have set about achíev–
ing these objectives in many differ–
ent ways.
But no government in history has
ever achieved these dual aims fully,
or permanently. None has achieved
lasting peace and prosperity.
All human governments have, at
sorne point, failed!
1nstead of peace, mankind has
known in almost every generation
war and
viol~nce.
War has been the
way of history. There have been
well over 15,000 wars throughout
recorded history. Sorne 100 million
people have died in wars
in this
20th century alone!
l nstead of prosperity, the vast
majority of human beings have
known nothing more than slavery
or wretchedness and squalor.
Prosperity for the few, poverty for
the many has been the age-old
rule.
The world ' s prohlems-today
and throughout history- are a
stinging indictment of the world 's
systems of government! In fact,
governments, more often than not,
have created more problems than
they have solved!
Man has proven his utter incapa–
bility of ruling himse!P.
Why should this most gifted of
God ' s physical creatures have
failed so miserably?
The Human Factor
There is a definite cause- a clear–
cut reason why governments have
fallen so short of the mark.
Governments have failed simply
because they don ' t know how to
succeed! Mankind has rejected the
only knowledge that would allow its
governments to succeed-the
knowledge of God and his way!
Mankind simply does not know
the way to peace and prosperity
(see lsaiah 59:8). Man, separated
from God, is incapable of under–
standing the requirements for
peace!
Understand this: The world's
problems are essentially
spiritual
in nature. They have a deep–
rooted spiritual basis. They cannot
16
be solved through the use of mere
physical knowledge alone.
In rejecting the knowledge of
God, man has had to rely on his
own philosophies- on humanly
devised approaches that appear
right to him. He has failed to heed
a vitally important biblical admoni–
tion.
Read it for yourself in Proverbs
14: 12: "There is a way which
seemeth right unto a man, but the
end thereof are the ways of
death."
Man has chosen to pursue his
own way, the way that seems right
to him. He has rejected God as his
ruler. Even God ' s own chosen
people cut themselves off from him
by
sin.
Nations today are not imbued
with the gift of God's Holy Spirit,
which would open their minds to
comprehend spiritual knowledge
and give them the power to restrain
human nature.
lt is mankind's Satan-seduced
nature- of vanity, jealousy, lust
and greed-that prevents man
from achieving a world of lasting
peace and prosperity. Mankind has
utterly failed to bring that nature
into rein.
The human factor is the unrec–
ognized seed of destruction within
every form of earthly government.
Man's governments are inherently
imperfect because
man
is imper–
fect.
An additional factor compounds
the problem even further. Not only
does unrestrained human nature
disqualify man from ruling–
human nature doesn't want to be
ruled! Satan's attitude of defiance
and rebellion permeates this world.
In recent years, the world's govern–
ments have been toppling at the
rate of one each month!
In this world, the only check on
human nature is human nature
itself. One man's lust ·for power is
equalled only by another man's
greed to keep it. The result: civil
strife, chaos, struggles for political
power, war.
Man's attempts to do it his own
way, apart from God, have proved
utterly disastrous!
This ls
Satan~s
Wo rld
Unrealized by many, the Almighty
God of the Bible is
not
the "god of
this world"! Throughout history,
the Creator God has generally kept
hands off-with the exception of
those occasions when divine inter–
vention has been necessary for
accomplishing his purposes.
God is permitting the world to
go its own way, to learn for itself
that Satan's way of rejecting the
law and government of God can in
the end bring nothing but disaster.
That bitter lesson has been written
in blood, suffering, unhappiness
and death!
The record of history makes
abundantly clear that this is Satan 's
world! The "god of this world,"
your Bible reveals, is Satan (see
H
Corinthians 4:4). This world is
under Satan's rule, not God's gov–
ernment.
Jesus Christ has qualified to
unseat Satan as ruler over the earth
(Matthew 4:1-ll) , but he has not
yet returned to earth to assume the
throne and establish God's king–
dom over all nations.
In the meantime, God is allow–
ing human governments to func–
tion (Romans 13) , for the primary
purpose of maintaining law and
arder (see verse 4). God will not
allow anarchy. Bu
t
God al so
places definite limits on these
human governments. This world' s
governments do not have
unlim~
ited authority!
When governing authorities
abuse their power and overstep
their bounds, coming into conflict
with God's laws and prerogatives,
God's laws must clearly take prece–
dence. "We ought to obey God
rather than men," the early apos–
tles declared (Acts 5:29).
The Bible teaching is clear: As
individuals, we must be
subject
to
the humanly devised laws of the
land-and when human laws are
contrary to God, we must obey God
and suffer whatéver penalty men
impose.
Satan has continually used civil
governments to oppose God's way
and God's purposes. But Satan's
days of seducing the nations are
numbered!
The Coming Solut io n
Few understand that the gospel of
Jesus Christ is a message about
government, not just about the per-
(Continued on page 30)
The
PLAIN TRUTH