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Armstrong has often explained, the
great archangel we know as Lucifer
(who became Satan)
rejected
the
governmcnt and the law of God.
Later, the first ma n, Adam,
rejected the way of God and chose
to follow the way of Satan. Adam's
descendants, cut off from contact
with God, chose to pursue their
own way- the self-centered, com–
petitive way o f "GET" - rather than
the God-centered, outgoing way of
"LOVE"
or
"G!VE."
God, in effect,
sentenced
Adam
and his descendants to form their
own governments, based on the
"GET"
principie. Throughout his–
tory the human, civil governmenls
consequently have become a pun–
ishment for rejecting God' s divine
government!
Man has chosen to pursuc 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 lo
comprc hcnd spiritual knowledge
and give them the power lo res train
human nature.
lt is mankind's Satan-seduced
nature- of vanity, jealousy, lust
and greed-that prevents man
from achievi ng a world of lasting
peace and prosperity. Mankind has
uttcrly failed to bring that nature
into rein.
Thc human factor is the unrec–
ogni zcd seed of destruction within
every form of earth ly govcrnment.
Man's governments are inherently
imperfect because
rnan
is imper–
fect.
An additional factor compounds
the problem even further. Not only
does unrestraine9 human nature
disqualify man from ruling–
human nalure doesn't want to
be rulcd! Satan's attitude of
defiance and rebell ion perme–
ates this world. In r ece nt
years, the world's governments
havc been toppling at the rate
of one each montb!
In this wor ld , the on ly
c heck on human nature is
human nature itself. One
man's lust fo r power is eq ualed
only by another man's greed to
kcep it. The result: civil strife,
16
chaos, struggles for political power, qualified to unseat Satan as ruler
war.
Man's attempts to do it his own
way, apart from God , have proved
utterly disastrous!
over the earth (Matt. 4:1-11), but
he has not yet returned to earth to
assume the throne and establish
God's kingdom over all nations.
Thi s ls Sat an' s World
Unreal ized by many, the Almighty
God of the Bible is
not
the god of
this world! Throughout history, the
Creator God has generally kept
hands otf- with lhe exception of
those occasions when divine inter–
vention has been necessary for
accomplishing his purposes.
In ,the meantime, God is allow–
ing human governments to func–
tion (Rom. 13), for the primary
purpose o f maintaining law and
arder (sec verse 4). God will not
a l low anarchy. But God also
places definite limits on these
human governments. This world's
governments do not have unlim–
ited authori ly!
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 noth–
ing but disaster. That
bitter lesson has been
written in blood, suf–
fering, unh a ppin ess
and death!
The record of his–
tory makes abundantly
clear that this is Sa–
tan's world! The "god
When governing au–
lhorities abuse thei r
power and overstep
The primary aims
thei r bounds, coming
of human
into conflict with
government are
peace and
prosperity, often
collectively
referred to as the
11
Common good. "
Throughout history,
governments have
set about achieving
these object ives in
many different
God's Jaws and prerog–
atives, God's laws must
c learly take precedence
in our individual lives.
" We ought to obey
God rather than men,"
the early apostles de–
clared (Acts 5:29).
of this world, " your
ways.
The Bible teaching
is clear: As individuals,
we must be
subject
to
the humanly devised
laws of the land-and
when human laws are
cont rary to God, we
must obey G od and
suffer whatever penalty
Bible reveals, is Satan
(see II Corinthians
4:4). Thi s world is
under Satan's rule, not
God's government.
Jesus Christ has
men impose.