Basic HTML Version
ment. 1 now
sentence
you to devise
your own government!"
The God·Given limlt s
on Human Government
The only government which is intrin–
sically good is God's government.
God's government is good because
only God is truly good (Matthew
19: 17), and God puts His own righ–
teousness into His govcrnment. Hu–
man government, as we have seen,
has its place for the time being, but it
is still intrinsically evil.
Yet there a re those who a rgue that
the apostle Pau l's statement that
"the powers that be are ordained of
God" (Romans 13:1) and that the
human ruler is "the minister of God
to thee for good" (Romans 13:4)
means that God has given
unlimited
authority to the human civil govern–
ment. They a re wrong! For one thiqg,
human authority is always limited by
the direct commands of God Himself
(Acts 5:29)-eternity is more impor–
tant than a finite lifetime.
Moreover, the authority of "the
powers that be" is necessarily limited
by the
purpose
for which God has
ordained them. That purpose has
been spelled out: l t is to be a "re–
venger to exccute wrath upon him
that doeth evil" (Romans 13:4).
Thus when human government goes
beyond the limits of curbing evil , it
exceeds the bounds of biblical au–
thority. Indeed, as many prestigious
legal scholars down through history
have acknowledged, when human
government issues commands against
God, or beyond the scope of its right–
ful authority, such commands are not
"law," they a re only "mere force ."
No one in his right mind could ever
seriously contend that God gives au–
thority to civil government to persecute
His own saints. God's opinion of such
governments is demonstrated by His
personally having the leader ofone such
persecuting government tossed into a
lakeoffire! (Revelation 19:20.)
The Government of God
Because human government is intrin–
sically flawed, it cannot salve the
pressing problems and ills that beset
mankind. No human savior can! As
long as the devil rules in the affairs of
men, the good that can be accom-
The
PLAIN TRUTH October/ November 1979
plished in this present evil world will
always be profoundly limited! An
American political columnist
glimpsed this fact when he recently
wrote: "The cold truth is that no
American President-neither Jimmy
Carter . today nor a new one next
year-is going to be able to come up
with an imperial magical sol u–
tion ... to the domestic and foreign
difficulties that will confront us in
the '80s."
But the Bible does speak of a "so–
Iution" to the deep-rooted problems
which plague not only Americans but
aiJ peoples everywhere. The govern–
ment of God will
replace,
by force,
the government of man!
Christ wilJ return to earth as a
conquering King. At His re\urn "the
kingdoms of this world are become
the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his
Christ; and he shall reign forever and
ever" (Revelation 11: 15). The king–
doms of this world- the government
of man-wilJ be "smashed" by the
government of God: "And in the days
of these kings shall the God of heav–
en set up a kingdom, which shall
never be destroyed: and the kingdom
shall not be left to other people, but it
sha/1 break in pieces
and consume all
these kingdoms ..." (Daniel 2:44).
Many Presidents have complained
that the pressure of reelection every
four years keeps them from pushing
good policies. By contrast, the gov–
ernment of God wiiJ have aiJ the time
it needs to carry out its policies:
It
shall "reign forever and ever."
Another complaint that modern
Presidents make is that "internation–
al considerations" (meaning other
countries may have their own ideas
of what the world should be like)
prevent the President from bringing
peace and prosperity to the people.
God's government, by contrast, won't
have to worry about any competing
powers. God's government shall rule
over
al/
nations (Psalms 72:11).
As Mr. Armstrong has written,
"the gospel of Christ- the gospel Je–
sus brought from God and
preached-was a message about gov–
ernment."
True Leadership
"The U.S.," according to
Time
mag–
azine, "is eternally looking for sorne-
body who supposedly looks like a
president." People become aiJ wound
up in "image" and "charisma."
But real leadership is made up of
more important qualities than such
trifies as the particular side on which
a man parts his hair, or whether he
wears blue jeans on his farm or
sweaters in bis office. True leader–
ship has to do with
qua/ifications
and
good
policies.
The United States Constitution
sets relatively lenient qualifications
for the presidency. A candidate need
be only a natural-born citizen and at
least 35 years old. Such a policy may
be best for the government of man.
But the Bible puts much more em–
phasis on the idea of qualification.
Mr. Armstrong has often pointed out
that God would not displace Satan in
his position of rulership in this world
until a successor became
qualified.
That successor has already been
found . He is Jesus Christ.
Now consider: Christ has already
passed the supreme test-one far
more arduous than merely making
the rounds on what American politi–
cians call the "rubber-chicken cir–
cuit." As a "candidate" for high of–
fice, He went over forty days and
forty nights without any food or
water (Matthew 4:2), yet stilJ re–
mained loyal to the higher authority
of God under extreme temptations.
As a human being, Christ could have
sold out to the devil to obtain raw
power, but refused because power is
of no worth without God's blessing
(Matthew 4:8-10). Power is only
glo–
rious
when it is used rightly.
Thus Christ met the basic criterion
of leadership-putting God first be–
fare his own desires: "He that ruleth
over men must be just,
ruling in the
fear of God"
(11 Samuel 23:3).
Not only is Christ qualified, but
He wilJ do the right things. When He
restares the government of God to
the whole earth, He will rule justly:
" Behold, a king shaiJ reign in righ–
teousness, and princes shall rule in
judgment" (Isaiah 32:1 ). Christ's
"foreign policy" will maintain peace
among
a/1
nations ( Isaiah 2:4), and
His domestic policy will ensure abun–
dant prosperity for all (John 10:10).
Obviously, it is Christ who
real/y
should
be President.
o
21