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 Through this series on government (one, two, three) I commenced building a foundation for assessing and understanding government across all of life. I have sought to illustrate how a right understanding of government flows from a right understanding and application of the covenant. It has also been argued that government is broader than deliberations in Canberra. God has ordained the governing institutions of the individual, family, church and state. Each of these institutions exercises their interdependent authority under the sovereignty of God. Further than that; authority, roles and responsibilities allocated to and within these institutions are defined in the pages of Scripture. We do not go to natural law or any other source to understand our duties toward God in any of these capacities. The revealed Law/Word of God speaks to all of faith and life. There is a pattern woven through the Bible, consisting of a rich tapestry of types and antitypes. The story is recapitulated over and over again, as the water washes up the seashore. Throughout we read of the covenant keeping God who delights in His people. Last time I asserted that when we understand the covenantal model/flow of the Bible we see that the Law of God reflects His moral character in context of individuality and corporality. In other words, the flow of the Bible is covenantal and this is from God (i.e. 1. the sovereign/transcendent) to us (His people) in order that we might be individually and socially redeemed and re-structured (i.e. 2. hierarchy) to live lives of sanctified obedience (i.e. 3. ethics) to the revealed Law/Word of God in order to glorify and enjoy Him (i.e. 4. mandates) and continually raise up godly offspring (i.e. 5. continuity).
For clarity I will again quote James Jordan on the nature and function of the Law of God. “The law of God is a transcription of His holy character, both individual and social. The law tells us the structure of covenant life, but the law cannot guarantee our personal involvement in that covenant life. It is grace which brings us into personal involvement with the covenant life of God…God’s law is a description of His own moral character. It shows us our sin, and it also shows us how to live righteously within the covenant. It cannot empower us, however. We are dead in trespasses and sins until grace comes to us and gives us new life. Grace not only raises us from the dead, but empowers us day by day. So, law gives us the standard; grace gives us the power. In the covenant, law reveals the structure; grace enables the personal involvement, both social and individual…In summary, the covenant has three aspects. There is a legal bond. There is a personal relationship. There is a structure within the community.” So when I refer to obeying God’s Law/Word I am never speaking in the context of do so to receive favour from God. Rather, I am referring to what individuals and churches out to do as a result of the Holy Spirit’s empowering act of giving us a new heart of flesh.
It is vital to discuss a few structural things as we proceed through this series. One of the most important dimensions of creation we need to understand is heaven. “[I]f we do not understand heaven, we cannot do our work here on earth; for we pray, ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ If we do not know what heaven is like, we cannot imitate it on earth. Thus the Bible frequently opens heaven to give man a view of what it is like… It is when heaven is opened that the Law of God is revealed. But more than that, the heavenly pattern Moses was shown on Mount Sinai included art, architecture, worship, and indeed all of life. The Tabernacle and the Temple were both architectural heaven models. Similarly, in the book of Revelation, John is shown how worship is conducted in heaven, as a model for earthly worship. Thus, heaven is the model or blueprint for earth, though not in a simplistic sense. After all, the Tabernacle and the Temple were not identical. There is unity and diversity in man’s imitation of heaven. Man is to labor to take the raw material of the earth and remodel it according to the heavenly blueprint: ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ This explains to us why God would initially create two different environments, rather than just one. Man was created to act as God’s agent, His son, in the world. Man was going to be given the delightful task of transfiguring the world from glory to glory according to the heavenly model.”
As we work to glorify the world and remodel/restructure it according to the heavenly blueprint we need to realise that in history God will accomplish His will here on earth as it is done in heaven. This is accomplished through the people of God dying to themselves and bringing to bear the reign of Jesus on every area of life, worship and society. History, through the lens of Scripture, is cyclical. Over and over we read about God’s people being persecuted for applying the Scriptures to all of life. But death, whether symbolic or physical, is never the end but rather a new beginning. Through obedient faith God works great things through His people. The life of Jesus was from suffering/persecution and death to life and rule. So, we find (especially in the book of Acts) the life of Jesus (i.e. the Head) typologically fulfilled in the life of His church (i.e. the body). As Jesus went through a passion, death, resurrection and reign so His body walks in these steps typologically. In other words the events of Jesus’ life, passion, death & resurrection are cyclically relived and seen in the life of the church. As Christ’s passion, death and resurrection fulfilled the Exodus, so the church goes through Exodus after Exodus as she walks in His steps. God’s people experience and go through the same death to life and rule cycle. (I will flesh this out with a series of articles on the book of Acts in the near future). The church advanced and was built on the blood of the Martyrs. She will continue to expand (i.e. disciple the nations) via types of Exodus experiences. Through the course of history God typologically plays out exodus after exodus in the life of the church as she conquers foes. Godly government or power is received through wisdom it is not taken or bought.
Another aspect to this argument is that we must be conscious that the great battle has already been fought and won by the Second Adam’s life, passion, death, resurrection and ascension. The death, resurrection, ascension and enthronement (at the Father’s right hand) of the true Son is the ultimate exodus. And this exodus is typologically recapitulated in the life of the church through the ages. The body is marching victoriously under her ruling Head. But this march is not linear; it is cyclical and reflects the manner in which Jesus was victorious. The wisdom of Satan thought he had destroyed the seed on Golgotha (i.e. the skull). However, the cross served as the means to bruise the Son and crush the serpent! In the life of the church, as Satan seeks to crush the seed by chopping off godly branches he only succeeds in sprouting numerous offshoots of new life. The serpent bruised the Seed’s heel, Who in turn crushed the head of the serpent. It is better to have one’s heel bruised than head crushed! The church should expect to be typologically bruised and realise that this type of death/bruising leads to resurrection and godly rule/government. As God’s people receive wisdom to rule, through the blessings of patient obedient mature faith, enemies of the Gospel are conquered and the world is beautified. The world will be re-structured and beautified before Christ returns to hand a completed kingdom to the Father (1 Corinthian 15:) and judge the living and the dead. This perspective needs to be recaptured within the church. We are not a misfit bunch of losers hoping to be plucked from our misery. The end of the world is not nigh. We have much work to do. We are to re-model this world/earth after the heavenly blueprint. This immediately tells us that God is interested in the details of life. So much so, that the Apostle Paul can tell us that all things, whether they be as mundane as eating or drinking, can and must be done to the glory of God ( 1 Corinthians 10:31). This pattern should also tell us that godly government or rule is never taken by the church. Rather, through patient obedient longsuffering (i.e. maturity) it is received or given unto her.
Godly government must always and can only work within the victorious framework of the heavenly blueprints. The church is to be faithful in obeying the Word/Law of God and in patient longsuffering. This brings maturity to rule. There is however a trap here that we must consider. In Genesis 1:28man is told to go out and take dominion over the creation. What is often missed is that “there is…a precondition for such dominion: Godliness. When Adam rebelled against God, he was cast out of the Garden, and lost much of his dominion privilege. Men who do not repent eventually lose all dominion by being consigned to hell. Godliness, in the sense we are speaking of here, is not an instant affair, however. It is not a matter of saying, "Well, now you are a Christian. Go out and take dominion!" Such a simplistic formula is fraught with spiritual danger, and the history of Christian social movements illustrates it well.” True dominion can never be taken by force. In fact true Biblical government/rule is received as a gift from God upon individual and corporate maturity. “Christian activist literature too often reduces or even perverts Christianity into an ideology, a set of ideas. Christianity is not, however, an ideology to be implemented through crusading activism. Rather, Christianity is a new creation. It grows holistically and organically out of the life of faith and prayer. It is as men draw near to God and acquire wisdom and maturity from the Scriptures that they are built up and prepared for dominical responsibilities, and God will confer these upon His people in due time. Jesus said, ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things’ - dominion in the world – ‘will be added to you’ ( Matt. 6:33). By this command our Lord orients us toward the Tree of Life. We pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth and His will to be done on earth as in heaven, but the kingdom does not come through direct action. Rather, it is bestowed, as a gift ( Luke 12:32). It comes indirectly as a result of piety. Dominion is not given to those who seek it directly, but it is given to those who seek Life, confessing that they do not have it in themselves. Thus, the Church - the institution of piety - exists for the purpose of building men up so that they can take Life to the world and transform it.”
The recent rise of Ms Julia Gillard, Fabian and member of Emily’s List, to rule Australia might well be leader God uses to bring judgment on His people. We ought to remember that chastisement comes because our heavenly Father loves us and seeks our repentance. It is time for individual Christians and the Australian church corporate to repent. Of what? Failing to faithfully obey and apply the Word of God to all of faith and life. What’s more we need to understand the importance of corporate worship. Spiritual warfare is waged not through political activism or resistance but via faithful saints corporately worshipping their God each Lord’s Day.
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