Inside: Government is God’s creation, and He is the senior ranking government official (King of Kings and Lord of Lords).

Have you ever considered what it would be like – or maybe I should say, what it WILL be like – when Jesus is physically and visibly leading the nations?  Can you imagine what His government will be like?  There will be no need for a constitution because there will be no need to limit roles of government.  In fact, in Isaiah 9:7, it says there will be no end to the INCREASE of His government and peace!  Without sin, there will be no natural tendency for the leader to expand power and infringe upon the rights of the people.  We will have no fear of wicked, ulterior motives behind laws or rules passed by our government.  There will be no placing wicked people into positions of responsibility, and shutting down the good.  I find myself thinking about this kind of thing from time to time, and I am looking forward to it!  We discussed this a year or two ago in a Christmas article called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God where we considered that passage in Isaiah.  How different things would be if Jesus, literally, here on earth, was our King!  Wow, I can’t imagine what that would be like.

The Role of Government

 I don’t have to tell you, right now, we do not have that…  What we do have now is people on earth in positions of authority.  Romans 13:4 describes their role…

For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

-Romans 13:4

1 Peter 2:14 similarly says they are “…sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.”  Humans in positions of civil authority are tasked with being “ministers”, or “deacons”, “representatives”, or maybe “agents”, of the Lord Himself (Rom 13:4 and 1 Pet 2:14), carrying out (or supposed to be carrying out) Jesus’ authority here on earth. 

These two verses tell us they are supposed to be encouraging good and punishing evil on behalf of God Himself, which either happens to a limited extent, or doesn’t happen, depending on who they are and what they’re trying to do.  We talk much at Patriot’s Hope about when human government isn’t even trying…  when they are completely blowing off the Biblical mandates that belong to those in these positions of responsibility.  But what does good government look like?  What does it look like when someone is trying to do this?

An example from Scripture

Understand, anytime we are talking about humans, the example will be flawed with the influence of sin and incomplete, but the Bible tells us much about a King after God’s own heart…  King David.  King David was certainly not beyond the reach of the influence of sin, and many of his failures are recorded in Scriptures, but recently we read Psalm 101 in our family devotion time.  The last verse, Psalm 101:8, caught my attention and then I went back and re-read the whole Psalm in the context of David’s civil leadership over the people of God, but verse 8 captures the whole idea quite well… 

I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the LORD.  

-Psalms 101:8

King David

If you read the first 7 verses of Psalm 101, you will find other ways David is fighting evil, rooting it out of the land, and encouraging good… exactly what the civil rulers are supposed to do.  In verse 2, he seeks to walk with a perfect heart.  In verse 3, he pledges to set no wicked thing before his eyes and declares that he hates the work of those that “turn aside”, and he pledges that kind of thing won’t cleave to him.  In verses 4 and 5, he is clear that he will not allow the wicked to have influence.  He will not know them, he will cut them off and will not “suffer” them, or allow them to “endure”.  I love verse 6 where his eyes are on the faithful of the land, and those who walk “in a perfect way” are the ones who will have influence – they are the ones who will “dwell with” or “shall serve” the King.  The deceitful and those who tell lies (in verse 7) will NOT dwell in his house or be allowed to “tarry” in his sight.  Get those guys out of here…  😊   I recommend you read Psalm 101 when you get a chance!  It is only 8 verses and packed with the ways David was carrying out his civil government responsibilities. 

What Righteous Government Looks Like

 As I read this psalm, I find myself thinking, amen, amen, amen!  This is what good government should look like!  King David is punishing evildoers (with authority derived from God) and praising them that do well.  Please believe if Jesus were in the capital, running the show, He would be doing the same things – on a much grander scale!  So, because King David was God’s “minister”, literally God’s “deacon” (as described in Rom 13:4 and 1 Pet 2:14, and discussed in our article, Should Christians be Involved with Civil Government?), then that is the same kind of thing that he is doing in his position as acting in God’s stead. 

Government is God’s Idea

May we hold our officials accountable to God’s design for government.  Government is God’s creation, and He is the senior ranking government official (King of Kings and Lord of Lords).  Those who hold government authority, hold it as an agent of God, if you will, in order to punish evil and encourage good.  We should be able to see that in how they (like King David) carry out this role.