Excerpt from "Empire of the Risen Son, Chapter 9, Authority of the King", by Steve Gregg

I should have posted this yesterday on the National Day of Prayer, but oh well. Government authority usually comes up as we pray for our nation. Here is an alternative view of the subject which I am in favor of. 

A father (like everyone else) must obey God's authority. This fact was affirmed by Jesus to the Roman official, Pontius Pilate: "you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above." Paul famously affirmed the same concept: 

" let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resist the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves."

Even the authority that God has delegated to rulers is valid only within the limited sphere that God has designated for them. When a ruler steps out of the sphere of authority given to him, he is pretending not to be under God, but to be something of a god himself. In that moment he is no ruler in God's sight, but an ordinary man. He is just another man with a private opinion about what others should do. No one is morally obligated to pay attention to him.

Some mistakenly think that Paul's words in Romans 13 invest rulers with absolute authority, and that Christians must obey every command of the ruler, regardless what it may be. Such unlimited authority has never been given by God to mere men. That total of authority is said to belong to Christ alone. It follows that every other appointed official is subject to him. This is why the disciples ignored the demand of the Sanhedrin, Israel's Supreme Court, when the latter commanded that they must not preach anymore in the name of Jesus. Peter disregarded the so-called authority of the Court, saying:" we ought to obey God rather than men. "

Notice that the apostles were not being rebellious against authority. They were simply being submissive to the highest Authority, that is Christ. He had given them clear instructions to do the very thing that the court was now forbidding. They recognized that rulers have no legitimate authority to countermand the authority of God. We see the same conscientious disobedience to rulers when the Hebrew midwives refused to kill Jewish babies at the Pharaoh's orders, as well as the refusal of Daniel and his three friends to obey the commands of pagan emperors requiring them to compromise in the area of idolatry.

When Jesus said, "render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's", He was affirming that Caesar has his own legitimate sphere of authority, but it must not be allowed to overstep the claims of God's authority- which is absolute. If we should ask what is the proper reach of the ruler's authority, as delegated by God, we find that the valid role of government is restricted to the national defense and the maintenance of civil justice through criminal law enforcement. As near as we can tell from scripture, this would seem to be the total realm of governmental authority. There are instances of intrusion into the lives of law abiding citizens which the government illegitimately claims for itself, for which there is no corresponding divine mandate or authority. The ruler issuing illegitimate orders is just another man with a personal preference.

Examples of a government operating beyond the boundaries of its legitimate sphere would include the state's granting of divorces that would not be justifiable by the standards of Jesus's teaching on the topic. Likewise, City Hall often licenses marriages between parties that God has declared ineligible for marriage to one another. The State sometimes forbids that Christians teach their children moral rectitude, proscribes the speaking of the truth on moral questions or forbids Christian assemblies. In doing so, the state acts beyond it's divinely appointed sphere. It is authorized only to penalize criminals and uphold justice for the innocent. These examples deal with behaviors concerning which God has given specific instruction to His followers. The State has no right to mandate matters beyond the realm of God's authorization, any more than the Sanhedrin had to forbid the apostles to preach. When rulers give such commands, the subjects of God's Kingdom have every moral right to defy them.

If a mother gives her credit card to her son with instructions to fill the car's gas tank with gas, he is authorized to perform that specific task using her credit. He is not authorized to take the card and purchase for himself a new smartphone. In filling the the tank he is acting within his legitimate authorized sphere. Yet, if he goes beyond that purchase, and uses his mother's card for anything else, he is acting illegitimately. It is often worse if he buys the smartphone and neglects to fuel the car!

We miss Paul's point if we take his words, "there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God" to mean that rulers have carte blanche to act as they will with God's endorsement. Paul is saying the same thing that Jesus said to Pilate, namely, that no one has any authority apart from what God appoints to them. If Caesar is one whom God appointed to maintain justice in society, then Caesar is obviously answerable to the one who appointed him for his conscientious performance of this duty. Those who are appointed are subject to those who appoint them. Secular rulers have no autonomous or independent claim to self-style authority. "For he is God's servant for your good. " The ruler is God servant, and servants must obey their masters, or else answer for their disobedience. The misuse of authority by government officials is the neglect of a divine mandate, and they must answer to God for it. When they enact laws contrary to God's, they are disobedient servants, acting on their own without authority, and needn't be heeded.

The message of the Kingdom of God is about authority - namely, the authority of Christ the King. The authority of Christ is absolute, and His followers recognize and honor this fact. At the same time, they recognize the limitations in the authority that has been delegated by Him to persons in various hierarchical systems. To support the authority of a man or woman whose decrees defy or contrast with God's commands is rebellion against the one who is the King over the kings, and the Lord over the Lords of the earth.

Excerpt from Empire of the Risen Son, Chapter 9, Authority of the King, by Steve Gregg

"Empire of the Risen Son: There is Another King, Chapter 19: The Triumph of the Kingdom".

The purpose of introducing people to Christ is not only so they will be saved from sin, death, and hell, but to transform the world. Look at some of these remarkable examples:

When Charles Darwin first visited Tierra del Fuego, he found the inhabitants in a state of misery and moral degradation, but when he returned some years later after the gospel had been introduced by missionaries, "The change for the better was so indescribable that he not only testified to his astonishment but became a regular contributor to the missionary society. "

('Does God Believe in Atheists?' by John Blanchard).

During World War II on a remote island in the Pacific an American serviceman encountered a literal native, from a tribe of former cannibals, who was carrying a Bible. Gesturing to the man's Bible, the American said, "We educated people no longer put much faith in that book." The native replied, "Well, it's a good thing that we do, or you would be eaten by my people today. "

(James Hefley, "What's So Great About the Bible?").

Shimabuku is a village in Okinawa that was changed after being visited by a Christian missionary on his way to Japan. The missionary wasn't there very long, but while he was, he taught two of the men a couple hymns, gave them a Bible, and encouraged them to live by it. Thirty years later, near the end of WWII, when American troops came to the village, they were met by two old men carrying a Bible. Entering the village, they saw, in stark contrast to the surrounding villages, that Shimabuku had no poverty, no crime, no divorce, no prostitution, no drunkenness. The people were happy and industrious. Their village and farmlands were orderly and there were crops in the field. The entire village was living and operating under the authority of God's word. The men who visited the village after this occurred described it as an "oasis of serenity" among the chaos of other parts of the country that were affected war, and were reported as saying, "Maybe we are using the wrong weapons to change the world!"

(Story reported in Readers Digest).

"Some poorly informed Christians (usually in the service of some eschatalogical program) have been heard to insist that the world is today in worse condition than it has ever been before! The truth is almost exactly the opposite. The beneficent transforming power of the Kingdom of God has fashioned for us a world that would not be recognized by anyone living in times before Christ's Movement invaded the world. In former times,  warfare between nations was so barbaric to defy tasteful description to people of our cultural sensitivities. In Roman times, infidelity of husbands to their wives was regarded as neither unusual nor immoral. In many societies, slaves could lawfully be beaten to death at the whim of their masters. Other than the early Christians, few had any conscience about leaving unwanted newborns out to die of exposure or to be eaten by dogs. Before the advent of modern medicine (the existence of which owes much to devout Christian pioneers in modern medical science like Louis Pasteur), whole towns,  and even continents were sometimes decimated by plagues.

"The concepts of human rights, freedom of religion, liberty of conscience, and the equal status of women to men, are ideals that we may take for granted, thinking them to be natural human instincts - unless we are acquainted with history. Prior to the coming of Christ's Kingdom, conditions worldwide, in terms of justice and human rights, were similar to those still found in the strictest Islamic countries. These societies have until now vociferously resisted the incursion of the gospel's influence in their lands. The consequence is that, in terms of human rights, many such countries have advanced little since Medieval times."

(Steve Gregg, 'Empire of the Risen Son: There is Another King, Chapter 19: The Triumph of the Kingdom').

In Christianity today, the primary focus of evangelists is to lead people to Jesus so that they will be set free from their shame and guilt.(Just listen to Christian radio and many newer Christian songs, and you will hear that this is the gospel that is being preached). It is a message of hope; that one can live a better, happier life, free from guilt and shame. But this is not a message of Kingdom advancement or of the true Gospel. On the contrary, the message of this gospel says, "Come unto Jesus so that you can receive the blessings of a better life, free from guilt and shame."

The second reason why evangelists today want to lead people to Christ is so that they will be saved from hell. Though this is important and an excellent reason to share Jesus with people who do not know Him, it is still not the primary reason that God's desire is that all would be saved. It's true that Jesus died for all people because of God's love for us, and that because He loves us, He wants us to know Him so that we can live with Him for eternity. However, as the stories above demonstrate, God uses His people to build His Kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven. As people follow Jesus, and are faithful to obey His commands and instruction, people not only come to know the Living God and are reconciled back to Him, but the earth is also reconciled back to Him and renewed. 

The purpose of man's salvation is not an inward one that only benefits the recipient, but it must benefit mankind and God's Kingdom in some way, even if seemingly small or insignificant. We may never know to what extent our faithfulness to Jesus had effect on the world or His Kingdom. 

Salvation is also not only for the purpose of the after life - of receiving the benefit of going to heaven and being saved from having to go to hell when we die. The benefit we receive is knowing God in this life and living for Him, which will aid in the advancement of His Kingdom coming on earth as it is heaven, as many of us often pray.

"Corporate Glory" - excerpt from "Empire of the Risen Son: Book One: There is Another King, Chapter 20: The Dawning of the Risen Son" by Steve Gregg

"One thing that I hope to get across is that God's purpose is not merely concerned with the destiny of individuals, but also with that of His whole Kingdom and His Body corporately. In a child's developing body it is important that every limb, appendage, an organ experiences individual growth to maturity, but this is only to accommodate the development of that member to the growth of the whole body together. God desires that every believer come to maturity in order that the Body as a whole may be healthy and well proportioned. The Body matures along with the maturing of every member. This is what Paul is speaking of when he writes: "the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does it share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love" (Ephesians 4:16).

Paul said that he was determined to "present every man perfect [that is, mature] in Christ" (Colossians 1:28). However, this objective was to serve the larger goal, namely, that "we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect [that is, mature] man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13).

For unexplained reasons many modern translations render this last verse, "until we come to maturity," or " to mature manhood, " or some such unfortunate paraphrase of Paul's actual words. Such a paraphrase is regrettable because it obscures the meaning of what Paul was talking about. Such renderings give the impression that Paul is describing individual maturity that we all must reach. Indeed, he does mention the need for individual maturity in the following verse: "that we should no longer be children.. "

But Paul does not say, in our present passage, " until we are all adults," but "until we all (plural) are an adult (singular). As the ESV has it in the margin: "to a full grown man."

Paul, in this place is referring to the corporate growth of the whole Body of Christ- "we all"- becoming one mature Body - "a mature man." This may be difficult to grasp, but two chapters earlier (Ephesians 4:13), Paul had written of the Body of Christ as a "new man" (that is, a Body) which God created from Jewish and Gentile believers. As he puts it elsewhere, " there is neither Jew nor greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one [Body] in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). What God created as a new man must eventually become a mature man. As individual members mature, so does the whole Body. None of us is expected to reach the intended goal without the rest of us.

Thus, God's goal is larger than many Christians have ever realized. God does not simply want to bring many sons to heaven but, rather, "many sons to *glory" (Hebrews 2:10). These many sons comprise his Kingdom, the company of his faithful loyalist formed together into the corporate embodiment of the Son of God. We are already his hands and feet, but He deserves better than what we have yet attained. A perfected Head requires a perfected Body, and this is what He shall have.

Therefore, our destiny is not to be glorified alone as individuals but, as Paul puts it, "that we may also be glorified together" (Romans 8:17). The Kingdom of God is not so many isolated individuals, but a community, a population comprising a shining "city on a hill," a corporate bride which is destined to be the "holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. " As individuals, we are like " living stones... being built up as a spiritual house.. " (1 Peter 1:5 Ephesians 2:19-21). Collectively, the Body of Christ is that spiritual house under construction - the Holy Spirit's temple.

What is the standard by which individual maturity is measured? The answer must be the glory - or the likeness of Christ. In an individual, the likeness of Christ is seen in one's character being made up of the patience, humility, faithfulness, just dealing, and compassion of Christ. These are all summarized in in the term "agape, which is the bond of perfection" (Colossians 3:14).

" By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have a agape for one another" (John 13:35).

But what is the measure of the corporate maturity of the Body? Well, we know what corporate immaturity in carnality looks like, from Paul's harsh rebuke of the Corinthian church:

" And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ... for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, ' I am of Paul,' and another, 'I am of Apollos,' are you not carnal?"  (Corinthians 3:1-2).

Unity birthed of mutual love is the measure of corporate maturity in the Church. According to Paul, loyalty to particular leaders and denominations instead of to Christ and His people is the mark of an infantile Church. Unfortunately, reaching corporate maturity in unity has not held the same priority to Christians as it does to Christ. Jesus's passionate prayer for the Church (which, we assume, must be ultimately answered) was that they would dwell in unity. He prayed:

"... that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."

In Ephesians 4:13, we saw that the "mature man, " which the Church is to become, will be characterized by "unity of the faith" and "unity of the knowledge of the Son." This is what is good and acceptable to God for His people - that they act like one Body, one family, and one Kingdom. When all bodily members act in obedience to the same head, they act in harmony with each other as well.

We might conclude, from a surveying the present disunity of the churches, that we are still very far from the goal. However, the composition of the True Church has never been identical to that of the institutional churches. Many who regard themselves members of Christ will discover, to their chagrin, that they have never been such. The warning given by Jesus indicates that among the many who will be surprised will be ministers who had exhibited what appear to be impressive spiritual gifts (Matthew 7:21-23).

The True Church is the Body of Christ, comprised of all disciples the world over who possess the Spirit of the Head, and who are submitted to His authority (which is implied in the idea of "headship"). They are found worshiping in many kinds of assemblies amid others who have no sincere faith in Christ. God knows who they are. It is they who must be perfected in love and in unity among themselves. This consideration renders it impossible for us to calculate how far the corporate Body of Christ might be from its eventual maturity. All we can know with certainty is our own level of maturity or immaturity- which should be sufficiently obvious upon honest self-examination."

*Note- "glory" is used interchangeably with the concept of "likeness" or "image", as explained earlier in the chapter (Hebrews 1:3; 1 Corinthians 11:7; 1 John 3:2-3; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

"Sonrise" - excerpt from "Empire of the Risen Son - Book One: There is Another King: Chapter 20 - The Dawning of the Risen Son" by Steve Gregg.

Sonrise 

When Jesus was born upon the earth, His appearance was heralded as the dawning of day after a long darkness (Isaiah 60:1-3; Malachi 4:1-2;Matthew 4:16;Luke 1:78). Jesus Himself said that He, like the sun, is " the light of the world," (John 8:12), and referred to the time that He would be leaving again as the coming of "the night" (John 9:4). After Jesus had returned to heaven, Paul spoke of the time of His absence as a time of night which would someday end in the dawning of a new "day," at His return (Romans 13:12).

In the meantime, Christ's subjects in this world fill the role of " the light of the world," (Matthew 5:14; Ephesians 5:8; Philippians 2:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8), as does the moon at night, by reflecting the light of the sun back to earth. We anticipate the appearing of Jesus as those who wait for the dawn.

The absence of the Son is the night, and His presence is the day. We are living in the night between the day of His first coming and the day of His second coming. He will return - this time to remain permanently - after which, "there shall be no night there" (Revelation 21:25; 22:5). From that time forward, "all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord" (Numbers 14:21).

An important truth about the second coming has been somewhat obscured by regrettable traditional translations of Matthew 24:27, where the coming of Christ is likened to "the lightning" that "comes from the east and flashes to the west." This way of translating the passage speaks to us of suddenness- like a bolt of lightning suddenly flashing across the sky. But did you ever wonder why Jesus said that the lightning travels from the east to the west? This seems counterintuitive, rather than axiomatic (as Jesus implies it to be). While lightning sometimes may flash in a westerly direction out of the east, it is clear that it may as readily flash in any other direction, or perhaps more commonly, vertically.

The word "lightning" is the Greek astrape. This word is, in fact, the correct term for lightning, but this is not always its meaning. When defined in the lexicons, astrape is said to mean either " lightning" or, more generally, " bright shining. " It is in this ladder sense that the word is used in Luke 11: 36 - " if then you're whole body is full of light having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining [astrape] of a lamp gives you light. "

Interestingly, the same translators who rendered astrape as " lightning," in Matthew 24:27, quite reasonably chose to translate the same word as "bright shining," in Luke 11:36, where it refers to the brightness radiating from a light source. But what prevented them from translating the word this way in Matthew 24:27? Would it not present a very different image if Jesus were to have said, " for as the bright shining comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be"? Instead of a lightning bolt, this would clearly be comparing His coming to a glorious sunrise!

If one should arrive before dawn and watch the eastern horizon, the sky will be observed to change from nearly black to a lighter blue. On the edge of the horizon a ribbon of red-orange will gradually appear, and the whole sky will become progressively lighter and lighter, nearly like daytime even before the upper rim of the sun is visible. Within seconds, the sun will fully present itself, and the dawning of the day is complete.

Is this what Jesus is telling us about His second coming - that His coming will resemble a sunrise, rather than a bolt of lightning? Is it that the Kingdom's glory will increase more and more until the moment Jesus appears in the air and returns to earth after so long an absence? The increasing light is the progressive glorification of the saints into the image of Christ as Paul described (2 Corinthians 3:18). As the people of God stand faithful in trials, these "light afflictions.. work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17). He will return to find a bride who "has made herself ready," (Revelation 19:7) without "spot or wrinkle or any such thing" (Ephesians 5:27). "We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).

The coming of the Lord resembles a sunrise, and that it's near approach will be heralded by the people of His Kingdom displaying greater and greater likeness to Him. This is the appearing of the "full grain" of the Kingdom "in the head," (Mark 4:28-29), and the transformation of the Body to "a mature man" (Ephesians 4:13). The world will see Christ's image (that is, His glory) in His people as they increasingly surrender to His will, walking in justice, mercy, faithfulness and humility, and exhibiting the holiness and unity that is the fruit of agape love. Thus, the trajectory of the true colonies of the Kingdom will be "like the light of the dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day" (Proverbs 4:18).

"Therefore glorify the Lord in the dawning light, the name of the Lord God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we have heard songs: 'Glory to the righteous!'" (Isaiah 24:15-16).

Excerpt from "Empire of the Risen Son - Book One: There is Another King: Chapter 20 - The Dawning of the Risen Son" by Steve Gregg.