Subject To God
There are two things which are first of all asserted: 1) God is the supreme Lord, and 2) civil governments are to be subject to Him. That God is the supreme Lord over all, we don’t need to mention here. In chapter 21:2, we also read that “God alone is Lord of the conscience”. The government cannot see into our hearts and consciences. But God can. He determines even what is good and evil in that private realm. But He also rules us in the public realm through the civil magistrates. As the Supreme Lord, God is the ruler over the government also. Not only that, but as the supreme Lord of the government, the government is called to submit itself to Him. The government should acknowledge that its power is derivative. We are to be subjected to them as given by God. But they should also acknowledge that they, like we also, are subject to God. Therefore, any government wishing the blessing of its people should subject itself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Any government that does not acknowledge Jesus Christ is in rebellion against God. This is the description of all, if not most, governments in our world. The civil government should acknowledge that they’re a tool in the hand of God for the good of its citizens. God has put them in the positions that they are in. It is God Who ordained them according to their roles as a king, president, governor, and all the other roles. God humbles Nebuchadnezzar, who was the most powerful man in the world, telling him that he will remain in humiliation “till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will” (Dan. 4:25). Ultimately, “Heaven rules” all the world (Dan. 4:26) and the call to the civil magistrate is to acknowledge that and bow the knee to the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
The government should rule under the authority of God over the people. The civil government has a higher responsibility and position in the world. They are to reign over the people for the people’s good. They are to protect them and provide for them. The government is to peace and righteousness. It does not take us any time to notice that this is not actually the world in which we live. This is a broken and rebellious world. The majority of the government in the world live in open rebellion to the design of God. Most governments in the western world promote homosexuality and abortion, among other things, which the Word of God condemns. The ideal picture is that of a government that submits to the Lordship of Christ and serves its people in righteousness and peace. The citizens, in turn, who, first of all, submit to the Lordship of Christ and consequently submit to their governments, too. But this sadly not the case. Sin has broken and tainted every human institution and it is impossible to escape, until the Consummation when we can say, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, a...