1 John 3:16


"By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

Sunday 29 August 2010

God as Governor

God’s sovereignty continued after the Fall. Some have said that God gave the earth to man when He told man to have dominion before the Fall and when Adam sinned Adam handed the earth over to Satan. The Bible does not state this. Adam’s dominion was under the Lordship of God, so long as he obeyed God’s commands. The Psalms claim that “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” (Ps 24:1). God still exercises full dominion over His creation.

Nebuchadnezzar claimed that he built Babylon by the power of his own hand and for that reason God removed from him His grace, to show Nebuchadnezzar that he was able to do nothing by himself. He lost his mind and ate grass with the cattle for seven years (Dan 4:34-37).

In God’s time, his mind returned to him and Nebuchadnezzar’s first thought was that “God reigns in all the earth and puts in power whomsoever He wills and brings down one king and raises up another.” (Dan 4:32). Some say today that territorial spirits rule certain districts of the earth. God rules the earth, not the devil or anyone else. Anyone who claims someone other than God rules is “eating grass with Nebuchadnezzar”.

God said concerning Pharaoh, “For this reason I have raised you up.” (Rom 9:17). Pharaoh thought his wisdom and his gods gave him power, but it was God’s sovereign will to raise up Pharaoh, that He might show His power to His elect people Israel. The book of Colossians says that all powers and dominions are subject to Jesus Christ (Col 1:16-23). This means spiritual powers and human governments. They are all in place by His permission and for His purpose.

Does this mean that God is responsible for the evil that they do? No, they do evil out of the depravity of their own nature. But God works all things together according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:5). He can even harden the heart of a sinner if its suits His purpose, as He did with Pharaoh (Rom 9:18).

Some have argued that Satan rules the nations because he is called the prince of the power of the air, which now rules the sons of disobedience (Eph 2:2). Satan does this by God’s permission and under His supervision. The supervision of God over Satan’s works is clear from Job, where God gave Satan permission to test Job, but under a clear limitation that Satan was not able in the least bit to resist (Job 2:1-6).

It is even seen in the Old Testament that God once summoned a lying spirit to take a wicked king in his own folly (1 Kings 22:22). 1 Cor 10:13 says there is no temptation that God will not oversee and give sufficient grace to escape. Jesus said not one hair falls from our head without our Father’s knowledge (Matt 10:30). God has knowledge of every single event, no matter how minor, which means that He is everywhere at the same time.

Satan Does Not Rule

It is further argued by some that because Satan tempted Jesus saying that he ruled the kingdoms of the earth and could give them to Jesus, then this must have been true, or it would not have been a temptation. It is true that Satan had a fleeting power over the disobedient, those who follow the fashions of the world in their desires, but this is under God’s sovereign control. Jesus was not fooled by this temptation and He knew that:

1. Satan is a liar.

2. Authority cannot be had unless the Father gives it.

What Satan said was not true. Jesus said to Pontius Pilot, “You can have no authority unless it is given you from above.” (John 19:11). The Bible is clear; Satan has nothing that God has not given him and God can take it away without the slightest dispute. Satan does not even rule fallen men. Fallen man is ruled by the law of sin and death. He is governed and held captive by His own sin nature, under God’s sovereignty.

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