Smoodock's Blog

In my previous study, I claimed that God is almighty, and, if this is really true, then it is logical to presume he doesn’t need anyone or any thing to help him do what he wants done. In other words, if God created the nations for a purpose, they don’t need to cooperate with him for God to fulfill the purpose, for which he created them. Moreover, although the Church was brought into existence to be the helper of Christ, neither does the Church have to be obedient to God before God could use the Church to do his will. God is God, and he is almighty, and there is nothing either the nations or the Church could do or refrain from doing that would change what God is able to do. Therefore, even when the nations and/or the Church (as a whole) is unrighteous, this does not, nor could it, limit God to work through them to fulfill his will for mankind.[1]

The Bible begins with, “In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth, and the Earth was without form and void…” vis-à-vis it was in the state of chaos (Genesis 1:1-2). The first thing the Lord did was bring order into his creation, and that is what the rest of the chapter is about. In many apocalyptic films about great wars destroying the order of the world, the resulting chaos in the aftermath of that war melds into anarchy, which, for lack of a better explanation, is the order brought about by the bullies who have survived the apocalypse, vis-à-vis world order becomes the survival of the fittest.

When the Lord destroyed the world that arose over Adam’s rebellion (Genesis 6 through 8), the first thing God did, after he blessed and provided for the living of the survivors (Genesis 9:1-4) was to establish social order, by giving authority to men to govern themselves (Genesis 9:5-6), after which he created the nations through Noah’s sons (Genesis 10). In other words, creating nations was God’s idea. Man’s idea in the antediluvian world seems to have been family rule, where the head of the family ruled human events.[2] As families united for the purpose of power, violence grew (Genesis 6:1-5), and excessive violence always brings God’s judgment (Genesis 6:6-7).

While it had always been God’s will that men rule his creation (Genesis 1:26, 28), it wasn’t until he had judged mankind’s rebellion that he created the nations and gave them the authority to govern themselves (Genesis 9 and 10). Therefore, according to the scriptures, it was God’s idea not only for man to rule his creation, but man would also rule himself through a cooperative effort that melded into authority figures established within a national structure. This is God’s idea, just as much as it was his idea to establish the Church to help Jesus build his Kingdom. Moreover, just as I’ve been saying in the past few studies, this idea remains true, whether or not the nations think kindly about God or have a desire to serve him (cp. Revelation 11:15, 18). God’s idea is a good one, even when the nations act as adversaries, because even as such, adversarial nations will ordinarily protect their citizens and keep order within their authority by punishing violence and wrongdoing. It appears that men will instinctively form relationships and create some kind of order within those relationships, whether or not they’re in rebellion against God.

God will judge men in authority for wicked behavior. Nevertheless, this does not mean he’ll punish men for erring and making mistakes in governing. God didn’t create men infallible, either among national rulers or in the Church. Men err, and that’s a fact of life, because God’s perfect idea in creating mankind is for men to image God. Imaging God is a choice, not a birthright. Therefore, men have freewill, free to obey or not obey the Lord, their God. Therefore, infallibility is not a national or religious birthright. None of us are able to attain perfection. We err in our decisions, and this has always been so. Everyone makes mistakes, but this does not prevent the Lord from working within the nations or the Church to accomplish his plan for mankind.

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[1] Presently, I am winding down my study series on N.T. Wright’s book, Simply Jesus. Throughout this series of studies I have claimed they are my interpretation of Dr. Wright’s work. Anyone reading my studies shouldn’t believe that Dr. Wright would agree with the conclusions I’ve made here about the Jesus we find in his book. Sometimes I don’t agree with the author, while other times I may take his good idea too far. I believe I agree with Dr. Wright most often, but that is still my opinion, not his.

[2] Interestingly, this is the method used by underworld organizations, such as the Mafia. They are extremely violent as were the antediluvian ruling families, and anyone not originally of the individual Mafia family, who joins the organization, becomes part of that family through a kind of adoption process.