Mac's Blog

Just last month my family and I had the opportunity to visit with my daughter on Kinmen Island in Taiwan. She is there with a team of 4 other young ladies and 2 young men who are working as Teachers Assistants for the purpose of teaching English in government schools there.
    While there I had the opportunity to lead 2 Bible studies with the team on Sunday evenings. We went through Psalm 110, the Old Testament passage that is quoted in the New Testament more often than any other passage. It begins with God the Father’s statement to the Son. “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for your feet.’”  We know from the many New Testament references to this passage that the reign of the Son of God began at His resurrection and subsequent ascension to the Father’s right hand. So Christ is reigning now. He does not have to be physically present on the earth to reign and conquer His enemies. This reign is speaking therefore of the time between the 1st and 2nd Coming of Christ.
     Moreover we see as Psalm 110 continues that the means by which Christ is subduing His enemies is the gospel. “The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion (Jerusalem), saying, ‘Rule in the midst of Your enemies.’” A king’s scepter is a symbol of his power and authority. The truth of the gospel was accomplished in history in the death, burial, resurrrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ – all of which took place in Jerusalem. Romans 1:16 tells us the “the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”
     Then we see further in verse 3 that Christ will subdue His enemies through His people – His church. “Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power.” Through the gospel, God exposes our sin and makes it clear that our only hope is the salvation work of Jesus Christ. He enables us to repent and believe and we thereby become His willing servants. And this verse tells us that it is normal for Christians to volunteer freely in their service of God.
     The young people that I met in Kinmen, Taiwan were examples of some of the most exceptional volunteers for the Lord that I have every met. They each have a clear love and commitment to Christ. They each have a clear commitment to the local church there in Kimen. And they each have an exemplary love for the children and young people that they are serving in the community.
I was greatly challenged and encouraged by their lives. I trust that the Lord will continue to bring great fruit through them, as thoroughly as the “dew” (verse 3) that covers the whole earth.

Usurpation-“The act of seizing or occupying and enjoying the property of another, without right; as the usurpation of a throne; the usurpation of the supreme power.” – Websters 1828 Dictionary

There are multiple reasons being given as to why the Obama administration’s proposal of government controlled health care is wrong. It will lead to rationing of health care, it gives too much control in health care decisions to the government and not enough to patients and their physicians, it penalizes those who do not want government health care, etc. I agree with all of those arguments, but I see them as secondary issues that do not address the main reason that government controlled health care is wrong. Simply put, it is wrong because it is not their job. Who decides what the job of the government is? God does!

Romans 13:1 tells us that “there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” God is the one who has instituted every realm of authority. He instituted the home, the church, and the state. (Other institutions like schools, hospitals, and businesses would technically come under the home and the church.)

God not only instituted each of those authoritative realms He also made it clear that each area had their own specific responsibilities as well as limitations to their authority. If any of the authorities in any of these realms begins to take on responsibility that was not assigned to them by God they are usurping the authority of God.

Therefore when the state insists that they are responsible for education (actually that is the job of the home and the church); for health (also the job of the home and church along with the institutions they develop to address those issues); or for welfare (once again this is the job of the home and church) – when the state takes these responsibilities as their own they are usurping the sovereign authority of God. So technically they are seeking to put themselves in the place of God. (By the way, this is also the reason it was wrong for the government to take charge of banks, and car companies.)

There is a reason that all of our elected officials take their oath of office with their hand on a Bible and with the phrase “so help me God.” Our founding fathers understood that every government official was serving under the authority of God and was required to govern under the sovereign rule of God in accordance with His divine law. That reality seems to be lost on most of our elected officials in the present day. But that does not mean they are any less accountable to God for their actions. And it also means that citizens are required to hold their elected officials accountable to their God-given responsibilities. To blindly follow any government, Democrat or Republican, without attempting to hold them accountable to Biblical standards puts us precariously close to idolatry. I know that sounds “extreme” but I believe it is true.

As a nation, leaders and citizens alike, we are in a very dangerous place. I think that Psalm 2 has specific application to the United States of America.

Verses 1-3 tells us what the problem is. “Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying ‘Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us’”.

Verses 4-5 summarizes God’s response to these usurping activities. “He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury.”

Verses 10-12 tell us what must happen in our nation to avoid the judgment of God. “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

May God help us to truly take refuge in the Lord and not in the state.

Have you ever completed a project of some sort and then took a look at the project with admiration and a sense of accomplishment? It could be anything from cooking a meal, painting a room, mowing the yard, cleaning and organizing your desk, coloring a picture, reading a book, etc.

A few days ago my son mowed our yard and I did the weed eating and edging. As I always do, I took several looks at the freshly mowed yard and thought about how good it looked (in spite of the weeds in the yard). Why do we do that? I think it goes back to being made in the image of God. In Genesis 1:26 we read that “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”

So a part of being made in the image of God includes being given dominion over God’s creation. Many people misunderstand the word “dominion” to mean domination. I don’t think that is an accurate understanding. The definition I have heard that I think best describes what it is to take dominion is to make all things flourish to the glory of God.

That’s why we look at our accomplishments, whether they be simple or complex, and have a sense of satisfaction at what we have done. Grass is part of God’s creation, and by fertilizing, mowing, and edging we make it flourish – hopefully to the glory of God. I really don’t think birds look at their nests and have that same sense of accomplishment that we do because birds are not made in the image of God like man is.

When Robin and I went to the Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. a couple weeks ago, we looked at the section that focused on transportation. It is amazing to see how man has taken God’s creation and little by little made it flourish. Do birds make improvements in their nest building over the years? I don’t think so.

The danger that we must also keep in mind is that because of sin, man often takes that God-given ability to take dominion and uses it for sinful purposes. It is used in ways that lift up man and oppose God and His work in the world. But as Christians we have the obligation to make all of life flourish to the glory of God. We should take the abilities and opportunities that God gives us and make the best possible use of them – for God’s glory.

So if you look back at a freshly mowed yard like I do, we have to make sure that we not only have that sense of accomplishment, but we must also give thanks to God for the ability and responsibility He has given to take dominion in this world for His glory.

Andrew Fuller was a Baptist Pastor in England in the 18th century. He was one of the primary persons responsible for the beginning of the modern missionary movement when he and several other ministers sent William Carey to India as a missionary in 1792.

Fuller had a phrase he used to describe the church that has always intrigued me. He called the church, “The Armies of the Lamb”. He said that “the true churches of Jesus Christ … are the armies of the Lamb, the grand object of whose existence is to extend the Redeemer’s kingdom.” There are so many important truths contained in that simple phrase.
1st, it reminds us that we are in a spiritual warfare. Sometimes it feels that way, sometimes it doesn’t. But the reality is that there is always a warfare going on. On a personal level we all have to deal with sin, self, and the world’s influence on a daily basis. On a larger scale it is the fierce resistance to the advancement of the kingdom of God that is always there.
2nd, it reminds us that our warfare is not one that uses guns and soldiers. Our warfare is waged using the spiritual weapons that we have been given by the Lord that are described in Ephesians 6:10-18.
3rd, it reminds us that our King is actually a Lamb. It is the same picture we see in Revelation 5 where Jesus Christ is simultaneously described as the Lion of Judah and the Lamb who was slain. A humble King.
4th, I believe that with the Lamb as our King the warfare we engage in will result in the extension of the Redeemer’s kingdom. Fuller believed that as well. In 1812 (three years before his death) he wrote this in a letter to John Sutcliff, a fellow minister: “A work is begun that will not end till the world be subdued to the Saviour.”
What an encouraging word – but God has ordained it so that this will not be accomplished without the gospel centered and persevering ministry of “the Armies of the Lamb”.