We the People
David Gibbs III
Government:
God’s Divine
Order
Government is not something
man invented, nor is there only
one way for man to be governed.
As a fundamental premise, many secular history texts fo- cus on the great work of the men who founded our country. While we do serve in the shadow of
some great men, the Founding Fathers
had no doubt that the idea of government was God’s idea.
I. Government was ordained by
God as His divine order.
The concept of government is introduced
in the very beginning of God’s Word in
the book of Genesis when God told
Noah and his sons that a government of
law would be established to protect the
lives of men:
And surely your blood of your lives
will I require; at the hand of every
beast will I require it, and at the hand
of man; at the hand of every man’s
brother will I require the life of man.
Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man
shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man (Genesis
9: 5–6).
Scripture makes it clear that God ordained government:
For there is no power but of God: the
powers that be are ordained of God
(Romans 13:1b).
For by him were all things created,
that are in heaven, and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers: all things
were created by him, and for him
(Colossians 1: 16).
Government is not something man in-
vented, nor is there only one way for man
to be governed. The Bible says nothing
specifically about government being cre-
ated “by the people, of the people, and for
the people.” Yet, God divinely established
government as one of only three created
institutions:
•;The Home
•;The Church
•;The Government
Just as with the church and the home,
when men speak about the government,
they are speaking about an institution di-
vinely ordained by God. Government is
something very important and divinely
ordained in God’s Book and, whether
good or bad, government must be re-
spected as a God-created institution.
II. Governments are raised up
by God.
Whether good or bad, there has never
been, and never will be, a government
that God does not raise up. God has total
control in the affairs of the governments
of this earth:
By me [God] kings reign, and princes
decree justice. By me princes rule, and
nobles, even all the judges of the
earth (Proverbs 8: 15–16).
In the Bible, we can find many examples of times when God put into power
rulers who loved and obeyed Him. (See
Psalm 2: 6–7, Jeremiah 30: 9, and Acts
13: 21–22.) Christians would love to see
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