This is the third of seven theses making the case for Christendom. If you missed the last post, see here:
Thesis 3 - Christians will rule the earth
Here’s John White (an Anglican layman and thoughtful brother in Christ) drawing a line from point A to point B.
Indeed, the meek shall inherit the earth, and we shall also—at history’s end—judge angels (1 Cor. 6:3).
If you’re bristling at the thought of Christians ruling the earth, consider the following:
God made humans to rule the earth. This was Adam’s task, and it was handed down to each of his children. We all know what type of job that family line has performed. So God provided a second Adam, a better Adam, and gave him the authority to rule the nations (Matt. 28:18, cf. Eph. 1:20-21). But does Christ exercise his authority over the earth as a solitary monarch? To the contrary:
And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Eph. 1:22-23
Christ rules over all creation, which has been placed under his feet. The church is his body which means, necessarily, that all creation is under our feet as well. All the world is under the authority of God’s people. This reality may not yet be manifest, it may not be evident, but it is reality nonetheless. It is our inheritance and our destiny, and we need not be abashed by it. Following the ascension of Christ to the Father’s right hand, God has arranged the ordered the world thus, and so we must believe it. We must live by faith, not by sight.
The Psalmist sung in anticipation of these realities:
God reigns over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples gather
as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly exalted!Psalm 47:8-9
Let the godly exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their beds.
Let the high praises of God be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,
to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishments on the peoples,
to bind their kings with chains
and their nobles with fetters of iron,
to execute on them the judgment written!
This is honor for all his godly ones.
Praise the Lord!Psalm 149:5-9
The reality of Christ’s reign expressed through his people discipling the nations provides the basis for Paul’s prayer that “the eyes of [our] hearts would be enlightened, that [we] may know… what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (Eph. 1:18-19). Christ has been given all rule and authority, and he makes it available to us. Why? So that we can achieve victory over personal sin? Sure, that’s part of it. But Paul doesn’t reference Christ’s exaltation above the principalities and powers merely to encourage us in personal holiness. Rather, he is encouraging us both to live in and to extend the power of his resurrection over the whole creation. For Christ has not only made his power available to us, he also delights to exercise it through us.
I will develop the theme of the Church’s rule in future publications, but let me make clear for now that the Church ought to never occupy the seat of the civil magistrate. There are spheres of government, and properly appointed authorities in each. The Church has authority to administer word and sacrament, and to discipline its members. It does not have the authority, as the church, to take up arms or execute justice. However, there will always be magistrates who do, in fact, have such authority. And may the Lord hasten the day when the men who occupy these offices have been thoroughly discipled by the Church such that they rule according to biblical justice. For then it may be said that “the princes of the people gather as the people of the God of Abraham” (Ps. 47:9).
Now if God answers Paul’s prayer—that Christians grow in their understanding of the immeasurable power of Christ which belongs to us—and we begin to maturely exercise this resurrection power such that the tides of death are turned back and life breaks forth into the world, should we expect a distinctively civil order to emerge? We should. And as it does, we will know afresh the goodness of God as it manifests in the next Christendom.
To be continued…