DEMOCRACY, NO; KINGDOM, YES!

By Jim Corner

      One of the great problems of living in this world and being a Christian is that our concept of democracy can get in the way and distort our thinking. I am thankful that I live in a country in which I have freedom of speech and can exercise my thinking at the ballot box. I have no desire to live in a land where a king or dictator determines my every move.
      Having said that; I do live in a kingdom and it is the Kingdom of God. A king is one who rules over a particular territory and a kingdom is that area. There are those who have the belief that the church and the church alone is the Kingdom of God. Such is not the case. We read in Matthew 8:11 that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are in the Kingdom. We also know that it was not until Matthew 16 that Jesus made the pronouncement that He would build His church in the future.
      Are there times when the word 'kingdom' in the Bible is speaking of the church and only the church? Yes! Jesus uses the word in this way in Matthew 16:18,19. To argue, however, that the kingdom is nothing more than the church is to have a very narrow and improper understanding of the subject. I want us to examine a couple of passages that demonstrate that the Lord has always been in control of everyone.
      In the Old Testament there are numerous examples of times when God's people were not obedient to Him. He would oftentimes use a wicked king to do His will. We see in the book of Jeremiah that God is going to take His people into captivity because of their sin. He will use the king of Babylon as His tool. Listen to these words in Jeremiah 25: 8-9: "Therefore the Lord almighty says this: "Because you have not listened to my words, I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon," declares the Lord, "and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin."
      In the quotation above we see that the king of Babylon was the servant of God. The reason was because Nebuchadnezzar was in the kingdom of God. Oh, he was not a faithful servant but he was under the control of God. We read in Psalm 2 that rulers of nations need to be careful as they do not truly rule their countries but God rules them.
      We read the following words in I Corinthians 15:25 about Jesus; "For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet." The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is ruling today. One may ask; if that is true, why is there so much ungodliness? The fact that Jesus rules does not mean that He forces people to do His will. Even the faithful Christian sins and violates the will of the Lord. Is that what God desires or what He permits?
      Paul will write in Philippians 2:10,11 that on judgment day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. In this life we have the ability to choose who we will serve and who we acknowledge as Lord. When this life is over, however, all of us will bow to the one and only King.
      What prompted me to write this article is that on December 9 of this year (2004), the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that gay marriage was constitutional. I read that in Canada public opinion is evenly divided on the issue. Listen to the following: 'In its ruling, the Supreme Court said the legal definition of marriage should change with public opinion over time. "Several centuries ago, it would have been understood that marriage be available only to opposite-sex couples," the court said. "The recognition of same-sex marriage in several Canadian jurisdictions as well as two European countries belies the assertion that the same is true today."
      The statement by the Supreme Court of Canada does not coincide with the one and only Supreme Court, that of God. We read in Romans 1:21-27 that homosexuality is perversion. We read in I Corinthians 6:9 and 10 that unrepentant homosexuals will not enter Heaven. Over and over in the Scriptures we see that marriage is between a man and a woman. All of the polls in the world will not change the Word of God.
      Do we live in a democracy? Not when it comes to the Kingdom of God. That truth should not trouble you but actually please you. We have a King who loves us and has done and will continue to do everything in His power to save us. We must, however, be obedient servants. What happened in Canada and what is happening in America deeply troubles me. We cannot make our own laws and do whatever pleases us because we live in a Kingdom where Jesus rules.
      If you would like to know more about this Kingdom and how you can become a willing subject of the Lord, please email the webmaster of this site. We will see that you get in touch with someone that can help you surrender your life to the Lord.

©2004 Buckingham Road Church of Christ