I have often said that all of the major political dogmas work well on paper. That is, all but Communism. Communism removes all hope and will never work. It is mankind that corrupts the system. Things like greed and power control seem to always get in the way of the system and therefore the system fails. Leaders cannot take all the blame. Others find loop holes to take advantage of, which in turn weakens the system as well.
History has shown that from time to time the Church of Jesus Christ will get too attached to a political viewpoint. When this happens there always seems to be a backlash when that political party falls from the grace of public opinion.
This can seen best by looking at the Tang Dynasty in China. The Christian church became so close to the Dynasty that a number of Emperors called themselves Christians. Unfortunately, they tended to mix the Christian teaching with that of other religions like Buddhism, ancestor worshiping and Confucianism. Still they called themselves Christian and they were known as a Christian lead Dynasty.
Because of this when the Mongol era came along, not only the Tang Dynasty disappeared, but also the Christian church pretty much all but vanished in China.
As the church of Jesus Christ we should not place our trust in any political party. Anything man is involved with, we will also find pride and greed. Again it’s not the systems that are bad, it’s the people that run the systems.
Please don’t act like you would do better. English historian, Lord Acton once said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” There is something that comes over those in power, if they stay there too long, they feel they are above the law.
This is not to say we should not express our self by voting. One should always vote, but not be locked into a party. A believer in God should vote for those candidates that best line up with a God centered world view.
Still you must understand that even if all offices would be filled with God fearing people, we still would not have a perfect state of affairs. Man is the problem here.
More of our time should be spent on the King’s Kingdom. Sometimes we are so taken up in the task of this world and the fight for justice and the cause for restoring right, that we forget about the kingdom in which we belong to. Selection of the best man or woman for the office should be time well spent, but how much time do we spend on expanding the kingdom of our King? No man, however, be they good or not, will fix all the problems we face.
I speak of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God, consists of those who acknowledge, worship, love, and obey YAHWEH as the only living and true God that exists in our world. This Kingdom has always been the light and life of the world. It is the salt by which it is preserved. It is the only hope this world has.
Now it is true that God Himself is active in bringing His people into this kingdom. But He has chosen the Church as a tool to aid and accomplish this and the purpose for which his eternal Son assumed our nature. Christ was born to be the King of this kingdom. To this end He lived and died and rose again, that He might be Lord of all those given to Him by the Father.
The kingdom of God has existed from the beginning even before Christ came. The Bible constantly speaks of the Messiah as a king. When the last soul is brought into the kingdom, that God has chosen, the kingdom is then complete. Christ will physically set up the kingdom into which in the end all other kingdoms are to be merged. The most familiar name given to God in the Bible is Lord. Lord means proprietor and ruler; and when used of God or Christ, it means absolute proprietor and sovereign ruler.
In 2 Samuel 7: 16, we have the record of God’s formal covenant with David,
“Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever.”
In fulfilment of that promise Isaiah predicted that a virgin should bear a son and call his name Immanuel, on whose shoulder should be the government, whose name should be called
“Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9. 6, 7.)
This was indeed fulfilled in Christ as he was born years later in that small town of Bethlehem.
Revelation 19:15 indicates that Jesus’ regal functions are to rule and to judge. The executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government unite in Him.
Revelation 19:15
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
But did we see the King found in Isaiah 9 in Christ? Did we see a King coming to rule and reign over man? In that advent we did not, but there is good reason.
His regal work during His first advent did not concern itself with politics or with the execution of divine judgement. He did, however, rule over nature, the demons, disease, and the lives of people who were committed to Him.
During the present time His regal work on earth is confined to His building and superintending the church, of which He is Head. In fact, we who are saved are now members of His kingdom in its spiritual, non-political form. This makes Him our Sovereign King.
Have you given up on man’s forms of government? I can tell you that I have. Maybe its because I’m getting older, and I have heard all the broken promises before. Or maybe I’m just tried of being misled by people giving me high hopes, but few results. Maybe it’s because I no longer trust the ads shown on TV that say all will be swell, if I only vote for them.
Man can draw some nice looking blueprints for success, but something happens after they get into power. They claim they want to change things back to where they once were, but for some reason, it never takes place.
I am looking more and more for my King. I must admit that I have not prayed this way in the past. Much to my shame, I have not prayed as John “Even so, come, LORD Jesus.” I do, however, find myself longing for the moment now.
In Christ there is real hope. Our consolation is strong because we have hope in the mighty God, the everlasting Father, Prince of Peace who cannot lie, who will always carry out His will, who will not break a promise and cannot die.
Upon our King’s return, Christ will restore righteous living as all believers will be with Christ, like Christ, with the mind of Christ and share with Christ as joint-heirs of God.
Song writer Leila N, Morris, wrote these words.
Jesus is coming to earth again; what if it were today?
Coming in power and love to reign; what if it were today?
Coming to claim His chosen Bride, all the redeemed and purified,
Over this whole earth scattered wide; what if it were today?
Glory, glory! Joy to my heart ’twill bring.
Glory, glory! When we shall crown Him King.
Glory, glory! Haste to prepare the way;
Glory, glory! Jesus will come some day.
Do not these thoughts make you want to pray… “Even so, come, LORD Jesus”?