What Kind Of People Ought We To Be? - Part 1

What Kind Of People Ought We To Be
Part 1

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming . . . so then dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” (2 Peter 3:10-12,14 - NIV)

What kind of people ought we to be? In the times in which we live, with the increase of evil, immorality, impurity, and pride, we sense that something is afoot in the spiritual realm. Certainly, as we look at the headlines we see the possibility of a major political and military showdown on the world level. Could it be that the same is brewing in the spiritual realm? Any amateur Bible prophecy student can begin to see a connecting of the apocalyptic dots regarding Israel, the Middle East, and the beginning of a one-world government. Whether we are in fact living in the final days or not, we are closer now than we were yesterday and we must keep our eyes on the goal that God has given us: of keeping ourselves pure, un-spotless and at peace with Him, living holy, godly lives as we look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.

Take a look at the “tails” side of a Mercury dime before 1945 and you will see an item that looks vaguely familiar. It is a bundle of rods cinched together by leather straps with an axe affixed to it. This is the symbol of ultimate authority of the Roman Empire, called the “fasces”. Roman authorities carried the fasces with them as a sort of scepter, signifying the authority granted them by the Roman government to rule and to punish the disobedient. The fact that it appears on the U.S. dime implies the importance of the Roman government as a template for the 20th and 21st century form of American government: ultimate authority with the government being the ultimate source of all law
and provision.

Then take a look at the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. Within the document there are ten objectives:

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.

The main objective is clear: complete control of the lives of the citizenry. It is no coincidence that the Roman “Caesar” and the Russian “Czar” appear very similar in stature and meaning. What are we to think in the United States of America when more and more of our officials have the titles like “Car Czar” or “Drug Czar”?

Our founding fathers had another form of law in mind when they wrote the Declaration of Independence. In it they speak of the “laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” and that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” The founders saw a higher source of law than the government, with God Himself as the giver of life and of rights to pursue the best life possible. They were believers in a Natural Law, a law that is attributed ultimately to the Creator, not to a legislature or king. In his book “Whatever Happened to Justice?” (Copyright 2004, Bluestocking Press) Richard Maybury sums up the Common Law in two points: “1) Do all you have agreed to do and 2) do not encroach on other persons or their property.” It is easy to see that these two rules descend directly from the commandments that God gave to Moses. Common law was the basis for the American Constitution, limiting government to necessary functions, not totalitarian rule. These men who founded America’s government were reacting to an oppressive British rule, one that had drifted toward being a very close copy of the Roman Empire.

Regardless of the direction of American politics in 2009, the natural direction for human government is to obtain more power for the elite and less power for the common people. More power means more money for those in power, and thus selfishness and self-aggrandizement are the motivators, not a respect for human-kind and for the Creator. If a Roman-style of government is allowed to control every aspect of one’s life, it will. Whether or not one is born, and when one should die, what one learns in school, one’s vocation, one’s pantry and dinner table, one’s healthcare, one’s bank account, one’s vehicle, one’s freedom to choose what to do with his or her day. In effect, the government is one’s god, and he or she must look to the government for all provision and for all decision.

We must state here what the Bible has to say about the Christian’s obligation to authorities which God has set in place. 1 Peter 2:13-14 says, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right” and verse 17 says, “show proper respect to every one: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”(NIV) 1 Timothy 2:1-2 also states, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”(NIV) Romans 13:1 adds “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”(NIV) We as the people of God must pray for our leaders, we must submit to those in authority and treat them with respect. Yet, we must also respect God’s authority and our ultimate judgment resides with Him, not with our earthly rulers. Daniel treated Babylonian kings with respect as he followed his God reverently and obediently. When the dictates of the king differ with the commands of God, then we must follow the higher law, joyfully taking the consequences. Yet God sets rulers in place for His purpose, which we probably do not understand fully. Much prayer for the rulers is called for, and prayer that we may discern what God is up to in fulfilling His plan.

With all this said, and knowing that our provision comes from a higher source than Washington, DC, or London, or Moscow, let us look at the Scriptures. In Luke 19:10 Jesus speaks of himself, “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost:”(KJV) The word “save” in Greek is “sozo” and Strong’s Concordance defines it as “to save, i.e. deliver or protect, to heal, preserve, do well, be made whole.” This is a bit more earthly meaning than we are taught in Sunday School. We learn that when Jesus saves us we are forgiven of our sins and we are promised eternal life with him in heaven. But the people that actually heard Jesus speak these words heard a more temporal meaning; that they could be saved from sickness, affliction, lack, earthly evil, and oppression. The meaning hasn’t changed. There may well come a time when we must rely on Jesus to save us from things from which we are used to saving ourselves, to provide for us things we are used to providing for ourselves, or the government providing for us.

Acts 4:12 quotes Peter as he exclaims, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” (RSV) The word salvation comes from the Greek word, “soteria”, which is the result of “sozo”. It is a state whereby the receiver of “soteria” or salvation lives in “rescue, safety (physically or morally), deliverance, health.” (Strong’s Concordance) Living in the goodness of God’s salvation through His son Jesus Christ means having all of our needs provided for by God Himself, not by the latest promise of a politician. May we ever look to God in the name of Jesus for “everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1:3-4NIV).

The Hebrew rendering of the name we know as “Jesus” is yeshua, meaning “Jehovah saves”, and again connoting a state of salvation including “deliverance, aid, victory, properity, health, welfare, and liberty. (Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon) When the people heard that “Yeshua” was close by they knew by the very definition of his name that he was ready to heal, feed, and deliver them from what oppressed them. Of course, the Father’s plan for forgiveness and an eternal home was much larger, but the people also found their daily needs provided through the person of “Yeshua”, or Jesus. May we do the same!

Yes, if we call Jesus our Lord, we are promised eternal futures that we cannot even begin to understand. But in the here and now he is also poised to meet our every need if we will but go to him in humility, asking for our daily bread. Matthew 6:33 finds Jesus preaching, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (NIV) May we do less seeking of the next American Idol, and more seeking the one who created us for his own glory and fellowship. May we worry less about the headlines of today’s newspaper and put more faith in the holy scriptures of the ages, which are the only eternal words that we have in this earth. They are words by which we may know God’s mind and His will for our lives. Read them, memorize them, meditate on them, live by them!!! Within them you will find all that you need!!! The world’s governments cannot make such an offer.