Page 29 - The Christian Life and the Church Life_Government of God

The Christian Life under the Government of God 28

days. I am not joyful about such discipline, but this is the serious discipline
that I observed. This has been very much within me, that we ought to live a
Christian life under the government of our God.
He is not merely the God of grace, the God of love, and the God of glory.
He is a God of government. Because of His will, His good pleasure, and His
desire, He will accomplish things according to His holiness and righteousness.
When we talk about our Christian life, let us not forget that this Christian life
must be under the government of God. I have seen many rebellions in my
church life. The first one was in 1961, in the church in Manila, and I think that
was the first rebellion in the Lord’s recovery outside of mainland China. But
after that, there were quite a few more. By going through those rebellions, I
really saw that our God is a God of government. We should never forget that.
As we go through our Christian life, may the Lord remind us again and again
that He has two systems: the system of grace and the system of government.
He would have to deal with us for the fulfillment of what is in His heart.
The subject in 1 and 2 Peter is on the government of God but this subject
is actually not our focus. Our focus must be the economy of God. God is
doing all these things in order to build Himself into us so that we can be His
corporate expression. This is what the Lord is after. In order for us to express
Him, He has to deal with us in a proper way.
AS BELIEVERS IN CHRIST AND CHILDREN OF GOD,
OUR NEEDING TO LIVE A CHRISTIAN LIFE UNDER THE
GOVERNMENT OF GOD
As believers in Christ and children of God, we should live a Christian
life under the government of God (John 3:15; 1:12-13; 1 Pet. 4:13-19; 5:6-8).
John 3:15 says, “That everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life.”
John 1:12-13 also says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the
authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, who
were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God.” Praise the Lord that we are believers! We are begotten of God.
We are children of God. Don’t you think this is wonderful? We are born of
God! But as children of God and believers of God, we should live a Christian
life under the government of God. We probably pay a lot of attention to the
Christian life. After we believe in the Lord, we at least have some knowledge