Page 43 - The Christian Life and the Church Life_Government of God

Living under the Direct Rule of God 42

West Coast, which is really far. It will take me five hours just to fly there.
I live in the realm of the United States but the government of the United
States is quite a long distance away from me. The same is true with you here.
Some of you brothers are from Mindanao. You live in the Philippines, but
those from Mindanao are away from Manila. They are far away from the
government and may have no consciousness about it. They might not even
think about the fact that there is a government in this country. But when they
violate the law, that is when they will know that there is the government.
They will come into contact with the government and it does not matter how
many thousands of miles away they live; they will come in contact with the
government if they violate the law.
I appreciate very much that the Lord led us to this subject after the book
of Deuteronomy, which is a type. Types are wonderful but they always come
short of the reality. So where can we find or see the reality of living in a
theocracy? We can see it in 1 and 2 Peter and also in the God-man living
of the Lord Jesus. He was a man who lived under the direct rule of God at
all times. But like you, looking at the Lord’s God-man living, we somewhat
excuse ourselves, thinking that He could live that life but we cannot. It is very
significant that the person the Lord used to unveil this truth is neither Paul nor
John, but Peter. I am a lot more like Peter than Paul or John, and maybe you
are too. We need to learn it the way Peter learned it.
One of the reasons that human government does not work is that it is
outside of us. Like I said, I live 3000 miles away from Washington D. C.,
yet I never think about Washington D. C. because it is quite objective to me
and it has nothing to do with me. But what if the ruler of a country, instead
of administrating from a distance, could enter into us? Humanly speaking
this would be terrible. I do not want anyone else living in me other than
Jesus Christ. But let us just talk about it. What if the ruler himself could enter
into us? Now we have a very different kind of rule. We have something in
our very being that regulates us and controls our actions. This is the way to
accomplish a government. Humanly speaking that would never happen. But
thank the Lord, in God’s divine government, this is how He does it. We might
think that God is in the third heavens on the throne overseeing the universe.
Although it is not wrong to think that, it is not actually right either. He is not
administrating from a distance. God’s way of governing, especially His own