Page 45 - The Christian Life and the Church Life_Government of God

Living under the Direct Rule of God 44

nakedness until the fall. At the very beginning how were they living? How
were they governed? They were governed directly by God. That is what God
intended, that man would live under His direct rule. But due to the fall, the
first step away from the direct rule of God, was the rule of man’s conscience.
After Adam and Eve fell, they became aware of sin and their conscience was
activated. Now they had the opportunity and the possibility to live under the
rule of the conscience. But of course, we know they did not do this. In our
own experience, we do not live under the rule of the conscience very well.
Man’s conscience was not sufficient enough to have the divine government
established over man. Eventually because of this, man fell under the rule of
man, of human government. That is where we live today. But let us consider
our situation. Brothers, if we live in our mingled spirit, if we live according
to the Spirit, we actually do not need man’s rule. Whenever we fall under
man’s rule, it means we have already failed to live according to God’s rule in
our spirit. For example, you may be driving a car and there is a speed limit.
If you exceed the speed limit, you may fall under man’s rule. You might get a
speeding ticket. Actually, that is already an indication that we are not living
by the divine rule. If we live by the divine rule in our spirit, we will not fall
under man’s rule.
Our desire, which is also God’s desire, is that we would live under the
direct rule of God. Most people would be very happy if they could just live
under the human government without getting into trouble. This is a very
low kind of living. Human government only prohibits us from doing terrible
things. Most believers would be happy if they could live under the rule of
their conscience. They would consider it a great victory and wonderful thing
if they can live under their conscience. But we need to see that there is
a higher kind of living than living under the conscience. The conscience
functions with respect to right and wrong. It tells us when we are wrong, it
tells us when we have sinned, and it tells us when we have violated the divine
principles. But even an unbeliever has a conscience; hence, he could live, in
theory, by that standard. However, there is another kind of living that goes
far beyond the realm of right and wrong. If I speak a falsehood to you or if I
speak a lie to you, my conscience will condemn me. But if I speak a factual
truth to you, yet I speak it out of myself, the divine government in me will
condemn me. Can you see the difference? It is a very different standard if
we are just to live by our conscience and to live under the direct rule of God.