Does the Bible Teach About Government?

I. God’s Creation Is  Definitional.

Key Verses Seen Last Sunday: Genesis 1:1, 22, 27-30, 2:22-24; 31; 5:1-3; 6:17-19; 8:1, 15-18, 21-22; 9:1-17

II. Hear What  Creation  &  Conscience  Are Saying.

•The Witness of General Revelation: Romans 1:15-32; 2:14-16

Q: Are you guilty of suppressing the truth God has revealed in all creation?

III. They Say More Than  You May Think .

Q: Have you bought the lies our world tells that God and objective morality cannot be truly known?

IV. What Is  Government’s  Role In All This?

God’s Ordained Purpose for Human Government: Genesis 9:5-6; 8:21; Romans 13:3-4

Genesis 9:5–6 KJV

5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. 6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man [humanity] shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

Q: How might you better pray for and steward your part in our civil government as a Christian?

SERMON IN A SENTENCE: By faith in the gospel, “we the people”  restrain human evil  and  protect human life  through human government—as God’s creation covenant requires.

•The Gospel Is Good News for All Nations & Governments: Romans 16:20, 25-27

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|| Points of Moral Witness of Creation ||

God’s Creation Covenant ensures that both our inward conscience and all creation around us declare at least the following:

We are blessed by God and created distinct from all other creatures of the earth.

We ought to love God with our all—in response to the love He has shown us with this blessing.

We have the desire and ability to exercise good stewardship and dominion over all the earth and its creatures.

We long for more than what we merely perceive and experience in our present world.

We know the consistent order of all creation requires one sovereign God who is over all and without rivals.

We therefore give account to the one true God who must have made us to enjoy, worship, and represent Him in peaceful fellowship.

We cannot see God, but we see evidence of Him in His creation and especially in these unique qualities of humanity—who evidently bear the image of God.

We must not make images of God or of false gods since there is only one true God and since He made us alone as His image-bearers.

We must love one another since we each bear the image of God—from our smallest existence, such as the unborn.

We must never unjustly murder other humans who are made in God’s image.

We are male or female by God’s good design.

We flourish as we multiply, spread out abundantly, and fill the earth with good things and good treatment of one another.

We multiply in marriage covenants of one man and one woman in one-flesh union—as our biology, psychology, and sociology attest to.

We spread out into different lands as families and communities.

We fill the earth with good things through wise, diligent work.

We do good to one another as we love those near us—as God has done for us.

We ought to be grateful for the spouse, land, and good things God has given us.

We must never steal the spouse, land, or good things of another.

We must guard and protect the life, marriage, land, work, and good things of others through human government as we organize into communities. More on this in point four.

We must not entrust too much power into any one human because sin now flows from our hearts from our youth.

We must steward human government as a restrainer of evil, not as a savior from it.

We must trust God alone to save and rule with all power, glory, and honor.

We must trust God to ultimately judge the sin that flows from our hearts.

We must trust God to fulfill His good purposes for His creation—just as every rainbow and new day declare.

We should trust God has revealed His good purposes for us in language we can understand—as we observe how He has ordered all creation by forms of language (like mathematics).

We should expect God to most clearly communicate to us in human form—combining both language and image-bearing. Though only the special revelation of scripture makes known God has done this.

So, the general revelation seen in the created world attests to the special revelation of scripture and Christ Jesus. The two are complementary.

According to God’s revealed word in scripture, God did come to us in human form as the God-man, Jesus. And he died and rose again for sinners. This is good news that God has made known in the special revelation of scripture.

And as seen in history, the ministry of Jesus continues to transform sinful humans into truer images of God to this day.

Therefore, the combined evidence of creation, conscience, history, scripture, Christ, and His followers cohesively give witness that we need to repent from sin and believe the gospel of God’s crucified and risen Son. All who do are forgiven of sins and restored into peaceful fellowship with God on earth—until He fulfills His good purposes for creation according to His covenants.