King Jesus is Over ALL Governments

"The first principle of Biblical government -- Church, State, family, and self-government -- is that God is in charge. Government must begin with self-government under God. This is as true of civil government as for all other forms of government. 

      Humanism's denial of God's government means in practice that the individual's will is absorbed and denied by the will of the State. Public policy overrules any contradictory policy held by an individual, a church, a business, or a civil jurisdiction at the state, county, or city level. When tyranny finally happens, when the State's will becomes the people's will, the citizenry looks at the prevailing conditions and asks how it could have happened. Fingers are pointed all around, when in fact, the finger-pointing ought to begin with each of us. 

       A nation that denies God's government over the individual, the family, the Church, and the State will find itself enslaved to those who want to be master. The sad thing is that many of us are willing to let it happen. More than this, we wanted it to happen. There is always the promise of security, the giving up of a little more self-determination, the handing over of a bit more jurisdiction to those who want to make us so secure. 

      The doors of tyranny are closing. Are we motivated to follow God through the opening, or will we forever find ourselves locked in the grip of willing power merchants who will use us for their evil ends? The choice is ours. 

      The term 'government' has many meanings today. Most people define it in solely political terms. Older dictionaries, especially Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), define 'government' with a multiplicity of meanings and referring to numerous jurisdictions. Older textbooks see government as beginning in the home, what we would call "family government." 

      Government in the singular belongs to God alone. The Church is a legitimate government with authority and power. God has established multiple governing authorities, one of which is civil government. These many authorities were not designed to compete but to cooperate. Multiple created authorities are patterned after the Divine One and Many, the Triune God. The One is not to be exalted over the Many. The Many are not to be exalted over the One. The many governments established by God are each placed over a domain designated by God in Scripture. Civil government is a God-ordained government that has a very limited jurisdiction that is designed to punish evil doers and promote the good."

This excerpt comes from Gary DeMar's excellent introduction to civil government according to Scripture entitled Ruler of the Nations.  You can freely read or download the PDF of the book HERE