Self-Evident Truths
Art
Nelson
From the natural perspective the Declaration of
independence of the United States of America begins with some powerful words:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all
men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . .”
The self-evident truths in the Declaration are
these, [1] all men are created equal; [2] all men have been given inalienable,
that is, unrevocable, rights by their Creator. Three of these rights are defined
as, [1] life; [2] liberty; and [3] the pursuit of happiness. These rights are
secured or realized through governments, which derive their power from the
consent of those who are governed.
While these truths may be self-evident, in practice
they are not absolutes but instead are relative. For example, to secure liberty
for some may require the loss of life for others. Pursuing happiness by some may
interfere with achievement of happiness by others. To function properly,
democracies have to balance the various 'inalienable' rights of the governed.
That works as long as most of the governed are willing to sacrifice some aspects
of 'their rights' for the benefit of others. On a long term basis, it is
impossible for the Adamic nature in us to do this. Eventually, we begin to think
that 'my rights' outweigh 'your rights' and in a democracy 'special interest'
groups come together to secure 'their rights' at the expense of the others that
are being governed.
God has established absolutes, which are true at all
times, in all places, in all circumstances and among all beings. He has
personified truth for us in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Truth
and the foundation of all reality.
DEFINITION OF ABSOLUTE
-
Complete in itself without qualification or
exception
-
Having and exercising complete power and
authority without need for negotiation
-
Free from mixture or extraneous elements
-
Without limitation or affected by any condition
-
Free from all outside restraints
-
Standing alone without help or restrictions.
In light of this, God has established Jesus as
Absolute Ruler and Absolute King with absolute power and absolute authority to
set an absolute standard for an absolute Government for eternity as shown by the
Scriptures.
Hebrews 13:8 NKJV
Jesus Christ is
the same yesterday, today, and forever.
The King is unchangeable in
character and in function. His rule is unchangeable in administration;
therefore, making His government secure and unshakable.
Hebrews 12:26-28 NKJV whose voice then
shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I SHAKE NOT
ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO HEAVEN." (27)
Now this, "YET ONCE MORE," indicates the removal of those things that are
being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken
may remain. (28)
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let
us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly
fear.
We are receiving a kingdom, a
government, which is secured by the King. It cannot be shaken. It stands as an
absolute. Everything that is not secured by the King will be shaken out so that
only the Kingdom remains.
Jesus Christ is God’s unchanging
person, God’s reigning King, and the Kingdom is God’s unshakable and immovable
government and divine order. These two absolutes are established by God to
provide an absolute anchor to which we may fix our hope and our existence for
now and eternity. This is the focus of our hope. If we lose sight of these two
absolutes and focus upon any other aspect of life, our life and ministry become
relative and, therefore, irrelevant as far as any ability to accomplish God’s
purpose is concerned.
So, spiritually we hold these truths
to be self-evident; [1] God has appointed His absolute King; [2] the Government
is upon His shoulders and absolutely encompasses all of creation. He has
provided by grace through faith, [1] life, [2] liberty and [3] righteousness for
all as a benefit of submission to His Government.
The governed are governed with or
without their consent because there is coming a day when every knee shall bow
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is lord. The fact is that every
person, everywhere, in all ages “stand under” the government of God and are
subject to His King. Some “stand under” by obedience and some “stand under” by
disobedience but all “stand under”--even those who are ignorant or unaware of
the laws of the Kingdom of God. They are always at work because Kingdom Law is
built into all of creation. As an absolute, we cannot break the sovereign laws
of the Kingdom but we can break ourselves upon them.
To meet all human need both now and for eternity,
both the Unchanging King and the Unshakable Kingdom are essential. To understand
this we need to have some insight into Kingdom government and how it works in
eternity and how that applies to us now.
First, we should realize that to receive the
benefits of the Kingdom we have to do the will of the Father as Jesus said:
Matthew 7:21 NKJV
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord,
Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father
in heaven.
We have made this rather abstract
and subjective. The “will of the Father” becomes whatever I want to do in the
name of the Lord. As long as I subjectively decide the will of the Father, I am
still operating under self-government rather than the Government of the King.
So, we see that first I must come to grips with
God's government in terms of who I am before considering what I do.
Who I am is a subject of the King. All self-government must die and Jesus must,
in practice, become King over all that I am.
After submitting who I am to the Lord, I can then
address what I do. Jesus made it clear in Matthew chapters five, six, and seven
that His government encompasses our relationship with God and with each other
and it adjusts our character, our attitudes, our thoughts, our actions, our
disposition, every aspect of our life. This means that the will of the Father
involves more than doing some 'ministry' or obedience in outward work. In other
words, it must become subjectively real in us before we can express its
objective nature. Doing the will of the Father involves obedience to both the
King and His government, which is divine order. Both of these require subjective
and objective obedience.
Man only has relevance in relationship with the King
and His Kingdom. Outside of that realm of the absolutes we may easily fall short
of God’s eternal purpose. Everything—wealth, power, authority, prayer—must be
held in proper perspective to the Unshakable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person.
When man and his desires, even ministry desires, become the center and focus of
any activity, it is outside the absolutes and becomes a subjective, relative
work without Kingdom value.
When I refer to these two absolutes I don't mean to
separate the King and the Kingdom as two separate things. Jesus Christ has been
established as the absolute and supreme authority over all the universe. He has
been exalted above every living thing. He has been given total
dominion—everything has been placed under His feet. He is the Head of the church
which is His body. The Kingdom is that absolute and divine order that is
presently functioning in heaven. When it functions on earth in that same measure
we can say "the Kingdom has come".
If the Kingdom was just a mechanical system of
government with various laws that must be obeyed, our relationship with the
Kingdom would depend upon our individual ability to understand the laws and obey
them. This would be similar to the laws under the Old Covenant. However, the
"laws" under the New Covenant are written upon our minds and our hearts by the
Holy Spirit.
The Old Covenant had to do with outward actions
only. The New Covenant has to do with spirit and life. It is manifested through
the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The New Covenant is concerned with an
inner life that has an outward revelation. Life comes first, good works come
second.
This arrangement places the operation of the laws
within the life of the Kingdom citizen as internal as opposed to external like
the Old Covenant laws. Our connection to these laws is only through a life union
with the Lord Jesus Christ by His Spirit. Trying to access the Kingdom except
through the Lord Jesus Christ is impossible and an absolute waste of time.
Jesus Christ and the eternal Kingdom are one—it is
The King and His Kingdom. The commandment of one is the commandment of the
other. We must take these commandments seriously or we may find ourselves
rejecting the Kingdom. The tendency of the church is to hear the commandments,
determine we can't do them and then forget it. We think, if I can't do it then I
am not responsible—not held accountable. But the very fact that the Kingdom
gives commandments makes us responsible and accountable. Whether we can do it or
not is irrelevant, because the provision is in the Kingdom and the supply of the
King.
What's the point of existence? Apart from
understanding something of God's purpose there seems to be no adequate
explanation for our existence. No philosophy offers a satisfying explanation for
the meaning of life. Only the Word of God offers rational understanding of the
purpose of our years spent on this earth. Much, if not most, of the preaching
and teaching in the church only sees the goal as going to heaven someday. It
seems that man was created to fall so that God could redeem man and take him to
heaven. It seems quite logical that God, who is the Creator of all things, must
have a greater purpose in creation than just to save us from hell.
All this is a great mystery that is far beyond
natural man solving by scientific research and empirical evidence. The mystery
must be solved by revelation that is held within the scripture but is taught to
us by God. Many evangelicals who read the scriptures believe that the whole
Bible is just a book of salvation. They say it reveals that God delivers man
from hell in order to fellowship with man in heaven. Of course, it should be
clear that if that was the total purpose of God, He could have locked up or
destroyed the devil so man would not have fallen in the first place. Or God
could have created man in heaven instead of upon earth.
The whole experience on earth must have more purpose
than we have given it. Our existence here is a time of preparation for eternity
or all of the trials, sufferings, persecutions and tribulations are without
reason and produce no eternal benefit.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NKJV
(16) Therefore we do
not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward
man
is being renewed day by day.
(17)
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far
more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory,
(18)
while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are
not seen. For the things which are seen
are temporary,
but the things which are not seen are
eternal.
As we live within the requirements of the King and
the Kingdom today, we are being prepared to fit into our place in the Eternal
Kingdom. If the Kingdom were only a place in the future where we go when we die,
why would the Lord place so much emphasis on how we live here? After all, if God
so desired, we could be changed into His likeness in a moment, in the blinking
of an eye; however, He has chosen to change us through the instruments of His
Spirit and trials and sufferings.
The Kingdom is both a fixed order in heaven and an
unfolding order here on earth. It is historical, contemporary, and future. It is
normal and easy to focus upon one aspect of the Kingdom and ignore the other
aspects. Since the Kingdom really is both now and future, if we focus on the
future then we may miss the current fulfillment of the Kingdom in our lives. For
centuries this has been the emphasis—the Kingdom someday. However, the Kingdom
is the stability of the universe in every generation for those who submit to its
government. The Kingdom is the purpose of our existence both now and in Eternity
and it is preparing us to fulfill our destiny.
Some theological questions arise about entering the
Kingdom of God. Mostly the church has taught if you are born again you are a
citizen of the Kingdom. The reason that is given is the church and the Kingdom
are the same thing. If that is true then the scriptures concerning the Kingdom
are confusing when compared with those dealing with the Church. Can we logically
say "repent for the church is at hand" or the church is “the pearl of great
price”, or “like a treasure hidden in a field”?
The church is not the Kingdom. The kingdom has
always existed while the church is seen through about 2000 years of history. The
church is significant only as far as it obeys the laws of the Kingdom.
Disobeying the King or the Kingdom disenfranchises the church. To manifest the
Kingdom we must stand in the Kingdom and have the Kingdom in us. When the
kingdom is seen in us visibly, then the freedom, the provision and the power of
the kingdom can be demonstrated. The weakness of the church is in her lack of
the Kingdom.
In fact the church, without the Kingdom, is
irrelevant. The reason is simple. If the church is not born again, not born of
the water and born of the spirit and if the church is not doing the will of God,
it is irrelevant.
The church is relative while the Kingdom is
absolute. The church is relevant only so far as it is related to the Kingdom.
The church has power and position only as it receives from the Kingdom. The
church has nothing of it's own and can do nothing on it's own, except as it is
empowered by the Lord. Jesus said "Without me you can do nothing." Nothing means
nothing.
The church that ignores the commandment of Jesus or
the laws of the Kingdom of God will be insignificant and weightless. The church
without the Kingdom is as lifeless as the body without the head.
That lack is seen in the lack of the fruit of the
Kingdom (not to be confused with the fruit of the Spirit).
Matthew 21:43 NASB
"Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be
taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.
The kingdom is given on the basis of fruit—not on
the basis of denomination, race, nationality, or intellectual ability. It is
given only on the basis of fruit, which is the only fair way. Any other way
would eliminate some person or group. But now any person or group, who can
produce the fruit of the Kingdom, is welcome to the Kingdom. That doesn't
discriminate against anybody. No one will be able to complain they weren't given
the Kingdom or offered the Kingdom.
God has made it so all who really want the Kingdom
can participate. However, it is not automatic as some teach. It will cost you
everything even your self-life and self-government. Until we examine the 150 or
so New Testament Scriptures that speak of the Kingdom, we will probably be
guilty of underestimating the cost of entering the Kingdom.
Many equate forgiveness of sins with entering the
Kingdom. Even a quick study of the Kingdom scriptures will reveal that there is
more to it than just forgiveness. The question then is what is the cost and what
are the requirements to enter the Kingdom of God? God has kept that hidden;
however, from the parables it is clear that the cost is all you have.
The Kingdom is like a treasure which a man found and
hid in a field and went and sold all that he had to buy that field. If you can't
buy the field you will not have the treasure.
These are still mysteries of the Kingdom of God that
have not been revealed. We must stand confident in faith that since Jesus told
us to preach the gospel of the Kingdom to the whole world, there has to be a
message that can be preached to the whole world. The message must be more than
"there is going to be a Kingdom someday”. It is obvious, many who think they
will enter the Kingdom, someday, will not. The reason is because the Kingdom
must take root in us today and bring forth Kingdom fruit.
The Kingdom of God requires that we be productive,
that something is produced that is of value to the Lord. Read the parables of
the talents and the minas. The initial investment is provided by the Lord, but
you have to use the initial investment to produce an increase. It can't be
squirreled away or hidden to be produced again at the time of accounting.
No Kingdom fruit, no Kingdom. It is not complicated.
We hold these truths to be self-evident—there is an
absolute King and an absolute Kingdom. Everything else is derived from these
self-evident truths.
©
2003-2008 by Art Nelson and
Lifestream
Teaching Ministries
Previous
issues of Present Truth are on the website:
www.Lifestreamteaching.com
For comments or questions contact Art
Nelson at this address:
artnelson@lifestreamteaching.com
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