The right to overrule God?
Anyone, spiritually minded or not, is aware that the moral
fiber of our country has been on a steady and currently very rapid decline.
What are now debated issues, (sanctity of life, sanctity of marriage, gender
roles, etc.) were once ideals commonly held by the vast majority of our
citizens.
Last week, the state of North
Carolina voted overwhelmingly to affirm that marriage is between one man and
one woman. On that same day, President Obama openly declared his personal
belief that homosexual “couples” should have the right to marry. Since then, he
is proposing the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In effect, he
has called on our nation to embrace the homosexual lifestyle as “equal” to what
God ordained as marriage (one man, one woman in a lifelong monogamous
relationship). The real question is not about what the citizens of NC voted, or
about the personal opinion of the President. There is a much deeper, much more
serious issue at hand. That issue is the right for humanity to overrule the
authority of God. Biblical Christianity calls for all genuine
believers to be subject to the authorities God places over us. (Col. 3:18-25; Romans
13:1-7; Heb. 13:7, 17). Every sincere follower of Christ will seek to be
submissive to his authority. Familial, governmental and spiritual. However, our
ultimate authority is God and His authoritative Word is the final measure of
our submission. No man, no leader, political or spiritual, EVER has a right to
seek to overrule God; to do so places oneself in the role of God. Dangerous and
scary indeed.
Though the reshaping of our
nation’s moral framework may come as a shock, this idea of the right to
overrule the authority of God is not foreign to us. We struggle with it as
well.
Okay, okay, back up the wagon PJ.
We certainly hold to the sanctity of life, the sanctity of marriage and the
gender roles as outlined in God’s Word. What are you suggesting by saying we
struggle with overruling God’s authority? It is quite simple actually. Each and
every time we choose our way over God’s will; our plans over His purpose; our
desires over His design, we are placing ourselves in the role of God.
Here is the point of application.
Before we look at a lost and unsaved world and stand appalled at the overt
rebellion against God’s unchanging truth, let’s examine ourselves and our own
hearts to see what the Spirit desires to change in us. I know for me there is much. **Note
I said “before” we look at a lost world, not “instead of” looking at a lost
world. We have a responsibility to proclaim at every opportunity, with love and
grace, the truth of God’s Word for the salvation of mankind through the
sacrifice of Christ. We have the responsibility to oppose any teaching or
philosophy that rejects God’s truth.
Let’s look at ourselves. What
would the Lord have us to change?
May the Lord move in our hearts
as individuals and thereby move in our culture as a whole. We are in desperate
need of His grace and mercy, which He has freely offered through the cross of
Christ.
