FAITH AND POLITICS: POLITICAL DIMENSION OF CHRISTIANITY

I read this I could not resist sharing the full content as acknowledged below. I'll like to also get your take on this piece too.


Last week we began discussing dimensions of God’s vision for the Church and individual Christians. This week we’ll bear down on the political dimension of God’s grand vision and the implications for you as a Christian. Again, this week you’re going to have a paradigm shift of your perspective on Christianity. We noted last week that the teachings of Jesus emphasised kingdom and not religion. He kept talking about kingdom. Kingdom is a political concept, not a religious terminology. Jesus came to initiate a political program, not religion. God is a political figure, a mighty king. “King” is a political terminology. So is “Lord”. All the shields of the earth belong to God, meaning God has authority and dominion over the rulers of the earth. (Psalm 47:9) Pentecost marked the commencement of a new political order. (Acts 2) It was a political expression, not about “tongues”. The tongues dimension of Pentecost was to signify the internationalist vision of God. Hence the tongues of the nations. Pentecost was the institution of a new social contract with mankind called the New Testament.



The early disciples didn’t really get God’s internationalist vision, not even Peter, despite the revelation he received. (Acts 10) He was stuck on Judaism. The whole of mankind was on death row when Jesus came to rescue us. Sin is a criminal liability, not a civil liability. Which is why Jesus had to die a criminal’s death on the cross. Righteousness, being linked to criminal indictment of mankind is a legal, even constitutional issue. Righteousness was a moral issue in the Old Testament. It’s a legal and constitutional issue in the New Testament. The political nature of Christianity was why when Jesus was going to teach us to pray he taught us a political petition. The Lord’s Prayer is a political petition to a sovereign king. It’s why the preamble appeals to a political figure: “Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, THY KINGDOM COME…” (Matthew 6) It’s an appeal to a king. Every time you pray the Lord’s Prayer therefore, you are invoking constitutional rights. God the Father is a political title, not a sociological title. Just as God the Son is a political title. (Psalm 2:7) God is not God the Father because he gave birth to Jesus biologically. God the Father is a political designation. Jesus was DECLARED to be the Son of God. He is the political heir to God’s throne. When God declares therefore that you’re his son, it is not a sociological expression but a political declaration. The declaration of sonship by God is affirmation of constitutional rights conferred on you by God himself. It’s a sovereign act. As a child of God, every right Jesus has belongs to you. Every power Jesus has is at your disposal. All things are yours!

Satan is not conflicted about the political nature of things. We are! Satan understands the struggle is political. Man’s contest with the Devil is a contest of power not a contest of goodness. You’re mistaken if you think the contest between the Devil and man is about good versus evil. It is about power. The discussion between Eve and the Serpent was a political conversation, an ideological proposition. (Genesis 3:1-5) The Serpent introduced Eve to the ideology of class warfare and social equality. As far as the Serpent was concerned there is the privileged class (God) and the underprivileged class (man). The Serpent said God kept valuable information away from man to keep him underprivileged. Satan invented propaganda! Satan runs a shadow government. Through that governmental apparatus he exerts undue influence on governments on earth. Satan’s only interest in religion is as a tool of control, propaganda and subjugation, not in the dialectics of good/evil. The temptation of Jesus wasn’t about loaves of bread or bungee jumping. The temptation was all about political power. (Matthew 4) Jesus understood the political subtext of his temptation. That was why he refused to bend the knee to Satan.

Paul gave us classified information on Satan’s organogram. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, the rulers of darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in the high places.” (Ephesians 6:12) When you study Satan’s organogram, you’ll discover none of the titles is religious in nature. They’re political. The titular groups on Satan’s organogram are: Principalities, Powers, Rulers of Darkness of this World and Spiritual Wickednesses in High Places. This is a breakdown of the titles and functions: The word “Principality” in Ephesians 6:12 is the Greek word Arche. It means cause. The verb is Archo. It means “first.” Principalities are the first line of authority. They’re Satan’s princes and they device strategies to fulfil his vision. The next order after Principalities are Powers. The Greek word for power is Exousia. It denotes executive power and governments. Powers execute the programs devised by the Principalities. They are focused particularly on governments.

A look at the biography of Hitler shows the massive influence of the occult on his life. The Powers totally possessed him. Hitler was greatly influenced by the occult writings of Helena Blatvasky, a co-founder of Theosophy and an occultist. The Powers were trying to create a new world order, to pave the way for the Antichrist. Hitler himself desired to be the Antichrist. After the Powers are the Rulers of Darkness of this World. That word “darkness” is the Greek word, Skotos. Rulers of Darkness stop or restrain their targets through sin, misery, ruin, ignorance, unhappiness and error. Horrific depression, marital ruin of strange cause, a perpetually blocked business advance… are works of Rulers of Darkness. Rulers of Darkness of this World are particularly focused on music, art, fashion, media, culture. They understand influence. Sadly, some churches are alienating the youths from the creative impetus of their generation: music, art, fashion, media. Last are the Spiritual Wickednesses. “Wickedness” in the Greek is Ponerai i.e. one who is not only evil but expresses malice. Spiritual Wickednesses are malicious spirits. They control rumour mongering and slander. Satan’s administrative structure is dedicated to power contexts. The focus of the adversary is political.

Witches/wizards aren’t mentioned in Satan’s organogram. Shows the level of importance. The reason God gave you Satan’s organogram in Ephesians 6:12 is so you can take in a certain scale of your responsibility. That verse expects you to wrestle with Satan’s operatives hell-bent on world domination and control of governments and nations. If a Christian doesn’t understand the scale of political realism he’s dealing with, his vision will be small. The reason we do praise worship is not about order of service or something to be done before a sermon. We do praise worship because we want to amass power and get political backing to go out there and get the job done! You can’t rise up to God’s grand vision focused on inanities like gossip and malice. You must be able to think at a cosmological and governmental scale. That’s what Ephesians 6:12 is all about. We’ll conclude next week with God’s evangelical vision for the Church.

-------

If you’ll like to give your life to Christ please pray this prayer: “Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I know that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for me and that you raised him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Christ is Lord and I receive him as my Lord and my Saviour. I am now born again. Amen.”

© Leke Alder | talk2me@lekealder.com

Comments

Popular Posts