Luke
4:5-8
New
International Version (NIV)
The
devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the
kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all
their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give
it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Jesus
answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve
him only.’”
The
key questions: Is government an institution ordained by God and is
it and institution co-opted by Satan? I firmly believe with
Bonhoeffer that government is an institution ordained by God. This,
of course, does not validate any and all occupants of government or
any and all forms of government. It merely means that government as
an institutional template was ordained by God and it is up to us
whether it takes on the cast of angels or demons. That is government
is an institutional tool and can be used for purposes of good or ill.
The devil said “I will give you all their authority and splendor;
it has been given to me and I can give it to anyone I want to. If
you worship me, it will all be yours.” It is necessary from what
I've said above regarding the divine origin of government to
interpret this in the following way: When the authority and splendor
of nations become idols of worship, the ultimate object of worship is
the devil since all idolatry is of the devil. Jesus retorts: “It
is written: 'Worship the Lord you God and serve him only.'”
Certainly we have ample evidence to demonstrate that when humanity
makes an idol of nationalism and statism, momentous and tragic
catastrophes result.
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