By whose authority?

 

May 2024

Dear Friends

Do you think kings have God’s authority to rule?  This is explicit in the coronation of our monarchs – they are anointed with oil, like the kings in ancient Israel, as a sign that God is setting them apart for this duty.  And, technically, our government is “in authority under” the king and therefore rules by the same power.

Some say this is bad because anyone who thinks he has God’s authority to rule will be a tyrant.  Not necessarily so; he may instead realise that he is accountable to the God who gave him his authority and who will judge him for his rule, whether good or bad.  Britain once had bishops who held monarchs to the Bible and were not afraid to say that they must rule as servants of their heavenly King.

But when prime ministers and presidents, elected governments and unelected bureaucrats, think there is no God over them they may assume that they have ultimate authority, the right to ‘do whatever it takes’, to act like god.  This is true tyranny!

And when we don’t believe that there is a God over us, we look to the state to solve every problem, to provide for us, to act like god.  We create the statist beast and grumble that we have no freedom.

But how can rulers be under divine authority when there seem to be so many gods to choose from? 9th May is Ascension Day.  The risen Jesus was only on earth for 40 days before he ascended to the right hand of God the Father, the place of all authority and power in our world.  He told his disciples what was happening, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”  (Matthew 28:19)

That’s why the early Christians knew that Caesar was not God and why they were prepared to be killed rather than give up their creed, ‘Jesus is Lord’.  They knew that all rulers will answer to the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of the living God.  A change of our political leaders without a change of heart over this will not save us. 

You are warmly invited to come and join us at 7.30pm on 9^th May in St James Church Burton for our Ascension Day service. 

Sincerely

Graham Burrows