The World Government: We know Who runs it

Christians and Christian media often discuss end-time events and the coming of a world government. It is often said that government could arise out of an international organization we see in our day, such as the Bilderberg group, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, the World Bank, or others.

There is reason to be concerned about callous power-mongers who would like nothing better than to form a supranational government capable of ruling the entire world. The United Nations and the European Union, for example, are undoubtedly attempts to foist laws upon sovereign nation-states, which the people of those countries may be powerless to resist.

As these scenarios are discussed, and we try to guess the future, it is possible to lose sight of another important fact—there is already a world government in power. It has nothing to do with the U.N. or the EU or any other pretender that causes the sound of hearty laughter to be heard in the throne room of Heaven (Psalm 2:4).

This government has nothing to do with clandestine organizations that meet in secret underground bunkers or in isolated mountain retreats. There is no conspiracy theory here. This is not the X-Files, and I am not about to draw your attention to the existence of an organization so sinister and secretive that you have never even heard of it, but which controls the U.N., the EU, and the IMF.

In fact, there has recently been celebration around the world of the arrival of the Leader of this government:

“For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder … Of the increase of His Government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over His Kingdom, to uphold it with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Many of God’s people act like Jesus Christ rules up in the ether somewhere, but down here on Earth the devil and his minions still run the show. Thankfully, this is not what the Bible teaches.

Whatever the pretensions of those who would like to see the world under one government, the news is that it already is—Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords being the Governor.

God is in control. Perhaps this might appear to be a statement of the blindingly obvious. Well, yes, it is blindingly obvious, or at least it should be blindingly obvious to Christians, but the problem is not that we disagree with the theory, but rather that in practice we sometimes don’t act like we believe this is true.

Many of God’s people act like Jesus Christ rules up in the ether somewhere, but down here on Earth the devil and his minions still run the show. Jesus is the Governor in Heaven, but down here things are different.

Thankfully, this is not what the Bible teaches. Rather it teaches that “He disarmed (past tense) the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him” (Colossians 2:15); and it teaches that, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31).

This is what Isaiah saw in his prophecy above, and it is also what the Prophet Daniel saw in his grand vision: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and a Kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His Kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).

The Apostle Paul clarifies just how expansive and comprehensive Christ’s Kingdom and Government on Earth will be when he says that Jesus’ coming at the end of time is not for the purpose of putting all opposition down, but rather for the purpose of claiming the Kingdom after He has already put all opposition down: “For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjection under His feet.’ But when it says, ‘all things are put in subjection,’ it is plain that He is excepted Who put all things in subjection under Him” (1 Corinthians 15:25-27).

If this is the case, though, some might ask why it is that we seem to be seeing wickedness abound more and more in our day. If Christ is the Governor on Earth as well as in Heaven, why the mass apostasy, the increase in wickedness, and the seeming possibility of unbelievers governing the world?

Ever since the beginnings of the Church, we have seen the Kingdom of God advancing. In the Roman Empire, the Church was mercilessly persecuted, but eventually the empire collapsed even as the Kingdom of God advanced. The same pattern continued through the Middle Ages in Europe and England. God’s people faced persecution and martyrdom, but the Kingdom of God moved ahead. The same things happened in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe. Today, believers in China are persecuted, and yet there is evidence that the Church is growing, even thriving.

In the United States and Europe, believers in Jesus Christ were influential in shaping much of the culture and the government. Many suffered and died in the process, but there was a willingness to sacrifice in order to seek the right. Unfortunately it seems that more recently many believers have tired of the struggle or are afraid and have taken the easy way out, hoping “someone” will “do something.”

Too many Christians have stopped believing in the relevance of God’s Word for building God’s Kingdom and contending for Truth. Instead it is treated as a sort of comfort manual to be used for ease and conflict avoidance. Why then should we be surprised that we are staring same-sex marriage in the face, that we have national debts reaching up into the stratosphere, that violent crime has increased massively over the past few decades, and that Christians are now being prosecuted for their opinions? It seems that unbelievers are more willing to work for evil than we are willing to sacrifice to serve our Lord.

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus tells His disciples that the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church. Gates are a means of defense, not attack. Christians are to be on offense, not defense. If we are faithful to contend for the Truth, the Earth will increasingly be filled with the light of an obedient, Kingdom-building Church. If we seek comfort and safety, the darkness of militant, power-hungry, kingdom-destroying institutions will advance until men of faith again join the battle. We will see either a Church of purifying salt, or there will be putrefying decay. Either we will attempt to advance the Kingdom in our day, or Christ will leave it to a generation better than ourselves to do the work of building Kingdom and culture, and we and our children will suffer the consequences of living in the cultural vacuum created by our withdrawal.

The Pilgrim fathers knew this and strongly believed that their task was to do their part to build the Kingdom of Christ on Earth. In our day we have largely lost this belief. We need to look at how we might go about retaking some of the ground we have lost, and so help to fulfill the prayer that the Governor of the World urged us to pray: “Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.”