TEACHING

Don Atkin

THE EMERGING OF DIVINE GOVERNMENT

A Process of Increasing Glory

The government will rest on His shoulders. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace. From Isaiah 9:6-7

ONE GOVERNMENT; ONE KINGDOM

The government, not governments, will rest on His shoulders. Jesus, by precept and by example, teaches us to pray the will of God: Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). John writes about the seventh trumpet - Christ’s reign foreseen:

Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."

And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, "We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign."

- Revelation 11:15-17

A GOVERNMENT THAT RESTS UPON HIS SHOULDERS

There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore, let us be diligent to enter that rest. - Hebrews 4:9-11a

Unrenewed minds still wrestle with the very One upon Whom we are to learn to rest! Two reasons - unbelief and disobedience - are blamed for keeping people from entering the rest of God. (Read all of Hebrews Chapter 4.)

All authentic spiritual and divine government flows out of Him as we draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (4:16).

The Helper, who constantly reveals the Christ to us, in us, and through us, provides all divine governance as we peacefully abide in Him. He is well able to carry His government upon His shoulders. Picture yourself resting upon His breast, hearing His heartbeat (and calibrating your own to His), and holding to His government.

It is so easy to stray from that rest and begin to initiate our own ideas and natural strengths, gifts and abilities in the pursuit of God’s kingdom. When we realize that we are doing this, we must immediately repent and return to our resting place where we can abide in the anointing, even as the anointing abides in us (I John 2:20,27).

EVER INCREASING GOVERNMENT

Jesus compares His kingdom to yeast - leaven - to teach us the manner of its effect upon all of life:

The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened. - Matthew 13:33

We put leaven in the flour, and bread eventually emerges. The influence of leaven continues to affect the flour until it produces a full-blown loaf. The kingdom of heaven, the divine government of King Jesus Christ, works in exactly the same way.

We gradually trust Him more and more as He is revealed to us. We learn that we can put our weight upon Him, lean upon Him in ever increasing measure - because we are coming to know Him better. Our experience confirms His character. Indeed, He loves us and is completely trustworthy. He is the manifestation of our Father in heaven, who is Perfect Everything, all the time!

EVER INCREASING PEACE

There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace. - Isaiah 9:7

A fella once said to me, "I need more money!" I responded, "No. You need more work!" Money is the by-product of work. You work more, you make more.

Most people will admit that they would like more peace. This is an indication that one needs to find his place of security and rest under the loving lordship of Jesus Christ. The absence of peace can sometimes indicate that there is an area of one’s life that needs to be submitted to God.

Peace is the by-product of divine government. Just as leaven increases the loaf, so growing in the kingdom of our God and His Christ increases the levels of peace in our lives. We grow from glory to glory as we yield to Him more and more. "Stuff" happens, but peace emerges.

SEEING HIM AND TRUSTING HIM

Using our natural experience as an example, Paul goes on to identify our present condition, and then the process of maturing:

When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. - I Corinthians 13:11-12

Whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. - II Corinthians 3:16-18

We gaze in the mirror, looking intently at the perfect law of liberty. We don’t look at our natural face, forgetting who we are in Christ, but are effectual doers of the word, not merely those who hear and do not obey the governance of God. (See James 1:22-25)

As we gaze upon what we can see of Christ in us (the hope of glory), spiritual growth is our portion, from glory to glory. We are being changed, molded by the Potter, shaped by the King of kings and Lord of lords. We are being transformed into sons for the kingdom - sons who are in the image of our Father. Jesus said,

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. - Matthew 5:8

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. - I John 3:2-3

The more we see Him, the more we trust Him. The more we trust Him, the more His divine government emerges within and throughout out lives. The more we embrace His ways and thoughts, the more we emulate Him and reveal Him to others.

KINGDOM AUTHORITY

Man’s best efforts to understand and operate in kingdom authority fall short of the mark. God does not impose His loving lordship upon people. His authority emerges by revelation through the servitude of those whom He appoints.

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe (and therefore do not enter into His rest)." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And he was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father."

As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?" Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God."

- John 6: 63-69

"A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." - John 10:5

"I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."

- John 10:11

"I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep."

- John 10:14-15

Kingdom people submit to divine government as it has been ordered in heaven and is revealed to them by the Spirit. The first mark of God’s governmental authority is the first fruit of the Spirit - LOVE! Love serves, even to the laying down of a leader’s life for those whom God has appointed to follow him.

RECOGNIZING ANOINTING

With the current emphasis upon relationships, we can be in danger of losing sight of an even higher priority - recognizing, receiving and responding to the anointing that rests upon those who are resting in Him.

Yes, God is dismantling (or at least passing over) institutions of religious traditions, and restoring us to a relational way of living in His kingdom. But, our relationships are not to be founded merely within the natural realm where we choose to relate to those who are similar to us in likes, dislikes, culture, etc. We are not to know one another merely after the flesh, but rather after the spirit.

It is the spirit of a man or woman that bears the image and likeness of our Father and Good Shepherd to his or her sphere of anointing and influence. It is recognizing the grace upon a person that is according to the measure of his or her gift. Those who walk in the Spirit will find the capacity to recognize others in this way and appropriately yield to the authority that corresponds to the gift(s). The gift makes room for the man!

DIVINE GOVERNMENT

Divine government requires that every member of the body be connected to and directed by the Head. This is authentic ecclesiastical hierarchy. But, let me explain in practical terms that facilitate fruitful function.

We know that "the foot bone is connected to the ankle bone; the ankle bone is connected to the shin bone; the shin bone is connected to the knee bone; the knee bone is connected to the thigh bone; and the thigh bone is connected to the hip bone." And, so the song goes.

The mystery of the human body is used throughout Scripture to help us understand how the body of Christ is to function. While each part of the body is directly connected to some parts, and only indirectly connected to other parts, it is important for us to realize that each part of the body is connected to the head.

The foot is connected to the head; the ankle is connected to the head; the shin is connected to the head; the knee is connected to the head; the thigh is connected to the head; and the hip is connected to the head.

Each part of the body receives direction from the head, and we walk accordingly. Our members are not independent because they have direct access to the head. Rather, they are interdependent and function because they are all hearing the same thing from the head at the same time. The members of the body are coordinated through mutual submission to the head and cooperation with one another.

Christ is the head of every man. - I Corinthians 11:3a

God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.

- I Corinthians 12:18

IN CONCLUSION

Some have questioned the counsel given by Jethro to Moses. One criticism is that it produced an hierarchal form of government. It could have that effect if we only have eyes to see our immediate "captain." However, the "cloud by day," and the "pillar of fire by night" were there for all to see and follow.

It is a question of headship. Was their captain their head? Was Moses their head? Or, was the cloud and fire their Head?

Neither Paul nor any of the other apostles of the Lamb claimed headship over God’s heritage. Yet, they were willing to go before them and show them the way.

You became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. - I Thessalonians 1:6

Paul and his team "mothered" and "fathered" these believers, always encouraging them

to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come (1:10).

We who have been given responsibilities as guardians and managers (Galatians 4:2) are to continually point men and women to Jesus, the Head of the church. He is coming to us from heaven daily, from glory to glory, as we focus and gaze upon Him through the Spirit.

We will find our individual positions in the body, locally, nationally and internationally. We are growing in our ability (spiritual revelation) to recognize those who have been placed over us, beside us and under us. We are coming into divine order as the Head directs each member into place.

We who only live for Christ are eager to embrace His emerging kingdom. We are looking for the governmental glory - the "cloud" and "fire" - in other men and women, so we can get in line behind them. We will initially recognize them because of their love, their attitude of servitude, and their willingness to lay down their lives. We will go on to embrace the anointing that abides in them.

All of the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord through such men and women!

Amen!