The Authority of God

By Mbonisi Malaba

River of Life Church

Bullawayo, Zimbabwe

'What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us'

A W Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy

In certain African villages, the king’s hut is distinctive in that it is built with a door that is only waist high. Why is the hut built in this way? To make it impossible to come into the presence of the king without also bowing down and acknowledging his authority to rule.

Aspects of this custom are helpful in understanding what Psalm 25:14 (ESV) means when it says that the friendship of the Lord is with those who fear Him. It means that if we desire to walk as closely as possible with God and to serve Him as effectively as possible, we need to develop a healthy understanding of God’s awesome and ultimate authority; what the Bible calls the fear of the Lord (Prov. 1:7).

In many nations of the world, it’s probably true to say that kings are out of fashion, certainly kings with unquestioned authority. Most of us don’t like the thought of one fallible man having absolute power. Generally we prefer democracy. As human beings we all like to have our say and it’s hard to deny that things seem to go better with checks and balances in place. In effect, we have settled for sinful men voting other sinful men into power so that they can then govern many more sinful men – welcome to world politics! In contrast to this, however, the Bible makes it clear that God’s kingdom is exactly that – a kingdom. It is not like the kingdoms of this earth. This kingdom will bring all other kingdoms to an end and it will never be destroyed (Dan. 2).

Far above all rule

At the centre of this kingdom is a King unlike any other king. He is the ‘King of kings’ (Rev. 19:16), the Authority to Whom all authorities will answer. The Bible declares that Jesus Christ is not only head over every power and authority (Col. 2:10), but that he is far above all rule and authority, power and dominion (Eph. 1:21). In other words, there are many authorities in this world, but they are nothing like his authority. As John Piper says, ‘If you gathered all the authority of all the nations, governments and armies of the world and put them in the scales with the risen Christ, they would go up in the balance like air’ (from a sermon preached by John Piper on Easter Sunday, 3 April 1983).

We may ask what we mean by ‘God’s authority’. It refers to God’s right and power to do whatever He pleases in every sphere of existence. On what basis does God claim this right and power?

Genesis 1:1 is a useful starting point! ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’

The very first thing the Bible teaches us about God is that He is the Creator and we are His creation. Colossians 1:16-18 develops this theme, ‘For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by Him and for Him…He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He might have the supremacy.’

Three things in these verses help us towards a Biblical understanding of God’s authority: Creator, Sustainer and Sovereign Lord.

Creator

First, all things were created by Him. This means that God has the rights of a Creator over all that He has made. He has Creator authority over us. We are the clay and He is the potter. This may not be a very flattering picture of us, but it’s a very Biblical one (Isa. 64:8)! He can do whatever He chooses with us. The clay cannot give the potter advice. The clay cannot ask the potter where he got his training or who appointed him. These images seem ridiculous to us, but the Bible is making its point. We are free to question God as far as we are humbly seeking to understand His will and to know Him better. We are not free to question the wisdom of His actions or His authority to do as He pleases.

But we can say more. If God created all things, this must also mean that there can be no higher authority than God. There is no authority outside of Himself to which He can look. When God looks outside Himself, all He sees is what He created. The basis of God’s authority is God. He is on the throne, no one put Him there and He answers to no other authority.

Sustainer

Second, we learn that Christ is holding all things together. Does Christ have authority over all things? Well, he is the one who sustains all things! He is ‘sustaining all things by his powerful word’ (Heb. 1:3). Wayne Grudem puts it this way, ‘If Christ were to cease his continuing activity of sustaining all things in the universe, then all except the triune God would instantly cease to exist’ (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1994, Zondervan). If even for a moment, perhaps on a whim, the King ceased to hold all things together, you, the magazine you are holding and everything else in all creation would disintegrate! We are dependent on Him. It’s in Him we live and move and have our being. All of creation looks to Him, all of creation is at His mercy. Behold your King!

Sovereign Lord

The third thing we see is that God has arranged all of history and all of creation so that in all things Christ might have the supremacy. The Father has glorious ambitions for His Son! In Matthew 28:18-19 Jesus said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’ John Piper is once again helpful when he says, ‘The risen Christ has the right to tell every man, woman and child on this planet today what they should do and think and feel. He has absolute and total authority over your life and over cities and states and nations. The risen Christ is great – greater than you have ever imagined’ (ibid). Would you allow God’s Spirit to search your heart for a moment? Are you allowing God to shape everything you do, think and feel? Are you clay in the Potter’s hands? Are you playing your part in calling people from every tribe and tongue to trust, love and obey this King? As we carry the gospel, obstacles in heaven and on earth and under the earth will bow their knees before this Sovereign King. Millions of hearts will turn to Him as they receive His divine summons. This is our mission. This is our destiny! We will not fail. We cannot fail. The God who created all things and who holds all things together has said that in all things Christ will have the supremacy!