Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20080504.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Genesis: Explaining The Foundations Of History
Part V: Explaining God's Origin And Role For Government
(Genesis 8:1-9:17)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

The coming November 4 election is felt by some to be the most important election in our era, for not only are there big differences of opinion on the issues, but on the government's role in handling them:

(1) Evangelicals are split on what the government should do about "global warming". On February, 8, 2006, the New York Times web site reported 86 evangelical leaders backed a drive to fight global warming, holding "'millions of people could die in this century because of climate change, most of them our poorest global neighbors.'" On the other hand, James Dobson, Charles Colson and 20 others signed a letter that claims: "'Global warming is not a consensus issue.'" (Ibid.)

(2) A vast difference of opinion exists in our State on the government's role on handling serious criminals. When legislators recently failed to pass a "Three Strikes" law to keep serious offenders behind bars after they commit their third felony, the sole survivor of a home invasion by just-released, hardened felons said: "The legislature is more concerned about the rights of criminals than it is their victims." The legislators in power initially argued that a Three Strikes law was too simplistic a solution, for the whole justice system needed reform! However, as political pressure in this election year mounted, they have since passed a crime bill of their own! Key State legislators simply do not view protecting the public as their key job, a great difference of opinion from survivors of criminal attacks, and much of the public!

(3) The American Civil Liberties Union web site, in its article, "The ACLU and Freedom of Religion and Belief," claims: "Beliefs about the nature of God is a proper subject for individuals, families, religious communities and theologians, but not for government bodies such as the U. S. Congress or a local school board." Thus, the ACLU has sued against the placing of crosses on government land to mark the graves of fallen soldiers even if they were of the Christian faith!

However, Austin Dacey's article, "A values voter's trap," in the April 28, 2008 issue of USA TODAY, p, 13A reports that presidential hopeful, Barak Obama has said, "'We need Christians on Capitol Hill, Jews on Capitol Hill and Muslims on Capitol Hill talking about the estate tax . . . We need an injection of morality in our political debate.'"

With such differences of opinion on the role of government, we may be asking, "What role does GOD have for the government?!"

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "What is God's view of the proper role for the government?!"
  1. The Bible's God instituted government to sustain rest in the world:
    1. After destroying the world of evil, violent men by the flood (Genesis 6:13, 17), the Bible's God caused the waters to ebb, giving man and animals on the ark a new beginning in a new world, Genesis 8:1-14.
    2. In CONTRAST to the VIOLENCE of those destroyed in the flood (Gen. 6:13) and even to the violence of the flood itself, the THEME of that NEW WORLD was to be one of REST, Genesis 8:4, 9, 12: the ark "rested" on Mount Ararat as the flood abated (Gen. 8:4), and when the dove could find not initially find "rest" for its feet, and so returned to Noah (Gen. 8:9) only later to "rest" in its new home and not return (Gen. 8:12); thus, opposite the violence of the past, man's new world was to be marked by rest, Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 40.
    3. So, as God's dispensation of government began when Noah left the ark (The New Schofield Reference Bible, 1967, ftn. to Gen. 8:15), the Lord planned for upright group rule to check godless individuals that the previous dispensation of conscience had failed to achieve, all so the post-flood REST of man might be MAINTAINED!
  2. Just HOW this REST was to be MAINTAINED in the government dispensation was described in Genesis 8:20-9:7 (as follows):
    1. In rest from the godless unbelief in God of the destroyed world, Noah worshiped God, subjecting himself and his kin to the Lord, Gen. 8:20; 9:1-7. Human governors were thus to be subject to the Bible's God.
    2. God then made several provisions to supply for man's livelihood that the public might be encouraged to trust God for its livelihood needs:
      1. To urge the public to trust Him, God pledged to keep the world a habitable one by Himself controlling nature's forces, Gen. 8:21-22: God replied to Noah's worship (Gen. 8:21), pledging never again to destroy the world by a flood (8:21b; 9:15-16); while the earth lasted, He would preserve its seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter cycles, Genesis 8:22. Climate issues such as global warming are not to be man's concern, but God's business!
      2. In rest from the evil faithlessness of man's past, instead of having offspring to produce murderous gangs of sons to promote one's own agenda (Genesis 6:1-2, 13), God wanted the public to populate the earth and spread out to live in peace on it, Genesis 9:1, 7.
      3. In rest from the evil violence of man's past, God gave the public rule over the animals, putting the fear of man in animals to make the world a less ominous place for the public good, Genesis 9:2.
      4. To secure the rest, God included meat with man's plant life diet due possibly to greater nutritional needs in a harsher climate, Gen. 9:3:
        1. Before the flood, a mist rose up from the earth, possibly pushing its nutrients up for ready access for plants, Genesis 2:6; 1:29-30.
        2. However, after the flood came cold and heat extremes, and water precipitating downward, possibly limiting the availability of nutrients for plants, so man needed to eat meat, 8:22; 9:3.
      5. To counter man's faithless past, God had the public recall He was the Provider of animal life for food by restricting the public from eating animal blood to honor that its life came from God, Gen. 9:4.
    3. Ultimately, in rest from the violence of the past, God instituted capital punishment by the rule of the government: man was made in God's image, so murder deserved death by human government so as to sanctify human life and to inhibit violence, Gen. 9:5-6; 4:23-24; 6:13.
  3. The sign of this new order was given in Genesis 8:21; 9:8-17:
    1. After Noah offered sacrifices of worship, God promised never to destroy the world's creatures while the earth lasted, Genesis 8:20-21.
    2. As a sign of this promise, God gave the rainbow, something that appears when it rains, an event that did not occur before the flood, but came to be associated with it, Genesis 9:8-17 with Genesis 2:5-6.
    3. So, to settle man whenever it rained, and man would thus recall the horrific flood, God promised to look at the rainbow as it rained to recall His promise never again to bring a global flood, Gen. 9:14-17.
Application: (1) May we trust in Christ for salvation from the sin that afflicts us all (Gen. 8:21b; John 3:16) and (2) rely on the Holy Spirit for blessing in living, Galatians 4:16, 22-23. (3) May we then function in our roles in relation to government as God wills: (a) as rulers, may we sense our accountability to God, and (b) give the public rest from evil oppressors. (c) May we in the public focus on trusting God for all our livelihood needs! (d) If we in the public see our rulers are failing in their duty before God, may we trust God with that concern as He is sovereign in the matter, Romans 13:1-4.

Lesson: Government was INSTITUTED (1) by GOD so (2) its RULERS, in ACCOUNTABILITY to GOD, (3) might give the PUBLIC REST from VIOLENT, WICKED INDIVIDUALS, including as applicable the use of capital punishment, (4) and that so that the PUBLIC might CALMLY TRUST in GOD for ALL of its LIVELIHOOD needs! (1 Timothy 2:1-3)

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

The divine plan for the dispensation of human government as described in Genesis 8-9 was practiced by one of our greatest national presidents, and doubtless explains why he was so effective. I refer to President Abraham Lincoln:

(1) President Lincoln understood the need for the human government to get its moral compass from Scripture's God, for he once asserted: "All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated through this Book; but for the Book we could not know right from wrong. All the things desirable to man are contained in it." (Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, The Rebirth of America, 1986, p. 37)

(2) However, President Lincoln also knew that only God could meet man's livelihood needs, and of the public's responsibility to trust in the God of the Bible to that end. His Proclamation for a National Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer in the heat of the Civil War as given on April 30, 1863 reveals this, and we cite it: "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness." (Ibid., p. 151)

Human governors are SUPPOSED to think like this. They are supposed to view themselves as UNDER the rule of law and order and the sustenance of the Biblical Creator, for HE is the One who INITIATED human government for that very role!

May we trust in the Biblical God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for personal salvation from sin. Then, may we rely on the indwelling Holy Spirit for personal behavior control. May we also promote the peace and order of our Creator, the God of the Bible, both in governing and in our function as citizens, looking always to the Lord for our livelihood supply.