๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ -๐จ๐ฃ
โข What is one thing you were always told to do growing up? Why?
โข Tell us the plot of your favorite movie. Why do you like it?
โข Whatโs the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word โpoliticsโ? Why?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ. ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ญ:๐ญ
In the beginning, politics.
To some people, that sentence sounds almost heretical. The phrase โin the beginningโ has always been heavily associated with the biblical creation story; the word โpolitics,โ on the other hand, belongs to the contentious, dog-eat-dog realm of human power plays. These two concepts donโt go together; they shouldnโt belong in the same sentence. Or so we think.
When we ask the question โWhat does the Bible say about politics?โ most Christians jump to a few choice verses in the New Testament and build their theology from there. But if we do that, our perspective will be fragmented and incoherent. Instead of picking and choosing our favorite verses, it is helpful to ask what the Bible says as a whole about politics.
The concepts of governance and politics are actually embedded in the creation story itself. As the Bibleโs main storyline unfolds, we get to see the full picture of politics and governance that reflects Godโs good structural design for the world. One way to tell that story is to divide the biblical narrative into four actsโCreation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. In this lesson, we will learn about politics as part of Godโs good creation.
In Act One, God created a good world and made human beings to reflect His goodness as they live in His good world. Adam and Eve flourished in the Garden of Eden. Their world was characterized by unbroken justice and universal peace.
As Lord over all creation and ruler of the whole earth, God gave Adam and Eve a set of divine instructions for the ordering of the world.
๐ญ. ๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, โ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ช๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ.โ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ฒโ๐ญ๐ณ
God wanted Adam and Eve to rely upon Him for knowledge of good and evil. They were not to determine for themselves what they might call good and evil, moral or immoral, right or wrong. That prerogative belongs to God alone. How do you think the world would be different if Adam and Eve had listened to and obeyed God?
๐ฎ. ๐ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ.โ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ญ:๐ฎ๐ด
God mandated Adam and Eve to build strong families, communities, and, by implication, societies. From the beginning, God instituted marriage and family and wanted human beings to flourish in direct relationship with Himself. Since Godโs original design included and valued marriage and family, how are we supposed to live in light of this?
๐ฏ. ๐ ๐๐๐น๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต . . .โ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ญ:๐ฎ๐ด
The โfilling of the earthโ refers to the spreading out of human families to different parts of the land. โSubduingโ refers to the tilling of the soil, the working of the ground, and taking from Godโs created world and making something out of it. This is a command to bring out the hidden potential of the world. How have you learned to value work and fulfill this cultural mandate?
๐ฐ. ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐น ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ
โ. . . ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ.โ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ญ:๐ฎ๐ด
God mandated Adam and Eve to rule over the animal kingdom. To โruleโ here means that humans are to promote the well-being of animals and protect them. This is not a license to abuse and kill, but a mandate to preserve and protect. Based on this passage, what was the scope of mankindโs dominion?
All of these combined form Godโs mandate for Adam and Eve to build a human society that:
โข is in close relationship with God (a blessing to ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ),
โข goes far and wide to work the ground and build culture (๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต), and
โข is in a benevolent relationship with the rest of the created order (๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ the animal kingdom).
Politics, defined as the theory and practice of governing a society, is deeply embedded and heavily implied in these mandates. โPoliticsโ is derived from the Greek words for citizen (๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ฆฬ๐ด) and city (๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ด). Though the Bible doesnโt use the term explicitly, the mandate to build society, govern it, and put order into it has been there from the very start.
Had this world remained untainted by sin, it would have blossomed into a society of people who loved God and each other. Humankind would have developed art, science, education, sports, business, and politics in justice and peace. There would be no wars, no world hunger, no dirty politics, no leadership scandals. The political realm might have just involved leaders deciding relatively simple things together, such as whether to drive on the left or right side of the road, or when to start the academic year. Sadly, Act Twoโthe Fallโhappened, and that idyllic world quickly unravelled.
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข If politics is part of Godโs good creation, why do many people today think it is a necessary evil? What did you learn today, and how will you apply it in your life?
โข God created humans to work the earth. What does this say about our jobs and businesses?
โข The regal mandate tells us that we are stewards of Godโs creation, not mere users. How does this affect your identity and the way you view yourself?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for making the world the way He did. Pray that you will have a biblical understanding of every aspect of the world.
โข Pray that Godโs design for our society would be followed. Ask Him for wisdom for our leaders and order in our land.
โข Pray for Godโs grace to obey the commands He gave you. Pray for His strength to do your part in building our society and nation.
In the Beginning, Politics
Week 20
Share
Facebook
Twitter
Link
https://victorygroups.subspla.sh/rh5gbyx
Copy
Copy this text
Embed code
<div style="position:relative;width:100%;height:0;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe src="https://subsplash.com/+yh3k/embed/mi/+rh5gbyx?info&embeddable&shareable&logo_watermark" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></div>
Copy
Copy this text
Related