What does God have to say about civil government? There are many different types of governing authorities... today: monarchies, democracies, communist dictatorships. Do the same basic Biblical principles apply to each form of government? Do some apply better than others? What is a Christian’s role as a member of a modern civil society?

To answer these questions, it’s important to begin with the understanding that government is God’s idea. When God first created humanity, he gave them dominion. Humanity was to order and rule over creation, and that even includes human life and relationships—not tyrannically, but in a life-giving way. While the execution of this calling has been seriously corrupted by the fall, it is still God’s desire for creation today. Listen as Pastor Luke Herche begins a three-part series on “The Creation, Fall, & Redemption of Civil Government,” preaching on Romans 13:1–7 and answering four questions: Where does it come from? How is it exercised? Why is it exercised? And what do we do now?

Christians are tempted in every age to compromise. One age might be tempted to self-reliance, another to... complacency, another to immorality, but every age has its temptations. Our day is no exception. As long as you live in this world, temptations and trials are bound to come. When the immorality of the present age and the power of the state combine to oppose Christ and his church, there is a question every Christian must face: What do you do when you must decide between doing something that goes against God’s law or facing the punitive action of the governing authorities? Listen as Pastor Luke Herche preaches from Acts chapter 5, showing that we, like the apostles, “must obey God rather than men,” and answering the what, why, when, and how of what that looks like.

Whoever might have won this past week’s election, it does not change the truth of what God says nor does... it change the reality that Christ is on the throne. Our hope, ultimately, must never be in an election. Our hope is that Christ is on the throne. Concluding a three-sermon mini-series, Pastor Luke Herche has previously been teaching, first, that we are to obey governing authorities and, second, that we are to obey God rather than men. In this final sermon of the series, focusing on Psalm 2, Pastor Luke shows that we are to know that Christ is on the throne, in four points:

    · Though the nations rage, Christ is on the throne!
    · God has set him there; Christ is on the throne!
    · Serve the Lord or face his wrath; Christ is on the throne!
    · Blessed are all who take refuge in him; Christ is on the throne!