The Government Of God

There is a difference between believing that God is in control and living under the government of God. Many people confess the sovereignty of God while allowing circumstances to govern their emotions, environments to govern their identity, opinions to govern their obedience, and disappointment to govern their theology. We can sing about the throne and still live as though the room has more authority than the One sitting upon it. We can declare that Jesus is Lord and spend our entire lives reacting to things that have never been given permission to rule us. The government of God is not merely the theological reality that God possesses authority. It is the experiential reality of a human life that has come completely under the influence of the One who sits upon the throne.

The throne room reveals the nature of reality. John is caught up in the Spirit and immediately he sees a throne, and One sitting upon the throne. Before John sees the creatures, before he understands the thunderings, before he sees the lightnings, before he hears the voices, before the seals are opened, before kingdoms rise and fall, the first governing revelation is a throne and One sitting upon it. Everything begins there. The throne is not empty. God is not pacing. God is not reacting. God is not waiting to see what happens next. He is seated. This is the posture of absolute government.

We have often interpreted peace as the absence of disturbance, but the throne room destroys that definition. There are thunderings around the throne. There are lightnings. There are voices. There is fire. There are creatures covered with eyes. There are elders falling down. There is movement, sound, mystery, intensity, and overwhelming glory. Yet none of these things govern the room. The One upon the throne governs the room. This is the revelation we desperately need.

The lightning and thunderings are not distractions that God is learning to overcome. They proceed from the throne. God is not attempting to maintain His peace while surrounded by chaos. Everything surrounding Him exists beneath His authority. Nothing in the room possesses the ability to alter His nature, disturb His identity, or threaten His government. God does not receive His condition from His surroundings. His surroundings receive their meaning from Him.

This is the difference between heaven and the fallen consciousness of humanity. We enter rooms and immediately ask the room to tell us who we are. We feel tension and become tense. We experience rejection and become rejected. We encounter accusation and become defensive. We experience uncertainty and become anxious. We encounter hostility and become reactive. We allow created things to become interpreters of our identity. But Jesus came to reveal another way to be human.

Jesus lived from the government of another realm. He could enter a storm without allowing the storm to enter Him. He could stand before accusation without becoming defensive. He could experience rejection without becoming rejected. He could be misunderstood without surrendering His identity. He could be hated without allowing hatred to determine what flowed from His heart. He could stand before Pilate while Pilate believed he possessed authority over Him and remain completely established in the government of His Father. Jesus was never asking circumstances to tell Him who He was. He already knew.

This is why He could sleep in the storm. The disciples believed the storm was the greatest reality in the boat. Jesus knew the Father was. The disciples interpreted Jesus through the storm. Jesus interpreted the storm through the Father. This is the crisis of our generation. We are allowing circumstances to interpret God. We experience disappointment and decide God is distant. We experience delay and decide God has forgotten us. We experience warfare and decide God has abandoned us. We experience silence and decide God is absent. We are interpreting the throne through the storm instead of interpreting the storm through the throne.

The government of God begins when the throne becomes our reference point. The creatures around the throne reveal this reality. They are surrounded by overwhelming manifestations of glory, yet their attention remains fixed upon Him. They do not become fascinated with the lightning. They do not become intimidated by the thunder. They do not become distracted by the movement. They do not attempt to control the atmosphere. They behold. And because they behold, they respond correctly.

Day and night they cry, Holy, holy, holy. Their worship is not religious repetition. Their worship is the inevitable response of creatures who are seeing reality clearly. Every time they see Him, they discover something worthy of another surrender. Every revelation produces another response. Every unveiling produces another cry. They are not trying to create worship. They are responding to sight.

This is why beholding is central to the government of God. You will always be governed by what you behold. Whatever possesses your attention will eventually influence your affections. Whatever influences your affections will eventually shape your desires. Whatever shapes your desires will eventually direct your decisions. This is why the enemy does not always need to destroy your calling. He only needs to control your attention.

If the enemy can keep you fascinated with what is happening around you, he can prevent you from becoming conscious of what is happening above you. If he can make the storm your reference point, he can train you to become reactive. If he can make rejection your reference point, he can train you to perform for acceptance. If he can make accusation your reference point, he can train you to live defensively. If he can make uncertainty your reference point, he can train you to worship control. The enemy understands that attention is deeply connected to government. What you continually behold will eventually disciple you.

This is why the invitation of Scripture is not simply to behave differently. It is to behold. Set your mind on things above. Look unto Jesus. Seek those things which are above, where Christ sits. Behold the Lamb. The transformation of the believer is connected to sustained vision. We behold Him and are changed. The government of God does not come through greater human effort. It comes through deeper surrender to a superior reality.

We do not become peaceful by trying harder not to be anxious. We become peaceful when the throne becomes more real than the threat. We do not become secure by convincing ourselves that rejection does not hurt. We become secure when belonging to the Father becomes more authoritative than the opinions of people. We do not overcome fear by pretending danger does not exist. We overcome fear when the nature of God becomes more convincing than the possibility of loss.

This is the government of God. It is the invasion of the human heart by a reality greater than circumstance. It is when the throne becomes internal. It is when the peace of Christ begins to rule. It is when the believer stops asking the world for permission to become what the Father has already declared.

The mature believer is not someone who no longer experiences storms. The mature believer is someone whose internal world is no longer governed by them. There can be thunder and worship. There can be uncertainty and obedience. There can be pain and trust. There can be warfare and rest. There can be mystery and surrender. There can be disappointment and hope. These things are possible because peace is not the absence of conflict. Peace is the presence of government.

Jesus did not come merely to rescue us from difficult environments. He came to establish His Kingdom within us. The Kingdom of God is not simply somewhere we are going. It is a government we are coming under. This is why surrender is freedom. Every area we surrender to God is an area delivered from inferior government.

When my identity comes under His government, rejection loses authority. When my future comes under His government, anxiety loses authority. When my reputation comes under His government, accusation loses authority. When my desires come under His government, temptation loses authority. When my circumstances come under His government, chaos loses the right to disciple me.

The question is not whether Jesus is seated upon the throne. He is. The question is whether the reality of His throne has become the governing reality of my inner world. Because it is possible to worship a King whose government we resist. It is possible to sing about surrender while remaining governed by fear. It is possible to speak about the Kingdom while being discipled by culture. It is possible to believe in the sovereignty of God while emotionally living as though everything depends upon us.

But there is an invitation into another kind of life. A life where we stop reacting to every atmosphere. A life where every room does not possess the authority to rename us. A life where circumstances are no longer permitted to interpret the character of God. A life where we become more conscious of the throne than the storm.

This is the life Jesus modeled. This is the life the creatures reveal. This is the life of the Kingdom. The goal is not to become detached from reality. The goal is to become possessed by a superior reality. The throne room is not teaching us how to ignore thunder. It is teaching us where to look when thunder comes. The creatures see the lightning. They hear the thunder. They feel the movement. But they behold the One upon the throne. And because they behold Him, they remain rightly governed.

Perhaps this is what our generation needs more than another strategy, another platform, another argument, or another attempt to control the atmosphere. We need the recovery of the throne. We need to become a people who have seen Someone more convincing than the storm. We need to become a people whose peace cannot be explained by circumstances. We need to become a people who carry another government.

The world does not need believers who have learned how to react more religiously. The world needs men and women who have become so established in the government of God that they can enter chaotic environments without becoming products of them. People who can stand in accusation without becoming defensive. People who can experience rejection without surrendering their identity. People who can walk through uncertainty without worshiping control. People who can encounter darkness without forgetting the throne.

This is not emotional detachment. This is spiritual government. The throne is occupied. The King is seated. The Kingdom is advancing. And the invitation is not merely to believe that He reigns. The invitation is to come under His reign until His government becomes the deepest reality within us.

Until we stop receiving our identity from rooms He has already entered. Until we stop receiving our peace from circumstances He has already overcome. Until we stop asking storms to tell us whether God is faithful. Until the throne becomes more convincing than everything surrounding it.

There will still be lightning. There will still be thunder. There will still be mystery. There will still be movement. But there can also be worship. There can be peace. There can be rest. There can be a people who behold the One upon the throne and refuse to be discipled by anything beneath Him.

This is the government of God. Not the absence of storms. Not the denial of pain. Not the escape from difficulty. It is the establishment of a superior reality within the human heart. It is Christ reigning within a people who have learned where to look. And when the throne becomes our reference point, everything else is finally forced into its proper place.

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