A New World Order
James 4:7
* What comes to your mind when you hear the phrase “A New World Order?” For me, I remember hearing this phrase in the 1980’s talking about a new set of values, ethics, and more through the conspiracy theories (some of which seems to be playing out today), all the way through the Obama election. When we look on the National Political landscape many things are changing. Is it a “New World Order?” Surely, it is. Whether this is good or bad is yet to be seen.
* This morning I submit to you that a new world order is indeed needed. However, without reservation the new order does not need to be an order of politics, by government, from economics, or anything manmade. It seems that almost every time mankind attempts to “chart a new course”, any successes are short lived.
* When Jesus left Heaven and came to Earth, He came with the mission of establishing a New World order. We find hints of His desire in many of his teachings beginning in the Sermon on the Mount. Think about it, before Jesus did it who would have dared to teach the “poor in spirit, the mourners, the gentle, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers are blessed people?” Yet, this is exactly how he began the platform for His ministry. And in this short message He goes on to teach about responsibility, relationships, and God’s reality. Even within the model prayer He prays, “Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” Have you ever seriously contemplated that statement? What would it be like for things on earth to work in the exact same way that they do in Heaven?
* In Heaven, there is no debate as to who’s on the throne, there is no discussion about right and wrong, and there is no difference of opinion about the trivial. In Heaven, these issues are settled! And this is exactly what Jesus prayed for and desired for us on earth.
* What would this kind of a new world order look like? I am submitting to you that God’s new world order is so radical that we have never seen it before. Two weeks ago I heard a preacher friend, Bro. Jerry Wilkins, give a great word about conflict. Within this message, I believe, He gave dug out a nugget which needs to be heard, accepted, and lived out. Yet, it is so radical that many will thumbs their noses at the one word which defines God’s New World Order. Turn to James 4:7.
* Although it is a seemingly hated word in our day, the word and concept of “submission” is at the forefront of the word of our Lord. In fact, today I’ll offer you several levels of submission which, I believe, God desires for us to live by in this life. If we did, a new world order or better said a DIVINE world order would be established. Let’s visit our Bibles this morning.
1. Nature Submits to Mankind – In Genesis 1:28, God places man into the garden with these instructions, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and ‘subdue’ it. In the Hebrew language the word translated “subdue” means to bring under bondage and speaks of subservience. This means that nature responds to the leadership and workings of mankind. Mankind has a responsibility to work (a four letter word in the 21st century) the land, treat it with respect, and bring the best from it. Just as surely as Jesus gave us the command to “Make Disciples”, we are to subdue the earth.
2. Employees submit to Employer – Some will ask, “Where does the Bible use these terms?” Admittedly, these precise terms are not used, but the principles are taught by using the terms of the day which were “slave and master.” When Paul writes to Timothy (1 Tim 6:1-2) he tells the believer worker to respect his master or boss and do better work than the non-believer. He also pushes the issue to say, “Don’t take advantage of the boss because he is a fellow believer.” Jack and Jim went to church together, sat in a class together, sang in the choir together, and served on the personnel team together. The played golf together and went to ballgames together. However, at work Jack was the boss and Jim was the employer. Tension developed when Jim continually attempted to use their friendship as a way to get “out of” doing the ‘dirty work’ which the job required. The breaking point came when another employee challenged Jack that Jim wasn’t pulling his weight and made a convincing case. By the way, this ‘other employee’ was someone which Jack and Jim were attempting to share their faith with. Now, influence was lost. It is important that, as a believer, you do more than look for your paycheck and “day off.” It is paramount that we do everything as unto the Lord. This includes respecting and thus, submitting to the boss.
a. Already I hear some offering, “But you don’t know how my boss treats me!” What does the Bible say about this? (1 Peter 2:18-20) Does verse 18 not burn deep? Don’t just submit and show respect to the good and gentle, but also to the cruel. Think about that word cruel. The KJV uses that much used, largely understood word “forward.” The Greek word used here is the word from which we get the English word “scoliosis.” As you may or may not know, the condition called scoliosis is a problem with the curvature of the spine. In the Greek language this word means curve or crooked, perverse, or even warped. Basically, Peter takes our all our excuses & says, submit. Paul backs this up in Ephesians 6:5-8.
3. Citizens submit to the Government – While the Bible-believing American citizens have grave concerns about the future, make no mistake, the Bible teaches we are to submit to it. If you are still in 1 Peter 2, let’s read verses 13-17. The emperor, governors, or others, are all included.
a. Additionally, Romans 13:1-7. We are called to be good citizens. Being good citizens in America means we take part in the process and then abide by the decisions. Elections are a prime example. We involve ourselves and then we pray for the one elected, whether he or she were our candidate or not. However, America is a unique country. This country allows its citizens to be involved at a policy level, and we need to become more involved. Let me give you a couple of examples. Some of the biggest and most well known companies have given big money to support the homosexual agenda largely without the knowledge of mainstream America. Some of those names are Ford and McDonalds, and most recently Pepsico and Campbell’s soup. Because of pressure both Ford and McDonalds have stopped the flow of money and we wait to see how the people respond to the rest. Being a good citizen in this country means being in the know and involved. Right now, possibly the most dangerous issue facing our nation is a piece of legislation in Congress know as FOCA (Freedom of Choice Act). If passed, Abortion will be on demand, without waiting period, without parental consent, without counseling known as informed consent, available to month 9, and will return the possibility to use tax dollars to perform abortions. Just for me, in this country one of the meanings of a good citizen to voice my concerns when the country is about to make a mistake. We must take action it NOW or we must submit when it’s law.
b. We are repeatedly called on submit to authorities. This is serious.
4. Children submit to Parents – We can begin this truth in Exodus as we are taught this within the 10 commandments. But Paul emphasizes it in his letter to Ephesus and Colossi. (Eph 6:1-3, Col 3:20) Some “intellectual” teenager might argue, “It’s obey and not submit.” To study this word in the original language is to understand that submission and obey have the same prefixes, both of whom means “placed under.” Teenagers, the Bible speaks one word to you, “obey.” The only qualification I would give is if your parents tell you to do something illegal or immoral, other than this, the command is the same. By the way, the Bible teaches us that one of the ways we will know when we are in the last days is that “Children will rise up against their parents.” What a sobering truth! In this culture we see disrespect and rebellion like never before. God’s word remains the same about children and parents.
5. Wives submit to Husband – This is an interesting principle, particularly in 21st century America. Some of you have been waiting for me to get here in order to take issue with what is said. Perhaps God knew this would a most difficult principle to accept and that is why the Holy Spirit had the writers to include it so many places in the Bible. Both Paul and Peter writes about this principle which, I believe, is the most often given truth.
* I can run around this principle and give examples and proof texts but I suspect, the more I would run around the truth, the harder some hearts might become to the truth contained in this principle. So let’s just consider a couple of observations about this.
* First, there is a huge misconception about “the concept” of submission. Men tend to think this means the Bible teaches us to be dictating or dominating and women tend to think this means they would become doormats for their husbands to run over. Both of these are far from the truth.
* Next, there is the misconception that this elevates men over women as a superior being. Again, nothing could be farther from the truth.
* God’s design for the home is a system of responsibility. The children are submissive to the parents, the wife is submissive to the husband, and the husband is divinely responsible before God for His family and His home. Men, this is my word to you; One day when your family stands before God, He will not ask your wife about the spiritual condition of your family, HE WILL ASK YOU. What will you say?
6. Christians submit to their leaders – For Baptists this is one of the most difficult principles to understand. It ranks close to the “wives submit to your husband” in lack of support and understanding, but let see what the Bible has to say. Turn with me to Hebrews 13:17 and let’s read. By design, I will not spend much time on this principle because I would prefer not to be misunderstood. Here’s the part of this scripture which sobers me; “for they keep watch over your souls as those who will GIVE AN ACCOUNT.” Think about this in “humanistic terms” with me. Who among us would take a job for the total responsibility for an organization, like a CEO, Manager, or Overseer; and not be given the authority to get the make the company a success? Remember, you’d be responsible for the people inside that organization, their lives, and their possibilities for success; while at the same time knowing that one day the board will meet and you will be held accountable for every function of that company? Who would want that job? Candidly, in many respect that is the job given to many Senior Pastors today. One day I will stand before God about the work, growth, focus, impact, and direction of the HBC family during my tenure as Pastor and no one else but me will give an account for this church. Not the deacons, charter members, team leaders, nor anyone else will be called to answer, only me. This is the ‘why’ of this principle. It is about accountability. Do you see what happens when the believers don’t submit to their spiritual leadership? They get a broken heart, lose their passion, sometimes get tangled up in the affairs of the world, and the whole situation becomes unprofitable.
7. Church submits to Christ – Turn to Colossians 1:18 and let’s read a verse which expresses this principle. (Read) The head is the controller and leader. Now let’s read Eph 1:22. Honestly, when we truly submit to Christ we come to understand what the “submit” principle is all about. When scripture teaches that Jesus is the “head” of the church, it paints the picture of what a body without a head does. Do you know what that is? DIE. Any “body” that has lost its head is dead. Take a snake, a squirrel, a rabbit, a deer, or a person; if you remove its head what happens? You can watch the life slip out of the body. Please, draw the parallel. When the church becomes “mine” or “ours” and we attempt to control the actions, activities, plans, and purposes, we literally disconnect the head and the spiritual vitality slips away. Only in full submission to the head, Jesus, can we find and fulfill God’s best.
8. Each submits to the other – This principles begs for me to mention again our Year of Joy (Jesus first, others second, and yourself last). Last we as we talked about putting “others before self” we read Philippians 2 which taught us to “think of others more highly than self.” Turn back to Ephesians 5 for the verbiage of this principle. (Read) “Submitting to one another” means that everyone submits to the other, right? Well yes with one stipulation, “in the fear of Christ.” We must get our minds around this truth; this principle will be impossible OUTSIDE of the fear of Christ and candidly, there is very little “fear of God” in our world today. People, both inside and outside of the church seem to have no honest fear of the Lord, so there is no reason to “submit to one another.” The fear of God is a “secret” to a live and vibrant church because to fear God is to live according to His demands. One those is “mutual submission.” Can I simply ask, “What kind of world would this be, if all people actually lived like this? Do you think that the lost world would sit up & notice?
9. Mankind submits to God – We have now come full circle to end up where we began, in James 4:7. The text simply and clearly says, “Submit to God.” The definition for the word ‘submit’ never changes in any of the principles for life. It always means to be under the authority of or control. We are under God’s authority and dominion. This means we are to do “life” His way. We must respect His position in this world, live by His design, and respond to His demands. The first step is to recognize our sinful condition which He identifies in each of us. The next step is to receive His gift of eternal life through His Son Jesus. Next, we follow Him daily, establishing a walking relationship with Him.
The present world order is truly a system of mankind which is “survival of the fittest.” God’s design is the salvation of the filthiest. His order is for all creation to live in Honor and Submission to Him & all creation.
