Government rule, then, might not be the right way to go. What hope do we have against powerful states?
Question 9 in Faith Seeking Freedom: Updated & Expanded
This question is from Faith Seeking Freedom: Updated & Expanded, available in paperback, PDF, and Kindle.
Glad you asked, because God has a plan for the state and its machinations, and we get to join into his plan through Jesus and his church. Of course, we have hope in the gospel message itself that brings salvation both right now and in the future. We have the Holy Spirit that indwells us right now and sanctifies us throughout our life. We have the ability to make a difference right now, and we have the great hope of final victory in the end. After all, as the book of Revelation shows us, we know that the final destination of these “powers that be” is destruction.
Remember all that weird language around “Babylon” in Revelation? We hear about the fall of it as a city, and it is even personified in three ways in the book: as the dragon, as the “beast out of the sea,” and even as the “Mother of Prostitutes and Abominations.” (Gross!) Theologians have debated how to interpret the Revelation to John for centuries, but the attentive reader can see in “Babylon” both the Roman Empire of John’s day and the symbolic connection to Babel from Genesis. The symbol is a culmination and representation of statism—of violent, aggressive power—for all time.
God assures us that no matter what, Jesus has won the victory against all sin, all death, and all competing powers. Even the first time Babylon is specifically mentioned in Revelation, it is when an angel declares, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great!” (Rev 14:8) In the end, God wins.