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A Biblical View of Globalism and Nationalism, part 2

God created families, which grew into tribes, and tribes became nations. God deals directly with these groups, even as He deals directly with individuals. Certain men and women were given specific callings, and it was the same with nations. For this reason, we must understand the mind of God on both levels, knowing that the same laws of God apply to each.

Nationalism is good, as long as one recognizes Jesus Christ’s right as the King of all nations. Globalism, too, is good, as long as one recognizes Jesus Christ’s right to rule as King of the world. Neither is good when one worships the state or a group of nations (empire). Throughout history, nationalists have done injustices to other nations on the basis of self-interest, conquest, and oppression of others. Nations have sought to become empires, and those empires sought to extend their power to the rest of the world. In other words, their goal was global power, or what we might call globalism.

The Bible shows that globalism is the divine goal, where Christ rules all nations (Revelation 19:15) by His righteous laws. In Revelation 11:15 John sees how “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” That is biblical globalism. It is righteous because it is not based on self-interest but upon love. The laws of God demand a single law for all men, regardless of their ethnicity (Exodus 12:49; Numbers 15:16). When applied to the global empire known as the Kingdom of God, one nation is not privileged above another, but there is equal justice for all.

Those who are “chosen” are called to administer those laws under Christ. They are not called as a privileged class but as dispensers of the love of God for all men. They are called as examples of love, not as slave owners. They are the trustees of the Kingdom.

Stewards and Trustees

I have often written how authority is properly exercised only when a man or woman is subject to the sovereignty of God. When authority usurps God’s sovereignty, the man thinks he owns the throne and is authorized to do as he pleases. But the Bible considers that to be rebellion, which inevitably leads to lawlessness. I have shown often that we should consider ourselves to be stewards, rather than owners.

But last evening I received a greater insight that involves a change of language that better expresses the purpose of God. We are not stewards but trustees. Abraham had a faithful steward. His name was Eliezer (Genesis 15:2). Abraham also had an heir. His name was Isaac. Isaac was more than a steward. He was the heir to the calling of Abraham as the trustee of the Kingdom, the one responsible to dispense the blessings of the inheritance to “all the families of the earth” (Genesis 12:3).

A steward is good, but a trustee is better. A good steward is part of the household, but a trustee of the Kingdom is family. In the Old Testament, to be the trustee required being a direct descendant of the previous trustee—in this case, Abraham. Unfortunately, many of the trustees over the centuries misused and abused their position, because they hoarded the blessings for themselves and refused to dispense the blessings as required in the original promise. So this was modified after the coming of Christ.

Jesus Christ was the head Trustee, the Heir of Abraham, and He was indeed a direct descendant of those who received the promises—David in particular. But the children of God are also trustees, and they are called “priests of God and of Christ” (Revelation 20:6). To be a priest is to hold an office of trusteeship under Christ, the Head Trustee. This priesthood used to be a matter of genealogy, for they had to be descended from Aaron, who was of Levi. However, because the Levitical priests failed in their duties, they were replaced by a new priesthood, the Order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:17).

Likewise, the trustee family was no longer biological but spiritual. No longer does one have to be of Aaron to be a priest or trustee. Now the requirement is to be begotten by the Spirit of God through the seed of the word (1 Peter 1:23, 24, 25). To be a physical descendant of Aaron or Abraham did not ensure that a trustee would fulfill the calling that was required of him. But once the requirement was to be genuinely begotten by the Holy Spirit (as opposed to being religious), then the trustees are assured of having a heart change that gives them the mind of God and the heart of a steward to fulfill the requirements of trusteeship.

The sons of God, then, are not those who were begotten by fleshly forefathers but those who have God Himself as their Father. In addition to this, they have Sarah as their mother, not the fleshly Sarah but the New Covenant that she represents allegorically (Galatians 4:24, 31). Old Covenant believers are not qualified as trustees, although they will certainly receive the blessings dispensed by the trustees.

The Election

Hence, the “chosen” people, sometimes translated “the elect,” are also called the remnant of grace (Romans 11:5-7). Paul makes the point that only 7,000 men of Israel were chosen. Although the Israelites themselves numbered in the millions, only a few were chosen. This did not mean that only a few were “saved.” It means that only a few were trustees and heirs of the Abrahamic promise. The few were called to dispense the blessings to the rest of the world.

Being “elected” has often been thought of as a matter of salvation, and this has caused some confusion among Christians and church leaders. Calvinists, for example, taught that God has elected a few for salvation and has condemned the rest to the fate of eternal torment. By this definition, the elect were the saved ones, and the rest were not. But election is not about salvation. It is about being called as a trustee, an heir of Abraham, to bless all the families of the earth. How can those other families be blessed if they cannot even be saved?

Election has to do with coming into a position of authority, a calling that is not for everyone. That position is a calling to dispense blessings to all, not to hoard them exclusively for a small inner circle. Scripture illustrates this in the first fruits offerings at each of the three main feasts. On the first Sunday after Passover, the first fruits of barley were offered to God. When the high priest waved the barley before God in the temple, this was the signal to begin the barley harvest. God did not simply take the barley and destroy the rest of the harvest. The first fruits of the barley sanctified the rest of the harvest.

Paul says in Romans 11:16 KJV, “If the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy.” Hence, God is not only interested in the first fruits but desires the entire harvest as well. The elect are the first fruits of a greater harvest in the same manner that Christ was the first fruits of others who were to be raised from the dead afterward (1 Corinthians 15:20).

So we must view the elect in terms of being called to dispense blessings, rather than seeing them as the sole recipients of those blessings. The elect, or chosen ones, are not those who are saved but those who rule and reign with Christ in positions of authority. Authority is not just a matter of ruling over others but of being responsible to dispense the truth and to set the example of God’s love for all to see and adopt for themselves.

There is a difference, then, between a believer and an overcomer. An overcomer is a trustee, and as others receive the blessings of Abraham, they become believers and join the household of faith. As they learn the mind of Christ, they are then able to bless others in their own way.

Priorities

There is a divine order that involves priorities. Having married my wife, she takes priority over other women. This does not mean that I hate all other women. Marriage simply elevates her to a position of priority over others.

God married the nation of Israel at Mount Horeb. This put Israel into a position of priority over the other nations. But this did not mean that God hated all other nations, nor did it mean that other nations could not be saved. Priority does not mean exclusivity except in a limited sense.

The nation of Israel was first married to God under the Old Covenant. That Old Covenant marriage ended in failure and divorce (Jeremiah 3:8; Hosea 2:2). It had to end in failure in order that a better marriage covenant might be established. Knowing that these two covenants are represented by Hagar and Sarah, we can see that there are two kinds of marriage relationships that nations (groups of people) have with God. Some have an Old Covenant relationship with God, while others have a New Covenant relationship with God.

To be a trustee, one must come under the Head Trustee, Jesus Christ, who was the Mediator of the New Covenant. Hence, an Old Covenant believer is not a trustee, not chosen, not one of the elect, and not an overcomer. It does not mean that such a person is lost forever. It just means that he or she has not been elected to the office of a trustee and is not fully qualified to dispense the blessings of Abraham to the rest of the world.

Even Old Covenant believers are called to love God and their neighbors, but they are part of the bond woman company (Hagar), rather than of the free woman (Sarah). Children of the bond woman are to be stewards like Eliezer, but they are not heirs and trustees unless they are children of Sarah.

Most Christians have been blind to these truths, because they have been taught to focus primarily on the distinction between saved and unsaved. While there is certainly an element of truth in such a distinction, it is not the full truth. We must think of the two groups in terms of present and future believers. Further, we should distinguish between the children of Hagar and the children of Sarah. As trustees, we should view non-trustees as recipients of the blessings of God and that, as trustees, we are called to dispense those blessings to them, knowing that at some point every knee will bow and every tongue will profess Christ as Lord (Philippians 2:10, 11).

Although there is a distinction and even a separation into two groups, in the end all will be blessed in Abraham, all will profess Christ, all will be saved, and God will be all in all. The divine plan is not merely national but global. Yet globalism must be established under the rule of Christ in order that all nations may be truly blessed.