God's Foundational Authority

Job 34:13 - "Who gave Him authority over the earth? And who has laid on Him the whole world?"

Job's friends reached a lot of wrong conclusions and they made a lot of statements that simply are not true. But in Job chapter 34 a young man by the name of Elihu begins to speak to Job and his three friends, and during his discourse he asks some very important questions, "Who gave God authority over the earth? And who has laid on Him the whole world?" The question of authority, namely, whose in charge, is a foundational one. Our belief on this topic is really going to affect everything that we believe and do.

The issue of authority is the basis on which our lives our built. So as we dig down deep to lay a foundation upon which we are going to build everything else, we need to make sure that we're building on a solid rock and not upon shifting sand. And in inspecting our foundations we are going to find ourselves asking the questions, “Who says?” And “Who’s in charge?” These are questions of authority and they’re very important. As children we employed these questions all the time. If my older brother told me that I needed to do something my response would often be, "who says?" See, the issue of authority was very important to me, particularly if I was being told to do something that I didn't want to do. And if he was coming to me on his own authority, I might respond by saying something along the lines of, "You're not the boss of me. You're not in charge." So as children the questions of "who says?" and "who's in charge?" Were very important to us. But as adults these questions should be no less important. Because it doesn't matter what issue you're talking about, there are all sorts of different people with all sorts of different opinions on how things ought to be done. If you want to talk about ways to God or family structure, the definition of marriage or the topic of abortion, you’re going to get any number of opinions on the way things ought to be. There are any number of truth claims and we have to be able to distinguish between what is actually true and what is not. So when someone says, "This is the way things are..." or "This is the way things ought to be..." We need to respond with the questions, "Who says?" and "Who's in charge?"

The topic of authority is not one that is very popular in our day. Naturally, we don’t like authority. We squirm at the idea of somebody else being in charge of us. When we were kids we sometimes thought it unfair that our parents were in charge. Or when your parents went out and left you under the authority of an older sibling or a babysitter, we really thought that was an injustice. But this dislike of authority isn’t just a problem for kids and teenagers, adults struggle with authorities as well. Whether it’s your boss at work, local law enforcement or other parts government, we just naturally don’t like someone else being in charge of us. We have the mentality of “I’m the boss and no one’s gonna tell me what to do!” Though we may squirm under it, authority structure is actually very important. And I think to some extent we recognize the importance of authority. Think about a company or a business, who's in charge? The person who owns it. Whether they started it, inherited it or bought it, they own the company and therefore they make the rules, they decide how things are going to be run.

Who's in charge of a country or nation? The government. Whether it's Kings and Queens, Presidents or Prime Ministers, Dictators, Senate, Parliament, or whatever else, every nation has some form of authority structure. And the men and women who are in these positions are given the right to govern.

We realize that a company without a head is going to fail. A society without leaders is going to fall. Oh, you can have your opinions about how the company ought to be run, but when the boss speaks the issue is settled. And if you decide to go against his rules then your going to suffer the consequences, you'll lose your job. You can decide how you think the country ought to be governed, but once the authorities lay down the law, you might disagree with it, but if you do not conform your life to their rules then you're going to suffer the consequences. You can end up being fined or imprisoned. And the universe works the same way. We can go around with our opinions on how life should work, but we need to come back to the One who is in charge of this universe and find out what He says about it. And once we hear what He says then we need to conform our lives to His standard. And if we don't, if we choose to reject His authority and His rules then we are going to suffer the consequences.

This is one reason why some people will reject the idea of God all together. We recognize that if God is in charge then we have to do what He says. And if we break His rules then there are going to be consequences. And when we look in the Bible and see what He says, our sinful nature says, “I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to do what God wants me to do. I don’t want to listen to what He says. I want to do what I want to do.” And this attitude is reflected in a lot of songs and poems in our day. In that famous poem, Invictus, the poet writes four stanzas about being in charge of his own life, and finally ends with the words -

"It matters not how strait the gate,

      How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
      I am the captain of my soul."
And the world applauds that unyielding attitude. To bow beneath the authority of another is considered weakness. It's no wonder that one of the most requested songs to be played at funerals is the song made famous by Sinatra, "My way." In which the theme is repeated again and again, "I did it my way." Again, the world sees this as some great accomplishment. But if the Word of God is true and God is the ultimate authority, then everyone who goes to their grave with their life echoing the sentiment, "I did it my way." will find themselves in a place of eternal torment and separation from God. The Bible declares in Proverbs 14:12 - "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." The only way of true life is to forsake our own way and to embrace Him who said "I am the way." But that is foolishness to the world. And so the battle of authority rages on.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 1 the apostle Paul is writing to the Corinthians about the message of the cross, that message on which our salvation hangs. He's talking about the central theme of the Bible and he writes in verse 18 - "The word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." When you go out into the world and tell people that your hope is pinned on a cross outside Jerusalem 2000 years ago, the world thinks that's foolish. And yet if God says that this is the one and only way of salvation then who cares what everybody else thinks? "That sounds awfully narrow." Yeah, it is. Christ Himself said in Matthew chapter 7 - "the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it." Call me narrow minded if you want, but if God is in charge and He says that this is the way it is then I'm sticking to it. When the world is debating about ways to get off the airplane, and they don't like the color or size of my parachute, whatever. I'm putting it on anyway.

I realize that this may seem harsh, but this is the logic you use with your kids because it works. When your kid comes and complains about the way things are, "Why do I have to clean my room? Why do I have to go to bed so early?" You sit them down and say, "When you get your own house you can do things the way you want. But this is my house, we play by my rules." And it works the same way in the universe. You don't like the fact that there is one way of salvation? You want multiple roads to heaven? Great! When you get your own universe you can set it up however you want. But as long as we live in God's universe we had better conform to His rules. 

The point is, when God speaks to an issue the issue is settled. It doesn't matter if it makes sense to me or not, it doesn't matter if it sounds foolish, it doesn't matter if the majority are holding to a different opinion. When God speaks the issue is settled.