My rights or God’s rights

My friend Patrick leads the work of Ellel Ministries in France. We have been discussing the difficulty that exists in many churches, particularly in France, over establishing godly authority. A few weeks ago we were visiting a museum, near Grenoble, and we noticed a display about the declaration of the ‘incontestable rights of man’, written into the constitution of France in 1789, a time of overwhelming disorder in the nation.

Versions of this declaration of human rights have been used all over the world, and it wasn’t new to us. But that day we saw clearly how the seventeen articles of this declaration, made at the time of the French Revolution, so blatantly contradicted God’s eternal laws.

The third article declared that ‘the source of all sovereignty resides in the nation’. This isn’t true according to the Word of God: Jesus drew near and said to them, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth’ (Matthew 28:18).

The fourth article declared that ,em>‘liberty consists in the power to do anything that does not injure others’. This also isn’t what God says! In fact we noticed that all seventeen articles avoided mentioning personal sin and the sovereignty of God. The declaration was made ‘under the auspices of the Supreme Being’. We believe that this title is really another name for the enemy of God. For he seeks every opportunity to gain spiritual rights through man’s rebellion. We believe that through these declarations, something very defiling was sown into the inheritance of France, into the hearts of her people, and even beyond, into many other countries.

The Bible doesn’t tell us that when citizens demand their rights it brings peace to a nation. It actually tells us an amazing truth. By receiving forgiveness for our sin through Jesus we’re given the right to become children of God. Only when the absolute sovereignty of Jesus is acknowledged can true order be fully restored into the life of a nation and her people.

Prayer: Father, I realise that demanding my rights will never bring me peace, but rather I need to forgive those who have wrongly used their authority against me. I know that You hate injustice and that I can trust You to do what is truly right. In Jesus name. Amen.