by Adi Schlebusch
One of the central ploys utilized by Christ’s enemies in their attempt to overthrow his Lordship is launching attacks on those socio-covenantal structures or units which God has purposefully ordained for his own glory. In a previous entry we have already discussed the immense onslaught against the family unit. We have identified the primary reason for this onslaught as an attempt by Christ-haters to undermine one of the primary means by which Christ expands his Kingdom: in every generation, it is those Christians who have grown up as covenant children in covenantal households who constitute the bulk of the Christian Church.
A second vitally important and divinely ordained covenantal structure which is just as belligerently attacked and hated by the enemies of Christ in their attempt to besiege his Lordship is the nation or ethnos. After all, nations have been sovereignly ordained by God, not designed by man in his assault upon that sovereignty.
In Deuteronomy 32:8 we read that God has “divided their inheritance to the nations” and has “separated the sons of Adam, ... set[ting] the boundaries of the peoples.” In Acts 17:26 we read that God, having made “from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, ... has determined their preappointed times and boundaries of their dwellings.” The very next verse—Acts 17:27—then also proceeds with explaining the divine purpose behind this separation of the nations: “so that they should seek the Lord.”
Therefore, this text should be understood as an extension upon or rather practical application of the cultural mandate of Genesis 1:28 where man is commanded to fill the earth and rule over it. It was, after all, at the Tower of Babel where mankind refused to do just this that God separated the nations by means of the confusion of languages (Genesis 10:5; 11:1-7). As covenantal God, the Lord is not content with being served by an aggregate of atomized individuals. Rather, every aspect creation must be subdued and cultivated in obedience to Christ. Significantly, with the Great Commission it is specifically nations as divinely ordained covenantal realities that Christ commands us to evangelize and disciple (Matthew 29:18). The Church is primarily called to disciple nations, rather than individuals, social clubs, social groups, or even communities. Of course all these social realities can and will be sanctified by the gospel, but the express object of evangelism, per the command of Christ Himself, are the nations.
Historically, nations as covenantal units have also played a very important role in terms of advancing Christ’s Kingdom on earth. It was nations, rather than individuals or families, who established and maintained Christendom through the ages and it was nations, rather than individuals or families, who brought the gospel to the world. It was only when European nations established themselves in North and South America, as well as Southern Africa and Australasia, that the gospel reached the millions of souls in these regions who had never before heard the Name of Jesus Christ. And it is precisely because nations play such an indispensable role in advancing Christ’s Kingdom that their distinct identities and cultures as well as their geographic and political boundaries ought to be not only respected, but cherished.
The author is a senior researcher at the Pactum Institute.