With the 4th of July in a few days it seemed like an appropriate time to share some things I have been pondering lately about how our form of civil government was set up by our Founders.  First off I think it is important to distinguish between the terms government and civil government - the line between these two seems to have gotten distorted somewhere along the way - students in high school used to take a class called 'Civics' but it is now called 'Government'.

So to define government using the first definition given in Webster's 1828:

Control; restraint. Men are apt to neglect the government of their temper and passions.

Interesting isn't it? The definition seems to be more about a personal government or self-government rather than an authority put in place over you. We automatically link the word to our president and legislators rather than to ourselves but in my ponderings I have some new insights to share in reguards to this. God said that

 "That he who ruleth his spirit is mightier than he who taketh a city."

And we know that self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit - so what kind of government did God have in mind for us? What type of government did God establish in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve? Did he choose someone to be an authority over them? Perhaps the best example God has given us is the ant - "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest"

I think it is clear that God wants us to govern ourselves and He has given us His Word to guide us in how to govern ourselves, but what I find most interesting and have been pondering the most is to look at our form of government here in America as laid out by our Founders. Our form of civil government is the same form we as individuals use everyday in the governing of ourselves.Here are some examples:

1. Dual Form - we have two spheres of civil government: national and local right? Well God summed up the Ten Commandments into basic areas of how to govern ourselves that encompassed all other commands. The first - we are to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength - so as a nation we need to be God-governed. The second - we are to love our neighbors as ourselves - so as a state we are to love our neighbor.

2. Separation of Powers - our government is divided into three branches:

Legislative which is Congress

Executive which is our President

Judicial which is our Supreme Court

Everyday as you and I seek to govern ourselves we legislate what we will do, we judge whether we should do it, and then based on our judgement we either execute it or not. Wow - we use the same three branches of power! And here is what is even more awesome - in Isaiah 33:22 God tells us that "the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King."  So once again we are to govern ourselves using the three branches of power He has given us to use but in submission to Him as our King we use His Word to judge our actions and His law to live our lives by and all for the purpose of glorifying Him as our King!!! Is anyone else finding this awesome?  I sure have been!

3. Representation - our civil government is set up to be run "for the people, by the people, and of the people" and to do this we elect people that we feel will be the best representatives of us to send to make the decisions for us. When they are making those decisions they are to remember who they are standing in the place of, or representing, and make their decisions based on that.  As Chrisitans we are to govern ourselves in a .way that would be representative of God's love for all people. His love was demonstrated for us by sending His Son to earth to die in our place for our sins as our representative.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  -John 3:16