“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations. . . .”
What would Christ have the nations be taught? First, nations are of Gods making; they are divine institutions relative to the divine institutions of the home, church, and civil government. The nation is the ordained extension of the home and family:
These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood. –Genesis 10:32 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. . . hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation. . . –Acts 17:24, 26 The family is established to be the foundation of the nation. The quality of government existing in the home eventually will determine the quality of government in every sphere proceeding from the home. As the family, so go the churches and the nation. If the nation is to be measured by the quality of freedom and independence it owns, then must the home be the cradle of individual liberty and self government. If, as well, the home neglects its duty to the nation, then is the nation lost to dependency and servitude.It follows that leaders of homes are ultimately responsible for the existence of their own nation. (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) –I Timothy 3:5 “He knows not how to rule a kingdom, that cannot manage a Province; nor can he wield a Province, that cannot order a City; nor he order a City, that knows not how to regulate a Village; nor he a Village, that cannot guide a Family; nor can that man Govern well a Family that knows not how to Govern himself; neither can any Govern himselfe unless his reason be Lord, Will and Appetite her Vassals: nor can Reason rule unless herself be ruled by God, and (wholy) be obedient to Him.” Hugo Grotius, 1654, Teaching and Learning Americas Christian History, by Rosalie June Slater Corruption in a nation and its correction both begin from the bottom — at the foundation, in the home. For no political policy can right the wrongs of a nation; according to the divine origin of nations, the visible manifestations of political evil have their cure in the reformation of the family of the succeeding generations. This places the burden of responsibility for ones nation justly upon the shoulders of the individual himself.
(to be continued)
