Liberating Planet Earth
by Gary DeMar
by Gary DeMar
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
132 <strong>Liberating</strong> <strong>Planet</strong> <strong>Earth</strong><br />
worldwide evangelism are saying that Satan will win in history’s<br />
struggles until that final day that ends history (Revelation 20).<br />
The church fails in its mission to evangelize the world, disciple the<br />
nations, and subdue the earth to the glory of God. This is the<br />
heart and soul of the pessimist’s theory of history. The church. fails.<br />
He may talk victory — indeed, the language of pessimists is filled<br />
with victorious-sounding phrases — but he really means historical<br />
defeat.<br />
Christians are humble before God, but confident before the<br />
creation which they are called by God to subdue. After all, they<br />
have Biblical law and the Holy Spirit. This confidence eventually<br />
leads the Christians into historic defeat and disaster, say the<br />
pessimists. But why should Christians lose? Why should obedience<br />
to God’s laws produce failure? Why should the gospel<br />
message fail, when it produces good fimit?<br />
Ethical rebels are arrogant before God, and claim that all<br />
nature is ruled by the meaningless laws of probability — ultimate<br />
chaos, including moral chaos. Those who predict the failure of the<br />
church say of the humanists and Communists that by immersing<br />
themselves in the philosophy of moral and revolutionary chaos—<br />
the reli@on of revolution — covenant-breakers will somehow be<br />
able to emerge totally victorious across the whole face of the earth,<br />
a victory which is called to a halt only by the physical intervention<br />
of Jesus Christ at the final judgment. A commitment to lawlessness<br />
leads to external victory. This makes no sense theologically,<br />
let alone morally.<br />
Evil’s Lever: Good<br />
Covenant-breakers must do good externally in order to increase<br />
their ability to do evil. They need to use the lever of God’s<br />
law in order to increase their influence. These rebels will not be<br />
able to act consistently with their own religious and intellectual<br />
presuppositions and still be able to exercise power. They want<br />
power more than they want philosophical consistency. This is<br />
especially true of Western covenant-breakers who live in the<br />
shadow of Christian dominion theology. In short, thg restrain the
Change language