What is the Chief End of Government?
This is a lightly edited transcript of Dusty Deevers’s message that he preached at the Grace Agenda Conference in Moscow, Idaho.
There are a few essential truths that we Americans need to understand about what made and will make America great again. We must first answer: “What is the chief end of nations?” And since God has commanded the governing of those nations, we should also ask: “What is the chief end of governments among nations?”
Sadly, these are not questions virtually any of our civil officials are being asked or are answering. But we should not be surprised. These questions are not on the people’s minds either because pulpits largely ignore them. Our nation is suffering because we are a people who have not been edified and strengthened by the Scriptures on these crucial matters of public theology.
In this essay, I will use Paul’s sermon in Acts 17:21-33 as our guide, as I ask and answer four questions:
1. What is a nation?
2. What is the purpose of a nation?
3. How is a nation to be governed?
4. What is our stewardship?
But first, we must answer a staging question: As a pastor and herald of the Gospel, are you provoked for your people and their joy?
In Acts 17:16, Paul is in Athens waiting for Silas and Timothy to arrive. He then goes on a tour of the city, and his spirit is provoked because he sees that the great city is full of idols (literally “submerged in idols”). In Acts 15, we see that these idols are connected to all kinds of immorality.
In response, Paul’s spirit was greatly “provoked.” The Greek word is παροξύνω, from which we get the English word “paroxysm,” meaning “a sudden attack or violent expression of a particular emotion or activity.” In the Greek OT, the LXX, this term refers to God’s extreme anger at the idolatry of Israel (Deut 9:18; Psa 106:29; Isa 65:3; Hos 8:5).
Paul was angered that God’s glory in Christ was spurned. He agonized over men’s salvation. He longed to see people who were enslaved by sin, the world, and the devil rescued and experience the joy of Christ.
Friends, do you see your countrymen worshiping the modern idols of materialism and sexual immorality?
Do you see them chopping off the genitals of their own children?
Do you see them sacrificing their children with mail-order abortion pills?
Do you see the drastic rise in depression and anxiety in teens as they are being indoctrinated into a truthless and purposeless worldview?
Do you see the sexual perversion paraded on our streets and screens, enticing men and women into complete ruin?
Misery and death are the telos of these things for your countrymen.
Are you not provoked for your people and their joy in Christ? The joy that they will not and cannot find in their worship of idols? Are you not provoked for your nation?
Your family, friends, coworkers, city, state, and nation need you provoked in righteous anger that God’s glory in Christ is spurned and agonizing over men’s souls needing salvation and the joy of God.
Now, here’s what I want you to see. Paul was provoked by all the idolatry, polytheistic blasphemy, debauchery, and transgressivism, and what was the message the Holy Spirit told him to pronounce to the proud Athenians?
In verses 26 and 27, he told them that God is the creator of nations and the purpose for which God established them. Why did Paul think the definition and purpose of a nation were so important?
1. What Is A Nation?
In Acts 17:24-26, Paul declares: “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.”
The sovereign God, Who is self-sufficient, created and ordained everything—including the governing and rise or fall of nations.
God determines the times and boundaries/borders of each nation.
What, then, is a nation? A simple definition will suffice for my purposes here. A nation is a particular body of people in a particular place and time.
2. What Is the Purpose of A Nation?
Why did God create every nation on earth and determine their times and boundaries? Another way to ask this is: “What is the chief end of nations?” The answer is in Acts 17:27: “That they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.” Do you see the connection Paul makes? God determined nations’ people, time, and place so that the people among them might seek Him.
The Holy Spirit regenerates individual men, not governments. However, nations and governments, as such, do indeed have a role in God’s work on this earth.
Many Christians and Baptists will instinctively recoil at this idea, but it is right there in the text. If the chief end of man is to worship God and enjoy Him forever, then the chief end of nations is to orient men toward God so that they might seek and find Him to worship and enjoy Him forever.
The question, then, is how does a nation orient its people so they might seek and find God?
3. How Is A Nation to be Governed?
So, how will nations fulfill their purpose of orienting their people toward seeking God? Answer: Nations fulfill their purpose by joyfully submitting to Christ’s rule and reign and establishing justice.
Look at verses 30-31. “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent.” Why? “Because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed.”
And how do we know this is true? The Creator God, the “unknown God” to Whom the Athenians had built an altar, with His comprehensive authority, pressed His seal on all Creation, making His edict official, unchangeable, and irrevocable.
What is that seal over all of life? Look at the rest of verse 31: “And of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead.” The resurrection of Christ from the dead is proof that “[God the Father] has put all things in subjection under [Christ’s] feet” (1 Cor 15:24).
(A) God Appointed Christ as the Judge and Ruler of All Nations
As God, in His essential rule, Jesus Christ alone carries the authority of God’s eternal government of peace. Colossians 1:16-17, “All things were created by Him and for Him, whether visible or invisible, thrones or dominions.”
Jesus Christ also has Sovereign rule over the nations because of His mediatorial work. He lived a sinless life, appeased the wrath of God against sinners, died in their place, rose from the dead, defeated sin, death, and the devil, and accomplished salvation and Sovereign rule. This you could call Christ’s mediatorial rule.
After His resurrection, Jesus Himself confirmed this total authority in the Great Commission: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. So, make disciples of all nations, baptize them, and teach them to observe all my commands. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt 28:18-20).
When Jesus ascended to heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father, the Father gave the rulership of nations to Christ the Son. “‘As for Me, I have set My King on Zion, My holy hill.’ ‘I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession” (Psa 2:6-8). For what purpose? “That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him” (Dan 7:14) (cf. Col 1:15-20; 1 Tim 6:14-16; 1 Pet 4:11, 5:11; Rev 1:5-7, 19:15-16).
Jesus is “the Ruler of kings on earth” (Rev 1:5). All nations will only find their chief end in glorifying and enjoying Him when they submit to their rightful Ruler, the Son! Isaiah 9:7 affirms, “Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end.”
Christ’s rule is not static or stagnant; it multiplies daily, extending its resplendent beauty and glory as individuals, families, tribes, and nations submit to Him.
The Christless governments of this world grow duller, weaker, and desperate until they shake and collapse under the weight of His righteous rule, all His enemies are under His feet, and even death itself is destroyed (1 Cor 15:25-27). Isaiah 9:7 declares, “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” God’s zeal for His Son, with an unswerving commitment to His glory and the joy of His people, will bring Christ’s government to its full realization (cf. Psa 96:11; 97:1-2; Isaiah 61:8-10). So, Psalm 67:4 proclaims, “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!”
The purpose, then, of every nation is to seek and find the Son of Man who has been appointed as the ruling Judge over every nation.
Each nation will be judged whether they repent and, with entire purpose, endeavor after new obedience to their Sovereignly appointed Ruler and Judge. The hope is that if nations do not currently submit to His rule, rescue from inevitable collapse under His judgment is available if they repent and bear fruit in keeping with repentance by submitting to His Lordship.
Saints, you serve a “kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Heb 12:28). Fix your eyes on Christ; set your gaze on glory. Shakeable things must shake and come to ruin at His feet. Your resurrected Redeemer is unshakeable; your ascended Savior is unassailable; your coronated King is unconquerable; your praying High Priest is immovable; your gospel-proclaiming Prophet is unswervable! Oh, give praise, saints! Tune your heart to sing His praise!
Jesus triumphed over sin, death, and the devil, and the nations are His! His triumph is your triumph. The future belongs to the righteous.
Now, what does Christ’s mediatorial rule look like on the ground?
(B) God Appointed Civil Authorities Over People
The point of Matt 28:18-20 is that in His mediatorial rule, Christ rules by His Spirit and Word through His earthly agents, who He divinely commissioned to execute His will on the earth to orient humankind toward Himself through preaching the gospel, making disciples, living holy lives, and teaching all nations to obey everything He commanded in every sphere.
This is the chief end of government: Joy in Christ and justice in the land.
Further, in Romans 13, Christ ordains autonomous national governments. God identifies all civil authorities as His servants/deacons (Rom 13:1) of His justice. He delegates all authority for His purposes, glory, and the joy of His people.
What are the duties of civil authorities? As Christ’s deacons, acting within the bounds of His moral law (Rom 13:1), the activities and role of civil authorities are to:
- Know their Master and submit to His authority.
- Enforce just laws and exercise the Sword of Justice to (1) protect the God-given rights of the innocent, securing and defending the nation and her borders, (2) execute justice upon evildoers with proportional punishment, and (3) reward and promote good behavior for the blessed, happy welfare of citizens (Rom 13:1-5; 1 Pet 2:13-14; cf. Rom 14:12; Rev 20:12).
What is the effect of their submissive governing? Combining the repetitions in Proverbs 11:10; 28:12; 29:2, “When it goes well with the righteous” (11:10) and “they increase” (29:2), and “triumph” (28:12), and “when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness” (11:10), and “great glory (28:12), and the city rejoices (11:10); “but when the wicked rise” and “rule,” “the people hide themselves and groan” (28:12; 29:2).
Joy is a result of righteous governance. A government that faithfully obeys Christ by rewarding good and punishing evil is orienting its people toward God and His joy.
Civil authorities will ultimately answer to Christ for their actions if they resist His purpose for government. In Luke 12:47, Jesus says, “That servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating.”
This crucial concept of law and government orienting people toward God is one of many reasons I am an abolitionist. When we talk about a heartbeat bill that prohibits abortion at six weeks, to whom and what are citizens oriented by that law?
Are they oriented to look to Christ, His glory, justice, righteousness, and wisdom? Are they oriented toward the inherent dignity of all preborn children created in the image of God? Or are they oriented toward the pragmatism of man and the false understanding that a detectable heartbeat at six weeks has anything to do with why we protect innocent children?
Your mission on earth is to orient people toward justice and Christ through your political activities.
Summary of the Argument
I want to summarize my argument before I get to my final point. It is, in short, as follows:
- God defines the people, place, time, and purpose of nations.
- God gave the nations to Christ.
- God determines who rules over the nations, and that rulers must serve Him.
- God placed you and me among these people at this time and place as His ambassadors and ministers of reconciliation to proclaim Christ and order and orient His world for His glory and others’ joy.
The “politics of joy” is the fulfillment of the chief end of nations under Christ’s rule and governance through His submissive governing deacons. Joy is, therefore, not a subtle side effect of politics but its tangible, intended end: the disposition of Christian people loving their neighbors and the outflow of a government under Christ’s rule. Joy is not merely an emotional response but a consequence of righteous rule.
The justice, mercy, and righteousness of Christ’s rule mediated by His servants produce joy, flourishing, and peace among the nations as the fruit of His reign. So, the politics of joy is civilizational, Christian politics. The beautiful truth is that all creation is headed to the governing rule of Christ, and that governing rule is in a community of communion in God’s eternal, intra-Trinitarian joy, experiencing the governing authority of that communion.
So, our politics on earth is both for the temporal good of our neighbors and ultimately for orienting all people and nations to that everlasting community, a community of eternal joy. Serpentine theocracies aim to reorder the world to the end of civilizational suicide rather than thriving in the joy of Christ.
Which way, Western man? Will you choose the joy of Christ in all of life, even if that means that your enemies, God’s enemies, will come against you ruthlessly?
Now, let me connect all this to make an application to your home, our church, your town, your state, and your nation.
4. Our Stewardship: Finding Joy In Christ While Fighting On
Let me give you some practical applications on how we can orient people to our Lord, to this joy, and to orient our nations towards their chief ends of submitting to Christ and ruling righteously.
Let’s talk about occasional and durational evangelism through infrastructure.
In his book The Fourth Turning Is Here, Neil Howe asks, “Are Americans prepared for the trauma that will result from the collapse of the current regime and rise of another?”
Who will win on the rise? The destructive phase gives rise to the constructive. Who will lead the next American republic?
If you are going to rightly situate yourself among the people in whom God has placed you, you must have both the righteous anger evoked from God’s glory being trampled and the agonizing compassion of men’s souls needing salvation and the chief end of yours and others’ joy. This is not accomplished merely by occasional evangelism but also by durational evangelism, which creates the infrastructure of order that orients people towards their Creator and King in the home, church, and civil sphere.
This is an important point. Evangelism is proclaiming the good news of Christ and, by the Holy Spirit, seeking to persuade people to turn from their allegiance to idols to enjoy Christ. It is orienting people toward their chief end: Joy in Christ, our Creator and King.
As Christians, we must have a zeal for evangelizing our neighbors. However, evangelism is not done merely by isolated occasions of gospel presentation, though they are necessary. Evangelism is also done over a duration of years, decades, and centuries of God’s people in a place and time, creating the infrastructure of Godly order that orients people towards their Creator and King in the home, church, society, and civil sphere.
Remember, from Acts 17:27, our Lord, through the Apostle Paul, tells us that He determines each nation’s times, places, and peoples “so they will seek Him.”
You could call this durational evangelism through orientational infrastructure—arranging all spheres of life to enjoy our Lord and His rule.
If you’re reading this and are a mother, I want to talk to you. Over the years, I have heard the discouragement that “I’m so busy taking care of kids that I just cannot get out and do evangelism or start Bible studies or x,y,z.”
Moms, listen. You are doing occasional evangelism, orienting your children to enjoy Christ, when you tell the gospel in your home, but you are also doing durational evangelism through orientational infrastructure when you set up and order your home to orient your children over the years to know, fear, and love their God and Savior so that when they leave your home, they will order their homes to orient future generations to enjoy their Savior and Lord.
Saints, when you order your personal life, home, business, and finances, and we together order our church, town, state, and nation according to God’s Word, we are establishing the infrastructure for long-term evangelism and discipleship that will bring about expansive and multiplying joy in Christ.
Churches need to think and plan together how to apply the truth that our city and state belong to Jesus for Him to rule over for His glory and our joy. We must consider the occasional and the durational evangelistic and discipleship infrastructure that will orient generations to enjoy our God and Savior.
Let me make an application. Abolishing abortion is crucial not just for saving preborn lives from slaughter but also because the legal practice of child sacrifice promotes the worship of our society’s primary idols: materialism and sexual immorality. These idols thrive on child sacrifice. By abolishing abortion, we wield Boniface’s axe against these modern deities; it’s a Great Commission work and creates cultural conditions where our neighbors might seek and find God. We could apply the same concept to LGBTQ+ perversion in schools, legal pornography, and a host of other “political” issues.
And why do we want our neighbors to seek and find God? Yes, indeed, so that their souls are saved. But what is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. As Christians, we joyously endeavor on the Great Commission’s works of reforming government to be a Christ-honoring institution for the salvation and JOY of our countrymen, though not all of them will see it that way. Many will shriek and gnash their teeth at the thought of losing their “right” to child sacrifice. Nonetheless, for their joy, we will abolish abortion.
For me, accomplishing this meant running for Senate. And let me tell you something about that race: I had three Republican opponents in the primary. One of them spent twice as much money as me during the race. The other two spent FOUR TIMES as much as me. But I won because I had the grassroots support and a church full of people committed to volunteering to put me in office.
Francis Schaeffer has a well-known statement, “Every abortion mill should have a banner over its doors: Open by permission of the church.”
We should apply that to politics: Every governing body should have a banner over its door, “Pagan by permission of the church.”
Imagine if the Christians in each district, state, or nation repented of their apathy and, with zeal for Christ’s glory and the people’s joy, did something about the governing authorities of our nation reflecting Christ’s sovereign rule. What impact that could have on our country!
Men, I want to challenge you: Has God put you in a position to run for office? You don’t have to know everything about running a successful campaign. I certainly didn’t before I ran last August. But, in God’s providence, I beat three well-funded candidates and the two most prominent campaign managers in the state with a circle of wise advisers and a team of passionate volunteers from our church and the community. If I did it, you can do it. To everyone not in a position to run for office yourself, look for opportunities to support salty Christians who do.
Conclusion
Christ, the One who is enthroned in heaven right now and will one day judge the nations is the one who established nations, so that we might seek and find everlasting joy in Him. That includes personal evangelism and durational evangelism through orientational infrastructure or order: Reforming our families, institutions, and governments so that they orient our countrymen toward seeking God.
If you have not yet been born again into Christ’s kingdom, seek God today while He still may be found. The end of your sin is death, misery, and suffering forever in the Lake of Fire. But the end of finding Christ is peace beyond understanding and joy everlasting.
As I survey the American landscape, it appears that God is stirring something up. Christians are rediscovering family discipleship, the singing of Psalms, and zealousness for the good of our nation. Abide in Christ.
Faithfully apply His Word to all spheres. Be provoked for the joy and salvation of your people. I sincerely appreciate your faithful stubbornness to harden against the enemies of all that is good, true, and beautiful, as well as your humble submission to the Lord for His glory and our joy.
This is good news—the nations belong to Christ. This should be a cause for great joy, even when we survey the political landscape and feel discouraged by what we see, for there is more to reality than our dim, mortal, sin-stained eyes can see.
Christ is King. He rules and reigns now. His people belong to him, and the nations belong to him, too. Governments can and must honor God now.
Because it’s not a question of if their knees will bow but when: Now, to claim Him as savior, or later, to meet Him only as Judge?
Our hope is in Christ as both Savior and Judge. So let’s work today like we believe that—and strive to bring all governments to order themselves unto their chief end: By joyfully submitting to Christ’s rule and reign and establishing justice.
