Dear Friends,
As I sit at my computer on the eve of this week’s General Election, there is the real danger that I will write something that looks very foolish in the light of the result that will be known by the time you read this. What kind of government will have been elected? Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure it won’t be one with absolute power, nor one that will last for ever. Indeed, recent governments haven’t been able to get much done, and they haven’t lasted long.
We are rightly nervous of rulers who have too much power. We hear of dictatorships and we are glad to see checks and balances to prevent anyone becoming too powerful. We want our rulers to have enough power to get things done, but no one can be trusted with too much power. And we certainly don’t want them to govern for ever; no government is good enough for that.
And yet that is what God promised the first Christmas: a ruler with absolute power who would reign for ever. Here’s what the angel Gabriel told Mary about the boy she would bear: “He … will be called the Son of the Most High … his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:32, 34, NIV). Now, you don’t get more powerful than the “Most High” (an Old Testament name for God himself). But, far from being a threat, the world longs for such a ruler because we can trust him to do what is right – always. Here at last is good government. And so we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus”.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)
15th December 2019