God would not tolerate men’s sinning against Himself, and He would not tolerate men’s sinning against His servants. Not only did God forbid men to sin against Himself, but He also forbade men to sin against His priests and prophets. God appointed authority among the children of Israel, and when they offended His authority, judgments and punishments would come upon them. Those who offended His authority were not allowed to enter the land of Canaan.
After they entered the land of Canaan, the Israelites again flagrantly rebelled against God. They wanted to have a king among them. They did not want God to rule over them; they wanted to follow the way of the world to have a king among them. God said to Samuel, “It is not you whom they have rejected, but they have rejected Me” (1 Sam. 8:7). Saul was chosen, and he was followed by David. God appointed David to be the authority, and through his hands gathered the materials for the building of the temple, a place for His dwelling among His people. At the time of Solomon, the temple was built.
Immediately after Solomon’s death, the Israelites turned to idols. From that day forward, the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah were forsaken. Although God tolerated them for many years and allowed them to keep their kings, it was only His promise to David that kept the nation of Israel, not His desire for keeping it. Nothing offends God more than idolatry. Idolatry usurps the worship of God. From that point forward, the history of Israel became nothing but a history of rebellion.
When Jesus of Nazareth appeared, He was God’s chosen One on earth. He said that He spoke only what He heard and that He could do nothing from Himself except what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19). He did not seek His own will but the will of the One who sent Him (v. 30). Here was a man who would not speak or act by Himself. He submitted fully to God’s authority.
The Lord Jesus is God Himself. Yet He did not consider being equal with God a treasure to be grasped, but emptied Himself fully under God’s authority. After His death on the cross, God raised Him from among the dead and highly exalted Him to be the Lord and Christ and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil. 2:5-11).
The Lord formed His church after His ascension. He did not establish His church in the way that men establish a society or an organization. The resurrected and ascended Lord is now the Head of the church. The church is His Body. In other words, He wants to manifest the submissive life which He lived on earth through the church today.
The gospel constitutes a commandment in the Bible. The Bible shows us that after one hears the gospel, he should believe. But at the time he believes the gospel, he should also submit to the gospel. The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God (Acts 5:32). We are people who have obeyed from our hearts the word which was preached to us (Rom. 6:17). Please bear in mind that the receiving of the Lord Jesus and our faith and salvation in Him are related to obedience. This is God’s commandment; He is charging men everywhere to believe in it. Therefore, to believe is to submit. A person should learn to submit to the Lord and to God’s authority from the first day he enters the church.