Since the kingdom of God is a matter of God’s reigning, it is also a matter of God’s administration. The Bible shows that in order to obtain a kingdom, God must bring in His administration. The Bible shows not only that God grants us His grace but even more that God has an administration toward us. God has an administration toward the entire universe and the whole human race, and much more toward His children and His house, His church. His administration is His government. We should not have an inaccurate concept, thinking that God grants us His grace in a light and casual way. God’s granting us His grace and salvation is for the carrying out of His administration. All God’s work in us is based upon and according to His administration. God has a plan in the entire universe and in the church. Everything in God’s plan must be executed through His governmental administration. God’s salvation is not only a matter of grace but also a matter of His administration.
God in His plan intends to obtain a full kingdom in the universe. He desires to obtain a kingdom that encompasses the universe. Within the sphere of the entire universe, every single creature will submit to His authority. He desires to bring all the creatures under His divine authority. Through such a reign He will be able to carry out His will and fulfill His desire, and as a result, He will be able to express His glory, that is, express Himself. In order to obtain such a kingdom in the universe, He must take certain steps in His governmental administration.
After Satan tempted man to rebel against God, the first step God took in the execution of His administration was to give His salvation to man. God gives salvation to man so that man may submit to His Son and receive the ruling of the heavens. We should never think that our being saved is something coincidental or accidental. The coming of salvation to us is a matter of the execution of God’s administration upon us; it is the execution of God’s divine governmental administration and arrangement upon us. Since God has such a plan, He executes it accordingly, carrying out His salvation in us so that we may become His kingdom.
After our salvation the second step of God’s administration begins in us—He brings a heavenly authority, a heavenly kingdom, upon us and into us to which we must submit. From the time we are saved, God’s desire is not merely to exhort and teach us to be perfect; rather, He desires to make us perfect through His administration. If He merely exhorted and taught us to be perfect, it would not be a matter of His administration. Since the first step of God’s administration is to make us His kingdom, He must take the second step to execute His administration in us. After we are saved, He desires that we continually submit to the authority of the kingdom, that is, that we be ruled by the kingdom. This is a matter of His governmental administration. This is not merely a matter of teaching, instructing, nurturing, or exhorting but a matter of carrying out His governmental administration.
If God gave us merely teaching or exhortation, it would indicate that He desired only that we be perfectly good men. However, after we are saved, the second step of God’s work in us is a governmental administration, a governmental execution. He requires us to be subject to the authority of the heavens and to be ruled by the kingdom. It is not sufficient for us merely to be perfect, nor is it adequate for us merely to have the thought to do good. We must see that God has a government, an administration, to be carried out in us. The reason we conduct ourselves and work in a certain way is not merely so that we would do good but so that we would be ruled by God. The reason we do not do things or act in a certain way is not merely to avoid making mistakes but so that we would be ruled by God. We have clearly seen that today God simply desires that we submit to His authority. This is the second step of God’s administration upon us after our salvation.
Regrettably, after being saved, few submit to this authority. For instance, after being saved, a brother is brought under God’s ruling, which requires him not to lose his temper with his wife as he did before. From this point on, his losing his temper with his wife is not only a lack of morality but also an expression of not being restricted or ruled by God. This means that he not only commits an offense against his wife but he also rebels against God’s ruling. He is one who is saved and who has been brought into God’s kingdom through His salvation. In him God has a kingdom administration, a governmental execution. Under the ruling of His kingdom God does not permit His children to lose their temper freely or treat their wives loosely. If a brother treats his wife properly, it indicates not only that he is a good husband but also that he submits to God’s authority. Conversely, if he as a husband does not conduct himself properly in that he loses his temper all the time, it indicates not only that he is not a good husband but also that he rebels against God. This means that he does not submit to the second step of God’s governmental administration.