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Scripture Reading: Gen. 2:16-17; 3:1-6; Rom. 5:19
Let us consider the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2 and 3. After Adam was created, God gave him some instructions. He commanded Adam not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We must realize that this was not merely a matter of eating or not eating the forbidden fruit. Rather, God put Adam under a kind of authority with a view that Adam would submit to it. God entrusted all creation to Adam’s authority so that Adam would manage and be the authority over all the creation. At the same time, God put Adam under His own authority so that Adam would learn to submit to authority. Only those who submit to authority can themselves be authorities.
In the order of God’s creation, He first created Adam and then Eve. God destined that Adam would be the authority and that Eve would be under Adam’s authority. God set one to be the authority and the other to submit. In the old creation and in the new creation, the order of precedence is the basis of authority. Whoever is created first is the authority. Whoever is saved first is the authority. For this reason, wherever we go, our first thought should be to find those to whom the Lord wants us to submit. Wherever we are, we have to see authority, and we also have to submit to authority.
Man’s fall came from not submitting to authority. Eve did not check with Adam; she made the decision. She saw that the fruit was good for food and pleasant to the eyes, so she took liberty and made the decision herself. Before she stretched forth her hand to pick the fruit, she first used her head to think and receive the temptation. Then she assumed the headship by stretching forth her hands. Hence, the taking of the fruit by Eve did not come from submission. Rather, it came from the decision of the self. Not only did she transgress God’s commandment, she also disregarded Adam’s authority. Rebellion against God’s deputy authority is rebellion against God Himself. Adam listened to Eve’s word and took of the fruit. This was worse; it was in disobedience to God’s direct command. As a result, Adam also disregarded God’s authority and was rebellious.
While we live on this earth, our first question should not be whether or not we should do a certain thing. Rather, in doing a certain thing, we should ask to whom are we submitting. It is not a matter of doing or not doing. It is a matter of to whom we submit. Without submission there is no work and there is no service. When Adam took the fruit, the first question that should have been asked was whether or not this was in submission to God. All of the work of a Christian should come out of submission. Nothing is of our own initiative; everything is responsive. No act is active; everything is passive. In other words, everything should be initiated by God; nothing should be initiated by us.
Not only was Eve under the authority of God; she was also under the authority that God had set — Adam. Eve had to submit to a double command and a double authority. This is the same for us today. Eve only thought of the fruit being good for food. She did not know to whom she should submit in eating. From the very beginning, God wanted man to submit rather than to propose his own ideas. Eve’s act, however, originated from her own idea, not from submission. She neither submitted to God’s arrangement nor to God’s authority. Instead, she proposed her own idea, transgressed against God, and became fallen. To fall is to act without submission. An act that has no submission behind it is rebellion.
The more submission a man has, the less acts there are with him. At the beginning of a man’s pursuit after the Lord, there are many acts and little submission. As he progresses, the acts become fewer, until in the end only submission is left. When many encounter work, they like to take action. They do not like to be still. They do not care whether or not there is submission. For this reason, many works are done by the self, not through heeding and obedience.
Man should not do anything out of a knowledge of right and wrong. Rather, he should do all things out of obedience. The principle of discerning good and evil is the principle of living by right and wrong. Before Adam and Eve took the fruit, their right and wrong were in God. If they did not live before God, they knew nothing; both their right and wrong were just God Himself. But after man received of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he found a source of discerning between right and wrong apart from God. As a consequence, after man’s fall, there was no need for him to seek after God. He could get along by himself. He could isolate himself from God and judge between right and wrong. This is the fall. The work of redemption enables us to turn back to God for our right and wrong.
All authority is from God because everything is ordered by God. If we trace any authority upward, we eventually will come to God. God is above all authorities, and every authority is under Him. Once we touch God’s authority, we touch God Himself. Basically, God’s work is not carried out by power, but by authority. He upholds everything by the word, which is of His authority. Creation came about through the word of His authority. His word is His authority. We do not know how God’s authority works. But we know that God accomplishes everything through His authority.
The centurion whose servant was sick knew that there was an authority above him to which he should submit, inasmuch as there were those under him who submitted to him. Therefore, he only needed the Lord to say one word, and he believed that the matter would then be taken care of. He knew that all authority was in the Lord’s hand; he believed in the Lord’s authority. This is why the Lord said that He had found no faith greater than this. Meeting God’s authority is the same as meeting God. Today God appoints authorities everywhere in the universe. All the orbits in the universe are established by Him; all the ways in the world are set up by Him. Hence, they are all under His authority. Offending God’s authority is the same as offending God Himself. A Christian should submit to authority.
Our position is to be under others’ authority on the one hand, while having others under our authority on the other hand. Other than God Himself, everyone, including the Lord Jesus, has to submit to authority on earth. We should see authority everywhere. Both at home and in school there are authorities. When you see a policeman on the street, even though you may know that he is incapable and that his learning is not as high as yours, you have to consider him as God’s appointed authority. When a few brothers are together, they should know how to line themselves up immediately. Everyone should know where he stands. A worker should know who is his authority. Some never realize who their authority is. They have never submitted to anyone. With us there should never be right or wrong, good or evil. Wherever we go, we should first know who is the authority. If you know who you have to submit to, you will spontaneously know what position you should occupy in the Body, and you will stand in your proper position. But there are many Christians today in whom there is not even a thought about submission. For them everything is confused; with them there is no such thing as keeping one’s position. Submission is the first lesson for those who work. It is actually the major part of their work.
When Adam fell, the order in the universe was destroyed. We should never try to differentiate between good and evil. Rather, we should submit to authority. Man is prone to judge good and evil by himself. He feels that this is good and that is not good. It seems as if man’s judgment is clearer than God’s. This, however, is a condition of foolishness and the fall. This must be removed from us, for this is nothing but rebellion.
The scant submission that we see now is not enough. Some think that it is enough to be baptized and forsake the denominations. But this is not enough. There are many young students who think that God is chastising them by requiring them to submit to their teachers. There are many wives who think that God is chastising them by requiring them to submit to a husband who is impossible to live under. There are many Christians who are still living in rebellion. They have not learned even the basic step in submission.
Submission in the Bible is submission to God’s appointed authority. How shallow is the submission which has been preached hitherto! Submission is the basic principle. If the matter of authority is not solved, nothing can be done well. Faith is the principle by which we receive life, while submission is the principle by which we conduct our living. All of the divisions and denominations of the church today come from rebellion. In order to restore authority, submission must be restored first. Many are accustomed to acting as the head; they have never known submission. But we must learn submission. It must become our reaction.
God has not hidden one thing from us concerning authority. In the church, whether directly or indirectly, God has shown us how to submit to authority. Many only know about submission to God; they do not know about submission to authorities. Because all authorities are from God, everyone has to submit to authority. All of man’s problems are due to living outside the realm of God’s authority.
Today God is taking the way of the recovery of the oneness of the Body of Christ. In order to have the oneness of the Body, there must first be the life of the Head and then the authority of the Head. Without the life of the Head, there is no Body. Likewise, without the authority of the Head, there is no oneness of the Body. We must allow the life of the Head to rule so that the Body can become one. God requires that we submit not only to Him, but also to all His deputy authorities. All the members have to learn to submit to one another. The Body is one. The Head and the Body are also one. God’s will can be accomplished only when the authority of the Head prevails. God wants the church be the kingdom of God.
A servant of God will eventually encounter authority in the universe, in his community, in his home, or in the church. If a man has never met God’s authority, how can he submit to God? This is not a matter of doctrine or teaching. If it is, it will still be abstract to us. Some think that submission to authority is a very difficult thing. But it is not difficult when one meets God. Unless God’s mercy is upon us, no one can submit to God’s authority. For this reason, there should be a few points for us to learn:
(1)There must be a spirit of submission.
(2)There must be the training in submission. Some people are like savages; they cannot come under any submission. We have appointed a housekeeper for every household with the hope that we would all learn submission. [Translator’s Note: This refers to the dormitories of the training in which these messages were delivered.] Everyone should receive training by standing in the proper position. One who has learned the lesson or who has been trained will not feel restricted no matter where he is placed. He will spontaneously live out submission without any difficulty.
(3)One must learn to be a deputy authority. A worker of God must not only learn submission to authority; he must also learn to be God’s deputy authority in the church and in the home. If God entrusts him with many things, and if he has learned to submit under God’s authority, he will not feel boastful about anything. However, some who have learned to submit to others find that they do not know how to be the authority when they are brought by God to a place to work. Therefore, not only do we have to learn to submit to authority, but we also have to learn to be the authority and to stand in the proper position. On the one hand, the church suffers because many do not submit. On the other hand, the church suffers because many do not know how to be the authority by standing in the proper position.
