You can go elsewhere if you would like to read an obituary of the late Queen Elizabeth II, others who have more to say on the subject have surely written such a thing by now. This author is not aiming to lionise or demonise her memory, to weigh in on her eternal destination, the new King Charles, or to call for a switch to a Republican form of government.
So, what’s left to say? Well, we invite the considerate reader to take a step back and think conceptually about monarchy. Years ago, this author was struck when he overheard a Christian casually say that Iran isn’t unique, because every country is a theocracy. Iran and the Vatican City are the two formal Theocracies in the world today in 2022, but the reality is every country has a God, just as every person has a God (whether they recognise it or not).
In a similar way, we must realise that since Christ has ascended in victory to his Father, and all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him, there is not a maverick molecule in all the world over which Christ’s royal sceptre does not extend (to roughly paraphrase Kuyper). Christ is currently the King of Estonia and Libya and Portugal, just as he is the King of Massachusetts and California and Oregon. He is the King in the science class, he is the King in the music room, and in the kitchen. He is the King when you enter the sanctuary, when you are out for work drinks, and when you’re cracking open a cold one all by yourself.
It is not that Christ someday will be King over these things. Granted, Satan and his demons have presence and power and activity all over the earth, and much of the world obeys his devilish schemes, such that he can be called ‘the god of this world’, but his administration and authority is so many rungs lower than that of King Jesus that it is inappropriate to think of The Adversary as the final and ultimate King of this world.
We will try to be as broad-brush as we can here, and not exclude the gentle reader for holding to a different understanding of eschatology (the study of the last things), but this author will assert the following:
- The New Creation has begun in the regeneration of the elect (Gal 6:15, 2 Cor 5:17), but it has not reached its fullness, for it will continue to spread like leaven throughout the loaf or the branches from the mustard seed (Mark 4:30-32).
- Christ Jesus has Kingly authority and jurisdiction over every single atom in all of creation, including those persons and nations which are currently in rebellion against him (Matthew 28:18, Proverbs 21:1).
- Though Christ Jesus rightly has this authority, we don’t yet see its final state of fulfilment, since not all things are yet in subjection to him, though they will be eventually (1 Cor 15:26-28).
- The Kingdom of God has arrived, and had already arrived in Jesus’ day (Luke 11:20), though not in its fullness.
- To say that Christ’s Kingdom is ‘not of this world’ is to say that it is of a different order and nature than the mere petty kingdoms of this world which so easily fade. It does not mean that his Kingdom is not in this world, and it does not mean that his Kingly authority should be ignored by our nations and laws.
So, how should this change how we see Monarchy or Theocracy? For starters, we should realise that Kings and Queens are not a vain invention of man, but a proper office instituted by God which is also answerable and accountable to God. Likewise, though Australia doesn’t formally recognise a Supreme Leader for itself like Ali Khamenei in Iran or like Pope Francis in the Vatican, Australia does worship a god—and most importantly, the wrong one.
Therefore, recognising that all nations are essentially theocratic isn’t tantamount to calling for a return to pagan models of theocracy from history, nor for calling for a return to the particular and unique form of direct theocracy that Israel experienced when Yahweh could be found and spoken to directly by Moses in the tent.
If the patient reader is finding this confusing, let us spell it out: Jesus is both God and King, and deserves to be officially recognised as such (like the example set by Poland, though that nation is predominantly stuck in the cold dead clutches of Roman Catholicism, and not of a Christianity with a Gospel that can save).
The application of this is as follows: if you are a fellow Australian who is now zealously campaigning for the switch to a Republican form of government, whether due to its benefits, or due to a disdain for royalty, or monarchy more specifically, remember that monarchy is truly inescapable, and that if you abolish the office of King or Queen, then that position of spiritual figurehead will be improperly assumed by someone else (to use some American examples, it is no accident that Elvis was ‘the King’ and Beyoncé is ‘the Queen’). So, this is a cautionary word. Regardless of how you feel about Elizabeth, or Charles, or the other royal families, haemophiliacs and cousins all the way, do not underestimate the incredible uniting force of having a good King or a good Queen who can properly represent his or her people and be the manifestation of their ideals, the representation of their spirit and the voice they need to hear in times of war and strife.
Finally, we are commanded to pray for all kinds of men, whether kings, authorities or rulers. We are to pray for their salvation, for their wisdom, for the wisdom of their counsellors, and that they may conduct themselves in a way that honours God. If you find yourself unable to pray for the welfare of that elderly man Charles, this is a friendly exhortation to you to remember the simple commandment that you must love others as yourself.
Whether or not Australia will now become a republic, we must all recognise that there will always be a king in the land, because men were made in such a way that we always worship a god of some kind, and we also have the propensity to make men into kings.
Therefore, until Christ himself is recognised as the King of Australia, this author will repeat those well-known words, “The Queen is dead. Long live the King.”
Distilled Orthopraxy 