7 Checkpoints: Ultimate Authority - To the Max

.:Maximum Freedom is found under God’s Authority:.

Freedom is a big deal. Everyone thinks that they have some idea about what Freedom is all about. Some believe that Anarchy is the only true freedom. Spend some time over in Amsterdam’s red light district. It’s a place where anything goes. It’s a place that is full of open prostitution and drug use. Most people don’t want to live that way. People from all over the world want to come to the United States because of the freedom that we have. What does that mean? We do have a government. We have a large police force.

I pull a knife out and walk over to _____________ and stab you right in the heart. What will happen to you? You will die. What happened to your freedom? The boundary to your freedom was a choice that I made. That must mean that in a place that you thought you were completely free, you really weren’t. Just the fact there are no rules is a problem, because that in itself is a rule. It is impossible to live in a world without rules, because there will always be rules.

Freedom is a huge thing. It is an ideal that men strive for. Most stories of heroes have something to do with someone wanting freedom from something.

Boston Tea Party, Revolutionary War, Civil War, Operation: Desert Storm, Operation: Iraqi Freedom

When you become a senior you will probably go on a senior trip, either with a small group of friends, or with your class. A lot of teens go on these senior trips and experience things that they regret for the next several years of their lives. They are free. They are in Cancun or Myrtle Beach or Jamaica or Miami Beach. There is no one looking over their shoulder telling what they can and can’t do. They want to live life to it’s fullest. So they get stupid. They do things that they regret. They destroy relationships. Some teens that have made a commitment to be sexually pure end up giving it all away to someone. I mean isn’t that what it’s all about. Isn’t that fun? Getting drunk and passing out. Throwing up. All because they are now free.

Freedom is not the absence of rules. It isn’t doing whatever pleases me the most. Rules will always be there. But freedom is knowing what rules to follow. Our pledge of allegiance has the phrase “UNDER GOD” in it. Those two words are the key to finding freedom. Maximum freedom is found under God’s authority.

Romans 13:1-2
1. Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
2. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

This verse is pretty straight-forward.
Who must submit to authority? Everyone
Why must everyone submit to authority? Because God established it.

Who is God? What is your view of God? What place does God have in your life?

The authorities that exist have been established by God.

Stop me if you’ve heard this -
In the beginning, GOD created the heavens and the earth.

God was here first…… not you and not me

Every sentence has a noun and a verb. In Genesis chapter 1, every sentence has a noun and a verb. The noun in every sentence is the same. (Read it)

Job 40 and 41 (probably one of the most powerful expressions of who God is)
Job’s response in Job 42: 1-6

How many of you have a problem with you mom or dad giving you the answer, “Because I said so…”? Why is that?

Isaiah 6:1-5
The prophet Isaiah had a vision of the awesomeness of who God is, and he describes it.

Let me make a counter-cultural statement

We don’t submit to our parents authority, and we don’t submit to the legal authorities, because we don’t have a proper understanding of our place. We don’t understand where we fit. Every part of us is wanting to create our own boundaries instead of living inside boundaries that are already created. In short we have a desire to be the ultimate authority of our own lives. I make the rules. The problem is that there is only one ultimate authority, and that is God.

Who is God, that I should listen and obey? The Bible tells us that God is love. God is the friend that sticks closer than a brother. God is fair. It also very clearly tells us that God is the Ultimate Authority (The Stone was rolled away)
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Breakout Session Guide -
Is “Because I said so” ever an adequate reason for obedience? Why or Why not?

Have your parents ever asked you to do something that you didn’t do on purpose? What was it and why didn’t you do it?

Name five authority figures (or 5 relationships that you have – my parent; my coach; my teacher; my probation officer; etc…) who you have deliberately disobeyed at any time in your life. (Name more if you can)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What would cause you to make the decision to not obey the instructions of an authority figure? (Is there something that you are expecting from them before you will obey them? Are you just stubborn?)