The scepter of Christ is the scepter of righteousness. The hope of the Christian saint is that a new world will come in which righteousness abounds—not imputed (ascribed) righteousness but righteous behavior on the part of every citizen.

The righteous behavior of the new world will be behavior in harmony with God's law of moral-social behavior. God has left it to men to discover the laws of physics, of chemistry, of biology. But God has not left it up to us to discover moral-social laws. People attempt to formulate moral-social laws according to their own ideas but always fail tragically. Moral-social behavior must be practiced according to God's Word.

The two great moral-social laws are as follows: (1) to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and (2) to love our neighbor as ourselves. All the laws of righteousness come from these two laws of the Kingdom of God.

The goal of God is righteousness. The goal of mankind is peace and joy, with righteousness being a minor issue. The supreme goal of people is pleasure and the young people pursue fun. But fun is an impoverished cousin of joy. As people mature in Christ they understand clearly that peace and joy are of far more value than fleshly "fun," than animal thrills.

Fun often is frantic and may bring remorse. But peace is of true worth. There can be no true joy apart from peace. Fun cares little about peace because fun often is mixed with lusts and other demon-driven appetites of the flesh. People are having "fun" even when they are destroying their own bodies and minds. True joy, however, is a sister of peace.

Fun belongs to children. Peace and joy are the blessing of the spiritually mature and are the fruit of the Spirit of God.

The supreme goal of God for mankind is righteousness. The supreme goal of people is joy. Humans are dedicated to the pursuit of happiness. Because of this difference in priority a gap of lawlessness has been created in the Kingdom of God and also in the kingdoms of the world.

Let us consider first the gap of lawlessness in the kingdoms of the world, keeping in mind that the pursuit of joy, of happiness, is the top priority of human beings.

A monarchy is a form of government in which the law is interpreted and enforced by a king. The king determines what is righteous and virtuous and what is not righteous or virtuous. The king's judgment determines acceptable conduct. There have been some good and some evil kings of history—good or evil as judged by the Lord, who is the King of all kings and the Judge of all judges.

A monarchy governed by a king who is just, strong, and compassionate is the best form of government for mankind. The Kingdom of God is a righteous monarchy. Under a righteous monarchy the land is filled with law that protects the innocent and brings swift punishment on the lawbreakers.

To be continued.