We live in a world created by God (Genesis 1:1; Psalms 148:4-6; Isaiah 40:26), and He is the true ruler over it (Psalms 22:28; 29:10; Malachi 1:14) and will ultimately reign as King forever (Isaiah 9:1-7; Matthew 6:10; Revelation 11:15). But right now the earth groans under the reign of a usurper (2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2; Hebrews 2:14,15). Now God is still ultimately in control of all things (Ephesians 1:11; Romans 8:28; Daniel 4:17), and Christ has been victorious over Satan (Colossians 2:15; John 16:11; 1 John 4:4). But at the present time, we still live under the rule of the usurper. We are the resistance.
What are the implications of this? If we are just the upholders of the status quo, then we must fit in with the status quo. We can try to cheat a little and fit in with some earlier status quo we find more congenial. But we must have something we are upholding that at least looks like the status quo. If, on the other hand, we see ourselves as simply revolutionary, we can put ourselves in the position of trying to destroy almost everything. The current situation is all bad and must be completely altered. But if we are the resistance, it is our job to restore as much as possible the King's original good rule. Now a certain amount of the principles of that original rule remain intact (though there seems to be less every day). This is partly because the usurper, being extremely clever, has chosen to leave them intact and incorporate them into his rule, slowly distorting them over time. However, we cannot simply go along with the usurper's program or we will end up cooperating with his goals. Ultimately, we cannot just go along with the status quo or rebel against the status quo, but we need to carefully analyze whether a particular thing is good or bad or even a good thing that is being distorted to produce bad ends. That is what is means to be in the resistance. Let us trust in God for His wisdom (James 1:5).
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