Hierarchy and the Crook and the Flail

The power of Satan is best represented in this world by his system of reward and punishment, his duel system of good and evil (think The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil). In this ranking system, addressed by Jesus in Mark 10:42, you are (seemingly) fine until you break the rules, and then your punishment always embodies the threat or act of violence (an act offensive to God).

Hierarchy originated in this Jekyll and Hyde system of contrasted good and evil, where value and freedom depend on one’s success at dominating others or on whether one is naughty or nice (by the arbitrary standard of those in power).

God abhors Satan’s divided hierarchical system because it is totally antithetical to His undivided government of indiscriminate, unconditional, and self-sacrificing (agape) love. God always treats His creatures the same whether they are good or bad. In God’s government mutual submission (relational subordination) is of greatest importance. Jesus lived and died to reveal this.

To pin any sort of hierarchy on God is to insult Him by making Him in the image of Satan’s divided and violent system of iniquity.