The definition of Chalcedon put the final nail in the coffin of statism. Jesus was not a man who became God, He was God become a man, the Word made flesh. Humanity cannot grow up into deity. The State cannot be omnipotent. It can print money from nothing, but it cannot add value to anything. It can pass laws, but it cannot create rights. It can surveil its citizens, but it cannot see everything. It can involve itself in most things, but it cannot hold everything together. It is not omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent, even if it has nuclear weapons, access to your phone's microphone and browser history, and a camera on every corner.
The doctrine of the sovereignty of God guards against a false hope in a comprehensive, worldwide government and the doctrine of total depravity guards against thinking that would be a good idea in the first place. If there is no buck beyond the state, then the state is god. But if God is above the state, then it must answer to Him and if it goes wrong, it can and should be held accountable. The civil magistrate is the deacon of God's wrath. Deacons have a lot of liberty to execute their office, but never outside of the authority of their elders. In this case, they answer to the session that is God almighty. They have real authority vested in them, but that is because the One above them has real authority to give. He is the source of their authority. Their sway is derivative. His is substantive. He does not forfeit authority in deputizing the state, He reinforces His authority over all things by establishing the office of civil government.
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