Thus in the cross of Christ the relationship between Christ and Caesar stands at once in the be

‘Thus in the cross of Christ the relationship between " Christ and Caesar " stands at once in the beginning and at the center of the Christian faith . As a corollary , the problem , " Church and State , " is posed for the Church at all times , forever : " For my sake you will be dragged be fore princes and kings , to bear witness before them and the gentiles " ( Matt . 10 : 18 ) . This does not mean that the Church must of necessity be persecuted by the State : it does mean , however , that it must always reckon with the fact that it can be persecuted by the State .’

Cullmann, Oscar. The State in the New Testament. Scribner, 1956, //catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001410917, pp. 24-25.

Thinking of this concept, as the State being one of the major persecuting factors of Christ and His Church, even going so far as Christ’s death being ultimately enacted by the Roman state, on behalf of Caesar, it is a strange duality we are presented with. We have Satan working in and through the state to do what he does, and seek to destroy the work of Christ. However, we also see God using the same state, indeed the very same *circumstances*, in order to accomplish His plans. In seeking to undermine God and His plans, Satan actually accomplished those plans. This is the duality we are presented with. The ruler of this earth so twists the institution of the state through authorities and principalities under his control, that they become one of the major persecutors of the Church, and God tells us we are to expect this persecution.