Use the AUTHORITY that Jesus gave you
The long battle for authority in the earth started in the garden and finished with the empty tomb. Even though Jesus triumphed over sin and death, stripping them of their authority over humanity, winning for Himself all authority, not only in the earth, but in heaven also, the war is not over.
The price has been paid. Salvation is secured for all who call upon the Risen Lord, but the war is not over. On the contrary, for us, the war has only just begun. All Believers have been entrusted with the ministry of RECONCILIATION. Our battles still lay before us.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:17-21).
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore people on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”. NIV
Each Believer, everyone who is called by the name of Christ, has been given the ministry of reconciling this world to God through the good news of Christ’s sacrifice.
We are AMBASSADORS, honored representatives of the Kingdom of God. God is making his appeal to the inhabitants of this earth through each of us. Our Heavenly Father would not send us into battle for the souls of the lost without equipping us for the task. The Spirit dwells in us and is not only empowering us but leading us into all truth and Christ in us has been awarded every power and authority.
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. (Col 2:8-10). NIV
Jesus, having received all authority and power, in turn, delegates that authority to His Believers. This doesn’t mean Jesus has given His followers a blank check to spend however they see fit. The authority invested in Christ is not trivial or to be considered lightly. It is not for disciples to use at their own discretion.
On the contrary, we are to submit ourselves to the authority of Jesus and be used by Him as He wills. So much of the teaching in the church for the last thirty years has twisted the Word of God around backwards. If you want to understand the source of the power in Jesus’ ministry, listen to the words of Jesus Himself: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does…” (John 5:19).
Jesus was submitted to His Father. Jesus didn’t decide what miracles He was going to do, He just followed the Father’s instructions. He only did what He was instructed to do by The Father. Because Jesus was completely obedient to follow His Father’s instructions, God could manifest His power through His yielded Son. Likewise, if we, as Followers of Christ Jesus, want to be used by God, we have to submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus.
That means more than just confessing with our mouths that Jesus is Lord. It means we have to be submitted to His lordship. Slaves are obedient to their master. Slaves don’t do their own thing. If a slave wants to be trusted by his master, he follows his master’s instructions.
We’re no longer slaves, but sons and therefore fully accepted in the beloved. And He gave us the keys to bring the kingdom of God on earth. “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:19).
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it”. (John 14:12-14).
Jesus tells his followers they will do the works he is doing, and greater, because he is going to the Father. Many teachers have taken John 14:12-14 and made lots of money telling churches God will do whatever a person wants if they ask in the name of Jesus.
But look at the meaning of what Jesus is saying, it’s spelled out in the parentheses. Jesus is saying, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” This is a far cry from most teachings, but it fits in perfectly with the context of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus exercised miraculous power because he only did what he saw the Father doing. The Father approved of Jesus’ submitted life, and proved it with signs and wonders and miraculous displays of God’s power.
We are told that we will do these same things, if like Jesus, we are submitted, and ask in the authority and character of Jesus, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.
Jesus actually encouraged us to ask the Father. “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (Jn 16:23-24).
God put his seal of approval on Jesus’ submitted life and worked miracles through Him and now is assigning us to do the same. “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us“ (Eph 3:20).Remember Peter’s speech: “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know…” (Acts 2:22)
God likewise approved of the ministry of Paul and Barnabas and made it possible for signs and wonders to be done by working through them. “So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders” (Acts 14:3).
God approves of the Gospel message of salvation with His miraculous seal of approval, and displays His power, not as any individuals desire, but according to the will of the Holy Spirit, which is at work among humanity.God also testified to it (the message of salvation) by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. –Hebrews 2:4
God also testified to it (the message of salvation) by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. –Hebrews 2:4
Many religious teachers will say, “Those displays of power have been done away with. They are not for today. If God was still doing these things, we would see them now!” But listen instead to the Word of God!
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows“ (James 1:17). Because through Jesus we have been made sons of God, we are now partakers of the same inheritance as Jesus had, including the same authority and power as Jesus has, to bring God’s will on earth as it is in heaven, and to destroy the works of the devil. He lives in us, and it’s His power working through us.
We have been given His name to use in order to operate here on earth in His stead, and in His authority. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil“ (1Jn 3:8b).
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (Jn 14:12-13).