Enforce The Victory Of The Cross
I was raised in the church, but it was only in my early twenties that I really got saved. And in our missionary journey around the world, we’ve worked with many denominations but none of them taught that Christians should live in dominion in this life, and that the authority that Christ gave, was actually given to every believer.
In other words, embedded in our new identity and inheritance, is not only the blessing of salvation, but a commission and a responsibility to reach out to others and to affect the world around us, along with the power and ability to do it. If we were to look up all the “whosoever” verses in the Bible, we’d be shocked to see how the great commission really wasn’t passed on to the apostles only, nor to “priests” and “pastors” or “clergy”, but to “whosoever”, meaning to whoever believes.
Most Christians don’t believe that they have power. I know I did not really believe it for many years, or I should say, I didn’t realize I had power. I thought that the great commission was only Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”, and I witnessed plenty. But I gave no regards to the verses following that are actually in the same sentence. When Jesus gave the great commission to all believers, He added, “…and these signs will follow those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mk 16:17-18). So in reality, that “great commission” is given to all of us believers, along with the ability and the power to perform it. We are to:
- Preach the gospel to all nations and people.
- Work miracles in Jesus’ name to testify to the gospel.
- Baptize new believers, and
- Disciple those who receive Christ
Jesus gave us the authority to enforce the victory of the kingdom of God on earth. He said, “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). That power was given to every believer and it is also a command; a commission!
In other words, because Jesus lives in us, we can do those “works” that He did. It says, “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name” (Lk 10:17). It worked then, and it works now.…
But our faith only works if we work it. “Faith without works is dead”. It only can work if we practice it. All of us who are born again have that victory made available to us. “For whosoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our (practiced) faith“ (1Jn5:4).
We possess the “power of attorney” from the highest authority in the world to alter any circumstances and to bring them into alignment with God’s will. It may be hard to believe, but that’s precisely the key: If and when we believe and practice our beliefs, we bring about those victories. Why? Because Jesus won the war. “God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:9-11).
John said, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil“ (1Jn 3:8). And Jesus did so throughout His life by healing the sick and casting out demons, but He also destroyed the works of satan in the end, by paying the full price for the redemption of man. The enemy is defeated. The Word says, “who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1Jn 5:5).
The new covenant makes it possible for Christ to live in us. Of course, the devil really tries to pester us with lies, doubts and fears to dissuade us from letting Christ live through us. Jesus said, “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” (Jn 14:12).
So, the key is to believe and to enforce that victory. We have Jesus abiding in us. “The Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one” (1Jn 2:14). It is our activated faith that brings victories “FAITH is the victory that overcomes the world” (1Jn5:4). Jesus has empowered all of us to operate with His authority on earth. So instead of one Jesus destroying the works of the devil, now there are millions of us with the same power and authority.
ALL of us believers have that power 1Jn 4:4 says, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” So we CAN’T loose because He’s already WON… It says “ABOVE ALL, taking the shield of FAITH with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (Eph 6:16).
This is so powerful if we can get that full revelation: It’s our FAITH in trusting that God’s Word is true and trustworthy, and using that Word against the enemy. “We’re more than CONQUERORS through our (exercised) FAITH that overcomes the world”.
So when we are under attack, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him” (Isa 59:19), that’s when we raise our badge. That’s when we enforce the kingdom of God and destroy the works of the devil. We’ve already been brought into the victory “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love“.
The Word of God has the power to alter circumstances and what appears to us like facts. Heb 4:12 says, “For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart“.
So let’s impose the Word and command (with His authority) that victory that Christ paid for, on any lie, any sickness, any darkness and on any demonic work around us. Bind and loose!!!