Thursday, October 15, 2009

October 15, 2009

"All authority in heaven and on earth HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME" Matthew 28:18

Jesus certainly had authority. No one would argue that. It is not even debatable!

So, if God has all authority and Jesus is God's Son, He certainly could have given Him authority. But was that authority actually given to Him - or did He, in fact have to earn it?

The answer is, "Yes - and - no....."

What sort of an answer is that?

All authority in Heaven was God's and He did give it to Jesus. But the authority on earth belonged to the evil one who had wrested it from Adam in the Garden.

So, Jesus had to earn back that authority.

How do I know that?

I know that because of the three temptations that Jesus faced in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry. Those temptations were about Satan trying to negotiate over the authority that he had stolen from the first Adam and was now trying to protect by deceiving the Second Adam.

Satan stole the authority he has and is not about to give it up. Jesus had to die on the cross to pay the debt for Adam's sin and had to rise from the dead to conquer death. That was how He got the authority back. It was given - it was won! And because Jesus won it back from the evil one He can now give it to us.

But to get that authority we have to get Jesus - by faith! And we have to surrender our authority, our will, our selfish nature to Him. We have to die like Jesus died in order to live in His full authority!

He wants to give His authority to us - all authority! We can receive it freely because He purchased it for us!

What do you need to surrender in order to receive His authority?