Saturday, October 14, 2017

October 15, 2017

"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?

October 14, 2017

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me......And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18; 20

The disciples had been with Jesus 24/7 for three years. They had seen His authority over evil, over disease, and recently, over sin and death.

Then, there was that time that Jesus sent them out two by two into the region to minister in His name and with His authority. They had experienced what it was like to take authority over evil, over disease and even over death. The Bible tells us that they came back rejoicing over the victories they had been able to win with His authority.

So, it makes sense that as Jesus was preparing to leave the planet and return to His Father that they might wonder what would happen to His authority. Would His authority depart with Him? This divine mandate He had just given them would take much more that what they possessed in the way of power and authority. It was a God-sized assignment and it would take God-sized help.

What would you be doing if you were them?

Well, now you are them! Their mandate is your mandate. It is still a God-sized job!

We need to hear what Jesus told them. "ALL authority in HEAVEN and on EARTH" is His. It resides in Him! He had the authority of Heaven and when He died and rose from the dead He regained all the authority on earth! It is the authority that Adam had forfeited by his sin. But Jesus, the Second Adam, took back what Adam had lost! So when Jesus said ALL authority that is exactly what He meant!

In short, what Jesus is saying is this, "I have all spiritual authority that exists in the universe and when you have Me you also have this authority"! 

Think about that!

Jesus was not just giving them a mandate, He was giving them the power to become a movement! And the history of the early Church indicates that when the believers clung to Jesus and received His authority - it was an unstoppable movement! When they worshiped and ministered in Jesus' Name they also operated in all of His authority.

Does Jesus still have that authority? Has he experienced a power shortage? Do we still get ALL authority when we get Jesus or did that change somewhere in the past 2,000 years?

If you are in Christ, you are in His authority!

Act like it!