Authority in Christ
“The chief weapon we ought to use in resisting Satan is the Bible. Three times the great enemy offered temptations to our Lord. Three times his offer was refused, with a text of Scripture as the reason, “it is written” (Mt. 3:4, 7, 10).
J.C. Ryle - Commentary: Matthew 4.
Scripture tells us that we have authority from Christ to do his works and even greater ones than he performed (John 14:12). Since that is the truth, then why aren’t the children of God exercising their God given authority for the growth and health of the Body of Christ?
I am reminded of the incident in the gospel of Mark when Jesus went to his hometown and could perform no great miracle because of their unbelief (Mark 6:5-6).
Yesterday, my mother was very sick and she called me over to her house to sit with her. As I arrived I noticed she was very, very ill and wasn’t looking well at all. I sat down for a brief moment and then felt the need to lay my hands on her and pray for her recovery. As I was about to pray, “Dear Lord please heal her,” I was immediately overcome by an audible voice in my mind which said, “Do not beg child, believe.” I then rebuked the sickness as Christ exampled for us in the gospels with authority and faith. Within five minutes her sickness left and fever broke.
I realized at that moment that too many times we pray for a healing or other miracle of God and then beg our way into the throne room of the Father. I do not remember ever hearing Christ telling us to beg and grovel our way to a miracle, he simply said to believe. (John 16:23-27 - ask). The Father himself loves us so much because we have believed in His only begotten Son that He is very willing to work on our behalf if we simply ask and stand firm in the knowledge that “if God be for us, who can be against us?”
The gospel of Matthew tells us twice that if we have faith in the things we ask of the Father, we could literally move mountains; curse a fig tree into death, and much more (Matthew 7:7 -8, 21:21-22). This is not a mere spiritual mountain or fig tree Christ is speaking of in these discourses. He is speaking of a literal mountain and a fruit tree that is tangible and physical. So why do we tend to spiritualize the power and grandeur of the Father through Christ the Son when He’s told us time and time again that miracles, healing, and so much more is for the empowerment and growth of the Church in a very physical way? Could it be that our faith is what has changed from the time of the Apostles to the modern age? Could it be that the local drug store has the medicine for a cold or sickness in a pill rather than allowing our faith to show God’s greatness? I have never and will never advocate being dismissive of a doctor’s care since Luke was also a physician, however, believers in Africa, Asia, and other countries which don’t necessarily have a doctor or pharmacy on every street corner see incredible works of God from resurrections, healings, and great sign and wonders being performed this very day! Why? I believe there are many reasons why we don’t see these in the United States that often. One of the prime reasons is that the people are not being taught correct doctrine when it comes to the authority of the believer and the nature of God in Christ that is available to anyone who would simply believe in the goodness and power of the Father through the workings of the Holy Spirit.
This power, however, is never used for the personal glory of anyone. There are voices in modern Christianity which state that the believer can have health, wealth, and prosperity throughout their life as a “child of the King.” Yet, the Bible states plainly that our Lord and Master didn’t even have a rock upon which to lay his blessed head. Are we greater than our Master to dictate to God what we “deserve” in our lives? What greater gift could be given by the Father than the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ? The amazing grace which churches sing about is truly our health, wealth and prosperity otherwise the early church had it all wrong. They were tortured, imprisoned, stoned, crucified, and burned alive, in poverty, in hiding and so much more. Have we “evolved” into a new or greater understanding than the ones who actually sat at the feet of Christ or were taught by the Apostles the Christian faith? No. I say any deviation from “the faith once delivered to the saints” is a perversion not a revelation.
The book of James clearly states that we do not receive things we ask for because we seek to use them for our own agendas or reasoning (James 4:3). Therefore, any self gratification attained from miracles or “anointing” come from a man-made desire rather than God’s divine plan.
If we are not to use the power and authority of Christ for personal reasons and we are told to simply believe as a child the Word of God, how do we use this authority we’ve been given? Acts 1:8 tells us that the power and authority to work the wonders of God are given as a sign and witness to the world of sinful mankind. Matthew 25:14-30 shows us that in planting our authority and power in the Kingdom of God on earth we garner heavenly rewards in the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, when we see other who are ill or dying we can have faith that healing can be expected if all the parties have faith in the Word of God. Remember, even Christ could do no great work due to unbelief, so also, we cannot do anything if the person being prayed for believes half-heartedly in it.
I am reminded of James’ admonition in his epistle (James 1:5-8) that a person who has a double minded view of a request made to God can expect nothing from God because they are in an unstable place in their walk with God. That means, when I pray for a person with a begging or half-hearted request, I can expect that the person will remain in that state because I am not praying as a man with a childlike faith. The same goes for a person being prayed for. If you do not believe, do not expect to receive anything of the Lord.
Once we understand this principle and begin to see the wonders of God when we apply it, the temptation may come to feel prideful about how God is working through us to embolden and uplift His Church. Luke 10: 17-24 reminds us that we should not glory in the fact that God is performing miracles through us, but rather we should be glorifying God by His Holy Spirit that Christ into this world to save sinners like us and give glory to the blood which was shed upon Calvary for our redemption. When miracles, healings, and all the rest come into our lives we simply need to acknowledge them as a natural expression of what Christ has done for us on Golgotha’s hill.
Faithfulness. That word contains faith within it. You cannot be truly faithful to what God has for your life and the life of His Church without a lively faith. If you believe you can have it that way, remember 2 Timothy 3:5 which states about that type of church which, “(has) a form of godliness, but (denies) the power thereof: from such turn away.”
If you’re in a church that simply goes through the motions of godly behavior whether it be by liturgical or simply formal means but doesn’t preach, teach or show the power of God in its midst, then we are commanded by scripture to turn away from that body because they are dead.
Faithfulness reaps a great reward by the Father in Christ. Since all authority is given to Christ and we work through His authority upon the earth, why do we fail to see that his authority working through us imparts faithfulness in our lives? His power, working in our midst, is a direct result of our faithfulness in our stewardship of the authority he’s given to us. We simply act as he would act and do what he would do. I remember the bracelet that went around a few years back and even a bit today which has the moniker WWJD. What would Jesus do? Nice thought and all, but if we then ask ourselves, gee, would Jesus have a cheeseburger in this situation? I say this foolishly of course to make a point that we must imitate not what we think he “might have” done, but what actions and standards he “did” give us an example of.
1 John 3:22 tells us that our degree of faithfulness which we live by in the Church and in our private time is a measure of that which we can expect God to perform in our lives. If we put a little faithfulness in our lives but live for our own designs we can expect very little in return. On the other hand, if we plant a faithful and righteous seed of obedience in our lives and do our best to nurture that seed into a mighty force for the kingdom of God, we can expect to see wonders we could hardly imagine in our day.
Finally, we are to have this authority manifest in our lives because it is only a precursor to the awe inspiring authority we will exercise in the millennial and eternal kingdom of Christ. Revelation 2:26-28, 20:4 speaks of the eternal authority we are given after the believer’s judgment at death. The first reference in Revelation speaks of our iron-fisted authority we are given by Christ to rule the nations in the future kingdom. Again, this is not a spiritual metaphor for a vague and obscure reality in the future. This is a literal and physical governorship under our Lord. We will oversee the nations as they perform their duties in the kingdom. Think if we doubted ourselves then. Chaos would be right behind the doubt. Revelation 20:4 speaks of thrones which the redeemed sit upon to judge. Who shall we judge in the kingdom? 1 Corinthians 6:3 says we shall judge the angels. We shall have oversight over the angelic hosts. Why do you think we are joint heirs with Christ and “sons by adoption?”
That’s a mind blower and a half. We will judge and oversee the nations, angels, and other aspects of the eternal kingdom? What happened to golf and playing harps? Reality is a far cry from what we envision in the modern church. The Apostles knew very well for they were taught by the Master. Since we shall have eternal, physical powers in the future kingdom, do you really believe that the Father wants to see us beat ourselves and beg for a scrap from His table when He specifically tells us to ask, seek, and knock?
Give God the glory for His great kindness to us, that even though we are truly unworthy of anything He offers us, He loved us so much that we should be called the “sons of God.”
