Good evening family. Good evening the blessed of the Lord! Tonight, we’re going to talk about revival in a little different way. And we’re going to begin in Genesis 1. For those of you who have heard me minister before, Genesis 1 is one of those passages that I come back to over and over and tonight is no different,
I think one of the things that we’re seeing in our country today is a lack of the body of Christ knowing who it is. And a lack of the body of Christ standing for the principles outlined in scripture.
So, tonight, we’re going to take a look at you. And that’s all I’m going to say at this point because I don’t want to give the message away. So, in Genesis 1, look at verse 26.
(26) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
(27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them.
(28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
When the Bible says God has given man dominion, what is the source of that dominion? It is God’s life and God’s nature. That is the source of that dominion. So, if God gave man dominion and that dominion flowed from His life and nature, what is the true source of dominion when God first gave it to man?
The dominion God gave to man operated out of His love. Man operating out of God’s love was the way he was to exercise his dominion because we know First John 4, verse 8 says “God is love.” That is His true, defining characteristic. So, if He is giving us dominion, He is giving us dominion so that we can operate out of His love.
When we look at Genesis 1:26, it says “God says Let us…” I have this image of the Godhead getting together and God, the Father, saying “You know, I have this longing in My heart for children.” So, in Genesis 1:26, you’re seeing what God is giving to His children.
The first thing God gives His children, and I think it is very significant, is His image. God gave His children exactly who He is without deity. Look at someone and say “I am a child of God.” The only way His children could have true dominion was to be exactly like Him.
And we see the scope of that dominion is over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. In other words, ladies and gentlemen, there is nothing in this earth that we do not have dominion over. We have dominion.
When God gave us dominion, that dominion included the authority to enforce it. We have the authority to rule God’s creation. Now, when God gave us the authority to rule, guess what He did not give us? He did not give us, directly, the power in that authority.
That is what’s so neat about having dominion. When God gave us dominion, God is saying “You will have to work with Me to pull it off.” “You will have to work with Me to make it happen.”
So, in Genesis 1:26-28, we see God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit getting together and deciding what we would look like.
Now look at chapter 2, verse 7.
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
This is what I want you to see, ladies and gentlemen, and it is so very, very important. God gave us dominion BEFORE we existed! Do you see that? He gave man dominion before man breathed his first breath. So, when we get to Genesis 2:7, God has already given man dominion. Now, He’s giving man the spiritual life to exercise that dominion the way He would exercise it. Are you following me?
I want you to see something else. God gave man dominion before man breathed his first breath. God also gave man a soul before he took his first breath. Otherwise, why would the Bible say man became “a living soul?” He had to have had a soul if it was to become one that was alive.
What this tells me is God made us as individuals. He gave us a mind. He gave us the ability to think. He gave us emotions. Everything that we exhibit in this life, how we live and how we respond to things – it comes out of the soul. God gave this to us, ladies and gentlemen.
The life that God gave man allowed him, and I’m going to say it this way, it allowed the person to be himself or herself. When God gave us life, He didn’t change who we were did He? He just gave us a spiritual life that could live through our souls. And this is very important.
We know that in Genesis 3 that man sinned and lost the life that God had given to him. But what did man not lose, ladies and gentlemen? He didn’t lose his dominion and authority. Even though the man in Genesis 3 has a sin nature, listen to me now, he still had dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. That is the dominion that God gave us. What I just said is very, very important.
There is no where in scripture where God takes back the dominion and authority that he gave man in Genesis 1:26, 27 and 28. It doesn’t say that when man sinned God said “You no longer have authority and you no longer have dominion.” God didn’t say that.
What man no longe had was the authority that comes out of a spiritual life. He no longer had an authority that dominates the way God would dominate. That’s what he lost.
Now, so many teach that Adam gave up his authority and transferred it to Satan when he sinned. How many of you have heard that? This can’t be true.
In this world, ladies and gentlemen, the natural realm, you have to have flesh and blood to have authority. It doesn’t matter is you’re born again or not. If you have flesh and blood, if you have a body, then you have authority and dominion in this world.
Why am I making such a big point about this? The spiritual realm does not have authority in the natural realm.
When people teach that Adam gave away his authority, they don’t understand what we just read in Genesis 1, verses 26, 27 and 28 and in Genesis 2, verse 7 where God gave man authority before man existed, before man took his first breath. When man took his first breath, he breathed his authority. When my son, Stephen, was born – when he breathed, he breathed his authority. Are you following me?
We know from the Bible that our authority comes from the nature that is on the inside of us and how we use that nature, or that born again life and that sin nature life.
Turn with me to Colossians 1. We’re going to begin with verse 9.
(9) For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
(10) That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
(11) Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
(12) Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
(13) Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son.
That word power, in the Greek, is authority. When we are born the first time, we are born with authority that proceeds from darkness, or the sin nature. But now that we have been transferred into the kingdom of His dear son, we now have authority that comes from a life-giving spirit.
Did you notice something in this verse ladies and gentlemen? The authority of darkness could not stop us from receiving God’s life and nature.
So, if the authority of darkness, the sin nature, cannot stop us from being born again and receiving God’s life and nature, do you think the authority hat resides in a sin nature can stop the authority that resides in a life-giving nature? No! It cannot!
But you have so many in the Church who don’t understand that. The life nature that we have on the inside, combined with our authority, it kicks butt and takes names! And not necessarily in that order!
We have been delivered from the authority of darkness. If we have been delivered from the authority of darkness, does it have any authority over us? No.
Turn with me to Matthew 10. We’re going to read verse one:
“And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power (authority) against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”
I want you to notice something in this ladies and gentlemen. What Jesus gave the disciples, now follow me, was “new nature authority.” Do you see this? He gave them “new nature authority.” If He had not done this, then they would not have been able to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
Jesus gave them exousia, authority, but he did not give them the dunamis, the power. Why? The dunamis, the power, the ability to do comes from Him. By giving them “new nature authority,” Jesus gave the disciples immediate access to the dunamis, to the power.
In Luke 10, look at verse one.
“After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would go.”
What did Jesus send the seventy with? “New nature authority.” Well Brother Barry, how do you know He sent them with “new nature authority?” Jump down to verse 17.
(17) And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devil are subject to us through thy name.
The “new nature authority” combined with the name of Jesus makes everything subject to us!
(18) And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
(19) Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing hall by any means hurt you.
The word “power” is used twice in this verse and they are two different Greek words. The first is exousia, authority. So Jesus says “I give unto you authority.” Follow me, please. What authority did Jesus give them? He gave them authority over the dunamis, the second word “power,” of the enemy.
We have authority over the power, the dunamis, of the enemy. The word dunamis simply means that you have the power, the ability, to do what you want to do.
Jesus has just said, ladies and gentlemen, we have authority over the power that Satan has. It means this: Satan can’t do whatever he wants to do when he’s in the presence of someone who understands what they have. Are you following me?
When you understand that you have authority over the power of Satan, over his kingdom, ladies and gentlemen, when the body of Christ understands that you’re not going to see all of this rioting and looting. We would put a stop to that stuff.
But oh no, we don’t know who we are. We don’t know the power and authority that resides in us. We stand by and ask “how is this happening? Why isn’t someone doing anything to put a stop to it?”
Go look in the mirror! And you will find out why no one is doing anything because you are not doing anything. We have authority over all the power of Satan. Did I emphasize that enough? (Laughter)
(20) Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
This is what’s so neat about Jesus. He says “Yes you have authority over the power of Satan, but guys that’s not even the most important thing. The most important thing is not that the spirits are subject to you. The most important things is that your names are written in heaven.” Praise God!
Turn with me to John 17.
(16) They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
(17) Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
(18) As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
My question: What qualified them to be sent? Go back up to verse 8 of the same chapter.
“For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me;
And what did they do with the word that Jesus gave to them?
and they have received them…”
The sense that the word “receive” communicates is not only did they hear what Jesus said, they believed what he said without one single bit of doubt and then they built their lives around what Jesus said.
Only when our lives are built around the revelation of what God’s Word says, will we be qualified to be sent. There are so many people who stand in the pulpit who are not qualified to stand there. They are not qualified to be sent.
Jesus says “I have given them the words that you gave me and they are received them. They have made it part of who they are. They are now living out of those words that I gave them that you gave me Father. And now, because they are living out of the words that I gave to them that you gave to me, I can now send them out. What they are going to do is give people they words that I gave to them that you gave to me. I can send them out Father because I trust them with your word.”
When Jesus sent us, He knew the “new nature authority” that would go with us. Remember in John 14:12 Jesus said the works that I do you will do also and greater than these you will do because I go unto my father?”
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my prayer, my hope, that by the time I am finished with this message, you will have a greater appreciation for your new nature and for the authority that your new nature has in this world – for the authority that your new nature has over everything we’re seeing in this country today.
In Acts 3, a very familiar record, we’re going to see new nature authority in action.
(1) Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
(2) And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;
(3) Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.
(4) And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
(5) And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receiving something of them.
(6) Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
What did Peter say? Did he say I’m going to pray to Jesus that you get up? Peter knew, ladies and gentlemen, that he had the authority in him to make that statement. He had the “new nature authority” to say “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”
Sometimes we read these passages it’s almost like we rush to read them because we’ve read them so many times before. But when we take the time to think about what the passages are saying – when we take the time to think about a passage like this in Acts – it’s telling us, and I don’t mean to hurt your feelings and I don’t mean to offend you because it’s talking to Barry too, this verse is saying “Barry, there is a level of authority you are not even touching. There is a level of authority available to you that you are not even scratching the surface.” I want to see this type of authority manifest in my life because that is when revival can happen.
Today, many talk about the battle between good and evil and light and darkness as if the battle is only being waged in the realm of the spirit. But the question no one seems to address is this: what is the reason for the battle? If there’s a battle being fought in the realm of the spirit, whatever it is that is being fought over must be the most important thing in the world.
I’m going to tell you the reason. When you understand what I am about to say, you will understand what that reason is. Something we need to understand:
? God has no authority on Earth without a person’s authority. God can use the authority of a person with a sin nature if He’s given access to it. Just look at who He used in the Old Testament.
? Satan also has no authority on Earth without a person’s authority. Now this is the sad part: He can use the authority of a person with a new nature if he’s given access to it.
What is at stake here? Why is good and evil, light and darkness in a battle? They are fighting for the AUTHORITY of every man, every woman and every child on Earth.
The battleground, the territory if you will, that good and light are fighting for is the AUTHORITY of every man, woman and child on Earth.
The battleground, the territory, that evil and darkness are fighting for is the AUTHORITY of every man, woman and child on Earth.
You have to understand ladies and gentlemen, that the prize – the prize in this world – is the AUTHORITY of every man, woman and child on Earth.
The treasure in this world is the AUTHORITY of every man, woman and child on Earth.
Without a human being’s authority, the spirit realm is powerless in this realm. Let that sink in. And based on what we’re seeing our country right now, we know whose authority is flowing the most.
I hope, I pray, that you get so angry, that you get so out of sorts, that you get so bent out of shape that you’re not going to allow your authority to be on the sidelines. We know that authority comes through the spoken word. That’s why when we spend 30 minutes on Sunday nights in prayer, say it with me, we are speaking our authority.
Knowing that authority is the prize, knowing that authority is the treasure, know that authority is the battleground good and evil and light and darkness are fighting for, we can see the true significance of 1 Timothy 2:4? God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
God needs men and women who know His truth and are operating in His truth so that more “new nature authority” will be seen in this world.
Please stand.
