The Son Of Man Has Authority

The Son of God has Authority

There is a slogan of the Outback Steak House that says: “No Rules—Just Right”…but I suspect that if you showed up and didn’t wait for the hostess, took a table ahead of people waiting, ordered something not on the menu, then walked out without paying your bill, the manager would think differently!

Peter T. Forsythe was right when he said, "The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master".

This morning I want to talk about “authority”.

We are a society that disdains authority. We love our independence. We consider ourselves to be most free when we do things our way without any interference from others. We love to sing with Frank Sinatra: “I did it my way!”

And this is not unique to American’s, although I suspect we struggle with this a little more than most cultures. It is in the basic sinful nature of man to rebel against authority. We don’t like to be told what to do, whether it is our parents, our partners, our bosses, or our God. Satan rebelled in the beginning and tempted Eve to do the same when He said: “God did not say, you are not to eat from the fruit of this tree. Look at it. It is so beautiful. Certainly a loving God wouldn’t want you to miss out on the joy of the taste of this tree’s fruit.”

From the first lout “NO” of a two year old toddler, to the cantankerous “NO” of an elderly patient refusing to follow His doctor’s advice, we love to reject authority. But that is where the problem begins for us. Because, as the Centurion Soldier so clearly stated, we all live under the authority of God

In scripture the word ‘Authority” is sometimes translated ‘power’ and sometimes translated ‘right”. The Greek Word is exousia and it means ‘power rightfully held”.

Who is like God and to whom shall we compare Him? He is all knowing. He knows the heart of every man. He is just and righteous in all that He does. He is perfect in every way. There is no sin or darkness in Him, and so He is perfect just and has every right to sit as judge and jury over man. He is the creator, and all creation owes its existence and life to God. He is the redeemer of mankind. He has bought our lives with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. We are not our own, we belong to Him.

He holds all creation together, and every knee is subject to Him and will one day bow before Him. The Word of God is truth revealed to man. There is nothing we can know apart from God telling us about it. His word is our final authority, and when Jesus spoke He was declared as one who speaks with authority.

He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and there is no power or authority that is not under His authority. Again the definition of authority is this: power rightfully held. Jesus Christ as God’s Son has authority of each one of us. This morning I want to look at that authority, and I want us to search our hearts and determine for ourselves this morning if we are living under that authority, or if we are attempting to live apart from that authority today!

Theme: The Son of God has authority over my life!

1. He has authority over the darkness that threatens me.

When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake in the land of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so dangerous that no one could go through that area. They began screaming at him, "Why are you bothering us, Son of God? You have no right to torture us before God’s appointed time!" A large herd of pigs was feeding in the distance, so the demons begged, "If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs."

"All right, go!" Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water. The herdsmen fled to the nearby city, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men. The entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone. (Matthew 8:28-34)

This account happens after the disciples have seen the power and the authority of Jesus in calming the storm at sea. Now they face a new peril, a couple of demon possessed men who are so dangerous that everyone in the neighboring community avoids them. They are consumed with evil, with death and darkness living among the dead. It is a tale right out of a Stephen King novel.