You Have Dominion Part 3 Series

You Have Dominion Part 3

Scriptures: Matthew 8:14-17, 23-27; Luke 9:1-2, 10; 10:1-17; John 14:12-

14; Matthew 28:18-20

Introduction:

In my message last week, I gave you examples from the Old Testament of where God had given man dominion and expected man to walk in that authority. I shared with you that when man fell from grace because of sin, God went into action to bring about a restoration. In the examples last week, I focused primarily on how God used certain individuals to accomplish His will. These individuals were backed up by God in that when they spoke or took action, He guaranteed their success. This morning we will examine some New Testament scriptures that will make this more personal for each of us. If you could not relate to the Old Testament examples, you will be able to relate to these. Remember what I told you two weeks ago about us imitating our Father? In some of these examples today, you will get an idea of what this means. Let’s start with a couple of examples of Jesus walking in the authority God had given Him.

I. Examples of Jesus Walking In Authority

As we look at these Scriptures, remember Jesus walked this earth as a man, not as God. Jesus walked this earth as a man so that He could show us how we are to walk and the authority that we all should operate in. Look at Matthew 8:14-17.

“When Jesus came into Peter’s house, He saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her and she got up and began to wait on Him. When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to Him and He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.” Matthew 8:14-17

In this account in Matthew, Jesus starts out by addressing the needs of the people in a way that had never been done before. He healed the sick and cast out the spirits oppressing the people. This had not been done before and was one of the signs that would tell of the one who would be the Messiah. Matthew records these events and stated that Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy spoken by Isaiah. The importance of what we see here is that Jesus, walking as a man in a perfect relationship with God, took authority over sickness and demonic spirits. Look down a little further in Matthew chapter 8 at verses 23-27 for another example that Jesus gave us.

“Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him. Without warning a furious storm came up on the lake so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke Him saying, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’ He replied ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves and it was completely calm.”

There are several things that stand out in these verses. First, Jesus, as a man, exercised His authority over the elements. When the disciples were scared, He asked them why they were so afraid. Why do you think He asked them this? Could it be because He expected them to understand the authority they had and that they too could have taken authority over that situation? Could it be that He expected them to understand that nothing would happen to them until they completed what God had planned for them? In the disciples’ eyes, only Jesus could save them, but in Jesus’ eyes they were never in any real danger. Now I want you to consider something that may be a stretch for some of you, but stay with me. It has been recorded that Jesus walked with God because He was God’s Son. When He spoke, He knew the authority from whence He was speaking. He had faith that whatever He said it would be established because He knew who He represented and what had been given to Him. Based on that, consider this question. When Jesus rebuked the winds and they stopped, was He going against God and rebuking God? What I am asking you is was God the source of this storm? The reason that I want you to consider this is that if God was the source of this storm, Jesus was rebuking God and actually going against God’s will which we know He did not, would do. Therefore we can be assured that God was not the source of this storm and when Jesus rebuked the storm, He stood in the authority that He was given as the Son of God. It is important that we understand that God is not always behind the storms, tornadoes and hurricanes that we encounter although He is an easy target to be blamed. These verses also tell us that this authority that Jesus exercised is the same authority that we have. With these two examples, let’s now examine how Jesus imparted this same authority into His disciples.