Our Authority In Christ
Have you ever learned a truth and then time goes by and you realize you have somehow forgotten to apply that truth to your life? Everything we learn as believers needs to be practiced to be effective. It does us no lasting good to sit in church and learn principles to gain head knowledge of facts. It’s only when we apply these truths to our lives that they become effective and we become doers of the Word and not merely hearers deceiving ourselves as James 1 describes.
I realized recently I had not heard teaching in many years, in any church we have served at or attended about the authority of the Believer. When God created man, he gave him dominion and authority over the earth. Genesis 1:26a “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion…Dominion is defined as, “control or the exercise of control, rule, authority, power to govern.” We as believers are to govern the earth in Jesus name. (To hear more about the governing authority we have in Jesus click “here” and listen to this message by Dutch Sheets.)
The earth belongs to the Lord and God’s enemy has been defeated by the Cross. Just like the military protects and defends America from its enemies, we the Church are to keep God’s enemy in check by using our authority against his advancements and attempts to overtake us. We are no longer civilians but are a part of Gods army and defense force. Hebrews 11:33-34 “Through faith’s power they conquered kingdoms and established true justice. Their faith fastened onto their promises and pulled them into reality! It was faith that shut the mouth of lions, put out the power of raging fire, and caused many to escape certain death by the sword. In their weakness their faith imparted power to make them strong! Faith sparked courage within them and they became mighty warriors in battle, pulling armies from another realm into battle array.”
This is what we are called to do in prayer. We are to use our God given authority to hold back enemy forces and stop an agenda that is contrary to God’s will from happening. We pray, we stand and we fight. We are not however called to simply accept what comes. We are not called to hear nice sermons and hoard up blessings for ourselves but to subdue the kingdom of darkness, administer divine justice and thwart evil. The church has been silent for far too long. We were silent when Roe vs Wade was passed, when prayer was taken out of schools and many other anti-christ agendas forced their way into our land.
Ephesians 3:10 tells us “[The purpose is] that through the church the complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere.” The Church has been authorized and empowered by God to keep the devil in line. When he attacks we resist and stand our ground.
If we do not use our authority the enemy will advance and take ground. Authority is delegated power. We have seen this happening for many years. The Church is to operate much like the police force. When the enemy tries to do something illegal, we are to enforce God’s spiritual laws and stop him. But we have failed to do our duties and have let our enemy advance and, in some places, create a stronghold that we now need to tear down.
If we have this authority why aren’t we seeing God’s will coming to pass? I believe it is because we as the Church are not using our authority as we should. We acquiescence to the powers that be and let it happen. We have been comfortable to sit in church and become fat on knowledge while the world around us is being overtaken by our enemy. We have relinquished our post and went A.W.O.L
It’s time for that to change! We must begin to take our authority and defeat the powers of darkness. I would suggest a book by John MacMillian called The Authority of the Believer. It is a powerful book explaining what we need to know. Also I would suggest doing a study in Scripture on authority. Read the Epistles (Galatians, Ephesians, Phillipians and Colossians) especially the book of Ephesians. Learn who you are in Christ and what authority you have been given. I often pray the prayers Paul prayed in Ephesians and Colossians. I put them into first person and pray them outloud.
We are living in the last days and as a corporate body must learn to exercise our authority as the Word teaches us. Prayer must be a constant part of our lives, listening for the Spirits promptings as he directs us when and how to pray.
Will you join forces with me and stand up and fight? Will you put on your spiritual armor and pick up your weapons?
Father in Jesus name I pray for your Body. I pray your Spirit would awaken us to the hour we live in, to the dangers that are all around us. Give us a bold faith to take our authority against our enemy and boldly proclaim “You have come this far but you will come no farther” Give us courage to stand and fight for You and see the victory you will perform!