Purpose And Power Of Authority (10 page)

2. Jesus’ confidence was a result of His authority.

[Jesus said,] “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” At these words the Jews were again divided. Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
(John 10:17–21)

When you truly understand your authority, it will give you the confidence to follow it.

3. Jesus equated understanding and operating under authority with having faith, as we see from this account of the centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant:

[The centurion said,] “Say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the
servant well.(Luke 7:7–10)

4. Jesus was authorized to give life.

[Jesus prayed to the Father,] For you granted [Your Son] authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.(John 17:2–4)

[Jesus said to the people,] Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.…All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.(John 6:27, 37–40)

5. Jesus was authorized to forgive sins.

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…. (Mark 2:10)

Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”(Luke 7:48–50)

6. Jesus is authorized to make us children of God.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

7. Jesus is authorized to restore authority.

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor
the Father. (John 5:21–23)

All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known
to you. (John 16:15)

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to [Jesus]. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is
fulfilled in your hearing.” All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. (Luke 4:17–22)

8. Jesus gives us authority. One of the last words Jesus used on earth in speaking to His disciples was “authority”:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.(Matthew 28:18–20)

It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.(Acts 1:7–8)

Often, the greatest obstacle to people living according to their authority is a lack of understanding that they have real authorization to carry it out. This prevents them from believing and undertaking what they were created to do, and so they settle for something much less than what they could be and do. They allow outside forces and influences rather than their internal authority to determine how they live their lives. This is why they don’t contribute their gifts to their generation. As a result, they and their generation lose out.

In chapter three, I described how an author has the copyright to his work and how he has the right to share the copyright claim with someone or to provide for an inheritance of it. When Jesus died on our behalf, giving us the authority and power to become children of God, we received the full inheritance of rights that He obtained. “Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant” (Hebrews 9:15). Authority is the principle of rights.

Authority is the Author’s permission for you to be what He designed you to be. You not only have permission but also the commission and the power to fulfill your purpose. With this knowledge and understanding of authority, you can experience God’s plan for your life and not just dream about it.

The angels from the book of Jude we discussed earlier were not restored to the place they abandoned, but God has made provision for human beings to be restored to theirs. What will you do with the authority that has been provided for you? You have a choice to accept it or to discard it.

I know many individuals, and you probably do, too, who have tremendous gifts, talents, and dreams, and who had great promise for their lives, but who destroyed their futures by violating genuine authority in some way.

The prisons are filled with potentially great leaders who are confined for life because they violated the authority of society, which has established laws for order and peace. The drug houses are filled with talented people who will never fulfill their potential because they are violating the authority of their bodies by abusing them with harmful, illegal substances.

Many people currently have great ideas, dreams, and plans for their lives, but they are on a collision course with destruction because they are—or are contemplating—violating the privilege of authority the Creator has given them by seeking their own authority for selfish purposes.

Why do people end up ruining their lives in this way? They have left (or have never known) the place of authority where they truly belong—just like their original human parents did.

The commentary from Jude tells us that living in our God-given authority is like being home or coming home, like settling into our own habitation. We have not only the privilege of receiving authority from God but also the responsibility of remaining in it after we receive it. This honors our Creator and preserves order and peace in our own lives and in the lives of people around us.

I encourage you to pray this prayer to the Creator: “Lord, show me my authority. I come to You on the basis of the sacrifice of the Authorized Dealer, Jesus Christ. I receive His gift of restoration and come under His offered warranty in order to receive forgiveness, restoration, and eternal life. I don’t want to waste another day out of position. I want to be in order. I want to know the authority You have for me so that I can be in the right place in life. So that I can maximize myself and be a support to those around me. So that I can fulfill Your pleasure and be what You created me to be. Help me, Lord, not to leave my position. In the name of the Authorized Dealer, amen.”

Chapter Five

In this chapter, we will explore a major principle of authority that will make a significant difference in your life. It’s a principle that we touched on in chapter one: Everything depends on and must submit to something else in order to function, grow, prosper,
and succeed.

This principle was established in the very essence of the created world. Nothing that the Creator made can exist without submission to some authority because authority, by nature, involves dependence and interdependence. The first manifestation of authority is that everything depends on the Creator to exist because everything came from Him. Colossians 1:16–17 states,

By him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

All things exist and are still held together by the Creator’s power. Not only was the universe—seen and unseen—produced by Him, but it also depends on Him for its continued existence. Everything in creation must refer to the Creator for its life and success. Everything in creation was designed to function by the principle of authority.

A seed must “submit” to being planted in the soil if it is to grow; in this sense, the soil is the authority of the seed. Fish must “submit” to living in water in order to survive, so the fishes’ authority is the water; if they didn’t submit to it, they would die. The planets of our solar system submit to the gravitational pull of the sun as their authority; if they didn’t, the solar system would no longer be intact, and the planets would spiral out of control in space.

Everyone and everything must submit to someone or something in order to function and be successful. It is impossible to outgrow authority. We may transfer our accountability to different kinds of authority, such as when a child grows up and moves out from under his parents’ authority, starts his own family, and interacts with others in the world, but we never grow out of the need for authority itself. This is true for all of creation and in all human experiences.

Anyone who refuses to be governed by genuine authority is illegitimate and malfunctioning in the world. For example, a criminal is one who refuses to submit to society and violates the authority of others’ lives or properties. He crosses others’ boundaries or realms of authority. If he is caught and punished, jail becomes forced authority over him. He is made to submit to society through a severe restriction of his activities. If a child refuses to acknowledge the authority of his parents in teaching him positive and constructive ways to live his life, then he will suffer the consequences of some kind of self-destruction to mind, body, or soul.

You are living with dangerous illegitimacy if you are not submitted to any authority so that other people cannot trust you or safely submit to you when needed. We should submit only to those who are submitted themselves.

I believe that the greatest example of someone who understood and lived out the principle, the power, and the purpose of authority is Jesus Christ, and that there is much to gain in one’s understanding of authority from looking at how He lived His life.

The key to the success, effectiveness, efficiency, power, and perfection of His life on earth was His complete understanding of, and adherence to, authority. We see Jesus’ submission to authority throughout His life on earth. Let us look at several key examples.

Jesus Submitted to His Own Established Laws

First, His willingness to come to earth as a man, even though He was God (see John 1:1–4, 14), was an extraordinary act of submission! In theologian Paul of Tarsus’s writings, we read, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Galatians 4:4–5).

God’s first step in correcting humanity’s problem of authority was His own submission to authority. What did He submit to? The very laws pertaining to the authority He had established for the physical creation and for the spiritual life of His people:

• He voluntarily came into this world physically, as a baby, through the womb of a woman, as all other people do.
  

• He was born “under law,” so that, even though He Himself had instituted the law for the Israelites, He was subject to its regulations and requirements. Since God had established all authority, He knew the indispensability of submitting to authority, including the protection it provides for a person’s spirit, soul, and body.
  

Jesus Submitted to Baptism “to Fulfill All Righteousness”

Second, I want to focus particularly on the accounts of His baptism in relation to His submission to authority because this submission was the inauguration of His ministry. If we desire to be all we were born to be, we need to understand what Jesus knew about authority and how He responded to it, as well as the remarkable results that came from it.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. (Matthew 3:13–4:1)