WEEK 34 “ UNDERSTANDING THE AUTHORITY WE HAVE IN CHRIST!” (Luke 10:17-19, Matthew 28:18)

The word authority as used in Matthew 28:18 is the Greek word “exousia” and can mean the POWER TO RULE (one whose will and commands must be submitted to)!

BIBLICAL CONTEXT: This AUTHORITY was first given by God to man back in Genesis 1:26-28 when God created man and gave them RULE over the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, over all the livestock and over all the earth and all the creatures that move along the ground!! (Notice this would also include man having authority and rule over the serpent!!!)

But in Genesis 3, when satan deceived Adam and Eve into taking the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and therefore disobeying God (1 Timothy 2:14), that authority was taken by the devil!! (Notice the role reversal at the fall? Instead of God being the head and Adam and Eve under His Kingship, ruling over the earth and everything in it (including the serpent satan), the roles were reversed and Adam and Eve obeyed satan instead of God, thus handing over that authority to satan!!)

The enemy satan now had that authority which is why in Luke 4:5-6, he offered Jesus this authority of the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would bow down and worship him!!

BUT, because our wonderful saviour Jesus overcame Satan’s temptations in Luke 4 (and did what Eve was unable to do back in garden of Eden), and because Jesus would ultimately take away satan’s power on the cross (Colossians 2:15), Jesus now wrestled back this authority on man’s behalf!! We see glimpses of this in the gospels where Jesus now gave authority to his disciples to cast out demons and overcome ALL the power of the enemy (Luke 9:1-2, Luke 10:17-19, Matthew 10:1)!

This leads to Matthew 28:18 just before Jesus would ascend back to heaven where He said ALL AUTHORITY IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME, therefore go and make disciples of all nations…

Firstly, if Jesus has ALL AUTHORITY, then how much does satan now have? NONE!! satan now has NO AUTHORITY over those who belong to Christ Jesus! (He still has for the moment, authority over those who don’t belong to Jesus- 1 John 5:18-19)

Secondly, since the great commission starts off with the words THEREFORE, this means that we as Jesus’ disciples now go out with His AUTHORITY to make disciples of the nations!! We now have Jesus’s authority to overcome all the power of the enemy satan, just like His disciples in Luke 10:19!

WILL WE RECOGNISE THE AUTHORITY OVER THE ENEMY THAT WE HAVE ACCESS TO IN JESUS?

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AUTHORITY AND POWER:

Luke 9:1 says that Jesus gave His disciples both POWER (dynamis) and AUTHORITY (exousia) to cast out demons and cure all kinds of diseases!!

The word power (dynamis) is from where we get the English word dynamite!! It can mean “strength, power or ability”. In Acts 1:8 we are told by Jesus that we will receive POWER (dynamis) when the Holy Spirit comes upon us to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. This is dynamite power from the Holy Spirit!!

AUTHORITY (exousia) is slightly different!!!

SO WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

Imagine a MAC TRUCK, speeding down the highway and a strong man stands in the middle of the road!! When the truck comes, the strong man pushes against it and the truck comes to a halt!! That truck has been stopped by DYNAMIS POWER! This would be like the dynamite power of the Holy Spirit against the enemy!

Now imagine that same MAC TRUCK is speeding down the highway and a police officer now stands in the middle of the road. The officer pulls out their badge and holds it up!! When the truck driver sees that badge, they stop the truck!! (Not because of dynamis power-strength to stop the truck) but because when the driver sees that badge, they RECOGNISE THE AUTHORITY BEHIND THE BADGE. They recognise that badge represents the law and the governing authorities behind that badge and if they don’t stop the truck they will be in trouble from the law and that governing body!! That truck was stopped by EXOUSIA (authority)!!

This is like the authority we have in Christ!! When the enemy sees us, it’s like we are holding up that badge that says we belong to Jesus and are found in Him and so the enemy must SUBMIT to Jesus and His authority and word spoken through us His servants!!

May we as followers of Jesus understand and recognise this AUTHORITY WE HAVE IN JESUS so that we can overcome and withstand all the attacks of the enemy (Luke 10:17-19)!!