Recall that we have established the argument that the earth is a colony of heaven and we are representatives of God on earth charged with enforcing His will here. God has empowered us to take charge and have dominion on earth. So we exercise power and authority over all of creation, but ours is a delegated power and delegated authority. For the Christian, I define authority as unlimited power of attorney. We represent God in the absence of God, we are the Jesus that people see and touch in the absence of Jesus. When we show up, Jesus shows up and God shows up. So we have the mandate of heaven to rule and to overrule as the need arises in the affairs and business of life here on earth.
God should not be bothered over everything. A person that has been given authority does not beg the one that gave him authority to do the things he has given him authority to do. Neither does he beg the one over whom he has authority to comply with his directives. For instance, we have been given authority over Satan and all of his works, we have been given authority over sicknesses, diseases and infirmities. So we are not expected to be begging God to heal the sick, when in fact, He has said to us “Go, cast out devils, heal the sick, raise the dead”…When we fail to do these things, we are to blame. It is either we don’t know what power we have, or we don’t believe we have the power; which means we don’t yet appreciate the greatness of His power that is recorded in Ephesians 1: 15-19
“Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.”
We need to know the exceeding greatness of the power at work in us, the same power than raised Jesus from the dead. If indeed that power dwells in us, why then is our mortal body not quickened by his spirit which dwells in us? Because we have not taken authority and commanded the power to do what it has potentials to accomplish. The power is mighty but unless we put it to work, it will not work. Those who believe should demonstrate their belief by converting the potential power to kinetic power…Dunamis is power at work not power in dormancy.
Problem will always arise when the person who has been given authority does not know what he has. Until a son knows the provisions wrapped in son-ship, he is no more than a servant. There are rights in son-ship but privileges in servant-hood. We have to grow to the knowledge of our son-ship so that we can exercise the authority in son-ship. Without the exercise of authority, power is useless. A car has the power to carry you over a distance but if you don’t have the authority to drive that car, it will not benefit you. In fact, you are like someone that has no bicycle. How do you think your father will feel if he gave you key, and authority to drive his cars and every time you come begging him to let you drive the car that he has given you keys long ago. That is what we do every time we manifest ignorance of the provisions wrapped up in salvation, and the power that saved us from the power of sin and empowered us to rule in a sinful world.
All power in heaven and on earth has been given unto me, go therefore ….that means be rest assured that the power you need, all the power there is, backs you up as you obey me. Go therefore…means you go with a knowledge of who you are, what you have and whose you are. A child who is sent by his father to steal kicks the front door open because he knows who is behind him. He makes no apologies and he is confident. If you meet a child who has been endorsed by his father to fight you, it doesn’t matter if you are the most deadly bully in town, you get ready for a fight…that day will not be your day. I can assure you of that fact.
I know a lady who has the conceal carrier license. Every time she has her gun she goes about in confidence because she believes that before harm will come her way she would be able to defend herself. Have we not seen people die even with their guns? Yet she trusts her gun more than, I suppose, she trusts God. What if we trust and believe God more than we trust and believe our connections and our ammunition? Trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
When you have authority, not only do you give instructions and commands, you are able to punish those who disobey. Authority gives you that legal right. You cannot have authority without power to back it up, but neither can power work without a channel of authority. When a policeman stops your car on the road, why do you stop? Does he have the power to stop a moving truck?, Maybe not; but does he have the authority to stop a moving vehicle? Definitely; and you stop not so much because you care for the policeman but because the consequences of disobeying him are huge, and if you disobey him you disobey the government that he represents. So, in effect you stop and obey him, not for himself but for the power behind his authority. Even if you cannot stand the police, you can only wish he doesn’t stop you. It doesn’t matter if he is your ex, your junior in high school, your neighbor and in fact, a jerk. Even if you know his family and know how poor they are, it is in your interest to comply with his directives
What is the difference between power and authority? Simply stated, authority is the channel through which power operates. In order for you to be confident in your God-given authority, you must first have a solid trust in the awesome power of God which backs up that authority. I believe that is why the bible in sundry places tells us about the power of God – The dunamis – working through us who believe! But how does that actually happen? It has to do with operating in the authority He has already given us. Why did God have to give us so much power and authority? Because we are here to establish his kingdom…a kingdom is established by power and authority.
When Britain colonized us, they changed whatever they wanted to change not by negotiations or town hall meetings, but by power and authority, delegated downstream from the queen. You disobeyed your district commissioner at your expense. To rule the earth and have dominion over the works of the devil, you better have power, and legality too, else you will be resisted and or molested and harassed. If you claim to have the authority you don’t have, you impersonate, and you be put to jail for that. These things work similarly, and we need to understand the way things work in this kingdom. We cannot rule as kings in a system we don’t understand. So we must consciously pay attention to kingdom principles.
Jesus told us to heal the sick not just pray for the sick. That sounds radical right? But these are the exact words of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is precisely why we don’t see the miraculous results we are praying for. We are not taking our authority and commanding God’s power; instead we are passively asking God to do what He told us to do. If we don’t take our authority and become commanders instead of beggars, God’s power will not be released. We need to radically renew our thinking on this issue. God wants us to take our authority and command His power. We have begged sicknesses and diseases enough to go away, when are we going to take up and exercise our authority over the elements in Jesus name? Why do we keep praying amiss?
We need to bring our spiritual realm to bear in our natural realm. If truly in Him we live and move and have our being then we must come to that point of realization and full assurance of the indwelling of his power and authority within us. Having power and authority is good, knowing that you have them is even better, but without deploying them you are like one who doesn’t have them. Those who don’t have them share the same fate and experiences as you when you have them but don’t deploy them.
As a child, your father traveled abroad but gave you a box and said to you ‘everything you need is in here’. You probably didn’t even open the box but you carried it on your head and went about looking good. Your rent came due, and you were kicked out with your neighbor who had nothing. You were hungry and you looked for food and begged for bread without knowing you have food and bread in the box. All the money and supplies you ever needed are in that box, yet you had no clue….what would your father do when he returns and finds out you never used any of the provisions he gave you? I am afraid that God will be disappointed in us for wasting his power and authority that he poured in us, when he raised Jesus from the dead. My people perish, for lack of knowledge. In the day of his power his people shall be willing, Today is that day.
Take up your authority, guard up your loins as men, and take charge. The power is within you, and so is the authority. May God give us understanding.
Mezie Okolo @TheRitePlace.