I preached on this Sunday.
The kingdom is here now.
Romans 13:1 testifies:
“For there is no power (
exousia – or
authority) but of God."
Jesus declared in Matthew 28:18 after His resurrection,
“All power (
exousia – or
authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Jesus has never suffered one defeat at the hands of Satan. Whether before the incarnation, whether during the life of Jesus 2000 years ago, whether through the Cross and through the resurrection, or whether ever since, Jesus is an all-conquering king.
· Jesus cannot be defeated.
· Jesus cannot be overcome.
· Jesus cannot be outsmarted.
· Jesus cannot be thwarted.
Romans 9:19-21 says,
“For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?”
Ephesians 1:11 tells us, He
“worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.”
The devil is a serial loser, but Jesus is a serial winner. The victories Satan gets our only temporal, and normally because we believers have dropped the ball.
· What He says goes!
· What He does stands!
One of the most amazing and mind-blowing things in Scripture is: Jesus does not keep all this power and authority to Himself. He shares it with His people.
Jesus said in Mark 13:34:
“For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority (exousia) to his servants."
This word interpreted
“authority” here is the exact same word that is used to describe God’s authority and Christ authority in the New Testament. Again, like we learned last week, this is the Greek word
exousia.
· It is divine authority.
· It is heavenly authority.
· It is supernatural authority.
· It is spiritual authority.
Luk 19:12 A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
Luk 19:13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
Amazingly, God has ordained that He will reveal Himself through people like you and me. We carry His favour, blessing authority in a fallen world. He’s placed a light within us that liberates the blind and which the kingdom of darkness cannot deal with. All we need to do is let it shine. What is that light? It is Jesus.
The reference in this parable to the “nobleman” who “went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return” clearly relates to the Lord Jesus Christ and His ascension into heaven. In verse 12 it affirms, that He is going “to return” and in verse 13 we see the instruction, “Occupy till I come.” We are not here to play defense, we are here to play offense. We are here to invade the darkness with the glorious light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said in
Matthew 16:18-19:
“I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys (or authority)
of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed In heaven.”
This is extraordinary. The power and authority that Jesus possesses He has given to us.
Think about this: when we align with Jesus, when we let Jesus move, work and speak through us, what chance does Satan have?
The power and authority that Jesus gives us is spiritual and delegated. It is from God, it is supernatural and spiritual. What is more, it is delegated. To delegate means to act for another. It means to authorize and send (another person) as one's representative. It means to commit or entrust to another or delegate a task to a subordinate.
