The Second Gift: Power & Authority
The second gift was given immediately after the first gift. But man lost it. It was retrieved and restored by Jesus to those who put their trust in Him.
Yesterday, we saw that God’s first gift to man was life; physical and spiritual. This was done when God breathed into the nostrils of man. Did you know though that during his creation, God gave man another gift? This gift was actually planned when God was making man. It was not an after thought or a performance gift. It was part of God’s original plan for man.
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth’” (Genesis 1:26). God intended all along to give man authority and power over everything on earth. He stated it Himself in His plan. And Adam exercised this authority as God brought every living creature before him and allowed him to name them.
God even gave man dominion over the plants, trees, and the ground itself. “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food’” (Genesis 1:28-30). There was nothing man didn’t rule on earth. All yielded up themselves in service to man’s needs.
Man gave this authority away when he sinned. The next time God addresses him, he sees how far he has fallen. Not only does his spirit die within him but he now will have to work for all that he needs and the animals will not respect him. “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:17-19). The woman would know pain in childbirth and the serpent would become the lowest of ALL the animals.
God doesn’t specifically address the animals with Adam but he does with Noah. God didn’t give Noah the dominion but he did put the fear of man into the animals. He also gave EVERYTHING that moves to man as food. “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything’” (Genesis 9:1-3). This still didn’t restore what had been lost.
Jesus would give His disciples authority when He sent them out to be His witnesses. He specifically gave them spiritual authority at this time. “And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction” (Matthew 10:1). Jesus also gave them protective authority for this assignment. “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you” (Luke 10:19). This did not mean that He returned dominion as it had been in the Garden of Eden. Satan still had authority over the earth. God gave individual authority and power to His people.
Jesus gave His people the authority of His name. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19). This is said to Peter when he recognizes who Jesus really is. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:16-18). This was said after Jesus’ resurrection and applies to ALL who would follow Him.
Jesus spelled out some of that authority during his last week before His crucifixion. It was given in the lesson of the fig tree. This authority of faith and His name does NOT mean that EVERYTHING you say HAS to come true. It also doesn’t mean that no bad thing will ever happen to you. Jesus Himself said that we would be persecuted. He was persecuted. The world would do no less to the students than they did to the Master.
We are under His authority and have the ability to enact God’s will in our corner of the world. When Jesus rules on this earth, His authority will stretch to all men but not all men will accept it. As long as this world exists, Satan has authority in it but it does NOT trump God’s authority.
God gives us individual and specific authority as His children, NOT blanket authority. When He creates a new heaven and a new earth we will no longer have to contend with Satan’s authority. ALL will belong to God and to whomever He gives His authority to.
Thank You Father for Your gift of power and authority in my life. I know I don’t exercise it as often as I should when confronted with Satan’s roadblocks. I KNOW that the authority Jesus spelled out to His disciples did NOT end with them. You gave it to ALL who believe in Jesus’ work on the cross and have asked Him to be their Lord and Savior. I qualify here!!!
Thank You also Father for trusting me as a parent to exercise authority over my children. I have MUCH less of it now that they are grown but they still respect me and grant me some of that privilege still today. If I had FULL authority over them, I would bring them kicking and screaming, if necessary, into Your Kingdom. But I don’t. I leave them again in Your hands. But I WILL speak to Satan on their behalf and bind his authority in their lives.
