God’s Sovereignty and Our Authority

“For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Matthew 8:9, ESV)

The centurion described in Matthew 8 understood that there is a protocol to the exercise of authority and that when that protocol is followed, all things subject to the source of authority must obey.

Of course, all authority must start with a source. There must be someone or some entity with the actual power to bring about a particular result—whether God, Rome or Ceaser. There must be a holder of power at the top of the authority chain. Even moral authority is connected in some fashion to power. God has absolute moral and legal authority over all matter because He is the Creator of all matter. “All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:3, ESV) Had God so desired, all of matter would be incapable of diverging from His will and His plan. As creator, He had the power to make us as He pleased.

In the case of humanity, however, it pleased God to give us a measure of free will. I say “a measure” because the free will of humanity is exercised in the context of spiritual realities that were created from before the beginning of time. These spiritual realities include:

· Wisdom: “The Lord created me [Wisdom] at the beginning of his work, the first of His acts of old.” (Proverbs 8:22, RSV)

· Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5, RSV)

· Love: “Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8, RSV)

· Law of Sowing and Reaping: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8, ESV)

· God’s Unchanging Nature (Immutability): “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose’,” (Isaiah 46:9-10, ESV)

These named spiritual realities are but a few of the unfathomable multitude that help to keep humanity in its lane. God has given man free will, but His heart has always been for none to be lost. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9, NKJV) God’s desire from the beginning was to remove from us our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26, NIV), so that we might dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:6)

It is only in our relationship with God as a born-again believer, infilled by the Holy Spirit, that we become fit to receive and then exercise the authority that emanates form God. Jesus taught, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5, NKJV)

Delegation is a scriptural concept. When Moses was overwhelmed with the responsibility of judging all matters affecting the Israelites as he led them through the wilderness, his father-in-law advised him to delegate authority to capable men to serve as leaders over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They were to be capable men from all the people—men who feared God, trustworthy men who hated dishonest gain. (Exodus 18:21-22).

God wants to delegate authority to His people and has placed the Holy Spirit within the hearts of those who are born again so that He might entrust us with this authority. First, however, we must yield to the Holy Spirit, as modeled by Jesus.

“Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner’.” John 5:19, NKJV)
“I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” (John 5:30, NKJV)
“For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.” John 12:49, NKJV)
“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” (John 14:10)

Jesus is our model and He was fully yielded to the Father. Admittedly, yielding for us is a process, but so is the natural process of learning to walk or talk or growing to adulthood. One doesn’t wait until they are thirty to take their first step or utter their first word. First attempts are not polished, but they are a necessary precursor to running a marathon.

Prayer to God to intervene in our lives is always appropriate. He is our heavenly Father and He cares for us. At the same time, he wants us to grow up and accept the responsibility that accompanies His delegation of authority to us. He wants us to prosper in soul and body and take ownership of the authority He has given us. As we learn to yield to the Holy Spirit, it is never wrong to exercise our God given authority to do the things that God would do and say the things that God would say. The Word of God is our handbook to show us what God would do and say. We live in a world that needs us. We can be the hand that touches life into others—the mouth that speaks healing and hope.

As the risen Jesus ascended, He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV)

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Where scripture translations neglect to capitalize pronoun references to God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit, we have taken the liberty to do so.