Scripture reading: Matthew 28:16-20

 

Introduction

  • Last week, we looked at Why God became Man – Part 1: Jesus came to restore Man’s ruptured relationship with God.
  • Today, we consider Part 2: Jesus came to reestablish Man’s royal authority over the earth. This is a central theme in bible. Yet it is not well understood by most believers. The enemy works overtime to keep us from understanding it.

Jesus came to reestablish man’s royal authority over the earth

  1. God created humans to “rule the world.” God is by nature a collaborative being and wanted his authority over the earth to be mediated by men and women as his regents (Gen 1:26-28. Ps 8:4-8; 115:16; Heb 2:5-9).
  2. Our first parents inadvertently abdicated this authority to Satan when they yielded to his temptation to stop trusting God (Gen 3:1-7). So, Satan became the de facto “god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:2).
  3. To restore human authority would require a divinely endorsed human being with the moral rectitude, legal authority and spiritual power to “win back” humanity’s right to rule the earth. But there is no human who meets these criteria (see Rom 3:9-20). So, the Son of God became a “son of man” (a human) to do what Adam and Eve failed to do: live a life of loving obedience (Heb 4:15), successfully resist all of Satan’s temptations (Lk 4:1-13), introduce God’s kingdom (Mark 1:15; Lk 11:20) and commission other humans with his power and authority to continue his work until He returns (Matt 28. 18-20; Acts 1:8).
  4. Every true Christian has the authority of Christ (Mt 28:18-19) and power of his Spirit (Acts 1:8) to reign with King Jesus over the earth in this life (Eph 2:6) and—following Christ’s return to earth—in the life to come (Rev 2:26-27).

How do we exercise this authority right now?

  • It begins by living our lives in union with God and learning to “walk in the Spirit:” living humbly, justly, righteously, speaking truthfully in a culture that has lost its grip on objective truth. Then we are in a position to co-reign with Christ in three ways:
  1. By introducing others to Jesus and expanding his kingdom.

Acts 26:17-18: “I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are made holy by faith in me.’”

Matt 16:18b-19: “…On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

  1. By praying authoritatively for Christ’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

2 Cor 10:4-5: ”The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

  1. By using the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to you to build up the Church.

1 Peter 4:10-11: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” (See also Rom 12:4-8; 1 Cor 12:7-11; Eph 4:11-13).

Takeaway

Reign with Christ the King! You are a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9). Rise up in your authority in Christ. You have an anointing from the Holy One (1 John 2:20). You have spiritual gifts. You have a calling. It’s time to walk in them!