(Part 3/3 – A summary of the Sunday morning teaching on 10-Aug-14, in AFT Church, English service. From the series The Law of Faith) Jesus came as a man: Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God – Luke 4:31 What is surprising in this passage is how the demons talk about the identity of Jesus and admit that he was the Holy One of God. It would be expected that a demon would not tell anyone who Jesus really was. We would expect him to lie about Jesus, accuse Him falsely and try to get people away from Him. Instead, the demon declares here that Jesus is the Holy One and the Son of God. But if we look closely, we will see that Satan tries to discredit God by saying that He is indeed God and therefore cannot interfere in the affairs of man, because only man has authority in the earth. That’s why the demons say that Jesus had come before His time, not realizing that He had come as a man and not as God who was expected to come at a later time. They go a step further and say “I implore you by God, do not torment me” (Mark 5:7). They invoke the name of God Himself and ask Jesus not to do anything to them, because they know that legally Jesus cannot do anything on this earth, because the authority belonged to man. Satan did not understand that Jesus had come to the earth as a man, and He had authority on earth as a man. And when Jesus rebuked them, they obeyed Him. Jesus had come in the form of man, born of a woman, had an earthly body and therefore exercised authority as a man. Sometimes, we think that we are mere mortals, mere men. But it is to man that authority has been given. We think that God is God and He can do everything, but we are mere men and can do nothing. But God works only through us. Have you seen God preaching anywhere, or working miracles, or healing the sick on His own? He dwells in us and works through us. So we must stop belittling ourselves and understand that great authority has been vested in us. We must not discount our earthly body as nothing. It is indispensable and precious. Jesus Himself took upon the form on man in order to have an earthly body. Then He used the authority as a man, died on the Cross, went to hell and defeated satan, took the authority from him and handed it back to mankind. The Authority of Jesus as a man: Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?” But Jesus answered and said to them, “ I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him? ’ But if we say, “From men’”—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “ Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things – Mark 11:27-33 They asked him two things? By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you the authority to do these things? People think that Jesus wanted to escape answering their question, so He posed a question back at them. But Jesus answered them with a question because if they had answered His question, they would have found out the answer to their own questions. But they wanted to be very political about it and did not answer Him. So He also refused to answer them. Let’s look at the possible answer to Jesus’ question. His question was whether the baptism given by Johnwas from Heaven or from men. Note that John gave baptism only by water. But he had said about Jesus that “He who is coming after me is mightier than I, Whose sandals I am not worthy or fit to take off or carry; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” This implies that there was a baptism apart from water baptism and that the Messiah would give it to them. Therefore, the answer is, the baptism given by John was of man. John was a man who was called by God for ministry, he was set apart at birth. And he had been given authority by God to do what he was called to do. Jesus is implying thatjust like John, He too was a man with God-given authority to accomplish was God had called him to do. He chased away the corrupt money-changers, healed the sick, rebuked demons, and taught them so speak to the mountain to be removed and cast into the sea, all by the authority given to Him by God, as a man. Note that Jesus did not do any miracles after He rose from the dead. He was resurrected and after a few interactions He went back to heaven. All the miracles that He did, He did as a man before He died on the cross. Now after Jesus’ departure, it was time for other ‘men’ to take up that authority and establish God’s kingdom in this world. Satan thought that everything would end when Jesus died on the Cross. But Jesus rose again from the dead and created a way for the Holy Spirit to come into this world and empower human beings. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon 120 people and gave them power. These people exercised their authority as men and started healing people and rebuking demons. Note that before leaving the earth Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” – Matthew 28:18 This is true Christianity. Christian life is not just about subscribing to some religion. We preach about Jesus; people believe in Him and accept Him as their Lord & savior. Then they receive the authorityto change their situation with the help of the Holy Spirit to bring things under their dominion, to speak to mountain-like obstacles andremove from their path of success and to live a victoriouslife. Many Christians hold on to the religion of Christianity and forego the power and authority given to them. We have authority on this earth. What we say will happen. We can cast away our problem and live a good life. If we accept Jesus and know the real meaning of His words, we will understand the authority that we have been given on this earth.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 19:23:45 +0000
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