Unsaved people are influenced by demons. What causes a man to commit atrocious acts of evil?  The need to know about Biblical authority is rooted in this fact – you are not alone on planet earth! In Eden, the most perfect place on the planet, Adam found that he was not alone (Gen. 3:1). But the fact that we have company on planet earth is irrelevant once you understand your ‘position’ in Christ.

Ephesians 2:6–8
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Understand the Difference between Positional Truth and ‘Here and Now’ Truth

• Positional truths are ‘true’ whether you ever act on them or not
• They are truths as God sees them or as God has LEGALLY established them.
• ‘Here and Now’ Truths
• Are truths as planet earth sees it.
• Are truths as the world sees it.
• Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to pull on God’s positional truths until it changes the ‘here and now’.
• Understand, Satan has no access to positional truth
• Positional truth is a God area.  The enemy only has access to ‘here and now’.  If you learn to step back and look at what’s happening’ and ask yourself ‘what’s the real truth here?’, you will be the one with the advantage.
• You always act from the positional side – not from the here and now side.
• As far as God is concerned, you are seated with Jesus; where Jesus sits – you sit
• Jesus sits far above all devils and demons and evil spirits.
• So step up and take a seat!!!

The Need for Asserting & Accessing Authority

Matt. 2:16-18
16 “Then Herod when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from 2 years old and under,……

• People are influenced by demons
• What causes a man to do a thing like this?
• The need to know about Biblical authority is rooted in this fact – you are not alone on planet earth!
• In Eden, the most perfect place on the planet, Adam found that he was not alone.

Genesis 3:1 (NLT)
1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

• But the fact that we have company on planet earth is irrelevant once you understand your ‘position’.  This position is expressed in Ephesians 2:6.
• When God raised Jesus from the dead, He raised you.

Authority in the Old Testament

• It is a very interesting fact that as you read the Old Testament, you don’t see Satan mentioned much
• Gen. 3 – in the garden
• Job 1-2
• Zechariah 3:1-7
• 1Chronicles 21:1-22:1
• Isa. 14:12-17
• Ezekiel 28:11-19
• And that’s 4000 years of Biblical history and he is only mentioned a few times
• Demons were involved in Old Testament times.  There were wars that Israel fought that were motivated by demons.  Demons were behind the Canaanite religions that caused Israel to sin.  Demons were behind the oppression of Pharaoh that Israel experienced in the Egypt.  Demons were behind the slaughter of the children by Herod.
• But as soon as Jesus comes on the scene – you see demons being cast out – demons mentioned in connection with sickness – they are mentioned all over the place.  Why?
• Adam gave away his authority in the garden of Eden
• God gave man dominion – Gen. 1:28

Genesis 1:28 (ESV)
28 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.”

• There was no authority in the earth to deal with demons, Adam gave it away!

Luke 4:4–5 (ESV)
4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ ” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time,

• The only authority available in the Old Testament was the Lord’s own personal authority.

Zechariah 3:1–3 (ESV)
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORDrebukeyou, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments.

• God the Father Exercised His Authority in the Old Testament

Psalm 9:5
5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.

Psalm 119:21
21 You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments.

Psalm 80:16
16 They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your face!

Psalm 76:6
6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both rider and horse lay stunned.

Psalm 106:9
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the deep as through a desert.

Psalm 18:15
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

Isaiah 17:13
13 The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm.

Jude 9
9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”

• There was authority being exercised in the Old Testament but it wasn’t man that was exercising it, it was God.  God exercised His authority at certain points in Old Testament history because the man that God created and gave dominion to, could not exercise any because Adam, our representative, gave it away.

Jesus Exercised Authority in the New Testament

• How did this work with Jesus?
• So, now Jesus comes on the scene
• We know that Jesus operated as a man anointed by the Holy Spirit under the umbrella of the Abrahamic Covenant.
• So here is the big question; how did Jesus exercise authority over the devil, when there wasn’t any authority available under the Abrahamic Covenant – Adam had long since given it away?
• The first key is the Principle of Identification

John 10:30 (ESV)
30 I and the Father are one.”

John 14:24 (ESV)
24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

John 8:28 (ESV)
28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.

• Demons, themselves, recognized this union.

Mark 1:24 (ESV)
24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”

• The demons recognized Jesus as God’s Son.
• Where did Jesus get His authority from?  He got it from Daddy!!!
• What was the result?

Luke 4:36 (ESV)
36 And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

• Look at the scenario – God gave man dominion and he gave it away to Satan
• God gave Jesus authority and you know what He did it with it?   The same thing!
• He gave it away!

Luke 9:1 (ESV)
1 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,

• What’s amazing about this is that they weren’t even born-again at this point and they had this authority!!!
• They exercised more authority on this missionary excursion that Jesus sent them on than all the Old Testament saints wrapped up together.
• To the point that the disciples came back and said…

Luke 10:17 (ESV)
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”

• There was one final step that had to be taken that though the disciples had authority over demons yet they did not have authority over themselves – they needed the new birth for that!!! – and that meant the cross.
• So now with the death, and the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus not only do the disciples have the ability to exercise authority over themselves but God permanently restored to man his lost authority through the same method the Father used with Jesus – identification.
• You are in Christ.  You were ‘in Him’ – when He was crucified – you were ‘in Him’ in the tomb – you were ‘in Him’ as He served the penalty for the sin of mankind.  When He raised Jesus from the dead, you were ‘in Him’.  And finally when He exalted Jesus and gave Him a seat at His right hand far above all principalities and powers – you were ‘in Him’ – YOU ARE SEATED WITH HIM high above all devils demons and evil spirits.
• STEP UP AND TAKE  A SEAT!!!!!

Call to Action:

Some situations are the way they are on planet earth because believers are not exercising their God given authority. We spend time praying that God would change these situations but He is waiting on you to rise up and take Him at His Word. So what about it? What situations, that fall under this realm of authority, are you dealing with that need to be changed? Meditate on the Word of God until it becomes revelation to your spirit. And rise up and do the works of Jesus.

Question: In what way has ‘exercising authority in the spirit realm’ altered a life situation you were involved with? Would you please leave your story in the comments section below?