How do we live in His power and authority when everything seems to be going wrong? We must keep our trust in Him. We cannot allow the enemy to steal what we have been given. He does this by getting us to think we are less than what we are and that he is greater than what he is.
Ephesians 2:1-6 And you He (Jesus) made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Where is this ‘heavenly place?’ This is not talking about the physical destination of heaven. It is not so much a place of location as it is a place of position. The Greek word used here means the sphere of spiritual activities. ‘The prince of the power of the air’ does not refer to Jesus, but to Satan. Jesus is known as ‘The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
Philippians 2:7-11 (Jesus) made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
Jesus didn’t need exalting. He already was exalted before the foundation of the world. He was one with the Father. He didn’t need to get power and authority over the Devil, He never lost it. He did it all for us so that we could be raised up together and seated with Him now over the sphere of all spiritual activity. That is our God given right and position.
Matthew 28:18 Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
How do we get this power and authority to work for us? By putting on His righteousness and trusting His Word.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
What you believe (put into practice) will determine what you receive.
Mark 16:17-18 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.
Jesus did it all for us to have dominion over everything that was lost in the fall of Adam.
Colossians 1:13-14 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. (convey = transfer; exchanged)
Don’t belittle what Jesus did by not taking your place.
Ephesians 6:10-17 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
What are these ‘fiery darts?’ Thoughts.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
The word for stronghold is also used for prison. The Greek word for arguments is where we get the English word logic from. It also includes natural or carnal reasoning and thereby forming our own opinion. ‘High things’ are anything we place more importance on than on God’s Word. God is not telling us to switch off our minds but not to allow our limited thinking to limit Him. We waste so much mental effort on trying to solve a problem instead of trusting Him by applying His Word to the problem.
Isaiah 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
