After Jesus stripped Satan of his authority, he arose from the dead, ascended to heavenly Holy of Holies and obtained eternal redemption for man, he appeared before his disciples, and said,
“All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. ( Mathew 28:18-20)
The phrase “Go ye therefore” in the nineteenth verse infers transference of power. Here, he gives the church his “power of attorney,” a written document in which one person (the principal) appoints another person to act as an agent on his or her behalf, thus conferring authority on the agent to perform certain acts or functions on behalf of the principal.
Go ye therefore translated means “in the manner in which my Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
The believing ones have been conferred with same authority that Jesus had. We are his ambassadors or legal representative; we have his power of attorney, power to act in his stead. So let’s exercise it.
Luke10:19 say…“Behold I give unto you power to thread upon serpents and scorpion and all the powers of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you”
In this text, “power” occurs twice; however, the origin of the word in both cases is different. Two Greek words, “Exousia” and “Dunamis” are rendered in English as power, but they connote two different things. Exousia means authority or “delegated power” while dunamis signifies strength, might, ability, inherent power. It also connotes power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth.
Paraphrased, Luke 10:19, read, “Behold, I give unto you Exousia (Authority or delegate power to you) to desecrate demons and evil spirit, and all the Dunamis (ability,might,strength) of the adversary.”
Remember Jesus at death had stripped Satan of his authority and rendered him powerless. You see, there is a distinction between “authority” (delegated power) and “power” (might, strength).
For example, policemen or traffic wardens who direct traffic during the rush hour just raise their hands and vehicles, the 18-wheelers inclusive, stop. These officers of the law do not have the physical power or strength to stop the vehicles if they choose not to. However, they don’t use their own strength to stop traffic; they rely on or are strong in the authority that is vested in them by the government they serve.
Operators of vehicles recognise that authority and they bring their vehicles to a complete stop whenever a traffic warden or police officer raises their hand.
Same way the principalities and powers recognise your authority and must obey you, because you are not using your own power but the authority of the one who trounced him by his death, burial and resurrection.
The saga of the centurion who came to Jesus to seek succour for his hired help gives an illustration of authority and how it works.
Mathew 8:5 -10 say…”And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6 and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
You see, a centurion is a soldier who controls between 50 and 100 men.
He has principals and subordinates (…For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me).He said.
He was accustomed to authority and knew how to work it.
His insight gave him confidence… “Jesus marvelled at his response, saying… “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” (Mathew 8:10).
The inference is that just as the centurion has been set over these 100 men, Jesus have been set over or is master of principalities, powers, diseases and sicknesses.
Implying, “All you have to do is say the words and your servants(sickness) will obey, as I speak and my servants obey me.”…. The centurion replied… But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”
Same obtains for the believing ones, because authority has been bestowed on us ”…Behold I give unto you Authority”. We have the “power of attorney” to use all power in heaven and on earth.
The value of an authority is determined by the power that is behind it. God Almighty is the force behind our authority.
2nd Cor 10:6 say…“And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”
In order to exercise authority, one must be subject to that authority or have reverence for it…
You can’t just walk into a Louis Vuitton store or any other retail chain and begin to issue instructions to the staff if you are not an employee of Louis Vuitton. You must be hired and be in subjection to the management of Louis Vuitton for you to exercise authority there.
The sons of Sceva, exorcist, vagabond Jews, who hadn’t surrendered themselves to the Lordship of Jesus, after observing special miracles wrought by God through Paul unsuccessfully attempted to exercise authority in “the name of the LORD Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth” (Acts19:13) “…And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.(Acts 19:13,15-16)”
The paradox in this saga is that the seven sons of Sceva were exorcists, persons who are believed to be able to cast out the devil, but they couldn’t exercise authority in the name of Jesus because they were not subject to that name, neither did they have reverence for it.
But we are subject to that name, have reverence for that name and we have his power of attorney.
Emmanuel Emeke Asiwe(Ps)
