Followers of Christ must embrace the reality that “authority” is God’s gift to humanity for the flourishing of society and the believer’s Christlike transformation.
God gave Adam (humanity) dominion over every living thing (Gen 1:28). In Genesis 2, Adam has the authority to name all the animals, and in chapter 4, parents have the authority to select their children’s names.
In chapter 4, humans must rule over sin. Each person has the responsibility to choose right over wrong. Notice Yahweh says to Cain, “If you do well.” Clearly, even in his fallen state, Cain remains responsible before Yahweh for doing what is right. He has the authority to refuse to act upon his emotions.
In Genesis 9, Yahweh delegates the authority to take human life to humanity (v. 6).
This morning, we are going to talk about authority in a more topical sense using seven domains. Read the NT, and you will quickly realize that the idea of authority is everywhere.
• Jesus taught as a man with authority.
• Jesus commends a man who was under authority and possessed authority.
• Jesus gives His disciples authority.
In Matthew 21, an argument ensues concerning the source of Jesus’ authority. In John 8, Jesus has done nothing of His own authority. Two chapters later, He has the authority to lay down His life and raise it up. Later, Pilate claims to have authority, and Jesus lets him know any authority he has comes from God (John 19:10–11). Finally, in Matthew 28, all authority is given to Jesus in heaven and on earth.
Fast forward to the ministry of Paul, and you see Paul as an apostle exercising all kinds of authority and writing about the subject of authority throughout his epistles. Paul writes about authority in the spiritual domain and the earthly domain. He affirms the authority of government, the church, the apostles, masters, elders, etc.
The disciple of Christ must embrace the reality that God uses authority for our good. Believers intuitively know they need people speaking into their lives, as much as they do not like it. Yet our fallen nature rears its ugly head in rebellion. We argue with God, the Bible, the Spirit within us, and anyone who would dare confront us with our sin. I do. And I suspect you do too.
Christ, our perfect example, submitted to the Father’s authority even to the point of death on a cross. Being a follower of Christ means placing ourselves under the daily authority of God the Spirit. The more I submit to God-ordained authorities in my life, the more I know I am being conformed to the image of Christ.
