Last week in our study we focused on Knowing God by reviewing many of the Names of God in Scripture. We determined that a name carries authority and power as it represents the essence of the bearer. This concept is also known as the Shema in Hebrew, a memorial of individuality, honor, authority and character, taken from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, which states: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Therefore, God is instructing us to not only know His Name but to LOVE His Name! That carries it to a deeper level of understanding! Jesus reiterated this in Matthew 22:37-39, saying: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.” This command seems to be impossible to obey because in the natural state of man, it is impossible. But as Christians, we have been cleansed from sin by the blood of Jesus and received the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit who lives in our hearts. This transformative power of His love empowers us to experience His power and authority in our daily lives. This is the very essence of John 3: 16 “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He even gave up His only unique Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall have eternal (everlasting) life.” Paul reveals that it is a mystery hidden through the ages in the mind of God Who created all things by Christ Jesus that the purpose of the Church is to provide salvation for all men and to be empowered through faith in Him to have boldness, courage and confidence to stand against principalities and powers in the heavenly sphere. (Ephesians 3: 9-12) Adrian Rogers said: “If you read the Bible and don’t find Jesus, re-read it as every word from Genesis through Revelation is about Him.” Paul gives the charge to the Church in Ephesians 4: 15-16 to: speak the truth in love; grow up into Him in all things as the Head; exercise each part with power adapted to its need; grow to full maturity; build itself up in love. This will require a complete surrender and dedication to Him by each believer that we can experience the power that overcomes the world!
Scripture gives us the order of power and authority: God – “One God has spoken; trice have I heard this; that power belongs to God.” (Ps. 62:11) Jesus – “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Mt. 28: 18) Holy Spirit – “These are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” Believers – “But you shall receive power (ability and might) when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.” (Acts. 1:8) The Holy Spirit is the birthday gift to all who accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. God’s power and authority trumps all human power and authority! Jesus spoke to Pilate that he would have no power or authority whatsoever over Him were it not given from above—from the Father who is greater! (John 19: 11)
In summary, the subject of power in Scripture may be viewed as follows: 1. Original source in the Person of the Godhead. 2. Its exercise by God in creation, its preservation and its government. 3. Special manifestation of Divine power—past, present and future. 4. Committed to those who on becoming believers are empowered by the Spirit of God—indwelt by Him to exercise it hereafter for God’s glory!
God earthed Jesus who took our sins and drank the cup. According to the Bible, Jesus Christ is referred to as “God in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). This concept is rooted in the Incarnation, where God, the Creator, took on human flesh to redeem humanity (John 1:14). The Bible describes Jesus as fully divine (100% God) and fully human (100% man), with a union of flesh and deity (Philippians 2:8). 1 Timothy 3:16: “And great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.”
As believers in Christ, we are all sons of God through faith. Galatians 3: 27 reveals this truth: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ (into a spiritual union and communion with Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah) have put on (clothed yourselves with) Christ.” As a believer in Christ, we have been given a unique authority in Him. This authority is rooted in our new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) and our seating with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). As a believer, you are part of Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 12:12-13), and therefore, we share in His authority (Matthew 28:18). We have been given the same power and authority that Christ demonstrated during His earthly ministry (Ephesians 1:19-20). As a believer, we have the authority to approach God’s throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:16). We have been commissioned to share the gospel and have the authority to do so (Matthew 28:18-20). As a believer, we have been given authority and power over the enemy. (Luke 10: 19) As a believer, we can have perfect peace and confidence in the trials and tribulation and distresses of the world because Jesus has overcome the world and He has deprived it of power to harm us and have conquered it for us. (John 16: 33) As a believer, we can serve others with the strength God provides, knowing you are doing God’s work and wielding His authority (Ephesians 6:17). As a believer, we have been given the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, a mighty weapon forged by God for our use, to engage in spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:17). Our authority as a believer comes from God and His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Scripture reveals that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 3:8) The Blood and the Name of Jesus have not lost their power! We must claim the power and protection of His blood every day, over our family and over every situation in our lives. Jesus’ blood cries for mercy, forgiveness, restoration, health, pardon, justification, peace, cleansing, reconciliation, redemption, protection, eternal covenant, overcoming victory, and everything else we will ever need now and throughout eternity. Glory to God!
Jesus made a promise to His followers before ascending to heaven according to John 14: 12: “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even great things than these, because I am going to the Father.” Jesus links the greater works His followers will do to the promise of answered prayer. His very next words: “And I will do whatever you ask in My Name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in My Name, and I will do it.” (John 14: 13-14) James gives us special insight into how to pray in Chapter 4. Verse 2 states, “You do not have because you do not ask God.” The passage then warns against asking God with wrong motives, such as seeking pleasure or personal gain (James 4:3). Instead, we should ask with faith and humility, seeking God’s will and glory. True faith involves trusting God’s sovereignty and goodness. When we pray with faith, we acknowledge that God knows what is best for us and are willing to accept His answer, whether it be “yes,” “no,” or “wait.” As we grow in Christ, our hearts change, and our “ask” becomes aligned with God’s will, rather than our own agenda. It is important for us to pray the scriptures and claim them as God hears and His word does not return void.
Later in John 14: 17 Jesus promised them the enduement of the Holy Spirit as their Comforter that would abide in them—the Spirit of Truth—the fulfilment that they witnessed after His ascension according to Acts 2: 1-4. The words of Jesus in John 14 were of great comfort to His eleven disciples. He was about to be arrested and suffer a cruel and unjust death. The disciples themselves would be scattered that night. But Jesus assured them that, no matter what happens, God’s work will continue in the world. Even after Jesus’ earthly ministry ended, His work would go on. The followers of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, would continue to help and heal people. The gospel would have a worldwide impact. As God’s people pray in Jesus’ name, answers will come, and the greatest miracle of all—the spiritual transformation of a sinful heart through faith in Christ—will become commonplace, to the glory of God. Yes, Lord, send a great harvest of souls to complete Your Bride before You return!
The Name of Jesus and the anointing of the Spirit upon Him became an identifier for all believers in the early church. They were recognized for doing what Jesus did. This is still the same today. The name—Christians, connects us with what Jesus did while on earth. We are all called to live and act like Jesus everywhere we go and in everything that we do. His anointing of the Holy Spirit manifests through our lives whenever we put His name into use. The name of Jesus is the most powerful name that was, that is and forever will be in the three known worlds of human beings, angels and demons. The Bible says: “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” (Philippians 2:10)
It is our faith in the name of Jesus to do what we believe Him to do as we call on His name, that manifests His power for us. Every believer in Christ has faith (Romans 12:3). And our faith always works whenever it is put into action. The importance of our faith to work in manifesting the power of God cannot be overemphasized. We do have the seed of faith, which is planted in us through the word of God (Romans 10:17). “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” (Hebrews 11:1) From the moment our faith became active when we believed, we knew that the name of Jesus whom we confessed as Lord is able to do greater things through us. Paul wrote to the Romans: “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
Since we have received Jesus in our lives, we do have the very same power and authority—the glory of Jesus in us! Jesus prayed for us before His ascension: “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began…I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:5, 22-23)
God knows you by your name, just as the enemy knows you as well, and he trembles in fear of who you are in Christ Jesus (James 2:19). “Little children, you are of God (you belong to Him) and have (already) defeated and overcome them (the agents of the antichrist), because He who lives in you is greater (mightier) than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) All you need to do as a believer is to begin exercising the power and authority in the Name of Jesus and by His Holy Spirit that you possess to walk and reign in victory here on earth and into eternity. For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever! Amen!