Walking in Authority and Power

Matthew 28:18, "Jesus came and told his disciples, 'I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.'" The next words are very important: "Therefore, Go..." You cannot miss the transition here. If this was me making this type of statement, it would sound something like this: I have been given all authority in heaven and on the earth. Go now in my authority and make disciples of the nations...

Why is it important to see this statement in this way? It's important because when Jesus commissioned His followers, He was also releasing them to walk in His authority. Everything that He had commanded, taught, and lived out among them was to be used in the making of disciples. Jesus had made disciples out of them and they were now to make disciples out of the nations.

You may be sitting back and thinking, "Well...what's so different about these verses that I haven't seen/heard before?" Quite frankly, what is different is that you may have heard about the commission but didn't realize that authority was released to you as well. In other words, Jesus did more than just give you a commission to follow. He also gave you the power and authority to live it out!

Think of it this way:
Let's say that you had been commissioned to release hostages from a hostile nation. In our scenario we will use the President of the United States as the one who gave the commission. He charges you with the duty, releases you into this huge task, but he doesn't give you any paperwork or weaponry to complete the task. In your mind you have been commissioned but in your heart you don't know how you are going to accomplish the goal. Basically, you will be trying to set captives free without any credentials or any way to go against the enemy. Jesus doesn't work that way. If you jump over to the book of Acts you will find the followers of Jesus locked up in a room and waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. They haven't gone out to make disciples yet because they were told to wait until the power came. Jesus had already given them a badge (they had been released in authority) but they hadn't received the "firepower." Then on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came and baptized the believers. Now they were able to walk in power and authority, and the whole world was turned upside down.

Interestingly enough, if you don't believe there is a misconception about the Great Commission, if you google the words "All power has been given to me" and look up the images associated with that phrase you will find a lot of baptism pictures. Can I say this? Jesus didn't just release us to perform baptisms. He released us to walk in the ministry that He exemplified for 3 1/2 years. A ministry that destroyed the works of the devil. A ministry where blind people received sight, lame people walked, the dead were raised, and the captives were set free. Everything that He had poured into His disciples was to be poured out on other believers. In this way, everyone that comes to faith in Christ is released to walk in the authority and power that He promised!

The Great Commission is all about walking in the authority and power of the Kingdom so that God's Kingdom would be advanced in the earth. Yet here we are in 2012 and getting excited about the few numbers of salvations and baptisms that are being reported around the world. Were were not given authority and power to win a few. We were given those things to disciple the nations. When will the church as a whole rise up in the power and authority that God has granted to us?

Just this morning I was reading an editorial from one of the mainstream denominations. This guy is still waiting for a "devil-defeating" revival to come into the earth. Folks, here's the deal, the devil has ALREADY BEEN DEFEATED! Jesus shamed Him publicly at the cross and resurrection. When He said "All authority has been given to me in heaven AND ON EARTH", He was saying that a new day has dawned. Think about it: If Jesus has all authority then someone else has none.

I hope that this is a wake up call to our mindset. We have been allowed to walk in the authority and power of the One who defeated death, hell and the grave. Jesus didn't conquer all of this so that we would walk in defeat. We are already more than conquerors. We walk in His victory! And we take that victory to the rest of the world.

Go in authority and power, child of God. Set the captives free. You have everything you need.