Authority Redeemed: (series recap)

1. The distortion of human nature’s longing for power.
2. The forfeiture of divine authority to Lucifer.
3. The Church’s amnesia to the power it carries.
4. The Spirit as the Restorer and Activator of true dominion.
5. Jesus the Messiah as model—not exception—for Spirit-filled authority.

God’s Original Design – Psalm 8 & Genesis 1

Psalm 8:4–6 (NIV):

“What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels* and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet:“

*Or than God

Genesis 1:26–28 (NIV):

“Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.“

Key Illumination:
Humanity was created with divine authority and dominion as image bearers of God, called to govern the earth as stewards under God’s kingship.

The Fall: Authority Transferred to Satan

Luke 4:5–6 (2020 New Testament):

“Then having taken Him up, he showed to Him all those kingdoms of this world in a moment of time, then that devil said with Him, ‘I will offer with you all that authority, that that praise from them for therewith has been given over to me, then I give that same to whosoever I may be willing.“

Key Insight:
This shocking statement from Satan during Jesus’ temptation confirms that authority had been “delivered / given over” to him. By whom? Adam and Eve, through sin and disobedience. Satan didn’t seize dominion—he received what man surrendered.

The Nature of Fallen Humanity: Desire for Power

Because we were originally created for authority, there’s a deep imprint in our nature to govern and steward. But without being rooted in God, this desire becomes twisted into a lust for power, control, and dominance.

James 4:1–2 (2020 New Testament):

“From what source are wars yet from what source are battles among yourselves? From not this place, from your desires for pleasure of which having served wherewith your members belonging to the harlot’s body? You long for, yet you have not, you are a murderer likewise you boil with anger, yet you having not been able to have obtained, yourselves having wrangled, in fact, you are engaged in warfare. Yourselves have not by reason of yourselves to have not asked.“

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV):

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
This includes a longing for divine purpose, influence, and eternal significance—but without the influence of the Sacred Spirit, these yearnings turn inward and selfish.

Jesus the Messiah Restored Authority Through the Cross

Matthew 28:18 (2020 New Testament):

“Then Jesus having approached talked with them saying, All authority has been granted to me in Heaven and upon this earth.“

Colossians 2:15 (2020 New Testament):

“Having had plundered those magistrates, in fact, those powers of authority He exhibited without concealment, wherewith having caused to triumph over them.“

Ephesians 1:20–23 (2020 New Testament):

“Which was effectual with the Messiah having raised Him up out of the dead, yet having made to sit down at the right hand of Him in those heavenly regions, above any chief priest, yet of an authority over mankind yet from power, likewise of one who possesses dominion, yet of any authority being professed not only in this world, yet likewise with that one intending, then all things He put under His feet, yet He made Him the head over all in the church, which same is His body, that fulfilling of that having made complete all those things wherewith all those things.“

Our Redeemer with Redemption:
Jesus the Messiah reclaimed the dominion humanity lost and shares it with those in Him—a restored authority rooted in love and submission, not control or domination.

Our Restored Role within Jesus the Messiah

Romans 5:17 (2020 New Testament):

“No doubt, if by which an offense of that one death reigned on account of that one, with a much greater degree those a superabundance of that graciousness, then from that justification from that gratuity receiving wherewith life, they will reign within of that one, Jesus the Messiah.“

Revelation 5:10 (2020 New Testament):

“In fact, you brought forth therewith a realm within our God, likewise priests, then they will rule upon of this earth.“

Final Reflection: We are not called to seek worldly power, but to reign within Jesus the Messiah—by laying down our lives, walking in the influence of the Sacred Spirit, and stewarding what He gives us.

True dominion is restored through daily surrender and on-going submission.