The Christian Authority
Many people believe that Adam and Eve were purposely set up to disobey God and that God’s intentions were for them to fail. That is not true. The scriptures show us what God originally intended. Genesis 1:26, 28 say, “And God said let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and LET THEM HAVE DOMINION over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over ALL THE EARTH, AND OVER EVERY CREEPING THING THAT CREEPETH UPON THE EARTH. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and SUBDUE IT and HAVE DOMINION over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” God’s original intentions for creating mankind were for fellowship and for mankind to have authority on Earth over everything. Notice that this authority was God given. If God gave it, He expected man to use it.
Notice the emphasized words, “let them have dominion.” This simply means that God was giving man the authority to rule Earth. We also see all the things man had dominion over; all things. Notice the command God gave mankind; subdue the Earth. The word “subdue” means to take control of. Why would God tell them to take control? God knew Satan was coming. The Bible says something interesting in Genesis 2:15, “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden (of Eden) to dress it and to KEEP it.” This is written before Satan came into the garden to tempt Adam and Eve. The word “keep” in the original Hebrew means “to guard.” Why would God tell Adam to guard Eden? God knew Satan would try to steal it and God didn’t want that to happen. What did God do to prevent this from happening? God gave them authority.
What did Adam and Eve have authority over? Every living and creeping thing on Earth. What form did Satan take when he came into the garden? A serpent. Are serpents living things and do they move? Yes. Did Adam and Eve have authority over Satan? Yes. So did they have to obey Satan? No. They should have used their authority and disobeyed Satan and obeyed God. From this we see that even though God had a good plan, man’s decisions influenced the outcome. The same is true today. A person will only have authority over Satan if they are surrendered to God. Christians do have authority over the devil but they must decide to use it.
James 4:7 says, “Submit yourself to God…resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Notice the Bible says that it is our job to resist the devil. God has already done everything He is going to do with the devil. And notice who the devil runs from: YOU!
Pastor Tim
Family Church Jamestown is a non-denominational church located in Chautauqua County in Jamestown between Lakewood and Busti, NY. The senior pastor of Family Church is Pastor Tim Stahlman a native to the Jamestown, NY area.
