God has been teaching me a lot about authority lately. It seems to be coming up everywhere and from both ends of the spectrum. We all have authority and we are all under authority yet all authority is under Christ. Confusing? Yes, but I don’t think it has to be.
Tonight, the three ComLife leaders (Amanda, Jessica, and myself) decided to go to the Atlanta IHOP (International House of Prayer) for their Sunday night service. We had no idea what they would be teaching on, but it the sermon ended up being on authority. The focus of course was on our government in light of the recent election, but the basic principles stand true for all forms of authority. The bottom line is that all authority is given by God and we are commanded to submit to it. What does that mean?
When Jesus called us out, He gave us His authority in the spiritual realm. With Jesus having all authority in heaven and in earth, He gave us His authority. That means that we have the highest authority in Christ. But Jesus also clearly tells us to submit to all authority because it is ordained by Him for His purposes. How does that work? How do we have authority over the authority and also submit to it at the same time?
The authority given to us by Christ is spiritual authority. We are called to use that spiritual authority to bring them into alignment with the authority of God’s Kingdom. That means we pray for them to come into agreement with the laws and statutes of God. But, we also have to submit to them in the natural even where they are. (Only when doing so would be in direct oposition to God, do we have permission to stand against authroity.) God calls up whom He calls up and cast down whom He casts down, all for His glory. He used many unrighteous leaders throughout history to accomplish His purposes, His judgements, and His refinement of His people. Who are we to stand against His purposes?
As I was listening to this message, God began to give me revelation about disobedience in our culture. It was specifically in relation to oppressed populations, but could also be applied in many varried situations. The revelations was this…
In many oppressed populations there is a resistance to authority because of corruption and predjudice. Nobody trusts the authority over them, so they resist it and refuse to submit to it. This is our natural responce whenever we are wronged by authority – we reject it. It becomes a cycle, a downward spiral. It seems impossible, but the only way out is to submit to the authority that is opressing you. It may sound crazy, but let me explain.
As long as there is resistance and rebellion against authority, they will hide there corruption behind the rebellion. Justice will alway take the side of authority when having to choose between it and a rebellious citizen. But, if the rebellion ceased and the population would submit to the God appointed authority and become blameless before God and man, then the corruption would be exposed in contrast to their righteousness. There would no longer be a way to cover up the corruption. When the corruption is exposed, the authority can be refined and purified and only then will that population be released from their oppression.
We alway want to bring about our own redemption. We want revenge. We want to be repayed for what was stolen from us, but revenge is the Lords, and only He can bring redemption. We have to be willing to surrender out rights and be willing to submit to God’s appointed authority even if it means that we are wronged in the process. God will bring it around and redeem it and He will reward us for obeying His command and giving Him His rightful position. Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth, yet even he submitted to the appointed human authorities even to the point of death on the cross. Only through that suffering was true redemption made possible.
Submission is never our natural response, especially when our authorities present something that offends us or contradicts our personal views and understandings. As Christians, we live in freedom but we are called to submit to authority. It is a willing submission, not a forced one and therefore there is not need or reason to rebel. You don’t resist that which you choose. I experienced this recently in a slightly different scenario. You can read more about that in part 2.
