Prologue
This blog post is an overview of the progressive spiritual plan of God’s divine plan of redeeming fallen humanity. Our biblical reference for this is Genesis 3:15. While it is true that the Scriptures say that God has created the heavens, the earth, animals, plants, and humans after its kind and rested. This study contends that God hasn’t fully rested in His creation, He is very active in recreating the reformation of all that has been negatively impacted by the law of sin and death.
One could argue that God’s greatest creation is not what has already been created, but what God is recreating by His divine design until the second return of Christ. The centerpiece is God’s spiritual soul crafting is that of former sinners and enemies of God to that of saints and heirs to His Kingdom.
In God’s initial created order, humans, angelic, and demons are bonded to respond to God’s authority throughout, yet only the humans, who are made a little lower than angels, are crowned with glory, honor, and authority to subject everything under them by the delegation of the powerful name of Christ. Hebrews 2:5-8.
The essence of this blog post was made possible through a two-week Biblical discipleship study group on the authority of the name of Christ for the Body of Christ. It is my prayer that this study of the delegated authority of Christ to His Body, will be a blessing. Grace and Peace
Special thanks to all of my wonderful students of the “Walking in The Messiah Discipleship Group”.
“The Greatest Miracle that God can do today is to take an unholy person out of an unholy world and make them holy, then put them back into that unholy world and keep them holy in it!” -Leonard Ravenhill
God’s Divine Design
God’s divine design consists of God, Yeshua [Jesus], the Holy Spirit, the living Word of God, and the Body of Christ [Jews and non-Jews past, present, future].
Between Christ’s first and second advent, the Body of Christ is reminded by God, of what Her role is, He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
God
God’s universal authority is called sovereignty which defines the supreme right to exercise His ruling power over His created order.
King David blessed God by saying “Blessed art Thou, O Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Thine is the dominion, O Lord, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all.
Both riches and honor come from Thee, and Thou does rule over all, and in Thy hand is power and might, and it lies in Thy hand to make great, and to strengthen everyone. Now, therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name”. 1 Chronicle 29:10-14
This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for Me? Where will my resting place be? Isaiah 66:1
God is the very Temple in His Creation
In Revelation 3:12 Christ says, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.”
In Johannine writings “he who overcomes” is every true believer. So every redeemed person is pictured here as a pillar of the temple ceremonially inscribed with three names.
In Revelation 7:15 one of the twenty-four elders, speaking of saints who have come out of the great tribulation, tells the apostle, “They are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.”
The temple in heaven is not a building; it is the Lord God Almighty Himself. Revelation 7:15 implies this when it says “He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.”
For the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The glory of God both illuminates heaven and defines the boundaries of its temple. One might say all heaven is the temple, and the glory and presence of the Lord permeate it.
Christ
Yeshua [Jesus] is the appointed anointed One from Heaven who God chose to rescue, restore, and redeem from the law of sin and death by regenerating the dead souls of all humans born in sin. His title as the Second Adam best describes His role.
“So, it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as in the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 1 Corinthians 15:45-50
Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of this age. Matthew 28:18-20
Baptizing them implies immersing or submerging students in spiritual disciplines of Christ’s teachings. To involve them deeply in the realities of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And He is the Head of the Body, the Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be pre-emit. Colossian 1:15-20
- The image of the invisible God- Phil. 2:5-11
- First-born overall Creation, He is the faithful true witness, the beginning of the creation of God-Rev. 3:14
- Everything was created by Him- Genesis 1:1
God through Christ created by Him, in heaven, and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Thrones= Kings, seats, power
Dominions= Lordship, divine or angelic lordship, domination, celestial hierarchy
Rulers= Kingly or magistrates
Authorities= power to at, authority spiritually or earthly power
Christ was not just the Second Adam; He is our High Priest- Hebrew 4:14-16
In His ascension, Christ returned to the Father, now as the first perfected human being. As a glorified human being, He is elevated to the pinnacle of God’s created order. He directly executes the office of the High Priest. He once offered up Himself as a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God, and in making continual intercession for us who are in Him.
Yeshua [Jesus] of Nazareth- Names and Titles in the Scriptures
- High Priest- He represents God to humanity and as our High Priest, He represents humanity to God.
- King of Israel
- Prophet
- Son of David
- Son of God
- Son of Man
- The Elect One
- Servant of the Lord
- Prince
- Branch
- Root
- Chosen One
- Emmanuel
- YHWH saves- our salvation
- Christ-Messiah the anointed One
- Lord-Master
- Logos-The Living Word of God
- Lamb of God
- New Adam, Second Adam, Last Adam
- Light of the world
Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the comforter, helper, teacher, and companion, He leads, guides strengthens, encourages, and empowers believers to become who God created us to be.
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another helper, that He may be with you forever; that the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” John 14:15-17
Word of God
The Word of God is the written expression of God’s mind, will, plans, and promises for those who are His chosen and elected in righteousness and eternal life.
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thought and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Hebrews 4:12-13
However, you continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; from childhood, you have known the sacred writing which can give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Body of Christ
The Body of Christ is the collection of spiritually redeemed souls, Jewish and non-Jewish alike who are one in Messiah. Israel and the Church are united yet God’s ultimate plans for the two are different in this age, and the age to come.
For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body though they are many, are one body, so also in Christ. For by one Spirit, we were baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body is not one member but many…, And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, teachers, miracles, gifts of healings, helps, administrations. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14;27-28
The Lord’s Body is encouraged that whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3:17
God through Christ has delegated authority to His Body via the resurrection of Jesus. We who died in Christ now are raised with Him and are positionally seated with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ our Lord. Both the Head and His Body are seated next to God in the very place of power and authority. Ephesians 2:6
When in Christ, we are seated in the power of position as His heirs [Romans 8:17], everything that is His including His authority, is delegated to His Body.
How to use Christ’s authority on the earth?
The Body of Christ is instructed to know, pray, and speak the Holy Word of God at all times. The name of Christ is higher than any other name in God’s creation. Phil. 2:9
In the New Covenant, the authority God gives to His saints is delegated power through Christ, authorizing the Body to act to the extent they are guided by faith and His revealed Word. This authority that God has granted to Christ post-resurrection is the universal authority over the created order in heaven and earth.
Christ stated that His name is the essence of all authority in that whatever you ask in My name, I will do, that the Father may have glory in the Son. If you ask anything in My name I will do it. John 14:13
Let Jesus’ Name radiate through you
The scriptures say:
“The Son radiates God’s glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.”
Hebrews 1:3-4 NLT
The name of Jesus is greater than any name in the heavens, on earth, and under the earth. Begin to speak to yourself about what you believe His name to do for you. Visualize yourself in that position of authority, and never allow the enemy to steal that image of what the name of Jesus is bringing to you.
Since we had received Jesus in our lives, we do have the very same 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 NIV
By using the name of Jesus in prayer, the glory of God manifests through us for the world to see and believe. We have Jesus inside us. That is why the authority that He gave us scares the Devil every time we call on that name. Whenever the evil one sees you, he sees Jesus also.
No believer in Christ can ever exercise authority in the name of Jesus outside of the human body. Only the living can exercise authority in His name and not the dead. A lifeless body is of no use in exercising authority. The Devil knows this. That is why he seeks to possess any human body. But by being filled with the Holy Spirit, you can prevent Him.
God does nothing on earth without a living human being. That is why we all have received names that identify us. 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).
All you need to do as a believer is to begin exercising the authority, that you possess to walk and reign in victory here on earth from now on. Amen!
