.... "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore . . ."
(Matthew 28:18-19)
.... Here is the simple perspective from which the entire subject of authority must be understood. Since all authority has been given to Christ, there is no authority anywhere else, not even in the apostles, and He is sending them out with this very understanding. In fact, it is because they have no authority of their own that they must act in His name, as representing Him:
.... "So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? . . . His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all."
(Acts 3:12-16)
.... Through His name, the authority of Jesus is represented but it is never delegated -- and this is a very important distinction. It is especially true in ministry since this was the context for His remarks. Because if Jesus had actually delegated His authority to any Christian leader in any way, He would, by that same action, have turned that leader into a mediator between man and God, and abdicated His own place and purpose:
.... "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus."
(1 Timothy 2:5)
.... Jesus is the only mediator between us and God because He alone
can be. A mediator is a person who will ‘go between’ two other parties to make peace between them. The mediator must also act as a
guarantee for both parties (
Hebrews 8:6;
9:15;
12:24). Jesus is absolutely unique in this role because He is fully Divine, able to fully represent God toward us and to act for Him (
Colossians 2:9), and at the same time He is also fully human, which makes Him the perfect bridge in representing us back to God.
.
.... In the quotation above, we saw that it is the
Man Jesus Christ who mediates for us, because He alone is able to relate to us and represent us to God in a way that guarantees us to Him. This is the
only basis by which peace is made with God, to whom we must all give an account. But it is also our cause for hope and confidence:
.... "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
(Hebrews 4:14-16)
3 Comments:
God does actually share, or delegate, His authority in two other ways, which have nothing to do with our relating to Him. First, He has given us authority over the adversary:
"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
(Luke 10:19)
And second, He has given actual authority to government officials for the purpose of addressing the vices of society and maintaining order in the land (Romans 13:1,2). This does not effect Christians because, as a new creation in Christ, we behave in an orderly way unto God, and should never come into collision with the law (Gal 6:15).
knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.
(1 Tim 1:9-11)
By
Cleopas, at 1/11/2006 11:37 PM
When the law of the land violates the law of God, however, we are not bound to it. We have a higher loyalty. For example, we see in Daniel 6 that an unjust law was given which would have prohibited Daniel from worshiping God. He disobeyed the law and worshiped God anyway, as though nothing had changed. He was punished, and delivered from the punishment:
"My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you."
(Dan 6:22)
Again, the apostles were commanded by the sanhedrin not to preach the gospel, but they preached it anyway, as God had commended them, in spite of the rulers:
‘saying, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man's blood on us!" But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men.”
(Acts 5:28-29)
By
Cleopas, at 1/11/2006 11:38 PM
Hi Loren,
I am amazed how you can keep doing these posts every day. I hope everything is going well for you.
By
Rose~, at 1/12/2006 9:52 AM
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