Kingdom Authority: From Adam to Jesus

SPEAKER 01 : 0:00

Known for his unique ability to simplify profound truth so that it can be applied to everyday life, Adrian Rogers was one of the most effective preachers, respected Bible teachers, and Christian leaders of our time. Thanks for joining us for this message. Here’s Adrian Rogers.

SPEAKER 02 : 0:17

Be finding Ephesians chapter 1. And today we want to talk to you on this subject, kingdom authority. We want to help you to discover kingdom authority, to enjoy kingdom authority, to exercise kingdom authority. And my heart is so full because I’m afraid. that you’re going to miss the blessing, miss the truth, if you do not listen. But my prayer is that God will impregnate your heart with this great, dynamic, life-changing truth of kingdom authority. Back in 1940, Enrico Fermi and some other men in a makeshift laboratory, actually a handball court at the University of Chicago, worked together. And they took Einstein’s theory of relativity and they began to apply it. And they said, we can divide, we can split the atom and release power in a ratio of one to six million. That’s what they did. And the atomic age began. Now that power was there all the time, but it was unknown, undiscovered, therefore unapplied. Folks, there is a power that exceeds atomic power so incredibly it’s not even worthy of comparison. And that is the power that God wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and has given that power to us. That power is called kingdom authority. And we read about it in the book of Ephesians. And I want you to begin. In chapter 1 and verse 15, Paul learned that the Ephesians had given themselves to Christ. He learned of their faith in Christ and then he began to pray for them. He began to pray, Oh God, help them to understand the power that is inherently theirs through the work of Christ. And dear God, help me today as I preach that I might be an instrument to help the people of God to understand this. Now listen to what Paul said. He said, Wherefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, they were saved and they loved one another. But he’s not satisfied. He said, I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. Well, would you like to eavesdrop on his prayer? Would you like to find out what he prayed for when he prayed for those saints at Ephesus? That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. I want you to have wisdom, revelation, and knowledge about your Savior. That’s what he’s saying. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened. that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power. Underscore that. Oh, he said, help them to understand the exceeding greatness of his power to usward. Not just power, but power to us who believe according to the working of his mighty power. which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet, under Jesus’ feet, and gave him to be the head over all things, to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Now, whether you understand it or not, what he’s talking about there is the kingdom authority that belongs to the children of God. And if you’re a child of God, I want to tell you something, friend, you have incredible authority and power, whether you’ve discovered it, Whether you’ve split the spiritual atom or not, it’s there inherently. Did you know the Bible says that God has made us kings and priests? Look to the person to your right, the person to your left. There’s a king and there’s a priest if they’re saved. Go home and look in the mirror. And if you’re saved, if you’re a child of God, looking back at you will be a king and a priest. God has made us a kingdom of priests. That’s wonderful. Former pastor of this church, Dr. Robert G. Lee, tells a story I used to love to hear him tell about how he got on a train one time and he was tired. He’d been talking to so many people. He just wanted to be quiet. He didn’t want to talk to anybody. But he said, I sat down next to a man who was wearing clerical robes, you know, the black suit and the white turnaround collar and so forth. But he said, I really was not in the mood for conversation. But he said, that man turned to me and said, Who are you? And what do you do? Dr. Lee said, I looked back at him and I said, I’m a king. He said, well, he said, you don’t look like a king. He said, I’m also a priest. He said, well, you’re not dressed like a priest. And then Dr. Lee said, you know, he was wearing his collar backward. He said, that’s all right. If he wants to do that, he said, it’s all right. If a man wants to walk into his collar, when I back into mine, he said, that’s fine. However he wants to dress. But he said, I am a king and a priest. And then that man said, oh, I know who you are. You’re a Baptist preacher. And friend, you don’t have to be a Baptist preacher, however, to be a king and a priest or a queen and a priest. If you know the Lord, because God has given to all of his children kingdoms. That’s what we’re going to be looking at, and that’s what we’re going to be studying today. And basically, this is just the foundational message, and I pray that God the Holy Spirit will write three truths upon your heart today. Now, here’s the first thing I want you to learn. That kingdom authority was gloriously given to Adam. gloriously given or graciously given to Adam. Now put in your margin there in Ephesians 1, Genesis 1, verse 26. And it tells how God created the first man and the first woman and put them in the Garden of Eden. And Genesis 1 verse 26 speaks of the Holy Trinity in council. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And God said, let us, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, make man in our image. Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion. Underscore the word dominion. That means rule. Rule. Let us make man in our image. Does God rule? Does he reign? Of course he does. Does God have dominion? Yes. God says, I want a creature like me. I want someone to rule and to reign. I want him to have dominion on the earth. Let’s make man in our image and let them have dominion. So Adam and was given dominion over the earth, Adam and Eve, to be king and queen, to sit at the place of authority. The word dominion means to rule over, to tread down. The things of this earth were to be under his feet. You know, King David, who wrote the Psalms by divine inspiration, one night was looking up at the stars, that candelabra in the heavens, and he said, oh, When I consider the heavens the work of your hands, when I look out into the vast, never reaches a space, what is man? And the son of man that thou visiteth him, what is man? And then he said by divine inspiration what man is in verse 6. Thou madest him, that is man, to have dominion over the works of thy hands. And thou hast put all things under his feet. That’s how God made Adam. God gave the first man dominion. But as we’re going to see, he lost it. Look around today. You don’t see the sons of Adam ruling and reigning and having dominion over this earth as God gave spiritual dominion. Something has gone wrong. Consult this morning’s newspaper. Read about the death, the disease, the hate, the war, the crime, the lust, the sorrow, the disappointment, the despair that’s everywhere. Think about a little boy who was sitting on the front steps of the schoolhouse crying. The janitor saw him crying there. He said, what’s wrong, son? Well, the little boy was to bring his birth certificate to school and his mother told him, be very careful, son. That’s an important document. Don’t lose it. And he lost it. The janitor said, what’s wrong, son? He said, I lost my excuse for being born. Now that’s what Adam did. Adam lost the reason that God created him. God made him to have dominion. It was graciously, gloriously given. Got it? Okay. Now here’s the second thing I want you to understand. Not only was it graciously and gloriously given, but it was legally lost. Not just lost. Legally lost. Adam took that dominion that God had given to him and Adam gave that dominion to Satan. Now, obviously, Satan deceived him. Obviously, Satan, a con artist. deceived Adam, but nonetheless, Adam, faithless, unbelieving, disobedient Adam, yielded to Satan and became Satan’s slave. That’s what the third chapter of Genesis is all about, how that serpent crawled his slimy, corroding path into the pages of history and deceived the first man and the first woman. The word serpent literally means shining one. When he was created, he was created a holy angel. There was no sin in him. God did not create a devil. God created a holy angel with the power of choice. And that angel rebelled against Almighty God. And Lucifer, the son of the morning, became Satan, the father of the night. And he was banished from heaven. No sooner had he unsheathed his sword of rebellion… Then the thunders of Jehovah’s righteous judgment spoke. And Jesus said, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. But he’s cast out to the earth. And now Satan begins a battle on this earth. He attempts to achieve on earth what he failed to achieve in heaven. Now he wants to enthrone himself on earth. And who now has dominion over the earth? Adam does. Satan wants to usurp that dominion. Satan wants that authority. So he comes to Adam and through an adroit move he gets Adam to obey him. And Adam yields himself to Satan. He doesn’t understand what is going on now. Satan says to Adam, you will be as God. Adam did not become God. He became Satan’s slave. Romans chapter six is a very important verse right here. And I want you to jot this down in your margin. Don’t turn to it. I’ll read it to you. But Romans chapter six, verse 16, the apostle Paul explains it this way. Don’t you know that to whom you yield yourselves servants are slaves to obey and His servant or his slave you are. The King James gives it servant, but the Greek word is slave. Adam became, he yielded to Satan. He became a slave of Satan. His kingdom authority was gone. He lost his legal right to rule. Now, When Satan tempted Jesus, this is a key verse right now. Don’t miss it. When Satan tempted Jesus, he tempted Jesus to worship him, to worship Satan. But here’s how he tempted Jesus. He showed him all of the kingdoms of this world. The glory, the power, the splendor of those kingdoms. And then this is what Satan had the audacity to say to the Son of God. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee and the glory of them, for that is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will give it. Jesus didn’t contradict him. Jesus did not remonstrate against what he had said. He said, Jesus, if you’ll worship me, I will give you the power, the glory, the authority of this world because he said it has been delivered to me. It was delivered to him. God gave it to Adam. Adam delivered it to Satan. And Satan said, I’ll give it to you, Jesus, if you’ll just worship me. It was graciously given. It was legally lost. Satan says it has been given to me. And man now is spiritually dead and spiritually dethroned. Legally, he has lost the authority, the kingdom authority that was given to him. Therefore, continue to read in Ephesians chapter 2 now, verse 1. And you, hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins? Adam, who was given life. Now it’s dead. And the sons of Adam are dead. Adam who was given authority is now dispossessed and dethroned. Now notice wherein in time past ye walk according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. What is that spirit that now works in the children of disobedience? That’s the spirit of the devil. Now, the Bible calls him in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4, the God of this world. Paul later on in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12 says, for we’re not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world. There’s a dark prince. who rules in this world, who has authority in this world because Adam delivered it over to Satan. It was gloriously given. It was legally lost. Now we’re going to tighten the focus a little bit. Now you’re going to understand why Jesus Christ came. It was legally lost. It must be righteously regained. The question comes, if Satan has done all of this, and Satan has all of this power, this malevolent influence, why doesn’t God just step in? Why doesn’t God just kill the devil, obliterate, evaporate him, kill him, banish him, put him in the lowest hell, whatever he wants to do? And just take that authority and give it back to Adam. If God were to do that, it would be a farce of divine judgment. God would be fixing it, but he wouldn’t be fixing it right. God owes Satan nothing. But God owes much to his own sense of righteousness, holiness, and justice. It was legally lost. It must be legally regained. Now, where was it given? It was given to a man. How was it lost? It was lost by a man. How must it be regained? It must be regained by a man. By a man. God could destroy Satan as God. He’s Jehovah God. He owes the devil nothing. Satan has absolutely no power over Almighty God in one word. He could be completely destroyed. But God is going to be true to His own righteousness, His own holiness, His own justice. And by a man, He’s going to destroy the power of Satan. Now let me give you some verses that back this up. God’s plan must center in a man. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 21 and 22. For since by man came death, by man also… came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Only two men really who’ve ever lived, Adam and Jesus. And either you’re in Adam or you’re in Christ. In Adam all die. If you are in Adam, what pertains to Adam pertains to you. That’s a sinful nature. Judgment, death, and hell, and Adam all die. If you’re in Christ, what pertains to Christ pertains to you. Even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection from the dead. There had to be a man who would undo what the first man did. Put this verse down. Hebrews 2 verse 14. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood. The children, he’s talking about us. the children of God. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself, when it says he also himself, it’s talking about Jesus, he also himself took part of the same. Of the same what? The same flesh and blood. That through death, he might destroy him that had the power, the authority of death, that is the devil. Have you got that? You see, it was lost by man. He had to become flesh and blood. Adam’s sin deserved judgment. The wages of sin is death. Jesus had to take flesh and blood, a body, so he could die. And by death, pay sin’s penalty, be raised from the dead. And what Adam had legally lost, God will righteously regain forever. By God becoming a man. Put this verse down. Galatians 4, verses 3 through 5. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage. Okay? Before we’re saved, we’re in bondage. We are slaves of Satan. You see, a son of a slave is a slave. Understand that? A daughter of a slave is a slave. Adam was sold into slavery. He gave that dominion, that rule to Satan. It was delivered to him. And now all of Adam’s progeny are slaves. We are under dominion. You say, well, I’m not a slave of Satan. Oh, yes, you are if you’re not saved. You say, well, I’m free to do whatever I want. That’s true, but you’re not free to do as you ought. You’re Satan’s slave. You’re in bondage. You’re in bondage to lust and pride and arrogance and disobedience. Even so, when we were children, we were in bondage under the elements of this world. But, thank God for that but, but when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son made of a woman. made under the law to redeem them that were under the law. That is to redeem these slaves, to buy these slaves back. These were in bondage. God sent forth his son made of a woman. Now catch this very carefully. He had to be a man, but had he been a son of Adam, he would have had the sinful nature of Adam. A son of a slave is a slave and a slave can redeem no other slave. Got it? But on the other hand, he had to be a man. It was lost by a man, legally lost. It must be righteously regained. That, my friend, is the reason for the virgin birth. Listen, that’s the reason for the virgin birth. That little baby in Mary’s womb was a man, but he was not a son of Adam. He was the son of God. He was not the son of a slave, but he was made of a woman. As much man as if he were not God at all, as much God as if he were not man at all. He was very God of very God and very man as very man, but he did not defeat Satan as a God. He defeated Satan as a perfect man. He paid the debt on the cross that through death, He might destroy him that had the power of death. That is the devil. Now, it would have been a farce and a hollow victory had God simply snatched the dominion from Satan and turned it back over to sinful men. God’s plan is far richer, fuller, and greater than that. And so when Jesus Christ came to this earth, born of a virgin, totally, absolutely sinless. Satan knew that he had a problem on his hands. He knew that a new battle was beginning. He knew that this battle for dominion and authority was being waged. Satan remembered what he had done to the first Adam and how he had tempted and tricked and deceived Adam into sinning and how the dominion was given over to him. And so Satan says, now I’ve got to get this one to sin. I have got to get him to sin. Because if I can get him to sin, then he will deliver the whole thing back to me or I will retain what I already have. So I must get him to sin. That’s what Luke 4 is all about. Jesus, as he began his public ministry… He’s baptized. The Holy Spirit, like a dove, descends upon him. And Luke chapter 4 says, he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. For 40 days he’s tempted there. Satan is trying to get the Son of Man, the Son of God, to sin. But Jesus didn’t have any itch the devil could scratch. He said, the Son of Man cometh, he finds nothing in me. Was Jesus tempted to show that he could sin? No, he was tempted to show that he could not sin. He was the holy, righteous son of God. And that’s where that passage that I alluded to a while back from Luke 4 comes from, where he takes Jesus up to the exceeding high mountain. We’re dealing now with authority. And he showed him all of the glory, the power, the authority that is in the rulers of this world. And he says to Jesus, you see all this? I’ll give it to you. It’s been delivered to me. And therefore it’s mine to give to whomever I want to give it. And I’ll give it to you if you’ll just worship me. Can you imagine the audacity of Satan? Saying that to the Son of God. Bow down and worship me. Satan has always wanted to be worshipped, to be like the Most High. Now, what did Jesus do? Jesus defeated Satan, but how? He did not defeat Satan as God, though he was perfect God. He defeated Satan as As a man should defeat Satan. As a man. And Jesus, in that wilderness temptation, did not pull rank on me or on you. He used the two weapons that were available to Adam in the Garden of Eden and the two weapons that are available to us in this sanctuary today. The Spirit of God and the Word of God. The Bible says that God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power. Went about doing good there in Luke chapter 4. He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness. The Holy Spirit of God was upon him. And then when Satan came to tempt him, Jesus unsheathed the Word of God and said, Satan, it is written, and ran him through with the sword. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. And by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures, the two weapons, the Word of God and the Spirit of God, the same weapons that were available to Adam in the garden because Adam had the Word of God, those same weapons, where the first Adam fell in a garden, the second Adam won in the wilderness. Son of God. Adam Redpath imagines Jesus saying something like this to Satan. Satan, I want you to know that as God, which I am, I could obliterate you. But I’m not going to obliterate you as God. I’m going to destroy you as man, as a man. I’m coming against you as a man, a perfect man filled with the Spirit and armed with the Word. That’s the way I’m going to win the battle. And that’s the way he won the battle. The hounds of hell bait after Jesus trying to get him to sin. Satan’s surely thinking that he would not go to the cross. Surely he would not pay the price that Adam’s sin deserved. Surely he would not pay the ransom. Surely he would not redeem the fallen sons of men. Surely he would not suffer so. Surely he would not become the object of the Father’s wrath. But there in the garden of Gethsemane, the battle of the ages is being waged and it hinges on one word. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. It was Satan who said to God, not thy will, but mine be done. But the second Adam, Jesus said, not my will, but thine be done. And as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. That through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death. That is the devil. And when Jesus went to that cross and suffered and bled and died, he said, it is finished. Do you know what that means? You remember reading about the Dead Sea Scrolls over there in Israel down by the Dead Sea? I’ve seen those caves where those scrolls were found. A little shepherd boy threw a stone into a cave to try to fetch out a goat. And he heard a clink and went into that cave and found these jars. And in these jars were all kinds of documents. The Dead Sea Scrolls. But they also found some bills in there. Some legal bills. And across those legal bills were written the same word that Jesus said from the cross. Paid in full. Finished. That’s exactly what it means. Paid in full. Finished. You see, the price has been paid and the redemption has been done. And Jesus, the second man, came to undo what Adam, the first man, did. It was graciously given. It was legally lost. It was righteously given. That’s the reason that God became a man. That’s the reason for the incarnation. That’s the reason that deity walked in sandal shoes on the dusty shores of Galilee. That’s what it’s all about. And now, our risen, ascended Lord has ascended the high hills of glory. Where is He now? Well, here’s what Paul is saying. I want you to understand. Look in verse 19. We’re still in Ephesians 1. What is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe? Not to those who don’t believe, but those who do believe. According to the working of his mighty power. Which he wrought in Christ when he raised him, Jesus, from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all principality. Remember, we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities. But he is now Jesus far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet. and gave him to be the head over all things to the church. Remember, Adam was to have all things under his feet. Remember Psalm 8, verse 6? Now all things are under the feet of the second Adam, and he is the head over all things to the church. Now look at that very carefully. Friend, don’t think of the church as an organization with Jesus as the president. The church is an organism with Jesus as the head. Do you see the difference? Do you see the difference? Listen, we are in Christ and he is in us. Over the church which is his body. The fullness of him that filleth all in all. The authority therefore that belongs to him belongs to us. Look if you will in chapter 2 verse 6. And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Where is Jesus? At the right hand of the majesty on high. All things are beneath his feet. Where are you? You say, well, I’m sitting right here. Physically. But notice what it says here about you in verse 22. And he hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church. Look in chapter 2, verse 5 and… even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. That is, we were raised. We died with Jesus. We were raised with Christ. By grace are you saved. And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I want to ask you a question. Are you sitting in heavenly places? The answer is yes. Yes! Yes! Yes! Physically we’re here. But in Christ we have been raised. When he died, we died. His death had our name on it. When he was raised from the grave, we were raised from the grave. When he ascended, we ascended. When he’s seated at the right hand of God, so are we in Christ. If I were to put you in a barrel and put that barrel in the Mississippi River, where would you be? In the Mississippi River, right? Well, if you’re in Christ and Christ is at the right hand of God, where are you? Seated with Him. Friend, the devil hopes you don’t understand this. That’s the reason Paul said, I am praying that your eyes will be opened, that you will be enlightened, that you will understand this. That’s my prayer. That you’ll understand it. The exceeding greatness of His power. Someone imagines a couple of demons speaking. One demon says to the other demon, if those liberal theologians ever really let Jesus Christ out of that tomb, hell help us, all heaven will break loose. Don’t you think it’s time all heaven broke loose? Don’t you think it’s time that the people of God began to understand and to exercise kingdom authority?

SPEAKER 01 : 34:46

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