When we come together, we begin to see God’s plan for hope in these dark days.
God made man to have dominion. Do you think that is true today? Read any newspaper, see the rape, the murder, the war, the riots, the famine, the disaster, the heartache, the tears, the fears, the failures of mankind.
Man, given dominion, has lost that dominion. We’re going to look at how it was lost and how our dear Lord has bought it back for us, that we might live and walk in victory.
Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the timeless teaching of pastor and author Adrian Rogers. God made men and women to have dominion, victory and mastery. It is the very reason we were created.
Once we understand this, we can come together as a conquering church and take back what was lost by Adam and restored by Jesus Christ, the second Adam. If you have your Bible, turn to Ephesians chapter 2, as Adrian Rogers shares this message, a conquering church.
Look in Genesis chapter 1 in verse 26. 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. Remember when God made Adam and Eve.
He made them king and queen of his domain. And God gave them rule. He was made for mastery.
Do you think that is true today? Read any newspaper. See the rape, the murder, the war, the riots, the famine, the disaster, the heartache, the tears, the fears, the failures of mankind.
Man, given dominion, has lost that dominion. We’re going to look at how it was lost and how our dear Lord has bought it back for us and given it to every Bible-believing church and to every spirit-filled Christian that we might live and walk in victory. Three things I want to lay upon your heart.
Now, go to Ephesians with me, and I want you to see what happened to this dominion. First of all, I want you to see that this dominion was legally lost by Adam. Now, underscore the word legally.
Legally lost by Adam. Now, look, if you will, in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. And you, hath he quickened, that literally means were made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin.
Wherein in times past you walked 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. There’s a dark, malevolent force at work in the world today. And you can look around and see it is the power of Satan.
Now, how did this come to pass? Well, Satan is a created being. He’s not co-equal or co-eternal with God the Father.
God created him. A perfect angel. The highest of the high.
He was the vice regent in heaven. He received worship and passed it on to the father. He was like a high priest.
But the Bible says that he fell by the multitude of his merchandise. That is, what passed through his hands began to stick to his fingers. He took this praise and looked at it and said, You know, I ought to have some of that.
I’m too great, too strong, too wise, too beautiful not to be worshiped. I will be like the most high. And Satan was banished from heaven.
He fell from heaven, and a third of the angels fell with him and became demon spirits. Now Satan, having lost the battle in heaven, comes to this earth hoping to win the battle on earth, failing to enshrine himself in heaven. He wants to enshrine himself here upon this earth and receive worship from humankind because it has always been his dark, devilish motive to be worshiped.
And so Adam was conned, seduced by Satan to turn it all over to Satan. Now you see, God gave to Adam dominion. And when God gave it, he gave it.
Just as Lucifer had a will, Adam had a will. And so God gave to Adam and Eve this dominion. And since it was given, it legally belonged to Adam.
And Adam legally turned it over to Satan. Now it was a stupid thing that Adam did. Sure, Satan beguiled him.
Surely, Satan tempted him. But nonetheless, Adam was guilty by turning the dominion, the rule, the authority that God had given him over to Satan. It was legally given, and it was legally lost.
Now how did Adam turn it over to Satan? What happened? Well, Adam, rather than obeying God, disobeyed God and began to obey Satan, and when he did, he became Satan’s slave.
Here’s a key verse, Romans chapter 6 and verse 16. And know ye not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are, literally means his slaves you are, to whom you obey. Whether of sin, under death, or of obedience, under righteousness.
Now some people say, no, God still is the God of this world. No, he’s not. Satan is the God of this world.
Put it down. Second Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 4, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is in the image of God, should shine under them.
The Bible tells us in Luke chapter 4 that Satan took Jesus up to a high mountain and in a moment showed him all of the kingdoms of the world. And he said to the son of God, look, all of this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me. Now, Jesus said, It is written, thou shalt worship the Lord God and him only.
Jesus did not say, it is not yours to give. Jesus recognized that it was now dominion that was legally held by Satan. The Apostle Paul calls him the God of this world.
And he had that dominion that Adam gave to him, and he offered to give to the Lord Jesus Christ. So the first thing I want you to notice, this dominion was legally lost by a man whose name was Adam. Second thing, this dominion was rightfully, and may I say righteously, regained by another man, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now God’s mighty plan was to righteously take back Adam’s lost estate and give it to the sons and the daughters of men. But now listen very carefully, Church. It was legally lost.
It must be legally restored. Now God is God. We all know that.
God can do anything He wishes to do. God could have just stepped in and said, Satan, be gone. I obliterate you, and I take back everything that Adam delivered unto you, and now I’m going to give it to a new race of people.
You’re gone. I’m starting all over again. Wash my hands of you.
He could do that. But why didn’t he do that? Because God is true to his own justice.
God owes Satan nothing, but God owes to himself very much, and God owes to himself that sense of righteousness and justice. And if God had simply dismissed Satan, sin would have ultimately won, even though God just simply dismissed him. Now, God has a plan to get back what Adam lost.
And God’s plan is centered in a man. Now, dominion was given to a man. Dominion was lost by man, and dominion must be regained by man.
And so God says, who can regain what Adam lost? Well, none of the sons of men can do that, because all of the sons of Adam have the sinful nature of Adam. And a sinner can redeem no one, yet the redeemer must be a man.
This is the reason for Christmas, that God became a man. Jesus Christ, who had dwelt from all eternity in the bosom of the Father, the eternal Son with the eternal Father, stepped out of the ivory palaces, came into this world of woe, became a man that he might redeem us. Now, listen, don’t miss it.
It’s so important that you understand this, that Jesus did not redeem us as God, but he redeemed us as man. 1 Corinthians 15, verses 21 and 22, For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
You say, who’s Adam? I didn’t vote for him. Why should what he did affect me?
Well, friend, if there had been no Adam, there wouldn’t be any of you. We’re tied up in Adam. The Bible really only recognizes two men, Adam and his progeny, and Jesus and his progeny, those who are in Adam and those who are in Christ.
Now, in Adam all die, in Christ all will be made alive. Notice, since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. Do you get the emphasis by man?
Satan, when he saw the second Adam come, realized that his kingdom is threatened, that the second Adam has come to undo and to buy back what the first Adam did in lost. And so Satan gathers all of the artillery of hell to aim it on this second man, this Lord from heaven, to get him to sin. Because if Satan can get him to sin, he has won the victory.
Now, I remind you one more time that when Satan came against Jesus, Jesus could have said, Look, Satan, I am not only a man, but I am also God. And as God, I banish you. But he didn’t do that.
Why didn’t he do that? He had to defeat Satan as man and be true to his justice. He was given to a man, lost by man, and must be regained by man.
And so the Lord Jesus Christ comes to this earth, and there is a battle. And that battle is a battle to get the Lord Jesus Christ into sin. First of all, there was the wilderness temptation.
Jesus is baptized. He begins his public ministry at the age of 30. Luke chapter 4 tells us that he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted, to be tested by Satan.
It’s all a part of God’s plan. Jesus is not running from the battle. And then the Bible says, I think, a great understatement.
Afterward, he hungered. Forty days and forty nights, yes, I suppose so. And Satan comes to him in this weakened condition.
Satan comes to Jesus with a temptation. He said, look, if you’re the son of God, command these stones that they be made bread. And Jesus answered, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
And what did Jesus do? He unsheathed the sword of the Word of God and he ran Satan through. Satan, wounded, comes back again with another temptation.
Satan says, come up here. Let me show you the kingdoms of this world. I’ll give them all to you if you’ll bow down and worship me.
Jesus unsheathed the sword again from the Book of Deuteronomy. I have an idea he must have been doing his devotions in the Book of Deuteronomy. He said, it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God only, and him shalt thou serve.
Satan recoils again. He comes back the third time. He said, why don’t you go up there to the pinnacle of the temple?
And jump off, and the angels will come and bear you down, and you come floating into the court of the temple, and everybody will think you’re the Messiah. Jesus said, it is written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Three times Jesus ran him through with the sword of the Word of God.
Now, the important thing for you to understand is this, that Luke 4 verse 1 says he was led of the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, anointed by the Spirit in the wilderness. Number two, that he used the Word of God over and over and over again. Why is that so important?
Because Jesus did not defeat Satan as God would defeat Satan. He defeated Satan as man should defeat Satan. The same weapons that Jesus used in the wilderness were the weapons that were available to Adam in the garden.
What were they? The Spirit of God in the Word of God. Jesus, filled with the Spirit, taking the Word of God, won that victory over Satan.
Now, the Bible says that Satan withdrew for a more opportune time. The battle was not over. Satan did not give up easily.
He waited. The most opportune time that he saw next was dark, bloody Gethsemane. Jesus was in such agony in dark Gethsemane that his sweat came as great drops of blood.
All of the forces of hell were battering against the Lord Jesus there in Gethsemane. Metaphorically, there was a cup, and that cup was being pressed to the lips of the Lord Jesus for him to drink. Your sin, my sin, their sin, all the sins that ever have been, all the sins that ever will be, were in that cup.
And Jesus was to drink that cup. Why? Because God had made him to be sinned for us, not a sinner, but sinned for us.
That we might be made the righteousness of God in him. It was part of God’s plan that Jesus would take our sin, carry our sin to the cross, on the cross, with his rich red royal blood, pay the penalty for our sin. But without shedding the blood, there’s no remission.
Adam got us into a mess. The second Adam came to get us out. Satan is defeated again, and he shrinks back.
The third round comes in this battle. It’s Calvary. Surely he will turn his back now.
Surely he will not allow himself to be put on the cross. He said, no man taketh my life from me. I lay it down on myself.
The only man that Jesus ever refused to save was himself. And Jesus, in agony and blood, bowed his head, paid the price, and said to Telestai, it is finished, it is paid in full. Satan’s back was broken, but he doesn’t give up yet.
They took the Lord Jesus Christ and put him in the grave, and Pilate said, make it as sure as you can. And they put the seal of the Roman government on it. But three days later, the son of God woke up and walked out of that grave.
Jesus then went down into the nether world to declare that the battle had been won. And Satan said, oh, oh, don’t let him ascend and present the blood in the glory. But the grave could not hold him.
The nether world could not keep him. And Jesus ascended the high hills of glory, and there in the tabernacle, not pitched by men, but by God, took the precious blood and offered it there, and then sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. How did he do this?
As a sinless man. He was God. I’m not diminishing his deity.
Be careful you don’t diminish his humanity or you’ll miss the whole thing. That he, as man, brought back what a man had lost, and now he is seated in the heavens. Now the third and final thing I want you to see and very quickly, I want you to see what I’m going to call the dominion that is now gloriously given to the church.
Look, if you will, here in Ephesians again, chapter 1, verses 22 and 23, the Bible says, And God hath put all things under his 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. I have a feeling that I need to back up and go to verse 17. Paul is praying.
He says, Oh, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him. Paul says, Oh, church, don’t miss this. Have the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you might know what is the hope of his calling and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward, who believe according to the working of his mighty power.
Look at it, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at its 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 has put all things under his 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. Skip over to chapter 2 verse 6. And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
You see, Paul is saying, Oh God, open their eyes. Oh God, help them to see it. Oh God, give them understanding that they have been co-crucified, co-buried, co-raised, co-ascended, and co-seated with Jesus in the heavenlies.
And dominion has been given back to them. Now, friend, let me tell you this. I want you to understand it.
Listen from my heart. If you don’t have dominion, if you’re not living in dominion, it’s not because the devil is so powerful. Listen.
Satan has no power over you. None does he have over you. None.
Jesus said, I give you authority over all the power of the enemy. All, all, all, all. Now, you say, then, why don’t I have it?
Paul said, oh God, open their eyes. Oh God, give them the wisdom of understanding that they might know what they have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Adam lost it.
Jesus, as a man, brought it back. And now he has given it back to you through his cross. Now, if you’re not yet saved, aren’t you tired of being Satan’s plaything?
Aren’t you tired of being a slave to Satan when Jesus has set you free? The fact that Jesus undid what Adam did does you no good at all unless you accept it or receive it. It does you no good.
Until you believe it, receive it, and take a new master, the Lord Jesus Christ. Either you are in Adam, a slave of Satan, or you are in Christ. Would you like to be in Christ?
Pray and ask him to come into your heart. Say, Lord, I’m a sinner. I cannot save or redeem myself.
Lord Jesus, you died to save me. You promised to save me if I would trust you. I do trust you, Lord Jesus.
I receive you now as my Lord and Savior.
And if you prayed to receive Jesus just now, we would love to celebrate with you. Go to our Find God’s Love page at the website, and you’ll discover answers you may need about your newfound faith. Go to lwf.org/radio and click the tab that says Find God’s Love.
Welcome to His Forever Family. We can’t wait to hear from you today. Now if you’d like to order a copy of today’s message in its entirety, call us at 1-877-LOVE-GOD.
Mention the title, A Conquering Church. You can also order online or write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee, 381-83. Well, Adrian Rogers said the same weapons that belonged to Adam in the Garden of Eden were the weapons that Jesus Christ used in the wilderness.
Spend some time in Scripture. Dwell on the Word of God. Exercise your dominion rightfully restored by Jesus Christ.
And join us next time for more from Adrian Rogers, right here on Love Worth Finding.
We were so encouraged by a comment from a listener who took a poll recently and said these words, even though I have heard many sermons and sermon series before, they are always pertinent to the current times and continue to lift my spirits and knowledge of the word. It remains fresh. You know at Love Worth Finding we are honored to be able to share these timeless teachings and exciting new resources we have to help you flourish in your faith.
And to thank you for your gift right now, we’d love to send you a copy of our new book, A Final Charge to the Church. This book derives directly from the transcripts of Pastor Roger’s final messages from the pulpit. Our prayer is that every church and the church as a whole would embrace the characteristics fleshed out in Pastor Roger’s final charge to the church.
Call for your copy. You can give at 1-877-LOVE-GOD or give online at lwf.org/radio.
