Kingdom Authority

When you were born again, you were born to win! With your new birth came Kingdom Authority that fitted you for victory. Kingdom Authority is the God-given mandate of Christians to exercise control over the world in the name of Jesus and under His oversight. The Bible says, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that over-cometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5). Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Then you should be living in victory.

We are born to win, not born to lose. This is life-changing, liberating truth, so why don’t we experience victory all the time? Circumstances arise that discourage. People say things that cause us to feel defeated. We find ourselves fighting a losing battle against unholy desires. Why are we fighting a battle already lost when we could enjoy a victory already won?

SATAN’S UNDERWORLD

There is a ruthless, cruel underworld system that wars against our welfare, happiness, and joy. The Mafia and crime bosses of this world are amateurs compared to this syndicate, ruled by the prince of darkness and the master of deception who wears many disguises and has many aliases. “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14).

No matter what face he wears, Satan has one overmastering ambition, one burning desire—to dethrone the Almighty and to place himself upon the highest throne of the universe. Isaiah 14 describes Satan’s fall in this way:

How you have fallen from heaven,

O morning star, son of the dawn!

You have been cast down to the earth,

you who once laid low the nations!

You said in your heart,

“I will ascend to heaven;

I will raise my throne

above the stars of God;

I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,

on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.”

But you are brought down to the grave,

to the depths of the pit.

—Isaiah 14:12-15 NIV

At one time the devil served in heaven as a mighty angel, but he rebelled against God. And when he fell, a third of the angels fell with him and became disembodied spirits. We call them demons today. The devil is now the lord of these fallen angels, and together they form a demonized, organized, and mobilized power of satanic wickedness. Paul reminds us, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12).

We may think our enemy is flesh and blood. But the true enemy is not the government or the Republicans or the Democrats, your wife or your wife’s family, or your boss. And this may come as a shock, but your enemy is not the pornographer, the liquor baron, or the drug pusher. They are only victims of our common enemy. The reason that so many times we don’t win the battle is that we never show up for the war! We are not wrestling against flesh and blood! The enemy is a spiritual foe, and the battle is a spiritual battle.

Why is Satan’s hatred so intense against mankind? Because he tried once to overthrow the King, but failed (see Matt. 4:1-11). He knows he cannot defeat Jesus. So he tries to cripple those whom God loves. It’s the same tactic the underworld mob uses when it tries to coerce enemies by threatening their children. This is nothing new. Evil men and women have always known that the way to hurt someone is to hurt someone else whom he loves.

Be warned! From Satan’s viewpoint you are a pawn in his game of cosmic chess. Plans have already been made in Satan’s underworld to sabotage you, your loved ones, and your family. How does he plan to gain the upper hand over you? He uses two chief weapons—the world and the flesh. Together, with his orchestration, they make up a trinity of evil—the world, the flesh, and the devil. They are interactive forces in a three-pronged attack.

Adrian Rogers, The Incredible Power of Kingdom Authority: Getting an Upper Hand on the Underworld (Nashville: B&H, 2002).

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I have just completed a six-part Bible Study called based on Adrian Rogers’s book, The Incredible Power of Kingdom Authority. This article is an excerpt from this Bible study. The Bible Study is available on Amazon. It is also avail as well as part of my Good Questions Have Groups Talking subscription service.

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