God is an extraordinary giver who gives extraordinary gifts. We know this is true because Jesus said so:
For God so loved the world that He gave His Son… [simple_tooltip content=’For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’](John 3:16)[/simple_tooltip]
His Son is just one of many priceless gifts that God has given us. He has also given us His Holy Spirit [simple_tooltip content=’Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’](Acts 2:38)[/simple_tooltip], His kingdom [simple_tooltip content=’Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’](Luke 12:32)[/simple_tooltip], His grace [simple_tooltip content=’of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.’](Ephesians 3:7)[/simple_tooltip], His righteousness [simple_tooltip content=’For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”’](Romans 1:17)[/simple_tooltip], His justification [simple_tooltip content=’There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.’](Romans 8:1)[/simple_tooltip], His authority [simple_tooltip content=’And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’](Matthew 16:19)[/simple_tooltip], His wisdom [simple_tooltip content=’If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.’](James 1:5)[/simple_tooltip], His rest [simple_tooltip content=’Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’](Matthew 11:28)[/simple_tooltip], eternal life [simple_tooltip content=’For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’](Romans 6:23)[/simple_tooltip], indeed every spiritual blessing [simple_tooltip content=’Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,’](Ephesians 1:3)[/simple_tooltip]. If you know Jesus you probably know that our heavenly Father is a good and generous God who loves to give and give and give:
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)
We live after the cross, so we have no excuse for being confused about these things. God is good and everything he does is good and everything he gives is good. He never, ever gives us bad gifts and he is not the author of evil. He doesn’t act one way in heaven and another way on earth.
God doesn’t send earthquakes or hurricanes to kill people. He doesn’t make us sick to teach us stuff. He is not using terrorism to judge the West or conflict to judge the Middle East or poverty to judge the South. He already judged all of our sins at the cross.
Sin continues to have terrible consequences in this fallen world, but God’s response was to give us his Son. Jesus remains the perfect and complete remedy to poverty, injustice, corruption, greed, child abuse, human trafficking, disease and death. When the church realizes this and stops tolerating things that aren’t tolerated in heaven, the world will be radically changed.
Who ‘Allows’ Things?
I promise you that God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth, but He will not allow anything you don’t allow. (Matthew 18:18, CEV)
God will allow whatever we allow? We make the choice, and God honors our choice, because He has granted us that role on Earth. Before we go any further, we have to go back in the beginning to see how God set things up.
God, in His Sovereignty, chose to give Man authority on the earth [simple_tooltip content=’26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”’](Genesis 1:26-28)[/simple_tooltip].
According to [simple_tooltip content=’God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’]John 4:24[/simple_tooltip], God is a spirit. So when the Bible says we were created in the image and likeness of God is not talking about our physical bodies. The image of God is love, and you were created in that image and in that likeness. The image of God is ‘God is Sovereign’ – so if God is Sovereign and he created me in His image and in his likeness, I’m a little sovereign.
God created the universe… so what would His image be in man? You create. The animals don’t create. You’ll never see the animals build a hospital, build roads and create music. We create because we’re created in the image and likeness of God. He’s the ultimate Creator and we are little creators. The only difference between us and God is that God creates out of nothing, but we have to have something to create with.
God gave man authority unconditionally; and by giving man authority in the earth, He limited his authority in the Earth [simple_tooltip content=’The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.’](Psalms 115:16)[/simple_tooltip].
My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips. (Psalms 89:34)
God says, ‘When I make a covenant with you, I will not break it. I can’t alter what comes out of My lips.‘ We don’t know anybody in the world like God. When God said something, it stands. When God says something, it’s a covenant. When God speaks, it cannot be broken.
God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Numbers 23:19)
When God says something, that’s it! He binds Himself to what He says. And what did He said to man? ‘I gave you dominion, and I put everything, the work of My hand are under your feet.’ [simple_tooltip content=’You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,’](Psalms 8:6)[/simple_tooltip]
1God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Hebrews 1:1-3
Here it says that all things are being upheld by the word of God. God’s word created everything and God’s word holds everything up.
If God brakes His word one time, the whole universe would fall apart; everything would collapse. God’s word is forever settled in Heaven and Earth, and it remains forever and ever and ever. „Heaven and earth will pass away, but God’s word will endure forever.” Why? Because everything was created by God’s word, it’s upheld by God’s word and it’s stand by God’s word. So when God said, ‘You have dominion,’ you got it. And if you got it, He doesn’t. And for Him to violate your dominion would be to break His word.
Man’s Authority
Man’s dominion over the Earth was evidenced when God brought the animals to Adam so that he could name them. God could have easily named every creature on Earth, but He gave Adam that job.
So it is clear that man was originally given control over the Earth; however, Adam and Eve did not use their authority when the enemy approached them. Satan entered the Garden of Eden illegally and spoke deceptive words that contradicted what God had said. Instead of exercising his authority, Adam disobeyed God’s instructions and committed high treason in the Garden of Eden; he turned the keys of authority over to Satan [simple_tooltip content=’And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.’](Luke 4:6)[/simple_tooltip]. God had to get His power back in the hands of mankind, but He could only accomplish that through a man. Jesus came to get that authority back as a man, because to the man was given authority and by man came death, then by man it will have to come resurrection from the dead.
Jesus said that everything He did wasn’t because He was God, is because He was the son of man [simple_tooltip content=’and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.’](John 5:27)[/simple_tooltip]. He was a man just like us, very man… only independent of a sin nature. Any He yielded perfectly to God. So as a man in the earth with authority, yielded to God who Has the power, the power flow through Him perfectly and He shook the whole world up.
The Believer’s Authority
After accomplishing our great salvation and bringing us into union with Himself, He made “all authority” available to us as His joint heirs [simple_tooltip content=’16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.’](Romans 8:16-17[/simple_tooltip]; [simple_tooltip content=’18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.’]Matthews 28:18-20)[/simple_tooltip].
So what is contained in our inheritance? To answer that, ask yourself, “What is available in Heaven?” If it’s there in Heaven, it’s our inheritance in Christ, and it is available in salvation’s “benefit package.” There is no sickness there—only health. There is no lack there—only abundance. There is no turmoil there—only peace that passes understanding. There is no depression there—only joy unspeakable and full of glory. If it belongs to God, it belongs to us as His kids. Remember, you are a son or daughter of God, and you have an inheritance. Everything God has is yours. Everything available to Jesus is available to you—you’re joint heirs!
For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; (Colossians 2:9-10)
For by a single offering He has forever completely cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy. (Hebrews 10:14, AMP)
If we are in Him, we lack nothing. We have all the authority, all the power, and all the anointing we need. We have all the wisdom and knowledge we need. We have all the love we need; all the joy we need; all the peace we need—you get the picture.
People are always waiting for God to do something, even asking Him to do something. Meanwhile, God is waiting for us to do the job He empowered and commissioned us to do. He gave us the authority. He gave us the resources. We are in Christ!
4But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-6)
Are you in Christ? If so, then all things are under you!
Are you in Christ? Then you are seated at the right hand of God in a place of authority over all principality and power.
Are you in Christ? Then you have dominion over devils and every sickness and disease.
40How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert! 41Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. (Psalm 78:40-41)
We are limiting God in our lives all the time when we are not taking our responsibility, not using our authority, not seeking God… not being dominated by Kingdom principles. Our unbelief limits God.
When we say that it’s our responsibility, some people feel condemned or guilty. Listen, God is not into guilt and condemnation, and neither are we. You can have it one of two ways:
- God’s will is responsible for everything, or
- man has responsibility to run the earth.
The problem with option one is that if God wills everything that happens, then we can’t do anything… about anything! We’d just have to roll over and let life beat on us; because we know that we can’t overpower “God’s will.” But if Man is in appointed authority and therefore responsible for loosing God’s will into a situation, then when troubles come, we know that we have it beat with God’s help. This is actually an empowering, liberating view, not a condemning one. Let’s forget past mistakes and failures, and believe in the higher life God has already given us! [simple_tooltip content=’The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.’](John 10:10)[/simple_tooltip]
Thus says the Lord, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: “Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; and concerning the work of My hands, you command Me.” (Isaiah 45:11)
Whatever the works of God’s hands are, He put them under our feet. He said, ‘concerning the work of My hands, command you Me.’ It’s not saying, we boss God around and we’re commanded God to do this and we’re commanded God to do that and we’re commanded to take care of this… We are not commanding God to do anything, but concerning the works of His hand listen they’re under our command.
Did you know that there’s a water company that has generated power and brought water to your house? But it’s under your command. You could sit there and die of thirst… ‘What the water company is doing? I’m thirsty; I need a drink. When the water company is going to do something about my thirst?’
The same is with God. He has already generated the power to heal you, and generated the power to give you health, and generated the power to bless you, and to have a healthy marriage, and to raise good kids… The power has already been generated – it’s called the death, burial and the resurrection of Jesus – and all power of heaven and earth has been giving unto you… go you therefore, and turn the faucet on!
The power that raised Jesus from the dead is on the inside of you and me, and „God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think according to the power in us…” [simple_tooltip content=’Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,’](Ephesians 3:20)[/simple_tooltip]. It’s under our command. We got to quit begging and asking God to heal us, and we need to understand that by His stripes we are healed, and flip the switch; command the sickness to leave your body; command the life of God to drive disease out of your body… speak to your mountains! Turn the faucet on!
Is God Doing Everything He Wants?
He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him. (Isaiah 59:16)
So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. (Ezekiel 22:30)
Why in the Old Testament was God always looking for an intercessor, a man to stand in the gap in order to get His will done in the earth? Because man has authority and God has the power.
God can’t just do anything He wants to… If God can do anything He wants to, why was He looking for an intercessor? Not because God is weak, not because God doesn’t have the power. With His word, He gave man authority so He keeps His word; and He has the power, but you have the authority. You have to speak in the name of Jesus. You have to stand and believe by faith.
It’s Up To Us
So when the devil is allowed to operate— It isn’t God that is allowing it— It’s US— the Church!
The basic assumption of many people— even Christians— that “God allows,” is therefore mistaken. Worse still is the idea that God not only allows it, but wills/approves of it (as we saw in the last article). Everything that God has is ours!!! The world belongs to us in Christ; and we are commissioned, empowered, and responsible to do our Daddy’s business— with the full backing of heaven!
So instead of pointing our fingers at God— or even at the devil, for that matter— we need to point them at ourselves as the Church! God doesn’t allow sickness, we do. Add to that list: poverty, injustice, perversion, crime, and whatever else goes on here that’s out of line with Heaven’s ways. And the devil only gets away with it because we don’t do anything about it! Any time we try to shift responsibility off of ourselves— and onto God or the devil— for our problems, we know we are believing some religious nonsense. God has ordained that we would grow up and mature until we look exactly like Jesus.
14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head— Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4: 14-16)
If we’ll consider what Jesus— “the Head”— looks like, and how He responds— we’ll see what we’re supposed to grow up into. So how does Jesus look? How does He act? How much authority does He have? We are called to re-present— that means to present again, copycat, imitate, reflect— Jesus!
Make conscious decisions to reject the thoughts that don’t mirror His. Imitate Him until your new, real, re-created, invisible nature is what comes out most “naturally.” This is part of the mind-renewing process— visibly reflecting who we already are invisibly.
