By Sidharth Mohandas

Dominion

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 creeps upon the earth. [Genesis 1:26]

We all know the story of creation and how God released these spirit beings into earthly vessels that were to function like God Himself on earth. We understand from the above passage that God gave man the dominion over the earthly realm. Now what does it mean to have dominion? It means to have legal authority to rule. The Hebrew word for dominion could help us to get a fuller picture. The word mamlacha that is used for dominion simply means “kingdom”. So in other words, Gods purpose of giving us dominion was to bring a “kingdom” to earth. However, God warned man that if he disobeyed Him, man would move from the kingdom of life to the kingdom of death, a kingdom whose ruler is the arch enemy of God, even satan.

The Law of Dominion

In Ephesians 2:1,2 we read,

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

When man operated in a standard that was offensive to God, man himself gave his dominion over to satan. But  if you noticed, the dominion satan received he could operate only in the “air” or in the heavenly realm. This is because the dominion given by God was for earthly beings, and not for spirit beings.

Let me deviate from this topic to something very important about Gods Word. Now, when God speaks, what He speaks becomes a law. Psalm 138:2b tells us, You have exalted Your word above all Your name. Now the word “name” in Hebrew is used for “who the person is”. That is why when Moses asked God what His name was, He said “I Am Who I Am” [Yahweh]. That is, when we need peace, He becomes Yahweh Shalom; when we need healing, He becomes Yahweh Rapha and, so forth. So God’s name represents who He is. The above Scripture tells us that God has exalted what He speaks above Himself. Or in other words, He has subjected Himself to His words and will never go against it. So when God said, “Let them have dominion”, He was giving legal authority to these earthly beings to rule. Any other beings were in fact illegal to have authority on the earthly realm. This was the same reason why God had to place His Seed  in an earthly body.This can also be explained with a day-to-day example: a person can have authority on earth only while he is in his body. The moment the person dies, he also loses his authority on earth. So coming back to satan, all that he could do was to make human beings follow him and thus establish his kingdom on earth through them.

Dominion restored

Friends, let me say again, man through sin lost the dominion God gave him. And the only way this authority could be restored would be through the death of a man without sin. And since the entire Adamic race was infected with sin, God had to place His own seed in an earthly body to pay the penalty of death at every level of human disobedience. Jesus is that begotten seed. He led a sinless life and suffered the penalty of sin for the entire human race and He rose back to life saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” [Matthew 28:18]. Jesus brought back the kingdom to us. Notice, my friends, God did not break the law of dominion here.

Permission for Divine Intervention

If you have entered the kingdom of God, you have been given dominion. But there’s a problem again… Only earthly beings have legal authority over earth. Therefore unless we give permission to God, He cannot move. This is why the foremost thing Jesus asked us to pray in the Disciples Prayer was: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” [Matthew 6:10]

Jesus said, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. [Matthew 16:19]

Through prayer you give earthly permission for divine intervention. You might wonder “What can my puny prayer do?“. Well, it can give God permission to interfere. However, just as the disciples needed to learn the principles of prayer, you and I need to learn to pray. The highest priority in a Christian’s life should be prayer, for that is where the transaction between the King and the colony takes place. 

I encourage you today to use the dominion God has given you through prayer and bring God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

By Jonathan Shieh

This is the second post in the series in our continuing discussion of authority. I encourage you to give the first post a quick once over to put things in context. Go ahead and take a minute. I’ll wait.

Welcome back.

Now let’s take a moment and exercise our imagination a little. Imagine a desert. The sun is blazing and the heat is unbearable. The dirt is cracked from the dry heat and only a few dried out bushes are visible in view. A two-lane highway, stretching as far as the eye can see, runs straight through the desert. This sets the stage for a conflict between two titanic forces.

The first of the two contestants in this conflict is a truck. It comes speeding down the highway. As it gets closer into view, you see that it is an 18 wheeler, a giant of a truck. In tow is its cargo, weighing at about 36 metric tons. By any measure, it has got a lot of physical power.

The other contestant in this conflict is a man. He seems fairly unimpressive physically: average height, average weight, and average build. There doesn’t appear to be anything different about this person than anyone else you may see in the street.

But this man begins to do something that goes against his ordinary appearance. Indeed, he does something that goes against all logic and against all common sense. He steps onto the asphalt and stands right in the middle of the highway, right on the path of the giant truck. He gets ready to stop the truck with his bare hands.

Are you with me so far? Two forces are about to collide and the outcome seems apparent: The man simply cannot stop that moving truck.

As the truck draws closer, without any sign of slowing, you prepare yourself to look away from the imminent disaster. This man, without any sign of worry or concern, simply raises his hand in front of him to motion to the truck. He yells, “Stop!”

The brakes of the truck soon engages and the whole of the truck, with 36 tons of cargo and all, comes to a screeching halt right in front of the man.

How did this man do this, you ask? Did I forget to tell you? This man is a policeman. And you have just witnessed “Authority vs Power”.

See, in a match up comparing raw power, this man would have lost to the truck each and every time. But this man has something more than raw power. He has been given delegated authority.

He has been given authority from a government agency, that says, “Go and keep the law, order, and peace on behalf of the government.” So if anyone were to disobey the police officer, they are not just disobeying a person. They are not dealing with just a man in some uniform, but they are also dealing with the whole of the government that’s standing behind the police officer, backing him up with all the power and resources available.

So when the police officer issues that bold command “Stop!” He’s not saying, “Stop, or you will have to deal with my physical prowess”, but he is saying, “Stop, or you’ll have to deal with what’s backing me up.”

Have you ever seen a police car chases on TV? Often times, the incident starts with just a routine traffic stop, due to speeding or some other minor issues. But the driver for some reason doesn’t obey and starts to try to outrun the police officer. And soon enough, they have half a dozen police cars and a helicopter chasing them down.

When the authority of a police officer is challenged, the government agency that authorized the police officer springs into action, bring as much power as is needed to ensure that what the officer attempted to perform is completed.

Have you begun to see some parallels with the Kingdom of God?

Mark 16:15, 17-18

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

The authority has been issued by Jesus. How we use it, or if we use it, is up to us. There are many things that we can say about what our mentality ought to be in light of the example of the centurion and the policeman. But that… will have to wait until next time…

By Sidharth Mohandas

“Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment]

But He [Jesus] was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” [Isaiah 53:4-5]The Atonement of Jesus is two-fold: He paid for all our iniquities and He paid for all sickness. This verse is absolutely Universal.

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons ALL your iniquities, Who heals ALL your diseases” [Psalms 103:2-3]I’m glad David in the above verse didn’t say “my” iniquities and “my” diseases. Or else we’d have some come up with a teaching that the promise was only to him. On the contrary, this reaffirms that God wants our sins forgiven and diseases healed.

In this article I wish to deal with the second half of the Atonement: Healing.“And the report of Him went forth into all Syria: and they brought unto Him all that were sick, holden with divers diseases and torments, possessed with demons, and epileptic, and palsied; and he healed them.” [ Mat 4:24]healed all that were sick” [Mat 8:17]healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness.” [Matt 9:39]” [Matt 12:15] He healed them” [Matt 15:30]He healed them there” [Matt 19:2]

Authority to Heal

I have studied the ministry of Jesus and the ministry of His disciples, I have also analyzed their response to the sick and do you know what I found out? There was not one instance where either Jesus or His disciples asked God to heal the sick. I had written an article on this earlier, but I think I’ll explain it again. You can’t ask God for something He has already given. God has delegated each of us the authority to heal or in order to avoid controversy, let me put it this way…He has given you and me the authority to impart healing to the sick.“And He [Jesus] called unto Him His twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness.“[Matt 10:1]

“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons: freely ye received, freely give.” [Matt 10:8] 

Let’s consider what Peter’s response to the crippled man at the Beautiful Gate: “Silver and gold have I none; but what I have, that give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” [Acts 3:6]God has freely given us healing, and therefore it is wrong to ask Him to heal someone or ask Him why He won’t heal someone. Have you ever seen Jesus asking God to heal or pleading with God? Did Peter and John plead for healing in the above Scripture? No! They took authority and commanded. We are in command in this area of healing, friends. Stop all your pleading and go by Constitutional rights and exercise your authority over the works of the devil.

This is going to offend many religious people who think it’s humility to ask God for healing than to command sickness to be healed. If this is so, you should ask God to cast out demons too, don’t command them! The truth, I say again, God has given you the authority to heal just as much He has given you the authority to cast out demons!If you’re one who thinks God sometimes gives you sickness to teach you things, you’re deceived. God is never in such a business. Satan alone is the author of sickness. However, God may allow sickness to come upon you, but again that is so that you can exercise your faith. Brethren, Your faith will be tried!

Requirement for Healing

“He[Jesus] could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.

And he was amazed at their lack of faith.” [Mark 6:5-6]“Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.

Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” 

“O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” [Mark 9:17-19]In both these places, God never withholds healing. In the latter case, Jesus could have dismissed the case by talking like many religious people today… “God sometimes doesn’t heal.” Instead He said, “O unbelieving generation!”. How many of us will hear those same words today from Jesus’ mouth?

Again Jesus said this to His disciples before He ascended back to heaven…

“And these signs will accompany those who believe…they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” [Mark 16:17-18]

“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up” [James 5:15]

A person who is unsure whether the Lord will heal him or not, lacks faith. How can I say this? This is why: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for…” [Hebrews 11:1]. If you and I can’t be sure about something we hope for, then it’s not faith. The only way to have faith for healing is to be sure that you’ll receive the healing you are hoping for.

Faith comes from…

If you want to receive faith for healing, go to the Word. Set aside words from other sources and agree with what the Word of God has said.

I was just talking to a friend of mine about the topic of healing and when I asked him why we see cases where people do not receive healing [Don't get me wrong, I've seen too many healed through laying on of hands], he said, “Lack of the Word”. That’s exactly what the problem among most Christians is today. God sent forth His Word and healed His people [Psalm 107:20]. How many of us are sure about what the Word has said? How many of us have aligned ourselves to the Word? 

My dear friends, through God’s Word God has given you His authority. Take a look at Jesus’ statement here: 

Jesus said “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If He called them gods, to whom the Word of God came…” [John 10:34] 

God called men “gods” to whom His Word came. If you look into the context in Psalm 82:6 from where Jesus quotes this Scripture, you will find that God was speaking to those whom He had given authority to rule and judge. These men had received God-kind of authority. And that’s what we who believe in God’s Son are given too! 

Can you look at a crippled man and say, “Such as I have give I thee”? Or would you conduct a prayer meeting for that crippled man there? 

[Continued...]