Mighty Through God, Part 3

[To receive the most benefit from this study, please begin at Part 1 which can be selected from the menu to the right.]

Authority by Virtue of Creation:

As I began to think about why it should be God that we trust, and as I began to explore the true meaning of authority, specifically God's authority, I returned to some scriptures that the Lord had made very important to me over the past couple of years. I may have shared them on this blog somewhere along the way, but I feel it necessary to do so once more throughout this posting. While I had some understanding of what these scriptures meant, I certainly did not, until recently, begin to see these scriptures in a new light – as pertaining to the authority of God.

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shown it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." (Romans 1:18-22)

Paul is telling us here that mankind is without excuse. We KNOW that God IS, by virtue of all that we see in creation around us, including our own bodies and minds. His eternal power (authority) and right as God is displayed for all to see through all that He has created. Man can choose to deny God; but the penalty for that choice to rebel against the displayed and known authority of God will remain in place; a most fearful expectation of judgment will await all who rebel against their Creator: GOD.

But now, let's get even more specific about the authority that we know is GOD's. And to do this, we will start at creation:

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon [or hovered over] the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." (Genesis 1:1-3)

After reading this scripture for many years, one day about a year ago, or maybe two, I saw that the triune Godhead is clearly stated here. Do you see the triune Godhead, the three in one? There is God, there is the Spirit. What about the Son? I promise you He is there also. And here is how I know that:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." (John 1:1-3)

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory) the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John(the Baptist) bare witness of Him, and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me. And of his fullness have all we received and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him." (John 1:14-18)

Here is what was just stated:

1. The Word of God was present at the beginning (meaning the beginning of creation at the very least, but most likely at the beginning of God Who has no beginning as He is eternal);
   
2. The Word was WITH God;
   
3. The Word WAS God;
   
4. Everything that was created was created by The Word of God.
   

Let's stop there for a moment and go back and look at the scripture from Genesis 1 above. Do you see the Word of God? It's right there: "and God
SAID." In other words, God spoke. Words came out of His mouth. When the words left his mouth, what was spoken was done. The word of God was with God because the word of God WAS God. My words are my words. They come from my mouth, from the working of my mind and vocal chords together. In some eternal manner that we cannot in all reality even try to explain using ourselves as an example, such is the Word of God. The Word of God therefore IS God. And this Word of God, once it left God's mouth, caused creation to be created. It is by the Word of God that life of all things came into existence. What kind of power is this, that can, from nothing, create something – a very living something? Try to comprehend the power of the Word of God. It's very difficult for us to comprehend, but we must know that it is indescribable power.

Where there is that kind of power, there is authority.

So, now let's go back to the passage in John and continue in our list of what is being stated in John:

1. The Word of God was made flesh;
   
2. The Word of God, after being made flesh, lived and walked among us;
   
3. The glory of the Word of God made flesh was that of an only begotten child of God the Father;
   
4. Because John uses "He" to describe Him, we know the only begotten child of God the Father, was a Son;
   
5. And in this only-begotten Son of the Father, the Word made flesh, was grace and truth;
   
6. And this Son declared the Father to those who had never seen the Father.
   
7. And His name was Jesus Christ.
   

Restated:

Jesus Christ is the Word of God that was begotten of the Father by the Holy Spirit, and became flesh such as we are, and walked among us, declaring to us who the Father is. Jesus Christ, being the Word of God made flesh, is therefore GOD. He was with God, and He IS God. It was by Jesus Christ that everything that was created, was created, because He was the Word of God who was with God in the beginning, pre-incarnate, not yet made flesh, but with God. The power of new life is in the Word of God. Therefore the power of new life is in Jesus Christ. Therefore Jesus Christ is the authority of God in the flesh.

But we must also carry this one small step further: the Word of God, what we know as the Bible, is then, the authority of God to us, for it also is the Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, declaring Jesus Christ in both old and new testaments. For us to neglect the Word of God, to neglect the Bible, to set it aside in favor of our own opinion or authority is to deny the authority of God in our lives. To deny the authority of God: is death.

It may take a few times studying this to fully grasp what is being stated, but it is critical that we each fully grasp this truth. It is a matter of life or death to us. Once we understand this truth, rebellion will have less fertile ground to grow SIN in us.

After you have grasped it, let me give you something more to think about.

We Christians know that the work of the Holy Spirit is to take the Word of God (the Spirit testifies of Jesus) and plant it in us, making it fruitful to our spirit; in other words, the Holy Spirit carries the Word of God to its fulfillment and destination in us, creating new life in us. It isn't the Spirit that creates life, God the Father through the Word of God creates life, but the Spirit hovers over us, ready to carry that Word to us when needed, right? Now, let's recall the birth of Jesus Christ, in which the Word of God was sent by the Father, carried by the Holy Spirit, and implanted into the womb of a young virgin named Mary; thus, the Word was carried to His place of destination by the Spirit and new life was created. Now let's look at creation. Was the Holy Spirit hovering over the void or the waters waiting to catch up and carry the Word of God to its destination in creation? I think that is possibly so.

Regardless of my little theory, not doctrine, just my theory, it should be clear to you now that the triune God is present at creation, and is being written about in the first three verses of our Bible, or of what the Jews call The Torah.

It should also be clear to you, that it is by virtue of being the power that created creation that God has the ultimate authority to declare: "I am the Lord thy God…thou shalt have no other gods before me."(Exodus 20:1-3)

In the next posting we will look at the authority of The Word and what that means to us, in "Great Faith", part 4 of "Mighty Through God."