Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
As leaders, we lead others into their true identity in Christ. We cannot tell them who they are, but we can inspire them to find an intimate connection to God where they hear the voice of God within their hearts to be who they are called to be. We do this by being an example that inspires them to do as we dare to do. We pursue life to become life for the sake of our destiny in Christ.
Authority is connected to our identity; identity is not rooted in our authority. Our identity is who we are, not what we can do. Authority is relational and not merely a matter of function. Relationships bring life to joining relationships.
Authority gives life, it never takes life from others. Power alone will take from others, but true authority will give life to others. Authority is not defined by our anointing, but our anointing will serve our authority. True authority is not defined by our gifting, but our gifting is meant to serve our authority. True authority is connected to our responsibilities in life.
As a dad I have a responsibility of being a dad to my children. This means, I have the authority to give them life and to empower them to come alive as my children. My anointing as a dad and my gifting as a dad only serve in enabling me to exercise the authority of life for my family.
When we discover who we are, we bring life to our world. Jesus didn’t come merely to meet our needs. He didn’t just come so that we would go to heaven when we die. He came to empower each of us to bring life to our world. This is to bring life to our families, to our friends, to our communities, and even to our enemies. I believe that this is the true testimony of being able to subdue and have dominion in life.
The original mandate to mankind was to be fruitful, multiply, fill, subdue and have dominion (Gen. 1:28). When Adam and Eve chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they forfeited their ability to live by an administration of the tree of life. Their decision to choose knowledge over intimacy with God caused them to sacrifice the key to true authority. Living by an external influence of information caused man to fall for the deception of power and control that led to an exaltation of anointings and giftings over covenantal connections that lead to greater life.
The result of Adam’s fall was an administration of information that left mankind with only an ability to be fruitful, multiply, and fill. There was no possibility to subdue and have dominion. The rule of mankind was bound to the informative administrations of human conscience and law. Neither of these have the power to bring life, or to transform us to a testimony of life. They only have the ability to control and serve as teachers revealing our need for God. They can only reveal our need to find true life in God.
Genesis 9:1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
Jesus came to restore the human mandate. Our reconciliation to God in Christ is a reconnection to the One who gives life, gives breath, and gives all things. Our connection to life empowers us to be givers of life to our world. To subdue is to bring life to the places of death in our spheres of influence and to exercise dominion is to crumble every lie with truth in every area of our responsibility.
Our responsibilities in life are places that we are called to bring the influence of God’s grace. To be responsible is to be true. Being true to who we are is being able to be responsible. God defines truth as the substance by which all are made alive in Christ and the substance of who we are to bring the life of Christ to our world. Jesus is the truth and knowing Him makes one free and able to freely give life to their world.
John 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
The rivers of life that flow from our lives are rivers of the authority of God. Authority flows out of who we are, not what we do. All authority in heaven and earth comes from God, but everyone is meant to manifest a testimony of truth and the authority of life. Authority is the ability to give life to others. This means that authority only comes from truth. When we are true to whom we are and true to the boundaries of what is given to us, it can give life to others. When we cross the God-given lines of authority, we become takers. We become people who grasp for power. Truth crumbles the lie, but a lie cannot overpower the other lies of the world. We are called in Christ to be real. We are sons and daughters of God, and our Father is a giver of life in all things.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728 
