Greetings,
Authority begins with a birthright, comes about by a process of training, and is made manifest when the sound of God’s name comes into the substance of our names. We all have a common birthright as the corporate body of Christ, but we each have individual roles to play in the membership of that body. Authority is not based upon what we do; it is based upon who we are. Who we are determines the things we will do. Who we are begins with a birthright. We need the birthright of a son of God and a son of man to activate our general role of authority as a member of the body of Christ. We need a confirmation of that which is spirit and that which is natural to qualify for our specific role of authority in life. There must be both a heavenly and an earthly witness to who we are in life.
When God created mankind He spoke to Himself, therefore, the substance of man is the likeness and the image of God. We are God’s heavenly substance in the substance of earth. This is why Jesus had to be born as a Son of God and a Son of Man. God became flesh in the man Jesus of Nazareth to open the door for the regained birthright of mankind. He came as a door to all mankind, that they like sheep might return to the fold of God through Jesus Christ.
John 10:1 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.”
Jesus is the door to authority and dominion. He was born of water and of the Spirit. He was born of a womb of flesh and a womb of the Spirit. This is the real essence of humanity. Human beings are both natural and spirit, that is what makes them a spiritual (spirit-natural) creation of God. When God created man He spoke to Himself. From the substance of Him came the essence of mankind, make and female (Gen. 1:26-28). From the vantage point of earth, He formed man from the dust and then breathed the essence of His Spirit life into man (Gen. 2:7). Human beings must be both created naturally and born of the Spirit to find their birthright as humanity. Human beings must be both sons of God and sons of men. This is why Jesus came in the flesh of a man. Jesus is the door to being a son of man and a son of God. He came into existence in the earth through the legitimate door of redeemed humanity. He came through Mary’s womb and the spiritual lineage of David. He was both born of man and born of God. He didn’t just come to die for our sins. He came to restore the authority of mankind. He came to give us back our birthright as men. He came to restore the mandate of being fruitful, multiplying, filling, subduing, and having dominion in the earth. Jesus came to reconcile us to our heavenly Father as men and women of a substance that is both natural and of the Spirit. He had to die for our sins to make that possible, but the goal was not His death. It was our resurrection in Christ.
Birthright is not based upon our natural ability, but our natural ability will be connected to our spiritual destiny. This is not necessarily limited or bound to our natural experiences. Authority doesn’t come from what is natural; it comes from the source of authority. That source is God and it is a heavenly reality of His Spirit. Many times we think that our natural experience is what qualifies us for ministry in the body of Christ. If we came out of a lifestyle of using drugs we believe we are qualified to minister to those bound to drugs. If we were religious, we believe we are sent to the religious. If we were educated, we believe we will be sent to the educated. Heavenly birthrights don’t work like that. With that reasoning Saul of Tarsus when converted to Paul would have been an apostle to the Jews. Peter, the uneducated and seemingly coarse fishermen, would have been a more likely candidate for being sent to the Gentiles, rather than the religious Jews. God in heaven determines birthrights, not the natural circumstances of the earth.
The destiny of Jesus was not determined by His natural circumstances. His natural circumstances were subject the heavenly decrees of His birth. Jesus became a “son of man” so that we could have dominion as a “son of man”. Jesus was the word made flesh so that we could be the flesh made word (an expression of God). We were created in the image and likeness of God. The image is the Word and the likeness is the Spirit. Jesus came to redeem our purpose and destiny in Christ. The real issue was lost authority. The real issue was the human mandate!
We cannot be a son of God without also being a son of man. We cannot be a son of man without becoming a son of God. Our authority is not Spirit. It is spiritual or that which is both of Spirit, but manifested in the natural. We are to manifest the life of God’s Spirit in the natural. We do not have the authority to be a spirit expression of the Spirit. Angels are spirit and some grasped for what they were not and became perverse in there existence. Spirit beings are spirit, natural creatures are natural, and mankind is both spirit and natural. Many people believe that to focus on the spirit is valuable and to focus on natural things is a shame. They often love spirit and hate the natural world. I believe this is a perversion of authority. We have the authority to be spirit-natural. We are spiritual beings. Sons of men are also sons of God. Without being sons of God we cannot have dominion over the works of God’s hands. It is a spiritual reality of our creation and our destiny. Jesus was the substance of God and the substance of earth. It is the substance of God in the earth that inherits the earth. Sin disconnected us from our place of inheritance, but Jesus came restore our qualification as inheritors of the earth. Being who we are today allows us to become who we are destined to be!
Psalms 8:4-8 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen–Even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas.
The only way that we can have dominion as a son of man is to be positioned in the Son of God. God is our Father! We must be born of Authority to have Authority.
John 1:12,13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Being born again allows us the see the kingdom of God. When we see the kingdom of God we can enter the kingdom of God. Take some time today to consider the wonder of your life; spirit, soul, and body! Jesus made you to be you and only as you can you have authority. Only as you can you bring life to this world!
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
Wow! Thank you Ted, this word comes at perfect timing!
Lois