Hosanna Restoration Church

If you have read this account in the Bible, you know that Jesus was greatly impressed with this soldier’s faith. Because he understood authority, he had a greater understanding of how the kingdom of God works. I believe that part of the problem we all encounter in living by faith is our perception of authority. It seems that in society today we spend more time questioning authority that we do respecting it. And yet the Lord said to obey those in authority over us.

Of course there are those who abuse their authority but that is a whole different subject. The fact remains that people have more of a tendency to resist that to submit. People who are caught breaking the law, try and sue someone for catching them. People, who are warned that coffee is hot, spill it on themselves and blame someone else. We even have people who over eat, blaming the people who sell them the food. The list could get very long if we kept on.

Authority may seem like a strange subject at Christmas time, but in truth the birth of Christ is a picture of God’s authority and how He uses it. By His authority, Christ was born. He could have just appeared and taken the world by storm, but God had a better plan. He had the authority to do it His way and it all has worked out pretty well. By His authority, Jesus grew up and took His place in ministry. His plan was that Jesus would be a servant. Not everyone wanted to follow His plan, but that did not make any difference. God would not change His plan to appease any man. He said that anyone who would believe and do things His way would see the kingdom of God.

Have you ever noticed that people like to question His authority? Many prefer to deny that He has any authority at all, but those who believe experience something that really cannot be explained. However, even after we have come to know the Lord, our tendency to question rather than trust authority robs us of much that God has for us.

If Jesus said that He gave us authority over demons, sickness, and every power of the enemy, then that is the truth. When we act in faith according to His words we see the results He promised. When we doubt, we question whether He really meant what He said. We question His authority. This is why Jesus was so impressed with the centurion. Since the centurion did not question those with authority over him, and would not allow those under him to question him, he understood that Jesus had authority over everything and that all He needed to do was say the word. As a result, his servant was healed and Jesus told his followers that this is how things are supposed to work.

May this Christmas season find us all accepting and yielding to the authority of Christ in our lives. May those who have yet to submit to Christ, be drawn into a relationship with Him, and may we all experience the fullness of God.