AUTHORITY, POWER AND CHARACTER

Tanzania

Pastor Polycarp Gbaja

12/21/09

A.M. Session

Genesis 1:26-28

In the image of God Adam could have dominion over the world.
When Adam fell it became impossible for him to fulfill this role.
If you buy a computer or camera to benefit from what you have
bought you read the instruction manual. If you buy a car that is
supposed to use petrol and you put water in the tank the car will not
move. You will say the man that made this car is a wicked man. This
is what our world is experiencing today. There is a way in which our
environment will flourish but we forsook the manual that will make us
work as families and we keep wondering why is our society not
working.
God brought in the law at the time of Moses. It was given to a people
who had been slaves for 200 years. Slavery is like prison. In prison
they decide everything for you. You do the bidding of your oppressor
or master. People who have been under slavery and oppression for
a long time find it a challenge to take decisions for themselves. They
are used to being forced to do everything. The ability to act freely is
almost nonexistent. After 200 years of being slaves that mindset
made it impossible for them to obey the laws of God. There was
nothing wrong with the laws. God changed the strategy and brought
in a new covenant, the covenant of grace. That covenant changes the
way the God deals with us.

Today, as believers our attitude and perspective of how we deal with

God is different. The law was a beginning it was a school master.

We have responsibility that was given by God. Because of that

responsibility we were also given an equipment, an instrument, called
authority. We like the idea of authority. Authority indicates the right to
issue an order. We like it because it gives us control. We feel that we
are in control. When anything we say happens. That is why people
like political office to do what they want to do they call it power.
They get to the office that will give them the equipment to exercise
power. The reason for authority is responsibility.
Because we are in authority we are accountable for what God has
asked us to watch over. We have been given both a responsibility
and an instruction to watch and pray. It does not mean look and pray.
It means take responsibility and then pray.
The first aspect of being Kings is responsibility and now authority. 1
Cor. 13 speaks of three things ; faith, hope, love. Our walk with God
involves three major things. The first one is authority the right to
issue an order. The second component about our walk with God is
power. Power defines ability. In physical terms power defines the rate
of doing work. Someone who has power can pick up and move an
object.
Money gives a lot of power, it gives you options. If you understand
how money works you will have a lot of options in your life. When you
dont have money a lot of times you do not feel secure you.
Authority, Power and Character.

The centurion understood what authority meant. How much you

prosper in your life, in your family , in your business, in your country
depends on what you submit to or what you exercise authority over.
Your success in life depends on you knowing when to submit to
authority.

God is a God of order. How much you shout is not how God will listen
to you. God is bound to do for you what is written in Gods Word. You
must do what God says and God will confirm His word. Fasting does
not change Gods mind it changes you.

Being under authority means that it is not your agenda, it is the

agenda of the kingdom that you represent. There are benefits and
there are responsibilities. These three components of our faith will
help to position us in the place of authority. Many of us desire
prophecy because it tells us facts ahead of time that help us to be in
control. Authority is a different thing entirely. When a traffic warden
raises her hand she is not struggling with control. She is exercising
authority. Many times we are looking for control, even when we pray
and we are frustrated it does not work. It is not about what you want it
is about the wish of the person whose authority you represent.
We dont understand the difference between control and authority.
Jesus said I do nothing except what I hear my father speak. Many
things we struggle with are things we want to control God wants us
to know that as a king and priest of God there is a dimension in which
you can exercise authority. The Word of God spells out what belongs
to Cesar and what belongs to God.
When God speaks you can exercise authority over Cesar Authority
is a place of privilege for the sons of God. The character of God is the
structure that controls our motives and our relationships.
Businessmen everywhere in the world succeed because they offer to
meet the needs of people. Love is caring, meeting the needs of
people. When people operate with that love you meet the need of
others. Trading is based on meeting need a demand and a supply.
This is what Love is about, giving and receiving. God so loved the
world that He gave His son. Now all of us have become His sons. He
saw or need, He met our need and He has gained us.
Through faith we achieve all the benefits. Authority directs the flow of
Gods power, the character we develop maintains the flow of Gods
power. Our job on earth is to impact this world using what God has
provided for us. Our job is to be salt to the earth. We are light, a city
set on a hill cannot be hid. A light reveals it makes to understand. We
produce something the world cannot produce. Today God looks at us
as the church to begin to exercise His authority.