Heirs Of The Kingdom

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth." (Matthew 28:18 NLT)

You and I have been given all authority, through Jesus, to rule over God’s Kingdom.  I know we’ve all read and heard this numerous times, but do we truly realise what that means?

What is authority?  We’ve all read countless accounts about kings and the king’s right hand in history books.  The right hand would act in the king’s place, with the king’s authority.  He would carry the seal of the king, as a means of validation.  This meant that if anything needed to be done in the kingdom, everyone would obey the king’s right hand, as it was common knowledge that he was given the authority by the king himself.

Now, God is the creator of all things.  His Kingdom reigns not just in heaven but also here on earth.  His authority has no limits, meaning it’s not just angels who obey Him, but all of creation.

We’ve been given the same authority by our King, who we also get to confidently call our Father, to rule over His Kingdom.  And we’ve been given not just partial but all authority, as well as the seal, the authentication of the decree, who is the Holy Spirit.

I vividly remember, not too long ago, that everything that I have written above was only a reality for some people.  This gave me great joy, yet it didn’t necessarily apply to me.  It took me a long time to digest and truly understand the authority that I personally have been given.

Around three years ago, I was sitting in my sister-in-law’s house, listening to her talk about the fears she had regarding her ongoing pregnancy.  She had suffered two prior miscarriages at that point at around the same stages.  While I was calmly sitting there and was trying to empathise with her, I realised that I was not able to do so.  In fact, I had what I could easily call a ‘spiritual rage’ against her circumstance.  It was my seal, the Holy Spirit, reminding and reaffirming who I was.  The timid girl who the King confidently gave the authority to rule over all creation.

By the time I remembered who I was in Him and what I needed to do, my sister-in-law had already gone to her bedroom.  I rushed to her and started praying over her and her baby: for her to have a smooth pregnancy; for the baby to be delivered in full health; for the complete protection and healing of all her family.  Three years later, I continue to rejoice for the miracle, who today is my two-and-a-half-year-old nephew.

I now know to face every challenge that the devil throws at me with the confidence that I am an heir to my Father’s reign and with the awareness that I get to interfere and ruin all of the devil’s plans through the authority I’ve been given by my King.

As the church body, we are co-heirs to the King of kings.  His plan is to change the world through us.  Isn’t it time we stood up with confidence and operated with the authority given to us by our King, who created us for this very reason?