In our society today we have a lot of problems with authority. The people tend to reject authority because of the abuse of the authorities in charge. But when we rebel against authority in general we are actually rebelling against God Himself. For the Scriptures clearly teaches us that God is the one who actually establishes the authority in the first place. If you study Scripture you would see that God would actually raise up wicked people to judge his people all of the time throughout the Old Testament, the reason being, is because His people had rejected God’s authority to rule over their lives and they did things their own way. So in order for God to correct them, He would raise up an outside kingdom to come and conquer His people to show them that He was in charge and so that they would get back into line with Him. They would not repent of their sins and the more they sinned the more they destroyed themselves. So by God raising up this outside kingdom they would be conquered, then they would start seeking the LORD again. They knew God and His commandments but over time they would slowly fall away from doing what they were suppose to do and slowly started fulfilling the lust of their flesh in all sorts of ungodly behavior. It was not until they were extremely sinning would God send His judgment. That is what people do today also. They either believe in God and test Him to see how far they can push their sin or they do not know God and just suffer the consequences of their sin and learn from their mistakes. The one thing that I have noticed as a child of God, is that , God does not always send His immediate judgment. In most cases God actually is quite gracious with us, then He will be merciful, but the further we push it the judgment comes. This is how I explain the difference between grace, mercy, and judgment (aka: justice). Justice is when you stole a Nissan Sentra and got caught and they gave you prison time for stealing it. Mercy is when you stole a Nissan Sentra and got caught and they only gave you probation for 5 years. Grace is when you stole a Nissan Sentra and got caught and they did not give you prison time, but let you go and told you since you need a car that they were going to give you a Corvette. This is the difference between Grace, Mercy and Justice.
Now according to Scripture it says that God uses the authorities to deal with the lawless. These are the people who do not care about the laws and do whatever they choose to do. Well, as you can tell we are living in times that are lawless. The people tend to do whatever pleases them and they do not think that there are going to be any consequences for their actions. They do not understand that they will reap what they sow, or as the world puts it Karma (What goes around comes around). When people do not believe in a higher power such as God, they tend to think that they are God and can do whatever they please without any of the consequences. It does not take very long to figure out that this is not true. Life has a funny way of showing us this. I should know I did not come to Christ until I was 31 years old and believe me I took the road of hard knocks.
When God uses His authorities to deal with the lawless, this is where the rubber hits the road. People either do one of two things, they either get right with the LORD, or they harden their hearts and choose to continue down that road of hard knocks. This is where God gives us the choice of what path we choose to go down. My brother was this guy most of his life and continued to harden his heart and chase the dope bag. This continued to land him in jail and prison a whole lot of times, then finally on his last prison term he got right and decided to get on the right path. He has been out of the system for over 8 years now and has his own business. He will be the first one to tell you that he now has favor with the LORD, compared to where he used to be.
Now to conclude about authority, you will see that God the Father has given all authority to Jesus Christ and He will be coming in the future with the final judgment. Until then, he has put certain spiritual laws into effect so that we can learn and obey. Such as the reaping and sowing. He has also given us a conscience so that we know right from wrong and according to Scripture it tells us if we sin enough that our consciences become seared shut, that means that pretty soon we do not feel bad for doing what is evil. This is where the death penalty comes in for a serial murder for an example. If this person does not have any remorse for the things that they have done then they have clearly chosen to go to Hell for all eternity. We do not have to feel sorry for these people they have made their choice and now they will have to be eternally separated from God for all of eternity. God does not want people to go to heaven that do not want to be there. That is why God gives us a choice. I would suggest that you read the studies on Heaven and Hell to know the difference of where people choose to go. May God Bless You through this study and I hope that you get in line with God’s authority before He uses His authorities here on earth to judge you, and if this does happen remember to repent before the final judgment comes for all eternity!!!
Authority: n. 1 the right to give orders, make decisions, or take action 2 a person or agency that has the right to govern or the power to enforce laws.
Romans 13:1-5
Obey the government, for God is the one who put it there. All governments have been placed in power by God. So those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow. For the authorities do not frighten people who are doing right, but they frighten those who do wrong. So do what they say, and you will get along well. The authorities are sent by God to help you. But if you are doing something wrong, of course you should be afraid, for you will be punished. The authorities are established by God for that very purpose, to punish those who do wrong. So you must obey the government for two reasons: to keep from being punished and to keep a clear conscience.
Ephesians 1:10
And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.
Ephesians 1:22
And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him authority for the benefit of the church.
John 3:35-36
The Father loves his Son, and he has given him authority over everything. And all who believe in God’s Son have eternal life. Those who don’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life, but the wrath of God remains upon them.
John 17:1-5
“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone in all the earth. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life – to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. I brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you told me to do. And now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.”
Matthew 8:5-13
When Jesus arrived in Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and racked with pain.”
Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”
Then the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed! I know, because I am under the authority of my superior officers and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this or that,’ they do it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all the land of Israel! And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. But many Israelites – those for whom the Kingdom was prepared – will be cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go on home. What you have believed has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.
1 Peter 3:22
Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers are bowing before him.
Esther 9:29-32
Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote another letter putting the queen’s full authority behind Mordecai’s letter to establish the Festival of Purim. In addition, letters wishing peace and security were sent to the Jews throughout the 127 provinces of the empire of Xerxes. These letters established the Festival of Purim – an annual celebration of these days at the appointed time, decreed by both Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther. (The people decided to observe this festival, just as they had decided for themselves and their descendants to establish the times of fasting and mourning.) So the command of Esther confirmed the practices of Purim, and it was all written down in the records.
Proverbs 29:2
When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan.
Matthew 7:28-29
After Jesus finished speaking, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught as one who had real authority – quite unlike the teachers of religious law.
Matthew 20:20-28
Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. “What is your request?” he asked.
She replied, “In your Kingdom, will you let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one at your right and the other at your left?”
But Jesus told them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of sorrow I am about to drink?”
“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”
“You will indeed drink from it,” he told them. “But I have no right to say who will sit on the thrones next to mine. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”
When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that in this world kings are tyrants, and officials lord it over the people beneath them. But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must become your slave. For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 21:23-27
When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and other leaders came up to him. They demanded, “By whose authority did you drive out the merchants from the Temple? Who gave you such authority?”
“I’ll tell you who gave me the authority to do these things if you answer one question.” Jesus replied. “Did John’s baptism come from heaven or was it merely human?”
They talked it over among themselves, “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe him. But if we say it was merely human, we’ll be mobbed, because the people think he was a prophet.” So they finally replied, “We don’t know.”
And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t answer your question either.”
Mark 1:21-28
Jesus and his companions went to a town of Capernaum, and every Sabbath day he went into the synagogue and taught the people. They were amazed at his teaching, for he taught as one who had real authority – quite unlike the teachers of religious law.
A man possessed by an evil spirit was in the synagogue, and he began shouting. “Why are you bothering us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One sent from God!”
Jesus cut him short, “Be silent! Come out of the man.” At that, the evil spirit screamed and threw the man into a convulsion, but then left him.
Amazement gripped the audience, and they began to discuss what had happened. “What sort of new teaching is this?” they asked excitedly. “It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders!” The news of what he had done spread quickly through that entire area of Galilee.
Mark 10:35-45
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.”
“What is it?” he asked.
“In your glorious Kingdom, we want to sit in places of honor next to you,” they said, “one at your right and the other at your left.”
But Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of sorrow I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”
“Oh yes,” they said, “we are able!”
And Jesus said, “You will indeed drink from my cup and be baptized with my baptism, but I have no right to say who will sit on the thrones next to mine. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”
When the ten other disciples discovered what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that in this world kings are tyrants, and officials lord it over the people beneath them. But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all. For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many.”