Colossians 1:15-20
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
INSIGHT
-Authority in Greek is written as exousia which means to have privileges, capacity, competency, freedom, liberty, power, strength and supernatural abilities. The above scriptures demonstrate Christ’s authority over all creation in the first part and His supremacy through redemption in the later section. Christ is the first born to demonstrate certain privileges according to the Jewish culture; who would inherit leadership of the family and a double portion of property upon the fathers death. He is also the first born from among the death through resurrection that those who are in Him have a sure hope of eternal life. Christ is the express image of God the Father and His exact representation in authority and as the head of the church. Christ reconciled us to the Father through His death for all our sins and has given us hope of glory. He also reconciled to Himself all things on earth and in heaven causing peace to dwell in us through His indwelling presence. His supremacy is also evident through His creation over all things in heaven and on earth whether thrones, powers and rulers, and therefore has authority over all. At His name therefore every knee shall bow in heaven, on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
PRAYER
Jesus You are precious and worthy of all our praises. Only You are worthy of all honor and adoration. All creation bow down before You Jesus Christ. Every knee shall bow in heaven, on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ You are Lord to the glory of God the Father. We extol You Jesus at all times. May Your praises be always be on our lips. We glory You and rejoice in You. All the nations praise Your holy name Jesus. We thank You for making us see this new week in good health. May You heal all those who are sick and suffering. Heal the hearts of all those who are bereaved and grant them Your sure peace. We appreciate You dear Jesus for loving us and dying on the cross for our sins, may You forgive all our trespasses. We humbly ask You to journey with us through this week and show us the way we should go. Guide us Holy Spirit in all truth and anoint us afresh. We adore You Lord and bless Your holy name dear Jesus. All glory, honor, authority and strength belongs to You Jesus now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Philippians 2:10-11
Mark 1:21-22
“They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”
INSIGHT
-At about the age of thirty years, Jesus began His public ministry (Luke 3:23), and as per the Jewish custom He was allowed to teach in the synagogue. He took advantage of the Sabbath to teach His fellow Jews and out of either their natural or supernatural sense, they realized that His authority was not like the one of the teachers of law. They were amazed at His teaching, most probably because His words have authority (Luke 4:32). Jesus exposed the hypocrisy of the teachers of law and confronted their beliefs as they neither accepted Him nor His teaching. Jesus also confronted their greed and zeal for His house consumed them. He drove out all those who sold cattle, sheep and doves in the temple, and money changers by overturning their tables (John 2:13-18). It was evident to all that Jesus had great influence, and the Pharisees, Scribes and teachers of law plotted to kill Him. Most of us have experienced Jesus’ authority through His word which is life and His message of peace settles our heart amid great turmoil and storms, and we are reminded to fully rely on Him.
PRAYER
Thank You Jesus for You have always been faithful to us even when we have become faithless. Thank You for Your mercies are new every morning. You are the Rock of our salvation. Our Refuge and Strength, all our hope and trust is in You merciful Savior. May You settle our hearts with Your sure peace Prince of peace, when we are faced by storms and disappointments. May Your word permeate in our hearts and souls that we may always rejoice in You and Your presence. Teach us to rely on You and Your word in all situations. Your word is light that delivers us from all darkness. May You transform us, our children, families, societies, nation and all nations of the world, to be conformed according to You will. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven Abba Father. Thank You for the good plans You have for us Jesus, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future. We look to You in all situations and acknowledge that only You are our Lord and Savior. May You answer all our prayers and hearts desires loving Father according to Your will. May You empower all those who live in the street with Your hand of grace that they may see You come through for them in all their troubles. May all those who do not believe in You know You dear Jesus and abide by You through Your merciful love. Help us dear Jesus to remain in You as You are in us that we may bear much fruit. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now, and forever more. Amen
Further reading: Matthew 7:29
Matthew 9:6-8
“But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.”
INSIGHT
-The Son of Man demonstrated authority over diseases and power to forgive sins. Jesus revealed that His mission was to call the sinners to repentance and not the righteous (Mark 2:17). Jesus announced His authority to forgive sins which caused an uproar among the Jewish leaders. They accused Him of blasphemy and sort for an opportunity to execute Him. Jesus healed a paralytic on the Sabbath day, and since it was an offense to carry things around and to work, He told the man to take his mat and go home. He taught that man was created for Sabbath and not the reverse. Jesus also healed a demon possessed man and with authority and power commanded the demonic spirits to come out of him (Luke 4:33-37). He also revealed Himself through such power and many believed in Him. As believers, we enjoy His authority in our lives and circumstances, over all diseases and infirmities, for by His stripes we are healed. We also celebrate the forgiveness of sins of all mankind on the cross and His salvation plan.
PRAYER
Worthy is You name Jesus, we bless Your holy name. We count our blessings one by one and celebrate all You have done unto us. Thank You Jesus for guiding us and protecting us. We declare that we are more than victorious in Your name. We declare that we shall not die but live to celebrate Your goodness Oh Lord. We declare that no weapon fashioned against us shall prevail and no accusation against us shall stand because You love us Oh Lord and we belong to You. Wash away all our sins and the sins of the world merciful Savior. Heal all our physical, emotional and psychological wounds merciful Savior. Heal our businesses and work dear Jesus. Heal our families, homes, marriages and relationships dear Jesus. Heal our land Almighty God. Demonstrate You power in us and through Almighty God, for the glory of Your name. Grant that many will know You and come to You dear Jesus. All glory, honor, power, authority, strength and wisdom belongs to You Jesus, now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Matthew 9:1-8
John 10:17-18
“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
INSIGHT
-The grace of Christ is revealed as none could demand His life of Him, He laid it down of Himself for our redemption. By His authority, He offered Himself to be our Savior for it was necessary for us to call for it, that we may be saved. He was the Offering, who by laying down His life offered up Himself that we may have life everlasting. He died in the place and stead of men; to obtain our being set free from the punishment of sin that we may obtain the pardon of our sin; and that His death should obtain that pardon. Through the love of the Father who loves Jesus and loves us, that He laid His life down for us His sheep, and we belong to Him. He could not be judged, but the Father gave Him authority to execute judgement because He is the Son of Man (John 5:27), our Lord and Savior.
PRAYER
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Who forgives all our iniquities. Who heals all our diseases. Who redeems our life from the pit. Who crowns us with steadfast love and mercy. Who satisfies us with good so that our youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Renew our strength dear Jesus that we may soar on wings like eagles, run and not grow weary, walk and not be faint. We proclaim Your righteousness, and praises all day long Jesus. Thank You dear Jesus for loving us. Thank You for laying Your life for our salvation. Thank You for becoming Sin that we may be free from condemnation. We praise You Jesus and exult Your holy name. May You forgive us of all our trespasses and give us the grace to come close to You as You are close to us. Grant us the grace to remain in You as You are in us. Grant us the grace to lay our lives for one another. May we always have strong faith in You for You are our Lord and Savior. Thank You dear Jesus for loving us and for taking good care of us. May You deliver all those who are prison and set them free. May Your sufficient grace reach all those who are sick that they may be healed. Deliver also merciful Savior all the children living in the street that their joy may be full. Answer merciful Savior our prayers and hearts desires we humbly beseech You. You are the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and End, the First and the Last. We exult Your name and lift Your name high. Amen
Further reading: 1 John 3:16, John 10:11
Matthew 28:18-20
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
INSIGHT
-The authority of Christ over all in the heavens and the earth is clear and His desire that all would love and serve Him becomes evident. As His disciples, we are to acknowledge openly our allegiance to Christ by the seal of baptism and the baptism by fire through the impartation of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has given us the authority to evangelize His gospel of truth as we bring many to Him in season and out of season, online and offline, for the glory and honor of His name. His seal is upon us His children and we have the sure hope of rejoicing with Him forever.
SUMMARY
Jesus is fully God and fully Man. He is the God head of the church, the Beginning, the Firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18). All authority has made certainly resident in Him and will now be channeled in His effort to rescue the world. This is all the authority needed to make disciples, and making disciples is the one thing Jesus has authorized His people to do. Since we are God’s workmanship created in advance to do good works (Ephesians 2:10), we are called to seek and follow His divine will. Christ has equipped us with unique gifts, some teachers, others apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, for the work of service that we may become mature and attain His whole measure of fullness in Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13). His authority is also present in His word as He is the true word. He calls us to go into all the nations proclaiming His word for all authority belongs to Him. Jesus calls His disciples to Himself and gives us the authority to drive out impure spirits, and to heal every disease and sickness (Matthew 10:1). Jesus is Lord over all in heaven, on earth and under the earth. He had authority to lay His own life for our sins and no one could cause His death apart from His Father who is full of love, and no one had power to judge Him including His critics, but only He has authority to judge for He is the Son of Man (John 5:26-27). Jesus has authority over nature. He walked on water (Matthew 14:26), calm the storms and the waves (Mark 4:39). Jesus has authority over demonic spirits and He cast them out of a defeated man (Luke 4:33-37). Jesus has authority over all diseases. He healed the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:25-34), the man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-15), the paralytic (Matthew 9:6-8), and heals our sicknesses and wounds today. Jesus has authority over sin and death, and has defeated all powers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them and distinguished Himself as the ultimate Authority (Colossians 2:15). He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and all angels, authorities and powers are subject to Him (1 Peter 3:22). We are then reminded to hold fast our faith in him, serve Him and do His will and we will never be disappointed.
PRAYER
You are worthy our Lord and Savior, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have their being. You are worthy Lamb of God, who was slain, to receive power, wealth, wisdom, strength, authority, honor, glory and praise. Empower us dear Jesus to always be faithful in proclaiming Your gospel of truth. Prepare our hearts and the hearts of all those we evangelize to that they may hear Your word and come to You. Help us to walk according to Your divine will merciful Savior. Enlighten our steps in our purposes and guide us everywhere that we go. Guide the steps of our president and all our leaders that the policies that they implement may not be oppressive but filled with life. Give life Holy Spirit to all our relationships and marriages that we may stand upon Your love. Give life to all those who are jobless that they may find meaningful employment and job opportunities. Shine Your face upon all those who are waiting on You for marriage that You may answer all their prayers and hearts desire. Answer all our prayers and hearts desires dear Jesus. Thank You Father for You always hear us. May Your eternal life always be found in us that we may have life in abundance. Thank You for assuring us that You will be with us until the end of the age. We worship You and give You praise dear Jesus, now and forever. May You bless us and keep us dear God. May You make Your face shine upon us and be gracious to us. May You lift up Your countenance upon us and give us peace. Amen
Further reading: Matthew 11:27, John 3:35