God the Son, explaining the authority of man
John 10:33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
Jesus, God the Son, came to restore humanity (man) back to our original state with God. The Religious leaders of the day, like many today, could not understand man’s original state, and delegated authority in the earth.
Jesus was explaining to these leaders, from the Word of God, this eternal truth, and it was too great for them. They could not understand, nor were willing to be taught, so their solution was to crucify Jesus. Don’t like the message, kill the messenger. People have not changed much over the years, that which they do not understand, they must destroy.
Let’s look at what Jesus was saying here, He was trying to show the religious leaders the glorious purpose they were created for, the eternal rank, authority, dominion Adam had fallen from, that He was about to restore, when He died upon the cross, and rose from the dead.
The religious leaders said that He was a heretic, blasphemous, in that He claimed to be God. Jesus, always trying to reconcile and instruct fallen man, tried to instruct them in an eternal truth, but it was too much for them, and it is often too much for religious leaders today.
John 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
So, since Jesus referred to the Scripture, let’s look up this verse He quoted, and see what we get out of it.
Ps 82:1 «A Psalm of Asaph.» God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. (0430 אלהים ‘elohiym el-o-heem’)
2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
6 ¶ I have said, Ye are gods; (0430 אלהים ‘elohiym el-o-heem’) and all of you are children of the most High.
7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
Ok, before any of us, think we are all that and a bag of chips , notice here that we will all die like men When Christian Herter was governor of Massachusetts, he was running hard for a second term in office. One day, after a busy morning chasing votes (and no lunch) he arrived at a church barbecue. It was late afternoon and Herter was famished. As Herter moved down the serving line, he held out his plate to the woman serving chicken. She put a piece on his plate and turned to the next person in line.
“Excuse me,” Governor Herter said, “do you mind if I have another piece of chicken?”
“Sorry,” the woman told him. “I’m supposed to give one piece of chicken to each person.”
“But I’m starved,” the governor said.
“Sorry,” the woman said again. “Only one to a customer.”
Governor Herter was a modest and unassuming man, but he decided that this time he would throw a little weight around.
“Do you know who I am?” he said. “I am the governor of this state.”
“Do you know who I am?” the woman said. “I’m the lady in charge of the chicken. Move along, mister.”
Bits & Pieces, May 28, 1992, pp. 5-6.
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.
Everything hinges on the definition of this Hebrew word, elohim.
It means, point blank, God.
Ge 1:1 In the beginning God <0430> created the heaven and the earth.
Ge 1:26 And God <0430> said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Ge 1:27 So God <0430> created man in his own image, in the image of God <0430> created he him; male and female created he them.
Ge 1:28 And God <0430> blessed them, and God <0430> said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Ge 1:29 And God <0430> said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Ge 2:7 And the LORD God <0430> formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
When I do a word search on the Hebrew word Elohim, I discover God calls Himself this in Scripture, 2249 times!
So what is Jesus saying here that enraged the Pharisees so much?
He is saying that redeemed man, acts as God in the earth! Selah
Let’s look at this a bit more:
Ps 8:1
¶ «To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David.» O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
3 ¶ When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Strongs 0430 אלהים ‘elohiym el-o-heem’
plural of 0433; n m p; {See TWOT on 93 @@ “93c”}
AV-God 2346, god
You must understand original creation, the fall of mankind, and redemption, in order to understand this verse.
Let’s look at God’s original plan for mankind, humanity:
Gen 1:26 ¶ And God (0430)said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God (0430) created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Ge 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Here we see the creation of humanity, and we can see God’s creative order:
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
In order to understand God’s plan for man, we have to look back to the book of beginnings (Genesis) in the Bible. We see that in God’s original plan, he created all of the universe, stars, planets and things, then created the earth. He created the land and sea, and all of the living creatures that live here. The fish and the birds and the beasts, and the flowers and the trees. We were given dominion over the the earth. Not individually, but as a race.
We were given stewardship over the animals, and commanded by God to rule over them with the law of kindness. That’s why cruelty to animals is so wrong, they generally know their place, to serve and please us. Hence deforestation of rainforests and extinction of species is wrong.
(Gen 1:26 NIV) Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So let’s look at God’s creative order for a moment. We see God created everything, then created man as the crowning centerpiece of all his work. Literally, we are in His image or likeness.
Let’s look at Psalm 8:4-6, in the King James:
4 What is man that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands: thou hast put all things under his feet:
Notice if you will, the word ‘angels’ used here. When we look that word up in the Strongs condcordance, we discover something interesting here. The Hebrew word used here is “elohiym”, which means Deity or God.
Is the Bible inaccurate. No, but the translators were. They couldn’t believe what this verse actually said, because the truth of it has far ranging implications. It’s nice to think of a holy God, far distant from us, His creation. Yet, to think of man as having authority, subject only to God Himself, requires us to address the issue of responsibility. Mankind is fully responsible for the mess this planet is in, and we are fully accountable to God, for our part in it.
In God’s creative order, this is strong. It was supposed to be God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost upon the throne of power, with men acting as his representatives here in the earth, using His delegated power to get things done. The birds, the bees, the flowers, and the trees were all meant to obey us, and we were to rule this planet according to the laws of God. Angels were created to serve us and help us in this duty for it is written:
(Heb 1:14 NIV) Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
In the beginning we were given a beautiful place to live, and a job to do.
(Gen 2:8 NIV) Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.
Remember, He created us with plan and purpose:
Ge 1:28 And God <0430> blessed them, and God <0430> said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Five things man is responsible to do:
Be fruitful, multiply, replenish, subdue, and have dominion over the earth.
(Gen 2:15 NIV) The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
I like the way this verse in reads in the King James Version:
(Gen 2:15 KJV) And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden to dress it and to keep it.
“Dress it” agrees with the NIV, it meant God gave Adam a job as a farmer and horticulturist. So we see God created meaningful work, it’s not a result of the fall of man. On my Sunday sermon’s I’ve explained how God views work. He wants you growing and blessed with meaningful work.
Yet, the word, ‘keep’ here is much stronger in the original Hebrew. This word means: “to hedge about, as with thorns, to tend to, to protect.”
Well, if we were supposed to protect this place called paradise, there must have been something to protect it from.
Jesus speaking tells us a little about him.
(Luke 10:18 NIV) He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
(Luke 10:19 NIV) I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
(Luke 10:20 NIV) However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Well, we know the story.
Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, being deceived of the devil. Adam knew better, and followed her example, committing high treason against God.
Men, hear me. God has created you to be head of your families and homes. Most of the time you will need to stay humble and listen to your wife, and serve her, for the Bible says that she is supposed to be your glory. However, headship requires responsibility. If she tries to influence you to something that is contrary to the word of God, you must stand up in gentleness, and strength, and say “No dear, I’m not going to do that, it is against the Word of God, and is not right.” To be successful in marriage, you must care more about what God thinks of you, than even her. She’s not worth going to hell over.
Well, the moment Adam sinned, he died spiritually, (the word death, in Scripture, literally means ‘separation from’, Adam was eternally separated from God by his sin, or spiritually dead, yet he was still physically alive!) and God had to throw Him out of the Garden of Eden. Why? He had to because there was another tree in the garden, the tree of eternal life.
If man had eaten of that tree in his fallen state, he would have lived forever in his fallen state. God is a good God, kind, loving, and infinitely merciful. The moment Adam fell, God set in motion His plan to restore him back to his rightful place of authority. Redemption!
Satan won the initial victory. When man fell, this foul rebellious spirit, Lucifer, the fallen one, became the prince of the powers of the air.
Did he truly have authority here? He sure did, in fact He tempted Jesus with it when He was out in the wilderness:
Matt 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Was this a legitimate temptation? Sure was, Satan showed Jesus, In the realm of the spirit, His rule over all the earth, and how he had set up his kingdoms, with various principalities, powers, and spiritual forces of wickedness, ruling the minds and affairs of men. Jesus, our hero, the sinless one, the last Adam, did not bow, and because of this, regained the authority of humanity, that Adam lost.
Yet, satan did rule, as prince of the power of the air, and still works on ruling through deception, in many parts of the earth today. Mankind and creation became subject to him, and so we see the effects of his rulership on this war-torn, pain-wracked planet. Jesus shows us his nature:
(John 10:10 NIV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
There’s an old saying, “Satan steals, men hoard, but God so loved the world that He gave…Whenever you see somebody giving something with no strings attached, know that you see the nature of God being demonstrated in the earth.”
So why is there evil in the earth? Because there is a mad dog loose in the system who influences the minds of men. He is a killer, a thief, a liar, and the father of all lies, the accuser of the brethren. One day he’s going to burn in hell forever, but in this generation we live in, he still exists, and we must overcome his onslaughts in our day to day affairs. Hell was never created for men, but for the devil and all those fallen angels that serve him. Unfortunately, some men choose to serve Satan, and they will get the same reward as the god they serve. Some of the most chilling words in the Bible are these uttered by Jesus:
(Mat 25:41 NIV) “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
You see, because of Adam, every one of us was born into this world of pain, and at some point in our life, we chose to rebel against God. The Bible calls this act, sin.
(Rom 3:23 NIV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
All of us were separated from God, because He is holy, and can stand no evil in His presence. In order to be just, He has to punish sin. The law, you do the crime, you do the time. When you work at a job, they should pay you a worthy wage. Sin also pays a wage. Its payment is death. For every sin you and I ever committed, a price had to be paid. Someone had to take the rap, do the time.
Yet the gospel is good news. God is a good God. God has reached out to humanity, to draw us again unto Himself. Into our rightful position as joint-heirs to all the universe.
How?
(Rom 6:23 NIV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(John 3:16 NIV) “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus came, He lived upon this earth to show us how to serve God, He died upon the cross to pay the punishment each of us deserve, He went into the lowest hell in our place, He rose again on the third day, He ascended to the right hand of God our Father where He reigns as King of all kings, Lord of all lords, forevermore.
That’s mercy. That’s love. That’s the goodness of God, that leads us to turn from doing our own thing, to trying to do His thing.
Notice here.
He is King of kings (You are created, and called to be a king)
He is Lord of all lords, (You are called to be a lord before Him)
Re 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Re 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Re 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
That’s the gospel. Good news to all who will receive it. So we see God hierarchy in creation, God’s creative order, of rank and authority, exercised in the heavens and the earth.
God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit)
Man (humanity)
Angels (who both walk with God, and serve man)
Creation (Birds and the Bees, and the flowers and the trees)
Satan (under our feet)
Like my little picture? Let me explain.
On the left-hand side we see how God designed this world to be, with us ruling and reigning as regents under Him. Angels were instructed to obey and help us, as was Creation. The devil, stripped of his power, was meant to be ruled over, and kept away from our work, the garden.
Yet, our great, great, great… grandfather Adam, sold us out. Committing high treason against God.
(Don’t be too hard on Adam, you’ve blown it too!)
By default, the devil became the ruling spirit in the earth. (See overhead 2)
God (Father,Son and Holy Spirit)
Angels
Satan (became god of this world)
Creation (groaning under the weight of sin and satan)
Man (brutally ruled by satan and creation)
But, praise God, there was a second Adam. Jesus Christ the righteous.
(1 Cor 15:45 NIV) So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being” ; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit
When you invited Jesus in your heart, God Himself came into you heart, and recreated your human spirit. You were born-again, and adopted into the family of God.
Before, the devil ruled over you at will. How? All he had to do was put an evil thought in your head, and you’d do it, unless somewhere, some praying saint invoked the power of God on your behalf.
Glory to God though! You accepted Jesus, He has saved you from yourself. You have left the kingdom of darkness where Satan reigns, and have be translated into the kingdom of God.
(Col 1:13 NIV) For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
You’re a king’s kid now. Victory has been imparted into your very spirit.
So what does this have to do with sin and addictions you may ask?
Notice this. Satan hates you, and wants to kill you. Although Jesus defeated him at Calvary, he used to rule over you, and he wants to destroy you. It’s not personal. You are created in the image of the God who he knows is going to throw him into hell. His sentence has been issued, but not executed yet, and you represent the One who is going to carry it out.
So, how does he do it?
Well, (Psa 24:1 NIV) The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
God is a good God, who gives good gifts.
(1 Tim 6:17 NIV) Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
(James 1:17 NIV) Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
So, we look at a beautiful flower, say a poppy. The devil inspires a thought to someone, to slit the side of that flower, drain the juice, dry it and smoke it. You get opium, but hear this. The moment you smoke that thing, you reach for comfort from the Creation rather than the Creator who has already provided for us the comfort of the person of the Holy Spirit. What happens? Instead of obeying God, we listen to that little voice, and we bow before the one we serve.
(Rom 6:16 NIV) Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Do you see it? When you obey Satan, and seek comfort in the creation instead of the Creator, and you violate God’s creative order. Instead of a man ruling over a plant, you have a plant ruling over a man, and the man bows his knee to Satan as god of this world.
You can quickly see how every addiction comes from this same deception. You take some hops and malt grain, let it ferment, and get beer. You drink it to relax (receive comfort), and come under the influence of a plant. You’ve got a plant ruling over a man, instead of man ruling over a plant. Distill it down a little more, you get malt whiskey. You drink it, you’ve got a plant ruling over a man, instead of man ruling over a plant. Ok, you get it.
See it in any recreational pharmaceutical, and drug on the street, marijuana, hash, tobacco, even coffee if it owns you.
(Gen 4:7 NIV) If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
Jesus is determined to show you how to rule over every sin and attack of the devil.
You are redeemed, bought back to your original state and place with God. Victory, dominion, dignity, honor, strength, power, authority, creativity, and freedom have been imparted to your very spirit, the deepest part of you, the part deep inside where God lives.
The job of us, as ministers, is to teach you who you really are, in God’s sight, and in light of His great love, how to actually take that dominion in your personal life, and as you grow, to the ends of the earth!
I remember teaching this lesson in Ottawa, Canada, and religious leaders there claimed that I was a heretic, claiming that Christians were ‘little gods’, as certain sects of New Age, and Christian Science do.
Like the religious leaders of Jesus day, that which they did not understand, they sought to destroy.
Anyone that has walked with Jesus for any time at all, understands intimately, our helplessness, without Him, We agree with the Word of God, John 3:27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
As He is, so are we to be in the world, individually doing the will of our Father for each of our lives, together, a mighty moving force called the church, being built up so strong, that the gates of hell cannot prevail against us!
Yet, to deny our redemption, our authority, and God given dominion in the earth, is indeed heresy, of the worst kind, the kind that would leave us powerless and helpless in this earth.
Jesus said: Lu 19: Occupy till I come!
There is a work to be done in the earth! Let’s be about our Father’s business!
Let’s Pray:
‘Father, I know that apart from Jesus, I can do nothing, yet I see here clearly, that you have given me authority spiritually, and responsibility to use it, for your glory. Show me my authority, and areas I need to be exercising it, in your name I pray, Lord Jesus, Amen’