At the very end of the book of Matthew, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:18-20).

The word “power” in verse 18 is better translated as authority and now Jesus has all of it. Where did he get it?

From the one who had it, of course. When Satan over-extended his authority by taking a sinless man into the punishment of hell, he lost all rights to that which was his.

Colossians 2:15 says, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” One definition of spoiled is to “disarm”. In the death of Jesus, he disarmed the devil of his authority over mankind.

Having completed His victory, He is raised up and immediately commissions the church to go into all the world in His name.

This commission is the last transfer of authority. The church is now the spiritual authority in the earth. I doubt most Christians appreciate this to its proper extent.

Many question why bad things happen to good Christians and while there can be many causes, often the root cause is a lack of enforcement by a ruling authority.

We see pictures and hear stories about lawless countries, but usually that is not the most accurate description.

Most of those countries have laws against the violence seen on television, but because those in authority do nothing, the criminals are free to roam unhindered. The criminals usurp or take the authority that does not rightfully belong to them.

The church is the highest authority in the earth today. We were granted this authority by the head of the church, Jesus. If the devil tried to overrun a Christian’s life, that Christian has the authority to stop the advancement of the enemy.

Today, the devil acts as a criminal getting away with just as much as the church lets him. Where the authority is not enforced, the devil will succeed. Where the church exercises her authority against the devil, they will overcome him.

In many cases when the devil brings any of the curse into a Christian’s life such as sickness and disease, the Christian will not exercise proper authority and allow the sickness to progress.

In the worse case, they might even blame the sickness on God that He’s trying to teach them something. It’s funny, how we’ve never learned, though.

Ephesians 1:22-23 says, “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”

If Jesus has all authority, then the church, which is his fulness, has all authority. We as the Body of Christ have lived far below what has been rightfully given to us, but like always, we can change and live in the full authority that Jesus paid such a great price to grant unto us.