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AUTHORITY FROM GOD How and why you can kick the Devil out of your life By Randy Clark COPYRIGHT PAGE Authority From God ©2006 RANDY CLARK All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version® of the Bible. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc.: Nashville. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (AMP) are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org) Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thank you to Karen, my wife since 1977, for your help in putting this book together. Your editing skills and input were invaluable in preparing the manuscript for publication. And thank you for your ongoing encouragement and belief in me. Together, we continue to pursue God’s dream for our lives. Thank you to Billy Joe Daugherty, Founding Pastor of Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Your willingness to follow the vision God put in your heart concerning Victory Bible Institute created a wonderful opportunity for me to begin a lifelong process of studying and teaching the word of God. Thank you to Dr. Ronald E. Cottle for birthing Christian Life School of Theology, now Christian Life Educators Network, and allowing me to teach the course described in this book in churches all across America. INTRODUCTION “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” - Sun Tzu: “On The Art Of War” ca. 500 BC. I first began to hear the truths described in this book while attending Bible School in 1979. In 1984, I was given the opportunity to teach a course on “The Believer’s Authority” at Victory Bible Institute in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I immediately began to immerse myself in the subject. I read books on the topic and related topics from numerous authors. I studied the Bible intensely. Soon, God began to give me a revelation and a path to take for this course. I have since taught this course in numerous Bible schools in the United States and other countries. The teaching has been refined and focused many times. This book is a result of years of study and presentation of the awesome truth about the authority given to believers. I believe the Bible is God’s revelation to us. You will find extensive use of Scriptures throughout this book. I believe it is important that you see what God has to say about this subject. That is why I chose to print out most Scriptures rather than simply give a reference. I also frequently underlined portions of Scripture quotations to help in understanding particular truths. In addition, I used several different modern translations of the Bible to provide a more complete revelation of God’s thoughts. Perspective is an important consideration when approaching any truth from the Bible. People can look at the same truth and see different aspects. It is like climbing a mountain. A climbing team that climbs the north side of a mountain would describe the mountain one way. A team that ascends the south side would describe an entirely different point of view. It is the same mountain, but two different viewpoints. You don’t really know all about the mountain until you hear from people who have climbed it from all angles. I encourage you to keep the concept of perspective in mind. This book describes certain aspects of the truth of the believer’s authority. Another minister may have a different view of the same subject. Don’t throw my book out because it is somewhat different than what you hear someone else teach. Don’t discard someone else’s description because it differs from mine. The only way you will get a full understanding of the topic is to add all the revelation together. No one person has all the answers. We each have part of the truth. One book cannot cover every possible angle on the subject. Jesus paid a high price to set us free from the penalty of sin and control of Satan. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will impart to you a fresh understanding of this incredible miracle Jesus provided to us. For more information on the author, go to www.randyclarkministries.org or www.discoveryourdestiny.org Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 - CREATION AND CHAOS CHAPTER 2 - TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY CHAPTER 3 - GOD’S PLAN CHAPTER 4 - THE COVENANT CHAPTER 5 - JESUS, THE MAN CHAPTER 6 - THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHAPTER 7 - FROM THE CROSS TO THE THRONE CHAPTER 8 - THE TRUTH ABOUT DEMONS CHAPTER 9 - THE NAME OF JESUS CHAPTER 10 - TWO KINGDOMS CHAPTER 11 - EXERCISING YOUR AUTHORITY CHAPTER 12 - SPEAKING YOUR AUTHORITY CHAPTER 1 - CREATION AND CHAOS The majesty of the original creation was more than the human mind can fathom. The glory of God provided a brilliant light that penetrated into every part of this vast universe. There were no shadows. Heaven and Earth were in perfect order. The angels were divided into groups with specific functions. Some of them simply cried, “Holy, holy, holy” around the throne of Almighty God. One angel stood out from the others. He was the most beautiful creature God had created. All the other angels reported to this angel. His name was Lucifer. Lucifer had it all. He served as God’s most trusted created being. Lucifer had unlimited access to God at all times. Lucifer had a throne from which he ruled over all of God’s original creation. His body was a musical instrument which he used to praise his Creator. Lucifer could have served in his position of authority and beauty for all of eternity. But he didn’t. Lucifer chose to rebel against God. Being number two in the universe wasn’t good enough. Lucifer committed the first sin and thereby altered the course of history forever. His rebellion caused God’s original creation to be destroyed. Lucifer’s name became Satan. His beauty and wisdom became corrupted because of sin. Satan’s rebellion against God continued into the second version of the Earth which God put together. He attacked God’s new rulers on this planet. He infected mankind with the plague of sin. It looked as if Satan had won. God’s creation was corrupted once again. But God had a plan. God’s plan would put an end to Satan’s rebellious influence. God’s plan would restore mankind to a position of authority over Satan. God’s plan was simple and complex at the same time. Satan could not figure it out. But you can understand it if you will go with me on this incredible journey into the word of God to understand the magnificent message of the believer’s authority. THE BEGINNING We will start our journey in the book of beginnings, the Old Testament book of Genesis. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) When was the beginning? The beginning does not refer to the beginning of God because He does not have a beginning. God has always existed and always will exist. It is hard for our human minds to imagine something that has no beginning or end. The beginning refers to when God created the Heavens and the Earth. So how long ago was that? If we use the recorded history of the Bible and other sources, we can calculate that Adam, the first created human being, began his existence approximately 6,000 years ago. But this verse does not mention creating Adam. It just talks about creating the Heavens and the Earth. This beginning could have been millions of years ago. Many scientists say the Earth is millions of years old. Maybe they are right. Their opinion does not contradict the Bible because the Bible does not say when God created the Heavens and the Earth. We find something very interesting, however, in the next verse. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2) In order to understand what is described here we will have to examine the original Hebrew text. Don’t be alarmed. I will not bore you with a Hebrew language lesson. If you stay with me for just a short time, you will understand an amazing event in the history of the world. The Hebrew word translated “was” as in “The earth was without form...” is from the Hebrew “hayah.” This is a verb which means “to become.” This Hebrew word is translated elsewhere in the Bible as “became, came and come to pass.” This makes a big difference. Saying “The earth was without form...” implies that God made it that way. Using a literal interpretation of the original Hebrew text, “The earth became without form...” makes it clear that the Earth as God originally created it was not without form and void. The words translated “without form” are from the Hebrew “tohuw” which means “waste, desolation or confusion.” This Hebrew word is translated elsewhere in the Bible as “waste, vain, confusion, empty, vanity, nothing and wilderness.” The word translated “void” is from the Hebrew “bohuw” which means “empty, ruin or void.” When we put these definitions together, the Scripture reads like this, “And the Earth became a desolate wasteland, empty, without form and covered with darkness.” Since the Earth became a desolate wasteland, something must have happened to cause it to change from its original condition to a desolate, ruined condition of confusion and darkness. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” God obviously did not create a confused Earth. Does it make sense for God to create a mess and then clean it up? For thus says the L Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who ORD, formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the L and ORD, there is no other. (Isaiah 45:18) Notice the Scripture above says God did not create the Earth “in vain.” The Hebrew word translated “vain” is “tohuw,” the same word translated “without form” in Genesis 1:2. God did not create the Earth “vain, without form or desolate.” He created the Earth to be inhabited, capable of sustaining life. The Earth was in no condition to be inhabited the way it was described in Genesis 1:2. Since God did not create it as a desolate wasteland, what happened to cause it to become that way? LUCIFER’S ORIGIN AND FALL The answer to the question is found by examining Lucifer’s relationship with God. Two passages of Old Testament Scriptures provide great insight into Lucifer’s original condition and his monumental mistake. To understand these passages you have to understand the Biblical interpretation principle called “the law of double reference.” This principle is demonstrated when a visible person is addressed while at the same time a spirit who controls that person is also addressed. A New Testament example of this principle is found when Jesus began to tell His disciples He had to go to Jerusalem. Jesus described the horrible things that would happen to Him there. He told how He would suffer at the hands of the religious leaders and be killed. Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked Him, saying that those things would not happen. This is how Jesus responded. But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:23) Jesus turned and spoke to “Peter.” But then He addressed “Satan.” Did Peter turn into Satan? No. Jesus looked at Peter, but He spoke to the spirit who