For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)
Fear and a sense of powerlessness are two lie-based strongholds that plague many people. The fear-power salvation paradigm is one with which many people can identify, especially Muslims.
People who live in cultures which practice animism and other forms of spirit worship need to know that followers of Jesus receive authority from Christ and power from the Holy Spirit to overcome the fear associated with being powerless against evil spirits.
Witch doctors and other shamans try to hold people in bondage through the fear of spiritual reprisal should anyone break from the established or traditional order of things to follow Jesus. Jesus sets us free.
Those who experienced sexual and other forms of abuse during early childhood may still be haunted by a nagging sense of powerlessness when around their former tormentors or if they are put into a situation that reminds them of the abuse. Even though they now may be quite capable of defending themselves, they may “feel” quite inadequate still because of the embedded lie that they cannot. Jesus can liberate us from this type of bondage!
Before Jesus defeated Satan’s power through His death and resurrection, we all lived under his evil tyranny.
Satan gained authority over humans by duping Adam into sinning and transferring his God-given authority to him. Although God is the Sovereign over all creation, Satan gained a temporary and limited authority to wreak havoc upon mankind until the coming of the Messiah.
His kingdom of darkness cast its dreary shadow over the entire world. Only Israel, God’s chosen nation, offered any glimmer of hope, as they clung to God’s promise of a coming Messiah who would defeat this oppressor.
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Genesis 3:15 (NIV)
When Jesus walked this earth in public ministry, he used his innate authority over the enemy as God’s only begotten Son to liberate oppressed people.
Jesus lived in obedience to his Father and did what He told Him to do. He never swerved from obedience and never relinquished his status as God’s Son, unlike Adam.
And no doubt you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:38 (NLT)
The power that enforced the authority of Jesus’ words came directly from God’s Holy Spirit.
God’s plan was to equip Jesus’ disciples with the same authority and Spirit of God so that they might be proper ambassadors for God’s Kingdom, too.
The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." 18 And He said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 "Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Luke 10:17-19 (NASB)
This power and authority was shared with His disciples who ministered in His name while Jesus remained physically here on earth. The real victory was won, however, when Jesus died on the cross and subsequently rose again.
At Calvary, Satan was stripped of his authority that he had usurped from Adam. All authority in heaven and earth was vested in the Son of God who became the Second Adam, the progenitor of a new creation, via His resurrection.
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:15 (NIV) And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Matthew 28:18 (NASB)
When a person is born again into the family of God, he or she receives a permanent transfer from the realm of Satan into Christ’s benevolent Kingdom.
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14 (NASB)
To be delivered from fear and powerlessness, the first thing a person must know, believe, and confess is that Jesus has released us from the kingdom and power of Satan.
The devil has no “right” or authority to rule our lives any longer. Satan, however, is a liar and an accomplished bluffer. He will do everything he can to convince us that we are not free at all. This is why we must “stand” on God’s truth, regardless of how we feel about it or what we may experience. Jesus is Lord over Satan and all demonic forces, and we are under his protection.
In addition, all believers receive the indwelling Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of “power, love, and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7) Jesus also wants every follower of His to receive what He calls the “baptism in the Holy Spirit.”
This is another experience with God’s Spirit by which we become “immersed,” so to speak, in the Spirit of God. It can be compared to standing under a waterfall, which would effectively submerge us under the “outpouring.” God wants us to operate in the same anointing that Jesus had when he walked this earth.
We, too, are to become liberators of those who are oppressed by Satan.
This is a great privilege and an opportunity to reverse things against our former tormentor by devastating his kingdom of darkness through the preaching of the gospel, using the authority of Christ, and operating in the gifts of the Spirit.
But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8 (NLT)
When we are filled with God’s Spirit, we have the authority of Christ which overcomes the power of the enemy and the power of the Holy Spirit within us to enforce Christ’s authority.
We thus become dynamic liberators in Christ’s name. This power, however, resides in imperfect “vessels.” God, in His wisdom, chooses to let His power be perfected in our weakness.
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NASB)
Christians live in the tension of power combined with weakness so that we might learn to always rely on Christ and never on ourselves.
This is very perplexing to some who find it to be difficult to accept by faith that they have authority and power in Christ despite their human weakness. Instead of focusing on Christ’s power and authority, they only see their own weakness. This is made worse in some cases by past experiences of powerlessness when God seemed to be nowhere around. For these people, believing that God has delivered them from powerlessness seems like just so many empty words. What can help these people experience Christ’s victory?
I believe the key is for us to trust in the loving sovereignty of God. Romans 8:28 tells us that God is working all things together for good in our lives. This means that even the things that seem to be “bad” are being turned around to work “good” for us. When Jesus was crucified, it seemed as if the kingdom of darkness had won the day. Nevertheless, God sovereignly ruled over everything, even at the cross, so that Christ’s apparent defeat in death resulted in a resounding triumph via the resurrection.
To experience Christ’s victory, we must make the decision to view life through the lens of Romans 8:28.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 (NASB)
If we choose to trust and even praise God during our most difficult and confusing times, we become overcomers. Praising and acknowledging God during difficulties and perplexities takes faith and elevates us above our current situation so that we can see things more clearly from God’s perspective.
If we experienced something awful in our past or even now in our present, it is vital that we take that part of our personal history and acknowledge that God is sovereign over it and is in the process of making it work out for our good and His glory. As Joseph did so long ago, we can proclaim with assurance, that although what was done to us may have been meant for evil, God will make it result in our salvation.
You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. Genesis 50:20 (NLT)
When we gain the confidence that God is our Keeper and nothing can slip by Him, we have a secret to overcoming fear and any sense of hopelessness or powerlessness.
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Questions for Further Study and Discussion
- Besides having a sense of powerlessness, what are some other reasons people suffer from chronic fear?
- What have you discovered is essential to experiencing deliverance from fear?
- Have you ever used Romans 8:28 as a basis for acknowledging and praising God amid even the worst things that have befallen you, knowing that he is working everything out for our good somehow? What was the result?
