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Discipleship Focus: Authority
- Authority: Our calling. This comes from God as king. Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.
It is
comforting to have a familiar passage like Isaiah 9 before us on such a
memorable day as today. The people who
dwell in great darkness have seen a great light. For unto us a child is born. The government shall be upon His
shoulder. Counselor. Wonderful.
Everlasting. Prince of
Peace. He will sit upon the throne of
David. These are all descriptions of
authority and the characteristics that good authority brings.
If we
look at the opening section of Isaiah 9 we do really get a sense of the
authority that is given to Christ. He is
the Messiah. He is the one to rule. He is the one God sent to us so that in the
midst of this world of sin we might know what it is like to dwell with
God.
He has
the authority in this life to take what the world gives to us and to turn it
into something else.
However,
we must also look at the rest of the chapter.
Yes, God’s Messiah is the Prince of Peace and a Wonderful
Counselor. But that is the perspective
of those who listen to Christ and follow God’s Word. If we find ourselves disobeying God and
contrary to His holy will, we will find ourselves in judgment. God has shown time and time again that those
people who ignore the warning that He sends will be cast into bondage as they
get the consequences of the choices that they make. If we do not turn to Him and ignore him
instead, we will get what we deserve.
That is
the dichotomy of Law and Gospel. The authority
of the Gospel is that He loves us and desires to forgive us. He is the wonderful counselor who is the Prince
of Peace. But we don’t have to accept
Him. We can choose to turn our backs on
Him. We can go our own way and violate
His ways. Then we will feel the
authority of the Law as we face our consequences.
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