Kingdom Authority

For the past two years, God has walked with me on a journey to find the path of the Father’s perfect will. Looking back on the messages He had me write, I can see a progression of His thoughts and desires for me. From the very first post, “A 24 Hour Way,” God has been guiding me and showing me how to follow the Father’s will more perfectly. He has taken me through stages of learning to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit more clearly, to consecrate myself to Him and be refined by Him in holiness and righteousness, to learn to love God completely and to learn to love others more fully, to understand the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as One God, to understand His heart and desire for a unified Body of Christ, to walk as a priest unto God serving Him as a son rather than a mere slave, to be filled with the Holy Spirit being freed and delivered from all unrighteousness, to grow to know God in His fullness rather than only believing in Him, to walk in obedience to the Word of God and the perfect will of the Father, and to understand and rest in His perfect love. He has brought me to a place of understanding His authority as a natural progression of moving into another realm of His power and anointing.

To understand the authority of God, we must humbly allow Him to reveal Himself to us in His way and not our own. We experience our own limitations when we try to understand the omnipotence and supreme authority of God. In His infinite wisdom He created us, male and female, and in so doing, He gave us different ways of perceiving the reality of God’s authority. Ephesians 5:22-33 outlines the roles and responsibilities within marriage as it relates to the authority of Christ in regard to the Church. This structure of authority is not meant to give cause for one to lord over another, but instead, it is meant to show order and purpose in God’s creation. If we can understand how God’s authority is delegated in His kingdom, we can find our place in Him and begin to walk in the authority He has given to each of us. We are not all given the same amount of authority, so it is important to understand how we are assigned positions within His kingdom. As it says in 1 Corinthians 12:18, “But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design.” When we understand our position, we can begin to learn what it means to walk in the perfect will of the Father.

I recently posted an article titled “Sir, Yes, Sir!” which came from one of the chapters in my book “Prodigal to Prince.” It is about understanding authority as it applies to the Church through the eyes of a Navy SEAL. As sons and daughters of God, we are part of His kingdom. His kingdom is not of this earth, but it operates largely in the same way as most monarchies. Jesus is the King and has been given all authority by the Father over everything in heaven and on the earth. The Father has given Jesus all authority because He trusts Him to do His perfect will. When Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:10, “The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own, but the Father, as He remains in Me, does His works.” He said that He and the Father are One. If you read the message I posted recently titled “God: The Tree of Life,“ you will hopefully understand that the Father is the ultimate authority, and His will is the driving force behind everything that the Son does. The Son of God, Jesus, is the King, and everything He says becomes law because He is the Word of God. He is the head of the Body of Christ also known as the Church.

Ephesians 5:22-33 explains that husbands are in the same way, the head of the wife. “Wives, subject yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.” Husbands have a significantly more difficult role if they walk in their position as Christ does. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are parts of His body.” This has been a touchy subject in the Body of Christ in recent years because many have lost their understanding of God’s authority structure in His kingdom thanks to Satan’s attempt to remove men from their positions of authority in the earth.

Have you ever wondered why Paul focused on husbands “loving” their wives and wives being “subject” to their husbands? Did you ever notice right before Paul tells husband and wives how they should act towards each other, he says in Ephesians 5:21, “subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.” He is speaking to every believer in the Body of Christ when he tells us to subject ourselves one to another. No one is too high or too low to fall under this subjection. From the highest levels of authority to the lowliest of followers, we are to be accountable to each other because our individual actions affect each and every single one of us as a part of the Body of Christ. Knowing that men and women perceive authority differently, Paul felt a need to follow up on that verse by explaining to husbands and wives what their roles would be as they subject themselves one to another.

There is a certain understanding most men have when it comes to submission that women do not easily understand. It is hardwired into our DNA that the strong rule over the weak. 1 Peter 3:7 says, “You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.” There is a type of male commonly referred to as an “Alpha male” who becomes a leader simply by being himself. “Beta males” will typically follow an Alpha male without ever challenging them because Beta males are not natural born leaders. Some Beta males might not like their position and will try to challenge the Alpha male, but their efforts are usually unprofitable. If a Beta male can find a place of leadership many times that leadership will be weak or ineffective. This is not a study on biology, but if we can understand the very simple nature that God placed into the male part of our species, we can see how males might more easily understand how to submit to someone because of their innate desire to exist within the confines of authority and rank. Paul speaks to husbands using terms like “love” because he is instructing them on how to be subjected “to one another in the fear of Christ” in terms that they are not as familiar with when it comes to relationships.

Paul focuses more on the “subjection” of wives to their husbands because women tend to understand the nurturing nature of love better than men. Why would he not tell wives to love their husband as well? Is that not important? It is for the same reason he does not reiterate the command “subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ” when speaking to the husband. They already understand that dynamic simply because they are men. Women do not need to be told to love their husband again because they innately understand relationships in that way. This does not remove the responsibility from wives to love their husbands nor does it remove the responsibility of husbands to subject themselves to their wives in the fear of Christ. We are to love each other and be accountable to each other as if to Christ because we are of the same body. There is a place of authority that ultimately sits on the head of the husband in the same way as Christ holds the place of supreme authority over the Church even as He loves us and makes Himself accountable to us. Yes, Jesus is accountable to the body as our head in that He cannot lie and must keep His promises to us. God says in Malachi 3:10, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the LORD of armies, “if I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” He asks us to hold Him accountable to His word because He is the head of the body. The head answers to the rest of the body as the body answers to the head, so we are subject one to another in the fear of Christ.

We can take a deeper look into God’s authority structure as it pertains to men and women if we look at 1 Corinthians 11. It speaks about honor and covering as it pertains to the authority of Christ and man. It says in verse 4, “Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head.” The reason man disgraces his head when “something” is on it is because he should have nothing between him and Christ. His covering is Christ meaning his protection is in the authority of Christ alone. The “something” is symbolic for anything he might put his trust in before Christ. In so doing, he dishonors Christ and disgraces himself. Unpacking the entirety of the lessons of head coverings for men and women would take a lot of time and require some education on the culture at the time of Paul’s letters. The point I want to make is that Paul says in verse 2, “Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.” Christ is the head of “every” man, but according to this scripture, man is only the head of “a” woman when there is a question of authority as it relates to a specific man and woman as in marriage or when a question of leadership arises within a community of believers. As a man, I am not the head of every woman. I am only the head of the woman God places under my authority.

The covering of the head is symbolic as it says in verse 10, “Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels.” When Paul says, “because of the angels,” I believe he is referring to Genesis 6:1-2 where it says, “Now it came about, when mankind began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.” The “sons of God” are the angels that Paul is most likely referencing. Paul is saying that women should be symbolically wearing the authority of man on their head, so the angels will not be able to look upon them and desire them like they did in Genesis.

If the angels were able to take the women who were born of man before, why would they not be able to do the same thing again? Paul is addressing believers who are themselves sons of God having been grafted into the family of God under His new covenant. When Jesus came down to the earth it says in Hebrews 2:9-11, “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of His suffering death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for this reason, He is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.” The Old Testament men were lower than the angels like Jesus, and the authority they had was not great enough to stop the angels from taking their women. After Christ died and was resurrected, those men who believed in Him became sons of God. Their authority was now greater than the angels because they had both become sons of God, and they had also become heirs of God and coheirs with Christ. Romans 8:16-17 says, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” As heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, they were now elevated in authority past the angels. They had become eternal beings having been born again in the Spirit of Christ. The symbolic covering on a woman’s head is the authority of man, those men who are eternal sons of God and are now higher than the angels.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:11 that man and woman are not independent of each other in the Lord, and Galatians 3:26-28 says, “For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” This is not in reference to authority though as some might think. This truth is evidenced by the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son, is our coheir, but He is also the head of the Body. We are equal in Christ as heirs of God, but His kingdom is structured under His authority and is represented as an absolute monarchy. Paul is clear, “Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.” That means the Father’s will is supreme, the Son always does the will of the Father, man always does the will of the Son because He always does the will of the Father, and a woman under the authority of a man should always do the man’s will because he is always doing the will of the Son who always does the will of the Father. That is why Paul says in Ephesians 5:24, “But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.” The husband should be doing the will of the Father through the Son. Keep in mind, this is His perfect plan when everyone is doing what they are instructed and acting in perfect unity and obedience to the Word of God. That is all we are focusing on right now. The Father’s perfect plan for the authority structure in His kingdom.

Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 11 with instruction on how to partake of the Lord’s Supper correctly because as the head of the Body of Christ, we honor Him by remembering Him and His sacrifice. We honor Him as King when we remember His death and new covenant while recognizing our dependency on His forgiveness and grace. We come to Him after examining ourselves to ensure we are aligned with Him under His authority and recognize that if we need to be judged by Him, His authority disciplines us so we might not be condemned along with the world. In this way, we partake in His suffering while honoring and giving glory to Jesus Christ, the head of the body.

Now that we have addressed the structure of authority as it relates to God, Christ, man, and woman, and how equality is represented in our heirship with Christ and not in our authority, we should take a look at the reason we are able to be elevated into the position of sons and daughters of God. This understanding will allow us to have our faith increased which in turn will allow us to walk in the authority that He has given us as heirs of God. When Paul explains the relationship between a husband and wife in Ephesians 5:31-32, he says, “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” This oneness between a husband and wife is important to understand because we, as the Church, are also one with the Spirit of Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” As the Son is one with the Father and the Father is one with the Son, so are we one with the Spirit of Christ and He is one with us. In this way, we are one with God, and the words that we speak should only be His words and the works we do should only be His works. Just as Christ walked the earth, so should we walk. We can walk in the perfect will of the Father because we are one with the Spirit of Christ. This is from where our authority comes.

All authority has been given to Jesus Christ by the Father, and the Father’s will reigns supreme. The structure of authority in the kingdom of God has been under attack from the enemies of God for quite some time. The enemy knows how difficult it would be to unseat Christ as the head of the Church, but he has seen an opportunity to attack the substructure of God’s authority through the structure of the family and man’s position of authority in it. He has spent a significant amount of time since the 1970’s attacking masculinity as a whole while attempting to elevate women into seats of power. He has even tried to label man’s God given authority as “toxic masculinity” in an attempt to destroy the order of power and authority in the kingdom of God. There is nothing “toxic” about a man who loves God and who loves others as himself. The problem is that all men are being categorized together whether they are followers of Christ or not, and I am not speaking of those who are “so-called” believers as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:11. I am speaking of men who live according to the love that is described in 1 Corinthians 13. I believe that the Holy Spirit will soon straighten out the misunderstandings and deceptions that the Church has fallen into in regard to the authority structure in the Body of Christ. God created male and female, and Christ laid the foundations for His Church. It will be the Spirit of Truth who comes to restore the balance of power within the Church once and for all.

You can read more about this and other truths by obtaining a copy of “Prodigal to Prince” by Beau Walsh at BarnesandNoble.com or Amazon.com.