Living Under God’s Authority

“For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.” (John 12:49, NKJV)

The Lord Jesus Christ has lived and walked under His Father’s authority. He faithfully declared and represented God to the world. So what does this imply to us?

In our workplaces, we work and serve under human authorities. Our employers ensure that we comply and fulfill our job descriptions and appropriately represent the company. They provide proper orientation and give us mandatory training to know the mission, vision, goals, rules, policies, and procedures. List competencies that are needed to be maintained and updated. They perform annual evaluations to assess our performance. They give rewards for our achievements and repercussions for any non-compliance.

Being followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, do you know that we live and operate under His authority, which God gave? So, this means that we are accountable and responsible for faithfully representing Him to our family, friends, co-workers, community, city, state, country, and throughout the world. To accomplish this accordingly, we must start by having an intimate relationship with Jesus as our Savior and Lord. We must know and understand His words, commands, and purpose by reading His instruction manual – the Bible. It may seem like a challenging task to serve and represent God and Jesus. So, we ask for help through prayers and allow the Holy Spirit to train and guide us. We must remember that He sent the Holy Spirit to enable us to do God’s will, operate with His power and authority, and represent Him as His ambassadors.

Therefore, as we live, walk, and submit under the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us stand boldly and move forward with endurance through the hardships and circumstances in life. Furthermore, let us use our delegated authority “not to condemn” but to speak and share the hope of salvation – the Good News, so that others may also receive the reward – everlasting life! 

 – Contributed by Ptr. Neil Marlon Crisostomo