Sam Soleyn - Spiritual Authority and The Plan of God

We are talking about spiritual authority, and we’ve examined the context of spiritual authority. We’ve seen that, unlike the normal way of looking at spiritual authority, which is to think about who gets to rule over whom, spiritual authority is necessary because we have a war going on. There is a war between the Kingdom of God and the forces of evil. There is a war between the children of God and the enemy of God and of man, namely the devil. We have also seen that the enemy is vastly superior in terms of the advantage he enjoys, based upon the fact that God created him as a spiritual being with the capability of invisibility and of studying and observing human beings for many centuries, indeed many millennia. That being so, the human being is really outmatched and outclassed, as it were, by the enemy.

Further, we’ve talked about how the point of spiritual warfare is not simply about us surviving an attack by the enemy, or alternatively, us going to do something that God’s called us to do and the enemy being somehow thrown off balance while we do it. It’s much more central than that. It has to do with the fact that we are the children of God, we are the ones God chose, and the fact that we were chosen over what the enemy thought was the obvious choice, namely himself, is the reason that he hates us so and has objected to God’s choice and intends to prove, ultimately, that God’s choice was wrong. God, on the other hand, chose us because we are the ultimate expression of the love of God, and that is in the fact that He chose us, made us to be the way we are so He can show how much He is capable of loving, in that He loves us. And more than that, the fact that He made us this way and that we are the right choice, it will be proven in the end when we, in turn, love Him. It’s that He loves us… we love Him.

Now what I want to do is to take some time now at the outset of this third program in the series and show all of this to you in Scripture. I’d like for us to look at the book of Hebrews, the first chapter. Now, in Hebrews 1, the following is said… and this concept, of course, is laid out in Scripture… here it says, in the book of Hebrews 1, and I’ll start from verse 4, it says, “So he (that is, Jesus) became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’? Or again, ‘I will be his Father, and he will be my Son’? And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’ In speaking of the angels he says, ‘He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.’ But about the Son he says, ‘Your throne, o God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.’”(Inserted – Hebrews 1: 4-9)

Let’s pause there for a moment… let’s begin with this analysis: To which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my son this day have I begotten you?” or, “I will be your Father and you will be my Son?” Now you’ll recall from the book of Job, the Scriptures say that there was a time when the sons of God came before God, and Satan was with them. (Inserted – “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.” – Job 1:6) So, a person might well say, “What do you mean when you say that the angels are never called the sons of God?” Well, it is true that the angels are the children of God in this sense: He is the Creator of all things. So because you are the Creator everything that you create owes its origin to you. But He’s not the Father of the angels beyond the sense of creation.

Here is what it actually means. The word is “begotten”… this day have I begotten you. The term begotten is found in Hebrews, chapter 2, verse 11. Now in Hebrews 2:11, this is what it says, “Both the one who makes men holy (who is God) and those who are made holy (being us) are of the same family.” So the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who makes men holy, and ourselves are of the same family and that is why Jesus is not ashamed to call us “brothers”. The word brother means to be of the same womb, in other words, to be begotten. That’s why, when Scripture refers to Jesus it says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son…” (Inserted – John 3:16a) That means that He is, so to speak, from the womb of God… that is, He was not merely an object of creation… that is, Jesus was not someone who just came into the world through the Virgin Birth, but He came into the world as a deliberate gift from God and God chose to identify with the physical coming into the world of Jesus.

Now we understand that before He was born into the world that He has always been. He was known as, and is known as, “the wisdom of God” and is God… so says John in chapter 1 and verse 1 in the Gospel of John, where it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” So Jesus is not the person of God who appears to us in the form of the Lord Jesus Christ, He is also God, He is very God. But when the Word becomes flesh He is described as the only begotten Son. Well, in that sense, He comes not as someone created to do something, by which term He would be a Son of God, like the angels would be, by virtue of creation. He comes, quite literally, issued from the womb of God.

We who are the sons of God are born again of the Spirit as Jesus, Himself, is conceived of the Spirit and issued into the world. No angel could claim that. Now what is the purpose of this kind of unique coming into the world… or unique rebirth? The answer is: to be an heir of God. So when the term “sonship” is used to describe Jesus, Himself, and ourselves who are born again as the children of God, as opposed to the angels when he says, “To which of the angels did he at any time say, ‘Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?’” (Inserted-actual verse- “For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father?’” – Hebrews 1:5)

The express intent of the Scriptures, then, is to show a relationship in which we are the children of God, different from creation and that essential difference is found in the fact that we are the heirs of God. No angel was ever meant to be His heir, to be an inheritor of His nature, to be an inheritor of all that the Father has and is, which He means to give to his children. So in that sense, you see, none of the angels qualifies and it was this very question, of being the heirs of God, that disqualified the angels simply because God did not create the angels to be the inheritors of God’s grace and the inheritors of who God is… His nature, His character and His person. This was not something that God ever intended for the angels… He intended it for this unique creature, called man.

Now, it goes on in the reading that we’ve already done, that God says, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son.” (Inserted – Hebrews 1:5b) Again, never to an angel has that been said. Furthermore, it says, “Let God’s angels worship him” (Inserted – “And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’” – Hebrews 1:6) speaking specifically of the Lord Jesus Christ, it was the express intent of God that the angels worship Him, but also to worship Him when he came in the form of a man. And you have to understand that this was a very, very difficult thing for the angels to conceive that even if God came in the form of a man, the form of man being such a debased form, would raise serious questions in their minds about the worship of God in that form.

But it goes on and it says, “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,” (before that it speaks of how God exalted the Lord Jesus Christ above His companions… a reference, again, to the exalted state of the Lord Jesus Christ and ourselves, in Him) “…and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.’ To which of the angels did God ever say, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’?” (here it gets to the point) “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Inserted – Hebrews 1:10-14) So the angels were always meant to serve us. The angels who revolted against God refused to be identified as the servants of those who would inherit salvation.

Now he goes on to say, “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified: ‘What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet.’ In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” (Inserted – Hebrews 2:1-9)

Fabulous passage of Scripture because what it is saying is that it was the intent of God to take such lowly creation to do whatever He would do, and that’s part of the essence of what I wish to speak about, and to make these whom He has taken, do what He would do with them to make them into the very image and likeness of God, Himself. He made us with that intent, that we would be conformed to His image and conformed to His likeness. Now, in the heart of this matter of spiritual authority then, is God’s purpose to redeem us and to make us to be like Himself and opposed to that is the one who has always opposed us because his interest is in proving that God was wrong. We are meant, in this respect then, to judge angels. The angels whom we will judge are the angels who have sinned. The outcome of this is not an insignificant matter at all. On the one hand, those who said God was wrong, opposed God and continued to oppose God will be proven to be wrong and God, who made this choice of humans as His heirs, will be proven to be right. Now, in the essence of this God has to work and the enemy has certain advantages, that is, God has to work in the human being to transform him into the image and likeness of God, Himself, and the enemy has certain advantages, which advantages have to do with the weakness and the vulnerability of the human being.

So how does God work to produce this result and what are the advantages that the enemy has by which he might overcome us and frustrate this purpose of God? Let’s begin with the second of the two: what advantages does the enemy have? The enemy has this advantage: We began to discuss and develop this thought earlier on so I’ll bring you back to it now; the human being has a soul. The soul of the human being is inclined to protect itself and the soul of the human being is not always interested in following God or in following anybody, and the enemy has, in this, a certain great advantage. He has crafted an entire way of life and being that is meant to take advantage of the human soul’s desire and interest in operating by his own power, by his own ability, and for his own glory as opposed to by the power of God, by the presence of God, by the Spirit of God and, therefore, to the glory of God. Well if this is the craft, if the enemy has established a baseline of his operation to take advantage of the human soul how does God respond to this particular thing? The answer will surprise you, it will utterly surprise you.

Now, let’s first look at how God intends to present Himself and to overcome the enemy. Going back, now, to the Scripture we read earlier on from the book of Ephesians, the 3^rd chapter, it says that God had a plan, by which He intended to prove His love and to accomplish His purpose of having heirs. He hid that plan in Himself for long ages past and then in the fullness of time, through the Lord Jesus Christ, He unveiled the plan… He caught the enemy in the trap and defeated him. (Inserted – actual verses—“This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Ephesians 3:6-11)

Now what we’ve said is that the enemy continues to fight this fight on the basis of the human vulnerability, that is that the human has a soul and the human soul wants what it wants and is not always subject to God, or at least it doesn’t want to be. That’s the gap, that’s the point that the enemy has. We’ll discuss all of this fully but I’m introducing these points now so that you can know where we’re going. At this juncture, as we’ve said, let’s focus on what was the plan that God unveiled through Jesus Christ. It was an unthinkable plan. From the enemy’s standpoint, it was a plan he could never see coming. The enemy would assume that God, if He made the human, and He made him to be this inferior creation, that somehow He would hedge him around and protect him, limit access to him, and so on, but if God were to do that then the human being really doesn’t have choice… he does not have the ability to actually choose… so, he couldn’t be a son of God because if you won’t choose to love God then how are you to be perfected? And unless you are prepared and made to be a son of God, just like the angels were made to serve, how is this all going to work?

Well, what God had in mind was this… and the enemy never saw it coming… what God had in mind was that God would come in the form of the creature, Himself. What an incredible move… this is not a move that you could see coming at all. God would come in the form of the creature… that the living God would debase Himself to be found in time and space in a human form, stripped of all of the powers of his deity and His capabilities as God. Ah… but the enemy has already set a trap for all humans. If a human comes into time and space he has a soul, he has a spirit, he has a body and the enemy has set this trap by which the human soul is meant to be fully entrapped. Now we will look at what this trap is and you can appreciate, in a sense, the mad genius. God comes right, as it were, into the trap. Now, it is amazing enough that God would show up on the planet as a human being and then to subject Himself to the entrapment… that’s off the charts. But that’s exactly what God did, and the enemy never saw it coming because, you see, the enemy would never think of sending his son into the world as a human being, if the enemy had a son, and indeed if he were to consent to it, his coming would be with an array of heavenly personages to make sure that his earthly abode and his time on the earth was going to be, largely, just an extension of his time in heaven. Amazing, isn’t it?

But God hid His son by taking full advantage of the enemy’s blindness. What do I mean by that? Well, I’ll give you an example: if Satan, being full of pride and all that he is in that respect, if he were to have a son who were to come into the world, where would this son be born? Where would you suppose? Well for one thing, the very best hospital imaginable, surrounded by an army to prevent him from being abducted or harmed or injured in any way. Access to his birthing facilities would be strictly controlled, only the most trusted aides permitted and so on. He would have the best human doctors… all of that. How does God bring his son into the world? Was He born in the best hospital with the best medical care? No, He was born in a manger… in a meal trough, in a stable among the animals. And were there rings of angels to protect Him from any possibility of harm? No, not that either. Some angels announced His birth, but they weren’t present to protect Him and all of that. And who attended Him? Not even a midwife. Why does God do this? Simple… it would never have occurred to Satan to look for the Son of God in such humble circumstances. God, knowing how the enemy is, and knowing what his weaknesses are, simply presents the truth in a way that the enemy could never see coming.

Well the plan of God for the process of redeeming man out of this fallen estate, out of this very weak and very unsuitable state… the plan of God was simply this: that God, Himself, would come in the form of a human being and He would make Himself subject to every trap that Satan had already set, by which to keep the human in this condition of sin and alienation from God, of rejecting God, and so on. God would be born in a form that makes Him subject to all of that. He would live in that form for thirty-three and a half years and never once would He give into Satan and in this respect, He would be born the weaker… born in an inferior condition and yet would demonstrate the strength of God’s character by allowing God to live in him and allowing God to live through Him. And that would defeat the devil in this respect, that never once would He, in any way, give in to whatever the enemy had set as an entrapment for Him while He was in that condition. So He died and presented Himself to the spirits of Death and Hell and they could not hold Him and He rose again from the dead on the third day, and forty days later He ascended in triumphant victory to Heaven… utterly defeating the enemy by coming into the world and avoiding all of his entrapments, not by staying away from them but by going right through them. And then He takes us through them with Him and delivers us into the presence of God in His person, in the body of Christ.

Now in the ensuing broadcasts we will pursue this plan of God with greater depth and we’ll also pursue the plan of Satan, to take advantage of the human soul, in greater depth and so I believe that the rest of these messages will be very, very exciting to hear… very informative in terms of deep understanding of the things of God. So I hope that you will join us as we come to that time of those further discussions. This could easily be one of the most significant sets of messages that you’ve ever heard. Spiritual authority runs through the core of Scripture and the understanding of the context is just the beginning of understanding the whole subject of spiritual authority. I’m Sam Soleyn; the next time we will continue our discussion. God bless you.