December 19: Jesus

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Throughout the Bible we learn that names were given as a way of representing all the inherent qualities of the person with whom the name was associated. This was certainly the case with Jesus, whose name means “The Lord Saves”.

Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus was given the name which is above every name. Jesus’ name carries absolute authority because of what He accomplished through His life, death and resurrection. And as followers of Christ, we come up under the covering and the authority of that name. It also means we can operate with this authority in a delegated way. How does that work? First, through belief in Who Jesus is.

“But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name–” John 1:12 AMPC

To believe in the name of Jesus means to acknowledge the truth of who He is and to willingly come up under, or “submit” to His authority. When we do that, as John 1:12 says, He grants us the power – the privilege – to become His children and to therefore carry His name. (Just like my kids carry our last name, Riddle.) But secondly, as we “become the children of God” carrying His name also grants us authority to operate under His delegated authority.

So what do we have authority to do?

The best example we have of what this looks like in action is through observing and learning how Jesus operated. He went about “doing good”. He represented the nature of the Father to mankind through His nature and how He interacted with people. Wherever He encountered evil, He overcame it with good. Wherever He saw the works of the evil one attempting to steal, kill or destroy, He overthrew that power by pulling into our natural world the ways of the Kingdom of Heaven. When He saw things distorted, or people not functioning according to their original intent and design because of sickness or disease, He healed, rebuked, or freed them so that they’d be restored. When there was lack, He provided. (I could go on and on.)

When we invoke the name of Jesus, we can go about “doing business” on His behalf, as He would. This is the reason why when we pray, we typically close our prayer by saying, “In Jesus’ name”. It’s one thing to have authority delegated to us. It’s another thing to believe we have it. It’s yet another thing altogether to act upon it.

Today, consider those areas in your life where you need to see the authority of Jesus bring breakthrough. How different would those situations look if we were to operate in a way that we weren’t waiting for something to happen, but instead operated as delegates of the kingdom? Delegates who have been granted the authority to access the power and provision of the Kingdom. We have His name. We are His children. Let us therefore operate in the authority He has given us.

“Now you understand that I have imparted to you all My authority to trample over his kingdom [of darkness]. You will trample upon every demon before you and overcome every power Satan possesses. Absolutely nothing will be able to harm you as you walk in this authority.” Luke 10:19 TPT