Genesis paints a beautiful picture of what authority in the realm of Heaven looks like. God uses his words to cut through darkness and chaos and bring light where there once was none. He speaks and all of the sudden creation is formed and obeys the word of God. Creation opens its eyes for the first time and the first thing it sees is God in all his splendor and magnificence. What beauty to behold. With his hands formed he mankind to express his very beauty, and to operate in this same dominion that he expressed.
Everything began with words. All of creation was set in affect by the words that came from God's mouth. Words are powerful. It is from the word that we are able to learn what the guidelines or parameters are that we should walk in in order to see more of the Holy Spirit manifest in our lives.
Let's commence this lesson with understanding what perimeters are. It stated by www.Freedictionary.com that perimeter means:
1. the border or outer boundary of
a two-dimensional figure.
2. the length of such a boundary.
3. a line marking a boundary.
4. the outermost limits.
When I told my wife that God had prescribed boundaries for us to live within, she loved it. She has a very healthy way of setting up boundaries in order to safeguard her heart, and she requires people to respect those boundaries. God has set up boundaries for us to remain in and operate in as well.
The first scripture I would like to point out comes from Romans 1:4, " and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord." The face value of this statement is straight forward. Holy Spirit testifies that Jesus is the son of God because he resurrected him from the dead. The interesting part of this statement, from which this lesson was derived, is the word translated as appointed, horisthentos. According to Strong's concordance, horisthentos means to mark off by boundaries, to determine, Usage: I separate, mark off by boundaries; I determine, appoint, designate.
I understand two additional things about this statement simply from that word. To mark off by denoting boundaries is exactly what Holy spirit does. He anoints us and makes us holy and set apart for a special purpose as we are taught in 1 John 2:20 and 1 John 2:27. Oil is a common representation of the Holy spirit and his anointing properties. For instance, in Leviticus 8:12 oil is poured over Aaron's head to anoint him, and to consecrate him.
In this same manner the Holy spirit of God is poured out on us, and overflows through us. "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." John 7:37-39; and again, we see in Joel 2:28 that from that same river or outpouring of the spirit, we receive dreams, visions, and prophetic words; "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions."
Every single word that God inspired his prophets to use was done so with a divine intention. Every word has a meaning that leads you into a deeper understanding of the true nature of the message that God is trying to convey to us. Therefore, the second thing that I gather from the word horisthentos is that there was a guideline, a boundary, a perimeter by which Jesus had to live in order for Holy Spirit to be able and willing to testify that this Jesus that was crucified is in-fact the son of God. One of the definitions of horisthentos is to be marked off by boundary.
In order for Jesus to be considered the messiah he had to meet all the requirements established by God through the prophets. Doctor Peter Stoner theorized that the likelihood of Jesus meeting all of the criteria to be messiah was 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000, or one in one hundred quadrillion. That is a very, very, very unlikely odd for anyone to win... ever. If you had odds like that at a casino there wouldn't be the gambling and addiction problem that we see so prevalent today. The odds God lined out for Jesus were so strict, so hard, that only he could do it. In doing so, Jesus set the mark for how we are supposed to live.
By living the lifestyle he lived of saying what he heard the father say, doing what he saw the father do he showed us the type of life that was acceptable and pleasing to God. These are the guidelines, or perimeters of the spirit that we are supposed to walk and operate in in order to be totally walking in the authority that Jesus ascertained through his work at the cross and his resurrection, and that he has now handed to us to operate in. If we follow the things that Jesus did in his time on the earth, then we will see more Kingdom Authority in our lives.
Here's what Holy Spirit showed me that taught me how to operate in greater authority. He showed me the first tabernacle that was built in the wilderness. The most sacred place that anyone could enter into in the Tabernacle was to enter into the Holy of Holies. In the place of the Holy of Holies is where the priests encountered the very spirit of God. This place was a representation of the Heart of the Father and the throne on which he sits. It represented closeness to God that could only be obtained through perfect performance of the rituals, and covering of the blood. Even then, if they made one mistake they would die. They could only enter in once a year, and only the High priest could enter. They would continue to do this until the time that Jesus came and made the ultimate sacrifice for us.
The tabernacle was set up in such a way that it was in order to show that sin prevented you from entering in to the heart of the Father. In order to enter the tent, you had to have a sacrifice. The entrance to the tabernacle was as far away from the Holy of Holies as you could be. Sin still has the same effect on men. While we have the blood and we can easily become clean simply by repenting thus allowing us to boldly enter the throne room of God, the authority that we walk in daily will be diminished due to the sin we allow to easily beset us. The more we sin on a regular basis that further we are from the heart of the father.
When something was considered to be unclean back in the The times of Jesus, it was not allowed to enter into the tabernacle, or among the people. It was taken outside of the camp and discarded. In the case of a human they were ostracized and made to live outside the camp/city. This showed that according to the law anything that was unclean wasn't fit to be around God's people, and thus couldn't come near to God's heart.
Today sin has the same effect on people. If there is a sin that you give in to daily, then your authority will be diminished greatly. "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you." -Isaiah 59:2. Besetting sin, or other sins that you commit will lead you further away from the heart of the Father. That means that your spiritual closeness with God will diminish.
You cannot ever be where God isn't because he is everywhere, but that's not what separation from God means. Separation from God means that you are far from his ways; far from his thoughts and understanding; far from pursing the lifestyle that God desires earnestly for us to have. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." Matthew 7:21-24.
Pursuing God's heart means that you are actively doing the things that God told us to do. And It means that you are actively not doing the things that he told us not to do. Jesus was the model of pursing God's heart. He showed us what a priest was supposed to act like, and look like. He had compassion on people. He did only what he saw God do, and spoke only what he heard him say. He healed the sick, he cast out demons, he raised the dead and according the bible he did so many things that the world couldn't hold all the books of all the miracles that he performed. Jesus has now made us priests, and now the way he lived is the diagram of the life we are expected to live.
" But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." -1 Peter 2:9.
But see, Jesus didn't stop at just he himself doing those things. He said that we would do those things and greater. Here's how. Authority works hand in hand with faith. "Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." But what does that mean?
Taking up your cross means that despite what you are feeling in your flesh, the fear, the anger, the temptations, you are to deny your flesh and 'crucify' it and its dead ways. Peter aptly describes this in 1 Peter 4:1-4, " Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you."
Jesus taught in the Lord's prayer, and even prayed in the garden, that we are to desire as he desired for the will of God to be done and not our wills. Our will includes the desire of the flesh.
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." -Romans 12:2.
When we fight out flesh, we are renewing our mind from the old dead sinful way and that is causing us to look more like Jesus. The more we spiritually look like Jesus, the more of his authority we walk in. We are called to conform to the image of Jesus in Romans 8. That means we are to take on his nature and likeness. Strong's Concordance describes this conforming as being conformed, by sharing the same inner essence-identity (form); showing similar behavior from having the same essential nature.
When we are conformed to the image of Christ, and we are walking out the will of God, then we will be able to walk in the greater authority of Christ; Then we will see more amazing manifestations of his spirit. The very reason that the Holy Spirit operates through us is to testify about Jesus. "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father--the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father--he will testify about me." -John 15:26. He enjoys testifying through you. Stop sinning so that God may soften your heart to a greater degree, and so that he may work through you and not just work around you. Get out of his way by living within the perimeter of holiness that God laid out for Jesus to follow, and Jesus laid out for us to follow.