God’s Kingdom Dominion Restoration – Pastor Chidiebere Nwokeocha

 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Genesis 1:27-28

God created man to have dominion.

Dominion

What is dominion?  The dictionary defines it as Supremacy, Authority, Power, Lordship, Sovereignty, Prominence.

God created man to have dominion, but the devil stole man’s mandate when he caused him to sin. But God did not abandon man. He immediately put in place His redemptive plan which is why He sent Jesus Christ. In the garden, God would come and go, so the devil deceived man when God was not around. So as part of His plan, He decided to never again leave man alone. He sent the Holy Spirit to live inside of us so when the devil, the thief, comes, the Holy Spirit raises a standard against him!

Jesus taught us to pray ‘Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven’ (Matthew 6:10) so that His heavenly prototype, encompassing His will, could be established here on earth, and it is His will that man has dominion! So here we are to establish God’s Kingdom again, we are to restore what has been lost to the enemy and if we are to do that, we have to begin to align our plans, our purposes to God’s plan for us.

 

Matthew 6:33 says “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” God is saying if you put Him first, if you understand who you are in Him, if you able to exercise your authority and have dominion, every other thing you are looking for will be given unto you! So our purpose here is to understand who we are, our assignment, and what is available to us.

Anyone who does not know who he is in the Lord will find himself to be the enemy’s plaything. Daniel prayed and God answered him immediately (Daniel 10:12-13), but the Prince of Persia held the answer! Some of us are in that situation and it takes understanding what God’s plan is and following it so that will be able to live in dominion.

A child of God walking in dominion can subdue his environment! In a market setting for example, when people talk about the woman who always sells more than everybody because she has a native doctor that prays for her and puts charms in the front of her shop, they are saying she has taken dominion over that environment. But any Christian in that environment should respond, “I am a child of God, I have rulership, I have authority! I therefore exercise authority over this environment and decree that anyone using the power of the kingdom of darkness will not operate because I am here!” You take authority!

In Genesis 3:15, God said, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Jesus Christ is the seed of the woman. So God was saying that even though Adam and Eve had fallen, a time would come when he would come as a human being and destroy the serpent’s illegal hold and restore dominion and authority to man. Jesus Christ did not just die so you and I can have salvation and go to heaven, he also died to restore dominion and authority here on earth!

The scripture said that the seed of the woman will bruise the head of the serpent. Head here refers to headship, rulership, authority. Jesus is the head of the church, Satan is the head of the kingdom of darkness. By saying the head of the serpent will be bruised, God was saying that someone will be born of a woman that would overcome the devil and reclaim authority and headship over the earth. From the time of that pronouncement, the devil tried everything possible to stop the seed of woman from being born. Each time a momentous child was to be born, he would make plans to kill him as he did Moses and Jesus. But he could not stop God’s plan because the work is already finished! We are in a battle where we have been told how the battle will end! We are fighting a battle that is already won! Many years ago, Pastor Eskor Mfon taught that in the event of a demonic attack where the demon is resisting prayers and everything else, open to the book Revelation and begin to read out loud. As you read, the demon will cry out and jump out, because you are reminding him his end. You are reminding him that no matter what he tries, his case is finished!

 

 

Power vs Authority

So Jesus Christ came and restored our power and authority. Power and authority are two different things. The devil still has power, but he does not have power over the believer because the believer has authority. Let’s use a football analogy. Players have power, but the referee has authority. If a referee gives a player a red card, regardless of whether the player is the best or the highest-paid in the world, or whether he knows the FIFA President, with all his power, with all his skills, with all his prowess and anything else that he has, he must leave the field! The enemy stole from man his power and authority and he still wants you to believe that he has power over you, but that is a lie!

”That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” Ephesians 1:17-23

I pray for you, that you may know Him. If you don’t understand what Christ has done, you will live a defeated life. You will come to church on Sunday, “lift up holy hands,” go back, and the enemy will continue to oppress you. Knowledge is key. It is important to seek God, and not just his signs and wonders. You cannot look for a man of God to lay hands on you, continue living in sin, have hands laid on you again, continue living in sin, and think you can walk in authority. You have to take responsibility for your actions, your life must change. If you lack understanding, the enemy will hold you captive.

God has put everything under the feet of Jesus and made Him head over all things in the church which is His body. He is far above all principalities and powers. All powers are under His feet. Jesus is seated above all principalities and powers is because he created them, they were made by him, they are subject to him. We all know it is better to join someone who has power and authority than someone who has power and no authority. Who will you rather pitch your tent with, Satan or Jesus Christ?

When a person accepts Jesus, they have transferred kingdom, just like when a woman marries, she leaves her father’s house, moves to her husband’s house, submits to him, and begins to exert her authority in her new home. We are the bride of Jesus Christ so, when you come to Jesus, you have to change your home and your name and as you align yourself under Him and His will, His authority becomes manifest in your own life. You cannot begin to use the authority if you do not submit to him. Try it and the devil will question you, he knows those who have the authority. The moment you submit and receive authority, there is a mark upon you “From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” (Galatians 6:17).

 

How To Exercise Authority

There are two important ways to exercise authority. First is to publicly confess Jesus Christ. Some people say they are born again but nobody knows they are born again, they are secret agents, and authority is never released to secret agents. Authority is to set captives free, to have dominion over the enemy, not just for your selfish end. You must confess the Lord Jesus Christ openly, publicly for you to exercise authority. Jesus did not die hidden in a room, He hung on a tree in a public square, openly for the whole world to see. That is why He said, if you want to declare for me, you must come publicly and declare for me, if not, when you come before my father, I will deny you.

“But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 10:33

Your life is the sermon people are waiting to read. When you declare Him publicly, authority will be released unto you, so that when you come before His father to make a request, He will say, “Yes! I know him, request granted!” Confessing Jesus publicly is like a married person getting married in the presence of witnesses, or wearing a wedding ring. Because a covenant is taking place, weddings are done openly. We are the bride of Christ, we have to declare for Him publicly.

The next thing we need to do is to know the power that is in the blood of Jesus. The blood is powerful, potent. The Bible says the life of a thing is in the blood and that Christ came and shed His own blood. The devil cannot stand the blood because it wipes out every ordinance written against us.

“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:14)

 

So, to exercise authority, declare publicly for Jesus, live your life as his ambassador, understand the power in the blood of Jesus and use it. Exercising your authority comes from a place of understanding of what God has done for us through Christ.