Authority of Jesus

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Tonight we're going to look at the authority of Christ and Keaton's devotional tonight he goes over the crowd be an astonished that Jesus spoke with such authority

Tonight I want to focus in on Jesus authority keaton is going to talk about the text and about his word but I want to hone in on the authority of Christ

So tonight we're going to look at God's authority jesus authority and our response to his authority

Mark 5:1–20 ESV

1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. 14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

What we see in this passage is Jesus exercising his authority jesus exercises his authority over the demons and he frees this man

And in our lives jesus can also exercise authority

For this man he was bound by chains by his community they would try to throw chains and chains and shackles and restrictions on him but they would never hold

And when I look at our lives I believe that many of us in this room try to use legalism and chains to control our sin to control ourselves but we always break out we always break free

Because the reality is you and I don't have the authority to set ourselves free Christ has the authority to set ourselves free

Oftentimes we try to act like we're Christian because we grew up in church or because our pastor says we should and we do certain behaviors and act a certain way because we think these chains are the legalism will save us

But just like the man in this story the chains of legalism the chains of us trying harder and harder to be better aren't enough

We need Christ to free us from our sin he needs to kill our sin

And another thing I want to realize is that we can fully understand the authority of Christ we can fully know who Jesus is we can know the Bible cover to cover and believe Jesus is God

But if you and I don't have a relationship with Christ it doesn't mean anything

James 2:19 ESV

19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

So my question is tonight not only do we recognize Christ's authority

Because the demons in Mark chapter five recognized Christ's authority

They even believed That Jesus is God