What manner of man is Jesus? Jesus is precisely the
kind of man God expects all believers to be.
Jesus was a man under God’s authority. This placed
him: “far above all principality and power and might and
dominion.” (Ephesians 1:21-23). He exercised complete
authority in all areas of life. He healed the sick and
cleansed the lepers, exercising authority over sickness.
He stilled the storm and walked on water, exercising
authority over nature.
He cast out demons, exercising authority over the forces
of darkness. He forgave sins, exercising authority over
sin. He raised the dead and awarded eternal life,
exercising authority over life and death. He even
surrendered his own life and took it up again. He was
killed and nailed to the cross, but the third day he
resurrected bodily, never to die again.
Jesus cursed a fig tree and it dried up from the roots. He
multiplied loaves, feeding 5,000 men with only five
loaves of bread. He caused fishermen to catch more fish
than they could handle. He miraculously provided
money from the mouth of a fish.
Believers’ authority
Jesus is the King of kings. (Revelation 17:14). Believers
are the kings over whom, and with whom, he reigns.
When we follow him whole-heartedly, we become kings
and priests to God. (Revelation 1:6).
Moreover, Jesus is “the way, the truth and the
life.” (John 14:6). In him lies the pathway to the
dominion God always intended for us. In Jesus, we see
our destiny realized. Through his redemptive work,
Jesus fulfilled the hope of humanity by “bringing many
sons to glory.” (Hebrews 2:10). He blazed the trail for all
believers to follow.
By his incarnation as a mortal man, Jesus brought the
mighty powers of the kingdom of God into the realm of
men. When the people saw this: “they marvelled and
glorified God who had given such power to
men.” (Matthew 9:.
Indeed, the same power and authority manifest in Jesus
is now available to believers. Jesus says: “Truly, truly, I
say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the
works that I do; and greater works than these will he do,
because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12).
Jesus gives the children of men the power to become
children of God. He gives this to all who receive him and
believe in his name. (John 1:12). Jesus then, is the
representative prototype of God’s new creation; making
him “the first-born among many brothers.” (Romans
8:29). What manner of man is Jesus? Jesus is precisely
the kind of man God expects all believers to be. “As
(Jesus) is, so also are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17).
Born to rule
Jesus is the messiah-king that God promised Israel in
ages past. He is the root and the offspring of David.
(Revelation 22:16). Matthew traces Jesus’ human
ancestry back to Abraham through David, whose
progeny God promised a throne to the ages of the ages.
But Jesus is a king with a difference. Kings do not
ascend to the throne at birth because a baby is too
young to rule. However, in the case of Jesus, he was
born king. (Matthew 2:2).
That distinction also applies to the believer. The believer
is born again king. John the Baptist observes that: “He
who comes from above is above all; he who is from the
earth is earthly and speaks from the earth. He who
comes from heaven is above all.” (John 3:31). The
believer is born of God from above; therefore, he is above
all.
Human beings were created to rule. We were born to
have dominion. We were born to be kings of the earth. At
the dawn of creation, God said: “Let us make man in our
own image, after our likeness: and let them have
dominion.” (Genesis 1:26).
However, sin turned man not only to a servant but even
to a slave. Today, the natural man remains earthy; under
the bondage of elemental spirits. The believer, on the
other hand, has full authority over them. Jesus says:
“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents
and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and
nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19).
This authority does not only apply to those in
deliverance ministries: it applies to all believers,
including new converts. Jesus says: “These signs will
follow those who believe: In my name they will cast out
demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will
take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it
will by no means hurt them.” (Mark 16:17-18).
Healing anointing
Jesus’ authority over sickness is so total, he never prays
for healing. Instead, he issues commands. In Luke 4:39,
he “rebukes” the fever in Peter’s mother-in-law. That
means he chastised the fever. He told the fever it was
out of line: it had no right to operate in the woman’s
body. The fever quickly obeyed and left.
Similarly, the believer has power and authority over
sicknesses and diseases: “When he had called his
twelve disciples to him, he gave them power over
unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of
sickness and all kinds of disease.” (Matthew 10:1).
Note that Jesus does not even talk in terms of believers
praying for healing. He says: “They will lay hands on the
sick and they will recover.” (Mark 16:18).
Thus, while we often find Jesus’ disciples praying, once
it came to healing, they did not pray: they only issued
commands. When Dorcas died, Peter turned to the body
and said: “Dorcas, get up.” Immediately, Dorcas came
back to life and sat up. (Acts 9:40). When he saw the
lame man at the Beautiful Gate, Peter simply said: “In
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
And immediately, he lifted the man up and he started to
walk.
Looking unto Jesus
Kenneth Hagin claims Jesus appeared to him in a
vision. But while he was talking to him, an evil spirit
appeared causing a racket; preventing him from hearing
what Jesus was saying. When Jesus took no action
against the demon, Hagin finally cried out: “You foul
spirit, get out of here in Jesus’ name!” Immediately, the
demon ran off.
Jesus insisted it was up to Hagin to do something about
the situation. He told him: “If you hadn’t done
something about that, I couldn’t have.”
In short, Jesus is our supreme terms of reference.
Therefore, every word we speak and every action we take
should derive from our authority in Christ. We should not
speak sickness but healing. We should not speak defeat
but victory. We should overcome every situation and
circumstance in the world by following Jesus’ example.
“Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished
the race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never
lost sight of where he was headed- that exhilarating
finish in and with God- he could put up with anything
along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s
there, in the place of honour, right alongside God. When
you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that
story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he
plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your
souls.” (Hebrews 12:2-3).

By Femi Aribisala
Frm Vanguard