Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and author of over 100 books, booklets & Bible studies. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 1,300 US outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.
our series is reclaiming your spiritual
authority what we are seeking to address
is the loss of the rule of your world
God said when he created man let them
rule that what he did was limited his
involvement in the human affairs within
certain prescribed sovereign boundaries
to the decisions of men and he would
respond based on your response for good
or for bad so he created Adam and he
said now let him rule he created a world
for God centered in a garden named Eden
he was to use his ingenious creativity
given to him by God to cultivate it but
in order to do that he had to keep the
serpent out but in football language
Adams fumbled the ball what caused the
fumble was he got out of alignment he
got out of alignment from God
Eve got out of alignment from him and
this out of alignment opened the door
for the devil to take over his garden
and to begin ruling his world so
cataclysmic was this fumble that Satan
recovered the ball and he and his team
took offense they were now calling the
plays and the adda mites the human race
from his fumble have been playing
defense ever since and you hear it all
the time when you hear people talk about
trying to stop the devil well if you’re
trying to stop the devil he has the ball
he’s calling the plays running the show
setting the agenda you trying to stop
him
because he’s on offense he and his team
have taken over and Jesus we even
recognized this by calling him the ruler
of this world he is the one who do to
Adam’s fumble has now been governing
within sovereign boundaries but still
governing the world what we have
suggested to you is that unless you
understand the theology of spiritual
authority
you’ll never rule your world you’ll
always be reacting to another ruler who
is ruling your world but I have good
news for you today and the good news is
that you can reverse the devil’s rule if
you’ve come to Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of sins and the gift of
eternal life which he freely offers to
all who come to him for it then you have
been repositioned for rulership when
Satan took over the rule of the world
because Adam handed it over to him a
curse came with it a curse in his career
now the smooth flowing in the garden
would not happen it would be thorns and
thistles it affected his relationship
the battle of the sexes would but he
will rule over you there would be war in
the family ineffective things
financially it affected their children
it was a cataclysmic fumble and people
have been playing defense ever since
trying to keep the devil from gain and
more territory over their world but with
the death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ you now have home-field advantage
because he’s changed something I want to
talk to you about today binding and
loosing but this will set the stage for
it because you have to understand
why you combined and why you can lose
when this fumble occurred and God was
handing out the curse for moving out
from his alignment
he gave a prophecy in Genesis 3:15 he
says there will be the seed of the woman
and the serpent will bruise the seeds
heal but the seed will crush the
Serpent’s head jesus said now you
fumbled the ball at him and it’s gonna
you turned over the rule of the planet
to the evil one by moving from
underneath my alignment but I’ve got
some good news coming because the woman
is gonna have a child that’s a very
interesting phrase he says the seed of
the woman normally you would read the
seed of the man but see this man this
baby would have no human father so it
would be the seed of the woman the seed
of the woman would have his heel hurt by
the serpent representing Satan but the
seed of the woman will crush the
Serpent’s head
let me said it again the seed of a woman
Jesus Christ will crush the Serpent’s
head you missed that the seed of the
woman let me in the man some want to it
will crush the Serpent’s head ship
[Applause]
headship is ruling authority with the
coming of the scene of the woman the
headship the authority of Satan will be
crushed
he will get wounded in his process the
heal the cross but when this is all over
Satan’s headship will be crushed his
authoritative rule will be negated
that’s why in our scripture today
Colossians 2 he says in verse 8 no
longer be controlled by the thinking of
men philosophy empty deception and he
and tradition because in him Christ
dwells the fullness of God in bodily
form all that makes God God is in Christ
but it’s in a human body
that’s why he’s the son of God and the
son of man that’s why he can get thirsty
and then walk on water that’s why he can
get hungry and then turn sardines and
crackers into a Moby Dick sandwich
that’s why he can die and then get up
because he’s the God man fully God fully
man in one person in Jesus Christ dwells
the fullness of God in bodily form and
there’s so much there in him first and
you have been made complete there’s
there’s nothing missing in fact chapter
1 verse 15 says Jesus is the image of
the invisible God the firstborn of all
creation for by him all things were
created both in heaven and on earth
visible and invisible whether Thrones
and dominions or rulers or authorities
all things have been created through him
and for him he is before all things in
him all things hold together so if you
are falling apart that means you and the
glue haven’t hooked up because he says
in him all things hold together maintain
their equilibrium he wants you to know
that if you have come to Christ you have
come to the one who’s broken the head of
the serpent Jesus Christ
is the new head of state head of state
is the one who is in final authority let
me put it another way he now has veto
power when the opposition to the
president gives him a law he doesn’t
want he vetoes it Jesus Christ now by
virtue of the Cross has veto power
chapter 2 goes on to say all this
occurred verse 12 when he raised him
from the dead when he raised him from
the dead
verse 14 he cancelled out the
certificate of debt consisting of
decrees against us
which were hostile to us and he has
taken it out of the way when he nailed
it to the cross when he had disarmed the
rulers and Authority he made public
display of them having triumphed over
them through him Satan got whipped at
Calvary his headship over your life and
over your world was canceled when the
debt the fumble got cancelled the
cancellation of death that’s enough in
the Roman world when they were getting
ready to kill you because of a crime
they would write down the crime that you
committed and so you would have a
certificate that outlined he stoled he
killed he murdered he raped and that’s
why he’s going to death you would have a
list against you
which would be the reason for why they
were going to crucify you or take your
life capital punishment Jesus even had a
certificate against him king of kings
and Lord of lords he’s made himself
greater than Caesar but on the cross
Jesus cancelled the certificate through
the forgiveness of the sins but he not
only forgave your sins so that you could
go to heaven he disarmed the rulers and
the authorities let me put it this way
it’s one thing to have somebody pointing
a gun at you with bullets in it that’s
one thing it’s a whole nother thing for
somebody to be pointing a gun at you
that’s empty now both have a gun but
they don’t have the same power because
one has been deactivated
because the firepower has been removed
now if you don’t know that the gun is
empty then you’re gonna walk
like the gun is loaded because you don’t
know the gun is empty but if somebody
ever lets you know he goes button your
jacket cuz it’s a whole different
program man once you learn that there’s
nothing in the gun see what the devil
duck want you to know is his gun has
been empty at the cross of Christ so he
keeps pointing it and we keep shaking
because we don’t know that Jesus Christ
at the cross took the bullets out so now
they can do is pretend like it’s loaded
you gonna still run you gonna still be a
victim you gonna still be defeated you
gonna still be a loser cuz you think
just cuz he got a gun he has power it
says Jesus Christ gets armed him
deactivated him all ruined his headship
if you have come to Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of sins and the gift of
eternal life then what that means is
Satan wants us now has lost his
authority now let me tell you what he
hasn’t lost his power he is this
powerful now as he’s ever been
authority is different though Authority
is the right to use the power that you
possess he has power but no longer any
authority so in order for him to use his
power watch this now he’s got to get you
from functioning underneath your
authority cuz his power is only powerful
when he has the right to use it but he
doesn’t have
right to use it if you’re underneath
your legitimate authority that’s why he
wants to remove the authority so he can
make you subject to his power the death
and resurrection of Jesus Christ has
removed his authority but if you don’t
know that every time the gun shows up
you gonna think it’s loaded it was a
hailstone that blew through a Midwestern
town and stuff started falling down
house started falling that bomb started
falling down and the chicken coop began
falling down it collapsed on the
chickens that many chickens were killed
it was came in overnight it was a
terrible hailstorm when the Sun rose up
in the east there was a rattling
underneath the collapsed chicken coop
and crawling out from underneath beaten
bruised was rooster the rooster comes
out after being whipped all night long
by the hail stone comes out shakes the
best way it can and does a
cockadoodledoo
you know what the rooster was saying it
was a bad night but it’s a whole new day
now the roots were saying it was rough
last night but the Sun has risen so it’s
a brand new day – it may have been rough
last night you may be in a bad situation
your life may have been bad your paths
may have been bad your mama may have
been bad your daddy may have been but
when Jesus Christ rose when the Sun rose
it’s a whole new day because the
authority has been ruined Jesus Christ
has deactivated his authority has this
I’m dissing II has whipped him if you
will so that’s why the Bible says over
and over and over and over again
Jesus Christ is head
Ephesians 1:22 says and he is here over
all things but he’s only available to
the church in other words only
Christians can utilize it headship he’s
over everything he’s sovereign over
everything but he’s only available to
Christians to the church 1st Corinthians
15 verse 27 says that Jesus Christ is
head over all things and and the enemies
have been placed under his feet
he’s in charge now that is he has legal
authority and he has legal authority in
the spiritual realm why does he need
legal authority in spirit around because
the spiritual realm is the thing that
affects the physical realm if you don’t
fix it up there you can’t fix it down
here see you can go to all the meetings
you want you can go to all the help and
you may find some temporary reprieve but
if you want it fixed from the root up
you’ve got to get the cause the only
reason Adam and Eve had a problem was
because the spiritual entered the garden
through the serpent do another spiritual
thing but it was infused by the
spiritual so if you don’t bind them
loose it there it won’t be bound and
loosed here so we’re complaining that
our situations don’t change when we’ve
not addressed the cause we’ve not
addressed the root we keep playing with
the fruit Jesus Christ is authoritative
he’s calling the shots now that’s raised
the question there okay that’s nice and
it’s ethereal mmm but I’m living down
here with financial problems and career
problems and family problems and
children problems I’m not ruling my
world my world is ruling me but yet you
tell me Jesus Christ is the head he’s
calling the shots now I’m underneath his
authority I’m supposed to be ruling my
work I’m supposed to be telling my world
what to do my world is telling me what
to do what’s wrong since I’m a Christian
okay let’s understand something look at
the verses here verse 10
for in him you have been made complete
in him you were circumcised first 12 in
him you were baptized verse 13 you were
made alive together with him in him with
him in him with him in him with him in
him with them in him with him
that is a theological statement about
our union with Christ okay when I come
in the morning to church on Sunday
morning some ladies have some coffee
made for me and so when I come in the
morning it will bring in me a cup of
coffee the coffee is black but I take
cream in my coffee
so they will take cream and pour it into
the coffee so the cream is now in the
coffee the coffee is stirred and a union
occurs the cream is United with black
coffee now I don’t have black coffee and
white cream I got brown coffee because
the union of the white milk with the
black coffee create something different
than they were when they were apart
because a union has occurred so ever the
black coffee goes the white cream goes
wherever the white cream goes the black
coffee because they’ve been placed in
union Ephesians chapter 2 verses five
and six says when Christ died we died
with him
when Christ arose we arose with him when
Christ was seated on the right hand of
the Father we were seated with him in
other words we were attached to Christ
and we will stir
and there is no separate so that if we
want what Christ has we have to function
in union with him that’s why if Satan
can get you operating outside of his
authority from underneath his head he’s
got you because you’re denying the Union
look at verse 13 of chapter 1 of
Colossians first 13 puts it this way for
he rescued us from the Dominion of
darkness and transferred us into the
kingdom of his beloved son let me say
that again he rescued us from the
Dominion they are the authority of
darkness and transferred us to the rule
kingdom of his beloved son you were
transferred when you became a Christian
out of the wrong Kingdom into the right
Kingdom you used the blog to Satan’s
rule before you met Christ now having
come to Christ you’re part of a new
kingdom and every Kingdom has a king of
which Jesus Christ is the king Satan in
order to rule your world has got you to
get you to leave your kingdom and come
back over to his kingdom that you just
left because once you operate apart from
your Union you operate apart from its
authority so the reason why we’re not
experiencing more rule of our world is
that we’ve been duped in the bleeding I
will come on Sunday and get information
about my real kingdom but when I live on
Monday i’ma get back over to the other
Kingdom and operate that way well once
you make that switch he now can exercise
his power cuz you’re no longer under
divine authority when when my daughter
Priscilla got married she shifted
kingdoms prior to that time she was
under my guidance my rule my authority
as her father but when she said I do she
shifted arrangements no longer was I to
be her primary
it was now shifted over to her husband
who was her new head it was his job to
provide provision and protection and
guidance why because she was now taking
his name she was no longer and Evans
because she had now transferred kingdoms
because of love she decided that her
love for her new husband was greater
than her love for her father I know she
just decided that cuz she chose him all
right now but two weeks after she got
married she called me up talking about
dad I need some money I said ask your
husband he’s your new head he’s
protecting he’s providing for you she
said but yeah you my father well when I
was your head I was responsible but
you’ve now shifted over to a new Kingdom
but I said here’s what you can do to ask
me okay no work don’t skip him and jump
over to me as though you’re still part
of his kingdom you’re part of a whole
nother Kingdom now Satan is saying ask
me ask me ask me I’ll gladly provide for
you but he wants you to skip your head
shift over to his head so he can
exercise power you owe me and so the
reason why we’re not ruling our worlds
is because we keep shifting we come to
church on the one Kingdom we operate off
the job at another Kingdom we have
devotions in the morning in one kingdom
we operate well among our friends in
another we keep flip-flopping kingdoms
and wonder why the rule is not there
wonder why I can’t get over the hump
wonder why the enemy still is calling
he’s calling the shots because we’re not
operating in the Union under the
headship that God has called us to
operate under and so the question may be
well then how does this suppose work
look at Romans chapter 16 verse 22 me
read one verse to you Romans 16 verse 20
from verse 16 verse 20 it says this the
God of peace will soon crush Satan under
Jesus’s feet is that what they say I
heard some yes I heard some knows read
your Bible read your Bible don’t just
believe it cut somebody’s standing on a
pulpit says it that’s why you need to
bring your Bible to church or use the
bullet at you something it says and soon
the God of peace will crush the devil
underwear your feet well women the
watches then I thought Satan was under
Jesus’s feet well he is but I’m in union
with him so if he’s done the Jesus’s
feet and I’m in union with him
that means he’s under my feet okay let
me show you how this works
all the cross validated by the
resurrection Jesus Christ defeated the
devil watch this legally it was a legal
defeat you and I must defeat him
actually we defeat him actually Jesus
Christ defeated him illegally because
the law has been changed we now can
debate anybody remember you know back in
the day the curl activator come on come
on you know back in the day the
jheri-curl day I see a couple of them
still out there today but
back in the day they put the chemicals
in your hair remember they put the
chemicals in your hat okay but then you
have a dry out so you’d need in the
morning when you get up to put in that
curl activator and I would make it turn
again you know it would bring the life
what it died see this what the chemicals
did was give you what you need but what
the activator did was make it come to
life on the cross Jesus put the
chemicals in there it’s now workable but
you must activate it under your feet he
put him under his feet but you must
activate it under your feet or let them
rule that’s why God told Mary you got to
move the stone that’s why God told Moses
you got to hold up the rod that’s why
God told Israel you got to walk around
the wall seven times because it won’t be
activated until you I have already
passed the legal law he’s under my feet
but you must activate it in history
that’s why I left and left you here cuz
you to be my body expressing in history
what I’ve already done in eternity you
ought to activate the victory that
Christ has already achieved in his
kingdom a great illustration of this is
Joshua chapter 10 verse 22 to 27 I just
let me just highlight for you this is a
great story the Kings are given Israel a
bad time and Joshua is the head of
Israel and they given him a rough time
five kings get together and they trying
to squash Joshua but Joshua defeats them
he defeats the five kings and then look
at what Joshua does in Joshua chapter 10
verse 22 Joshua said open the mouth of
the cave and bring these five Kings out
to me from the cave so they did so and
they bring the five Kings out verse 23
verse 24 when they brought these Kings
out to Joshua Joshua called for all the
men of Israel and said to the chiefs of
war of the men of war who had gone with
come here put your feet on the necks of
these kings so that they came here and
put their feet on their necks Joshua
said to them do not fear or be dismayed
be strong and courageous for thus the
Lord will do to all your enemies with
whom you fight what is the Lord gonna do
put his feet on their necks now Joshua
is the head man but Joshua says even
though we’ve whipped them I want you men
to put your feet on there next I want
you to actualize the victory that I’m
already declaring because God’s gonna do
that everybody else what he’s
illustrating he’s doing to these five
kings right now God wants you to be able
to put your foot on the neck of your
situation he wants you to put the foot
on the neck of your problem he wants you
to put the foot on the neck of your
career he wants you to actualize what
he’s already declared from heaven but if
you don’t actualize it his declaration
won’t mean a thing to you if you don’t
in concert with his lordship and the
principles of his kingdom his authority
you’ll never realize and you’ll be out
there fighting for power a victory you
can never win against an angel you’ll be
out there fighting for power
God wants to change things in your
career he wants to change things in your
family he wants to change things with
your finances he wants to change things
in your physical well-being but if you
keep jumping kingdoms then you lose his
authority and you get out there you just
do the best you can he says put your
feet on that next cuz Satan is under
your feet so put your feet on his neck
through operating under my lordship
which is which is why the worst thing
you can do is come from underneath the
legitimate authority once you do that
you lose authority and therefore there
is no power against a powerful realm
that is against you Jesus has already
won for you and me to rule our world
does that mean there won’t be problems
no does that mean it won’t be
difficulties no but it means that the
problems and difficulties will no longer
call the shots in your life okay
anytime you were to come to my house one
thing will perpetually be on the
television and that is the NFL Network
okay everybody knows me knows I love
football
and every real man should and so I’m
always watching the NFL Network during
football season they show you the scores
of the game all the games the 32 teams
in the NFL they will show you the scores
each week of every game so you can see
how everything ended because you see
those scores now let me tell you what
the NFL Network does also they replay
the games so if you didn’t see the score
then you don’t know what happened but if
you saw the score you know what happened
but you may want to see the game
you know what worked out by the score
you know how it worked out by the game
you know what happened by the score you
know how it happened
by the game they will show you games
from last year three years ago five
years ago 50 years ago they will show
you games from the past even though you
may know the score of how it worked out
I’m going somewhere as I’m sitting and
watching a rerun of a game where I
already know the outcome it changes how
I watch it when I know where it’s going
I see my team fumble but I don’t get all
shook up cuz I’ve know where this thing
is going
[Music]
[Music]
when they showed me to know he been
defeated the bullets have some issues
you can be troubled by it but you know
where this thing is going because he has
already defeated him he is already
victorious and you are in union with him
claim your authority under his lordship
by the rules of his kingdom and then you
will see him
overruled in your role of your world
because you know where this thing is
going right now if you’re outside of his
lordship if you’ve been doing your own
thing you come to church but you kind of
run in your own life you’re not in line
you’re out of alignment I want you to
get in alignment if you’re not a
Christian you need to come to Christ if
you are a Christian you need to recon
underneath Christ
if you’ve been away from him doing your
thing Monday through Saturday but then
doing the church thing on Sunday that
won’t do it you will not rule your world
but you’ll begin to see Authority
operating in your life if you come
underneath Christ