Pigs and Authority
Pigs have more authority than satan.
Why do we give satan 'place' or recognition in our lives, in our thoughts, in our actions? He has no authority over us - except what we inadvertantly give to him by his deceptions.
When Jesus and His disciples sailed into the country of the Gadarenes (Mark 5: 1-20, Luke 8: 26-39) they encountered a rather wild man who wore no clothes and lived away from the population in the burial tombs. Mark 5: 3-4 says that "no one could bind him, not even with chains....chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him." Mark 5: 2 explains that he had a 'unclean spirit,' and Luke 8: 27 goes further by stating he "had demons for a long time."
One of the amazing things about this account is that these demons immediately recognized Jesus as the Son of the Most High God. They spoke directly to Him, actually pleading with Him to leave them alone in the man and not torment them. When Jesus asked for their name they answered "Legion" (Mark 5:9, Luke 8: 30) because there were so many of them in this one man.
Here is a question: in what way would Jesus be able to 'torment' these demons?
Answer: by casting them out of the man and into what the NKJV calls the 'abyss' (Luke 8: 31). The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word abyss as "primevil chaos, an unfathomable chasm." Since satan and his demons are spiritual beings, they must inhabit a physical body on earth to function. As spirits they live powerlessly in the ether, unless they can deceive their way into flesh and bone.
This is the reason they begged Jesus to "Send us to the swine (that were feeding nearby), that we may enter them." And the herd of swine was more willing to drown themselves than be inhabited by the legion of demons (Mark 5: 12-13).
Pigs have more authority than satan and his demons.
And if pigs have more authority than satan, how much more authority do we, as believers in Jesus Christ, have over all things?
God Himself gave man dominion over all the earth (Genesis 1: 28), and Jesus restored what Adam had lost (Matthew 17: 11).
We have been redeemed from the bondage of sin and death by the incorruptible blood of Jesus Chist (I Peter 1: 18-19 and I Peter 1: 23).
All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Jesus, and he Himself has given this same authority to us (Matthew 28: 18-20).
Jesus himself said that we would do greater things on earth then even he had done (John 14: 12).
We will do greater things because the same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead resides in us (Ephesians 3: 14-20)
We have the mind of Christ in us (I Corinthians 2:16).
Everything on earth is subject to Jesus and has been put under His (and our) feet (I Corinthians 15: 25-27).
So why do we give satan any place or recognition in our lives? He is a defeated foe; he has been de-fanged! All he can do is roar at us, and he can only devour us if we do not recognize that our life and identity are in Jesus Christ (I Peter 5: 8-9).
Pigs have more authority than satan.
Pigs have more authority than satan.
Why do we give satan 'place' or recognition in our lives, in our thoughts, in our actions? He has no authority over us - except what we inadvertantly give to him by his deceptions.
When Jesus and His disciples sailed into the country of the Gadarenes (Mark 5: 1-20, Luke 8: 26-39) they encountered a rather wild man who wore no clothes and lived away from the population in the burial tombs. Mark 5: 3-4 says that "no one could bind him, not even with chains....chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him." Mark 5: 2 explains that he had a 'unclean spirit,' and Luke 8: 27 goes further by stating he "had demons for a long time."
One of the amazing things about this account is that these demons immediately recognized Jesus as the Son of the Most High God. They spoke directly to Him, actually pleading with Him to leave them alone in the man and not torment them. When Jesus asked for their name they answered "Legion" (Mark 5:9, Luke 8: 30) because there were so many of them in this one man.
Here is a question: in what way would Jesus be able to 'torment' these demons?
Answer: by casting them out of the man and into what the NKJV calls the 'abyss' (Luke 8: 31). The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word abyss as "primevil chaos, an unfathomable chasm." Since satan and his demons are spiritual beings, they must inhabit a physical body on earth to function. As spirits they live powerlessly in the ether, unless they can deceive their way into flesh and bone.
This is the reason they begged Jesus to "Send us to the swine (that were feeding nearby), that we may enter them." And the herd of swine was more willing to drown themselves than be inhabited by the legion of demons (Mark 5: 12-13).
Pigs have more authority than satan and his demons.
And if pigs have more authority than satan, how much more authority do we, as believers in Jesus Christ, have over all things?
God Himself gave man dominion over all the earth (Genesis 1: 28), and Jesus restored what Adam had lost (Matthew 17: 11).
We have been redeemed from the bondage of sin and death by the incorruptible blood of Jesus Chist (I Peter 1: 18-19 and I Peter 1: 23).
All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Jesus, and he Himself has given this same authority to us (Matthew 28: 18-20).
Jesus himself said that we would do greater things on earth then even he had done (John 14: 12).
We will do greater things because the same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead resides in us (Ephesians 3: 14-20)
We have the mind of Christ in us (I Corinthians 2:16).
Everything on earth is subject to Jesus and has been put under His (and our) feet (I Corinthians 15: 25-27).
So why do we give satan any place or recognition in our lives? He is a defeated foe; he has been de-fanged! All he can do is roar at us, and he can only devour us if we do not recognize that our life and identity are in Jesus Christ (I Peter 5: 8-9).
Pigs have more authority than satan.
