Authority in covenant

Matthew 7:28-29 (NLT) 28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.

Jesus did not come preaching or teaching the Law and the Prophets. He came to fulfill the Covenant of the Law and take on the curse of the broken covenant in our place. He fulfilled the prophetic word of His first coming and His words of teaching not only brought new meaning to the Law but were the expectation of a New Covenant He was to cut for mankind. He lived out the Law and the expectation of those early covenants. His response to the Father was obedience that was entirely focused on the Father. He did nothing of Himself but only what He saw the Father doing and spoke only what the Father gave Him to say. When He says to us, "Follow Me", He reveals the Way to live in covenant response. Only by the Holy Spirit can we do this. However, the responsibility to clear the way for the Spirit to do this lies with us. We must overcome, by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, those agendas of our human nature and its control over us that hinder the Holy Spirit from leading us and revealing the Father to us.

Most of Jesus' words of ministry were veiled by speaking in parables. But the understanding the Spirit brings to us in these parables is clearly the expectation of God in the New Covenant. This goes against our human nature and leads us into His Nature. Trying to fulfill anything Jesus said by our human capability becomes religious. Only by the Spirit can we please God. Jesus did nothing of Himself. That should be a lesson that tops every other lesson we can learn. If Jesus, sinless and without guile, needed the Holy Spirit to reveal and maintain the Oneness with the Father on which Jesus relied, how much more do we need to carefully follow the Spirit's leading?

The ministry of the Holy Spirit is very much misunderstood and neglected. Make friends with the Holy Spirit and give Him room within to be your Teacher. Jesus had the Holy Spirit "without measure" and He waited for the Spirit's leading. Don't rush into anything without knowing that gentle pull of His guidance. Jesus gave us the Way to be led, so take advantage of what God has provided for you. He wants you to do the works He has prepared for you to do. Listen carefully to what Jesus said. John 14:12-14 (ESV) 12"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. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. This translation most carefully follows the Greek. (However, the "me" in verse 14 is not there.) Why is this translation important? Because, it is covenant language. The same authority given a woman in the marriage covenant to bear her husband's name is in this verse. It is living in His Name, responding to His authority to please Him. It is not limited to the "asking" as in prayer, but is a way of life. In the Name "Jesus" is the authority given to Adam in this realm, and the authority of the whole realm of heaven to which He answered faithfully while doing the Father's will in this realm, and by His resurrection was able to pass on to us, who are otherwise subject to this realm's limitation. Jesus is giving us the right, under the New Covenant in His Blood, to move outside of any limitation, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and do the works He did, for we are under the covering of His Name.