Luke 4:6, Who Has Dominion Over The Earth?
And the devil said unto [Jesus], All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
//In this verse, Satan makes a bold claim: that he has dominion over all the nations, and has the power to grant that position to Jesus. However, Matthew claims just the opposite in his gospel:
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth –Matthew 28:18
So who is the big boss? Satan or Jesus?
It’s a trick question. The verse in Luke is at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry; the verse in Matthew is at the very end, after Jesus has been resurrected. The Gospel message is that Jesus overcame the world; Jesus proved victorious over evil, and over Satan.
Therefore, what used to belong to Satan now belongs to Jesus.
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Fantasy Football, Anyone?
Put on the whole uniform of the Team, that ye may be able to stand against the blitz of oncoming linebackers. Don the hip pads of truth, the shoulder pads of righteousness, the cleats of preparation. Don’t forget the facemask of faith and the helmet of salvation. Then clutch the pigskin with much Spirit, for that is what the Play Book of your Coach in Heaven demands.The River of Life
Twice before Lee Harmon has written about Christian topics, once on the gospel of John and once on the book of Revelation. But the question people keep asking him is this: As a liberal Christian, why do you care so much about the Bible? Others wonder whether he is truly a Christian at all.
The Way It Happened
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| Revelation: A love story gone awry. | The Gospel: A love story set aright. |
What really happened 2,000 years ago? How did a persecuted minority of end-time believers known as Christians, with their dreams of Armageddon and a conquering Messiah named Jesus, evolve into the largest religion in the world? Author Lee Harmon explores the period in which the New Testament was written in his books about John's Gospel and Revelation.
(Bloggers: you may be eligible for a free review copy! Just contact us.)
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The God Show
Lee Harmon interviewed on The God Show about the History Channel's miniseries The Bible and Lee's latest book, John's Gospel: The Way It Happened.
About Lee
Hello! I'm an author, historical Jesus scholar, book reviewer, and liberal Christian, which means I appreciate and attempt to exercise the humanitarian teachings of Jesus without getting hung up on any particular supernatural or religious beliefs.
The Bible is a magnificent book that has inspired and spiritually fed generations for thousands of years, and each new century seems to bring a deeper understanding of life’s purpose. This is true of not only Christianity; through the years, our age-old religions are slowly transforming from superstitious rituals into humanitarian philosophies. In short, we are growing up, and I am thrilled to be riding the wave.
I avidly read all thought-provoking religion titles. New authors: I'd love to read and review your book!
Contact me here.
About Leslie
Hi! While Lee writes the articles and reviews the books, I edit, organize, and maintain the blog. The views expressed here are Lee's but I'm his biggest supporter! :-)
Excellent thoughts Lee, and I would concur that ultimately you are correct. I would however suggest that there are a couple of intermediary steps before we get to “ultimately.” Something I think anyone reading the news accounts coming out of Syria, or Egypt would agree with.
By way of analogy, consider being pulled over by a rogue Highway patrolman, who threatens to strip search you and lock you up if you don’t pay a bribe. You may appeal to the Governor as the “real” authority, but you may very well suffer at the hands of the existential authority standing before you.
The picture that I see portrayed in scripture seems to be that the deceiver, that serpent of old, is still actively deceiving the nations, and will do so until the 7th trumpet sounds, and the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of His… whatever. 😉
I wrote an essay that touches on this subject a while back. I will send you a copy of it.
Thanks for a thought provoking post!
Chris, I would love to read your essay!!