POWER OVER ALL ENEMY-POWER

“Behold, I give unto you POWER to tread on serpents and scorpions, and OVER ALL THE POWER of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” – Luke 10:19 (KJV)

The Power that belongs to the Believer in Christ is POWER OVER ALL ENEMY-POWER: “Behold, I give unto you POWER to tread on serpents and scorpions, and OVER ALL THE POWER of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Lk.10:19 KJV). The New King James Version uses the word AUTHORITY in place of Power: “Behold, I give you the AUTHORITY to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy…” Either way, the devil is the loser! Interestingly, the Lord Jesus spoke these words prior to His crucifixion, death, and resurrection. This infers that God was never lacking in power prior to the resurrection, but that glorious event triggered the release and unleashing of the immeasurable Power of the Almighty God – the Omnipotent One – for the unrestricted benefit of as many as believe!  

At Jesus’ command the disciples had performed miracles, which He confirmed by testifying: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (v.18). These miracles were an assault against the power of the devil. The healing of a person possessed of an evil spirit meant more than just being freed from the power of that spirit. It also meant that the Messiah, who was to bruise the head of the serpent, had come! The disciples’ performance of miracles in His name was a part of Jesus’ engagement in battle against the devil, which battle He would bring to a victorious conclusion by His death on the cross and His resurrection. It was this message that the disciples were to proclaim, namely: that the Kingdom of God had come near.

Serpents and scorpions as used in these texts symbolise the devil and his spiritual power of evil. This is a possible reference to Psalm 91:13, “You shall tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.” The real kernel of the Lord’s response lies in the last words, “NOTHING shall by any means hurt you,” and these find ready interpretation in the thought that “NOTHING shall separate us from the love of God,” and that “ALL THINGS work together of good to those that love Him” (Rom.8:39; Rom.8:28).

The potency of God’s all-surpassing Power is epitomised in Christ’s Resurrection from the dead. To rise from the dead, Christ had to destroy four forces which had previously been unconquered and which seemed to be unconquerable. These were the power of Satan, the power of sin, the power of death, and the power of hell.  Jesus overcame these powers in His death on the cross, and He proved that He had done so when He arose from the grave.

In His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ crushed Satan’s head, made an end of sin by sacrificing Himself, snatched the victory from death, and endured and overcame the pangs of hell. There was no way the beaten devil could hold the Conquering Saviour and Victorious Lord. As Peter said on Pentecost: “God raised Him up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24).

Paul speaks of knowing Jesus and the power of His resurrection (Phil.3:10). Whoever desires to have that power in manifestation and operation must first know Jesus. Knowing Him is more than having heard His Name; it is to believe in Him, to live in Him, to love Him with all our heart, turning our life over to Him, and allowing Him to live His life through us. Without Jesus we are nothing – powerless! With Jesus, we are Masters over Satan and all of His emissaries. The Power of His resurrection lifts us up above Satan, sin, death, and hell! We are partakers of the Power over all enemy-power!