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Psalm 24:1  The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?

4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

 

2 Corinthians 4:1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;

2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.

6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

 

Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

 

I Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

 

Luke 10:19   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.

 

Psalm 91:13   Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

 

Psalm 115:15 Ye are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth.

16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

So does the earth belong to God or satan?  When there are verses that seem to say two different things.

The answer is reconciled in Christ.

Jesus defeated satan at the cross.  The earth is the Lord’s.  However, where man has not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, where the light of the glorious gospel has not shined in the heart, man is still under the reign of the darkness of satan and subject to the influences of the wicked one.

Jesus defeated satan.

I John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus defeated him at the cross and left it to us to enforce that through the authority of the name of Jesus, the power of God, the power of the blood of Jesus and through the weapons which are not carnal, but spiritual, mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

Jesus will have all things under his feet, manifested.

And who is to tread on serpents and scorpions according to Psalm 91?  Us.

We are Christ’s ambassadors here on earth.

The heavens are the Lord’s, the earth He has given to the children of men.

If a job is to be done on earth, we are to implement the finished work of Christ, “the Lord working with them, confirming with signs following”.

God is waiting for us.

What is being done in this period of time?  God is bringing many sons to glory.

Hebrews 2:1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;

3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.

6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him?

7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:

8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.

9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.

13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Let’s go more a bit into how Jesus defeated satan,  but then people ask, if that is true, why do we still see sickness and death and problems around us?  They ask, where is God?   They ask, why does God permit it?  Keep reading.

I John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

At this point in time (2022) there have been several shootings where there were authorized people (security, police, etc.)  with guns and the ability to deal with the problem, yet nothing happened.

Why?

The delegated authority was not used.

Authority had been delegated that if a certain situation arose, those who had been authorized and had the badge of authority could deal with it.  But they didn’t.  And tragedy ensued (followed).

So whose fault is that?  If authority is delegated, the responsibility lies with the person(s) who has (have) been given the delegated authority, to do his (their) job, or with those who prevented him (them) from doing his (their) job.

If the scenario above, instead of talking about schools and police or security guards, if that scenario were a scenario talking about humanity and God, people would be blaming God.

We see the concept of delegated authority easier at the human level than when talking about a situtation dealing with the Almighty, but nevertheless, mankind has delegated authority.  God gave it to Adam.  Adam lost it.  Jesus bought it back again with the price of his Life and Blood and offers it again to mankind, to those who believe on him, to his disciples, to his followers.

We understand at the human level that police are delegated authority and that they should use it appropriately.  That’s the whole point of delegated authority.

Yet, through Jesus Christ, authority has been delegated to believers.

And even natural law, such as the Constitution based on natural law, delegates authority through authoritative structures.  There is legitimate delegated authority according to the Constitution.  And the country is supposed to function within delegated authority or the country becomes lawless.

If those in positions of authority and power fail to do what they are supposed to do, what their delegated authority requires them to do, that is not God’s fault.

We can apply this at a natural level.  We can apply this at a spiritual level.

The fault lies with man, not with God.

Where is God with the tragedies of the world?  God is in the heart of believers, God is in the name of Jesus, God is in the power of God, waiting for man to do what the Word of God says so God can fulfill his part of the promise.

The earth is given to mankind.  God is not going to take what he has given.  God is honorable.  God keeps His Word.  The earth has been given to mankind to pray and work towards, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.

Rather than waiting around for Jesus to do what He has given mankind to do, we should ask ourselves, what are my personal sins of omission?  What have I failed to do that I could be doing?

Most believers try to avoid sins of commission…that is, they try to avoid sin.  But this is not just a passive fight.

No football game was won playing defense.

In the spiritual realm, a game of offense is played  by considering what have I omitted to do within the parameters of the Word of God?  We must offensively use the name of Jesus, the Word of God, the blood of Jesus and spiritual weapons.  And, if additionally, there is something God wants in the natural, like attend a school board meeting,  run for office, or home school, or whatever the Holy Spirit wants in obedience, that must be done as well.

We must take the offensive, like in a game of football, not the defense.

A football team that stands around on the field letting the other team run touchdown after touchdown would lose.  And pretty soon it would be dropped from the finals and become irrelevant.

The grace of God gives many gifts from God.  But those gifts must be received.  And they must be implemented to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy.

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