Blood-Bought Authority: How to Command Power, Victory, and Peace

The apostle Paul told the church at Ephesus in his letter to them that the Lord has “raised us up together and made us sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6 NKJV).

This was one of my first sermons I ever preached; and even back then, the revelation of this truth impacted me as a young man and minister.

Do we fully comprehend what this means? I often tell congregations that I’m preaching to these days the following, “You may be sitting here today, but that’s not where you are seated! You’re seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus!” Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. That’s a seat of power and authority. How amazing that we should be entitled to sit with Jesus in that seat because His blood paid the price for it and it decrees it. That’s a seat far above principalities and powers and wickedness in high places. That’s a placing where nothing can harm us. No demonic power has power over the blood of Jesus that is on our hearts. No plan or ploy of the devil can destroy a believer who knows what the blood decrees! We are more than conquerors.

All too often we allow ourselves to succumb to the lies of the devil that speak contrary to what the blood speaks. It’s time to realize where we are seated in Christ and speak accordingly!

Using the example of the Passover again, the blood was a token on the homes of the children of Israel. You could say that it shouted at the death angel, “Don’t mess with God’s people! Don’t even think about it! Get out of here! You have no power and no authority here.” The blood that covers our hearts tells the same to the enemy today. He knows he’s no match for the Lord! He knows his day is coming. Jesus’ victory on the Cross delivered to us power and authority over the power of satan.

The events of the Lord’s final week on earth before dying on the Cross and then resurrecting introduce us to a Greek word that has significant meaning. That word is paradidomi, which in Greek means “to surrender, to give into the hands of another” or to “hand over” to someone else.

As we read the account in the Gospels, we see that Jesus was first betrayed by Judas for 30 pieces of silver and “handed over” to the Sanhedrin; they in turn, “handed Him over” to Caiphas, the high priest where He was beaten and His face marred beyond recognition. Caiphas “handed Him over” to Pilate who washed his hands of the matter, had Jesus scourged, and then at the request of the mob, “handed Him over” to be crucified on the Cross.

Praise God that was not the last “hand over” though! After Jesus uttered those final words, “It is finished,” and gave up the ghost and died, He descended into hell. The Bible tells us He stripped satan of his authority and power over us and demanded him to “hand over” the keys of death, hell, and the grave. Glory to God! Yet there was still one more “hand over.” That happened when Jesus ascended out of hell and He “handed over” all authority and power of the wicked one to you and me! Luke 10:19 (NKJV) declares, “Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” That’s quite a handover!

Today, in the mighty name of Jesus and because the blood says so, we can tell the devil to “hand over” everything he has robbed from us!

Jesus says in John 10:10 (NIV), “The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

The enemy is a thief, and he wants to rob us of our peace, of our godly marriages, our children, our health, our finances, and more. We have the authority to tell him to “hand it over” because the blood decrees our authority to do so.

In Bible days, the areas surrounding the cities was where the shepherds in the fields would tend their sheep. Having been to Israel many times myself, I can attest to the fact that even to this day, you can see shepherds doing the same much like they did 2,000-plus years ago.

A common practice for the shepherds was to rub the sheep with olive oil, which was abundant because of the many olive trees there. Reason being, there are also an abundance of flies there that continually harass the sheep. The scent of the oil repels the flies and drives them away. In fact, the word anoint means “to rub or to smear.”

In the spiritual sense, flies are symbolic of demons. When the oil of the anointing is rubbed on our lives, because of the blood of Jesus, demons are also driven away as they realize they are no match for the blood. The blood’s presence on our lives says in effect, “Stay away. You have no authority here.” What a blessed truth to know that in Him, in Christ, we are protected, and we have overcoming power because the blood decrees it so!

Ephesians 6 gives us a holy arsenal of weaponry that we can employ by the power of the Holy Spirit against any attack of the enemy. The blood of Jesus on our hearts entitles us access to them. That blood decrees the title deed to them for our use.

The apostle Paul instructs us in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (KJV) that:

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

So, how do we do that? We do that by believing in the authority that Christ’s blood decrees that has been handed over to us. By not allowing our minds to be controlled, manipulated, or deceived by the lies, destructive thoughts that the enemy brings to challenge the authority of the knowledge of God. Rather to meditate on and speak or decree what the blood of Jesus has spoken and still speaks over us!

One day as I was reading 2 Corinthians 10:4, “the weapons of our warfare,” the word our seemed to jump out at me from off the page. I believe I was given a revelation about what the apostle Paul was trying to convey to the believers in Corinth. When he uses the word our, he most likely was not only using it in the corporate sense, as in the body of Christ.

Looking at the whole of his writings about our partnership with the Holy Spirit—such as in Romans 8:26 where he says, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses,” we become aware that the our he is talking about is you and the Holy Spirit. That combined partnership utilizing the weapons the Spirit, empowers us to use, “is mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” As believers, we are in partnership with the Spirit of the Lord, provided by the blood of Jesus, and have at our disposal the ability to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to bring down strongholds and attempts of the wicked one to defeat us.

Decree

Today, because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, I now have His Spirit living in me. I am seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus far above all principalities and powers—and no weapon formed against me shall prosper, and every tongue that rises against me in judgment You, Lord, shall condemn. I remind the devil of his impending doom and that he has been defeated by the blood of Jesus! This is my confession according to Isaiah 54:17.

Today, I accept my partnership with the Holy Spirit and I “take hold together” against the stronghold that seeks to destroy me and my household (Romans 8:26). I am “more than a conqueror” (Romans 8:37) and no plans, schemes, or devices of the enemy will prosper against me. I overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of my testimony (Revelation 12:11)—because the blood says so!