God has established strength from the mouth of babes and infants (Psalm 8). When Psalm 8:2 is repeated in Matthew 21:16, instead of “strength”, the word “praise” is used. There is a connection between strength and praise. In Psalm 8:4 the word “angels” is translated “God” other places in the Word, so God made man a little lower than Himself. When we look up into the heavens, we see what God has put in place. We are the reason for creation. We are not insignificant. We are the apple of God’s eye. Man is to have dominion and to rule with authority over the works of God’s hands. The Lord remembers us and will bless us. May He give you increase to you and your children. He gave the earth to man. Dead men do not praise God, but we will (Psalm 115:12-18). He talks about authority and praise and worship together, because they are linked. Genesis 1:26-2:19 tells us that He made us in His likeness. We are three parts, just like the Trinity. We are to have dominion over the earth and all that is in it. God blessed Adam and Eve and told them to multiply. He told them that they had complete authority. They were to subdue it because they had full authority. To have dominion over something is to rule and reign. Our authority came from God because He created everything, including us. Genesis2:19 says that God brought the animals to Adam for him to name them, showing that he had authority. With authority comes responsibility. Jesus did no miracles until He was baptized. Jesus had to operate in faith, just like we do. Satan immediately tried to make sure Jesus would not use His authority to take back the earth from him, but Jesus did not take his bait (Luke 4:1-7). Temptation is not sin, but it can be by what we do with it. Adam chose to give his authority away. Satan got the authority from Satan, not from God. Jesus came to get back man’s authority from Satan. Satan wanted Jesus’ worship. See how worship and authority are tied together? God gave the authority to man, then man gave it to Satan. God created Satan as an angel to glorify God. He did not create him as the devil, but Satan chose to turn against God. Romans 5:12-17. Death reigned from Adam to Moses. The overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness is the blood of Jesus. We reign in life through Jesus Christ now. Reign means to rule, have dominion, and to have authority. Jesus was a man like us who had to walk in faith. He emptied Himself and came in the likeness of man. John 14:12; Matthew 28:19, 20. Stay where God wants you to be. That authority is yours.

[Pre-sermon notes: Jesus defeated the enemy and shed His blood for our victory. We have been healed. Light immediately dispels darkness. Declare health over your body. When we look at Him, His wisdom comes to us, and then we give heed to it. The church is compromising if we vote for someone who is not a Christian. This nation is at the tipping point, about to fall to a sudden and extreme drop. Take a stand. Vote for righteousness.] Sermon: text – Psalm 8. God told Adam to subdue, have dominion, and rule the earth and everything that is on it (Genesis 1:26-28). This is demonstrated in Genesis 2:19 when God commissioned Adam to name the animals. In Luke 4:5, 6 Satan tempted Jesus by telling Him that he would give Jesus the authority over all the kingdoms of the earth, if He would worship him. How did he get that authority? Satan is a fallen angel. Adam gave the authority that God had given him to Satan when he disobeyed God (Romans 5:17). Jesus came to restore the authority over the earth back to man. In Psalm 8:5 in the KJV it says that God made man a little lower than the angels. The same Hebrew word translated here as “angels” is translated “Elohim”. This word is used over 2600 times and never translated angels anywhere else. The correct translation is that God made man a little lower than Himself. In Hebrews 1:1-4 it says that Jesus bore a more excellent name than angels. In 2:6-8 it says that God made Jesus a little lower than the angels. Hebrews 1:5-14 we find that angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who inherit salvation. The saints inherit salvation. Are you giving your angels anything to do? Do you give them orders? Speak to your angels using the (Word of God) commands that God has already given them. You pray to God in Jesus’ name; you can talk to and thank Jesus and the Holy Spirit but you only pray to the Father. The authority has been given to us in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18-20), whereas Adam’s authority was just on earth before he fell (Psalm 8). Our purpose is to take dominion with the authority Jesus gave us, to go into all the world and preach the gospel, baptize, and teach what He taught. The saints will judge the world and angels (1 Corinthians 6:1-3). God will confirm His Word with signs, wonders, and miracles. God originally made man a little lower than Himself and higher than the angels. Since Adam fell and gave his authority on earth to Satan (a fallen angel), unredeemed man became lower than the angels. Redeemed men (those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior) are lower than God but restored higher than any angel.

Texts: Psalm 8:3-8; Hebrews 2:6-18. Originally God gave the authority on earth to Adam. After Adam sinned by disobeying God, the authority was given over to Satan. Satan could have given Jesus the authority over earth (Luke 4), but Jesus knew how He was going to get the authority back to man. After Adam’s fall, man became lower than angels. In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus said that all authority of both heaven and earth was given to Him and He gave it to us. His will is to be done on earth as it is in heaven (the Lord’s Prayer). He gave us power to bind and to loose (Matthew 18:18-20). We have authority over angels. What did Jesus have to do to get that authority back to us? Hebrews 2:6-18. He had to die spiritually. He became sin so that we might become His righteousness. Jesus knew that He was going to be separated from God. Separation from God is death and hell. Jesus experienced spiritual death for us. Not everyone will die. Those who are alive with be caught up with Him. Jesus said that if anyone keeps His word, he will never taste death (John 8:44-53). He is talking about spiritual death. Concerning when Lazarus was raised from the dead, Jesus said that He is the resurrection and the life, and that whoever believes in Him, though he may die, he shall not die spiritually (John 11:20, 26). Jesus went to hell. He had to become sin for us, because there was no sin in Him. Our sin would send us to hell, if He had not gone there for us. Jesus was born again from death and hell, and we need to be born again, too. Jesus died and was made alive again in the Spirit. God raised Him up, so His soul was not left in hell, nor did it see corruption (Acts 2:22, 23; Acts 13:33). A separation came, and Jesus had to be born again. Before the resurrection, Jesus is referred to as the only begotten Son of God, but after the resurrection, He is referred to as the firstborn from the dead among many brothers (Colossians 1:18). Through His death He might destroy the devil (when He went to hell and came out of it). Satan never had power of physical death. God did. The power of spiritual death is the fear of death. As soon as Adam and Eve fell, fear of death came. That fear is the fear of being separated from God. Isaiah 11:2 tells about the seven spirits that were upon Jesus. Revelation 1:4-18 again notes that Jesus is the firstborn from the dead, and that He made us kings and priests to God the Father. He was dead, but now He is alive, and He has the keys to hell and death. We have His authority if we have made Him our Lord and Savior. We are victorious. We reign in life by Jesus Christ. Pastor Syd closed by reading the Ephesians prayer (Ephesians 1:17-23).

In Genesis 1:26-28 God told Adam, man, to have dominion. In Revelation 22:1-5 God speaks about the future, saying that we are to reign forever and ever. We are here to take dominion. Our purpose is to reign and take dominion, and worship to God is the fruit of our taking dominion. Revelation 5:9, 10 says that He has made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth. This is also stated in Revelation 1:6. Death reigned by Adam’s trespass, but we are to reign in life (now) through Jesus Christ. We are in training. We need to pay attention as to how we are to rule and reign. How does a king reign? He reigns with his words (Ecclesiastes 8:4; Job 22:21, 22, 26-28). He reigns by delegating authority (Luke 9:1-42). We see this in a policeman. His power is in the courts, the law, and his gun. His authority is because of his power. The kingdom of God is in us. It is where God is exercising authority and His will is being done. It is the coming of His kingdom that allows His will to be done. The disciples were to preach the kingdom of God. Jesus delegated His authority (Luke 10:20). We have been given authority over the enemy (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16). We restore divine favor, which is the ministry of reconciliation. We are authorized to take this message to others. Fill yourself with the Word. Expect what you speak to be fulfilled. A king reigns by his word, and we reign by preaching God’s Word and that the kingdom has come. (There was explanation concerning last week’s service, finances, and prayer needs in the CWI body.)

Review: The earth is the Lord’s (Psalm 24:10); God gave the earth to man (Psalm 115:16); Man has been made to have dominion over God’s creation (Psalm 8:3-9). Pastor Syd compared it to the fact that their house belongs to him (Pastor), but his sons may do what they want in their own rooms within certain guidelines. God owns the earth and gave authority over it to Adam, but Adam gave it to Satan. Jesus took the keys away from Satan when He went into hell after His crucifixion. Through Adam’s trespass, death reigned, how much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17). Jesus is seated to the right hand of God, interceding for us. If we do not have a sense of righteousness, we will not reign. If we mess up and ask forgiveness, God has no remembrance of it. His righteousness is on you and fills you. A king reigns through his words. On Christ, the rock, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:13-19). Because you know the Word, you may think you are doing it, but you must act on it by speaking and believing it. Speak the Word to your problems. Speak the way it is going to be. Jesus became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). He sees me like Jesus, without sin. He says, “That’s My son, in whom I am well pleased.” Do not allow condemnation and Satan to beat you up. We can have boldness in the day of judgment, because of God’s love (1 John 4:16, 17). There is no fear in love. Jesus always lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:24, 25). We need a consciousness of righteousness. Jesus is our defense attorney and our judge. Tell the devil how it is going to be. There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:10). God is for us (Romans 8:31). He will grant us what we need to walk in victory (Romans8:32). If God gave His all to buy you, He will do all to keep you. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. We are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ (Romans 8:33-39).