Welcome To 514 Grace Church

Humanity began in purpose. Can you say that humanity began in purpose? Then God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion. So God created man in his image, and God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion. Genesis Chapter one, verse twenty-six and twenty-eight. I was reading from the English Standard Version.

This ain't just a song; it's a statement. Grace is our sound. The word is our say.

Family, tonight Bible study is going to be a little bit different. I'm going to be teaching, um, from this format for the next couple of Wednesdays. Because I believe that this series that we're teaching on kingdom authority is vitally important. Give me a moment. I want, I want to acknowledge all those that are online that are watching us. Thank you for watching our Bible study on Wednesdays. Tracy and I want to say thank you personally, and from 514 Grace Church, thank you as well. But I want to really focus on This message of the kingdom of God, because I honestly believe that this message is going to bless both you and your family, and it's going to set our trajectory so high the enemy can't even stop us. Pray with me. Father, I thank you in Jesus' name for your power and your anointing. God, speak through my vocal cords, think through my mind, all of you, none of me. Anoint this word so that your people will be blessed. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. So stay with me because I want to really lay a foundation, because from the beginning God did not create humanity for defeat, confusion, or spiritual distance. Listen to me. He created every single one of us in his image, called us into his fellowship, entrusted us with stewardship and designed us to live under his loving rule. The biblical story begins not with failure, but with purpose for every single one of us, with purpose. And this message is about hope. The message that we're teaching in this series on Kingdom Authority is about hope. We're not here to tear down the church or diminish Christianity. or produce suspicion in the hearts of believers. We're here to lift our eyes again to Jesus, to Jesus the Christ, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and for us to understand the kingdom message that he preached and embodied and entrusted to his people. This is about a victorious church. It's about the grace of God that overcomes sin, the authority of Christ that restores order. And the mission of the people of God to reveal his life in the earth. The kingdom of God is not a buzzword or a vague spiritual concept. It is the reign of God made known through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Listen, because the kingdom does not diminish the church, it gives the church her identity, her authority, and her assignment. The Bible says in Matthew chapter 6, verse 33, it says, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. When Jesus told his hearers to seek first the kingdom of God, he was not calling them to chase a religious trend. Or adapt a merely private spirituality. He was calling every single one of them to place the rule of God at the center of their life. The kingdom is not one doctrine among many. It is the ordering reality of life under the lordship of Jesus Christ, because God had an original design. Can you guys say that with me? The original design. And I know that I'm going fast, and you can breathe for a moment. Those that are watching, you can breathe. Before we address what went wrong, we must understand what God intended through this original design, because scripture begins with the goodness of God and the wisdom of his design. Humanity did not begin in ruin. Humanity began in purpose. Can you say that humanity began in purpose? Then God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion. So God created man in his image, and God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion. Genesis chapter 1, verse 26 and 28. I was reading from the English Standard Version. Notice the divine order in this text. God made man, or God made humanity in his image before he assigned humanity to rule. Identity came before assignment. Relationship came before responsibility. Blessing came before instruction. This order matters, body of Christ. It matters profoundly because kingdom authority has never been meant to flow from self-importance or self-indulgence. It flows from God-given identity, God-ordained fellowship with Jesus, the Father, and the Spirit of God. But to be made in the image of God means that human life carries immense immense power and dignity. Not only dignity, listen to me, it carries moral weight and sacred purpose. It does not mean that humanity is divine, but that we were designed to reflect the character, the wisdom, and the order of the Creator in the earth. The image of God gives every believer a foundation for worth, holiness, and responsibility. The dominion given in Genesis was delegated, not autonomous. Adam was not an independent ruler. Listen to me, but a steward under the heavens. He was a governor. God gave him delegated authority. He was meant to exercise that authority in union with God, not apart from God. This distinction is crucial because many people hear dominion and think of control, ego, or self-exaltation. Biblical dominion is not self-rule. It is faithful stewardship under the rule of God. Can you say that? It's faithful stewardship under the rule of God. Purpose also flowed from relationship. Adam's assignment in the garden came in the context of communion with the Father. The kingdom mandate has never been about activity without presence— excuse me— or divine purpose without hearing from God, because divine purpose is Healthiest when it arises from fellowship with the divine, with God himself. When presence is removed from purpose, people become driven and they become anxious and exhausted. When presence fills purpose— listen, this is powerful what I'm about to say— when presence fills purpose, people become stable. joyful and fruitful. Before there was a fall, there was a design. God had a plan for the planet Earth. Before there was sin, there was purpose. Can you say that with me? Say purpose. Purpose. Those of you that are watching, can you say purpose? Because we were made for more than survival. We were made for communion with God. Alignment with his will and participation in his righteous order. Because the fall and sin and the distortion took place because of Adam's rebellion. Adam was complicit in what took place in the Garden of Eden. What Adam did was treasonous. If God's design was so beautiful and ordered, when you hear me say this, that the fall, sin, and distortion took place, you say, well, if God's design was so beautiful and ordered, what happened to the human condition? Now, scripture does not ignore sin. Neither should we, because the point is not to magnify the enemy or leave anyone staring at darkness, but to understand the seriousness of the fall. So that the grace of Christ shines all the more brightly in our lives. Now scripture says, Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, did not God actually say This is what the serpent said in Genesis chapter 3, verse 1. Because at this point, the entrance of sin began with deception. The serpent questioned God's word, then God's goodness, and finally God's boundaries. This pattern still is still recognizable today. The enemy is still using the same pattern today. Temptation often begins by distorting how we hear God. If the enemy— listen to me— if the enemy can make God's instructions sound restrictive instead of loving, he can make rebellion appear wise instead of destructive. Adam and Eve chose independence Over obedience. At the heart of sin, listen, is not merely the breaking of a rule. It is the rejection of God's loving rule. Sin is not only behavior that falls below standard. Sin is a rupture in alignment. It is a refusal of God's order in favor of self-will.

Rule.

I want you to think about that. It refuses God's order in favor of self-rule. See, the result was immediate and devastating because of the sin of Adam and Eve. Shame replaced innocence, fear replaced openness, blame replaced harmony, and death entered the human story. Even dominion was distorted. Because Adam gave over that dominion. The earth that was to be stewarded by Adam and Eve, stewarded in peace, became a place of toil, conflict, and frustration. The fall did not erase God's design, but it fractured humanity's capacity to live it out rightly according to God's word and God's design. God had purpose for every single one of us. The enemy could not create life, so he sought to distort the life God had given. Sin corrupted desire and darkened understanding and distorted authority. Humanity still bears dignity, but that dignity now exists in a fallen condition that desperately needs redemption from the King of Kings. In order to operate in kingdom authority, we need redemption because temptation still works through deception, disordered desire, and the illusion of self-rule. Yet even in Genesis 3— listen— yet in Genesis 3, judgment is not God's final word. In the midst of the fall, he speaks promise. The story was already turning toward Redemption. Because when you see God's awesomeness and his plan for every single one of us, you think of Jesus and the paramount message of the kingdom. Because the fall explains the crisis, but it does not have the final word. Wherever sin introduced loss, God answered with redemptive purpose through Jesus Christ. Because the kingdom, the kingdom is not a side theme in the ministry of Jesus. It was a paramount message. It is central to his proclamation, and it was visible in his works and embodied in his person. Jesus said this. He said, I must preach the good news of what? Of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well. For I was sent for this purpose, according to Luke chapter 4, verse 3. Jesus himself tells us why he was sent. He came preaching the good news— what?— of the kingdom of God. The kingdom is not merely future. It is not merely political in a narrow earthly sense. The kingdom is the reign of God. Breaking into the human life through the presence and the authority and saving work of the King. To say that the kingdom is paramount is not to diminish other biblical themes. That's not my intention. That's not the intention of 514 Grace Church. But rather, it means, it means that many major biblical themes find their proper order Within the kingdom, such as salvation, holiness, discipleship, mission, justice, peace, spiritual warfare, and the life of the church, all make fuller sense under the reign of God who is revealed in Christ. Where the kingdom is present, God's righteousness is made manifest. Darkness is confronted, the broken are restored, sins are forgiven, and lives are reordered. Jesus did not simply talk about this reality; he demonstrated it. His miracles were not random displays of power. His miracles—they were signs that the reign of God had drawn. Near in him. Seeking the kingdom means aligning every area of life under the lordship of Christ— your home, your thought life, your relationships, your speech, your vocation, your ambitions, stewardship, and witness— all Of this taking place in your life, because it all comes under the reign of God. Jesus came preaching the kingdom. The kingdom cannot remain an abstract doctrine. It is lived right here inside of us. It is a lived alignment with the King of Kings himself. Salvation, therefore, is more than rescue from future judgment, though it surely includes that as well, because Jesus brings people into restored life under God's reign. Because salvation is not less than forgiveness, but it is more than forgiveness alone. It is reconciliation with God. Reconciliation with God. Excuse me. And God gives this transfer into the kingdom of the Son and a life that has been reordered by the grace of Jesus Christ. The kingdom is not a side theme in the ministry of Jesus. It is the atmosphere of his mission. Are you listening to me? Grace gives us not only that opportunity to allow the Spirit of God to make correction, but grace gives victory over sin, and it restores— it gives restored authority to every single believer. And you may ask, you say, well, how does How does fallen humanity enter the reality of the kingdom? That's a really good question. The answer is found in Christ's cross, his resurrection, and his grace. He said he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom Of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. According to Colossians chapter 1, verse 13 and 14, Paul does not describe salvation as merely an emotional improvement. He speaks of deliverance, transfer— excuse me, redemption and forgiveness. Believers are brought out of one domain into another. Grace has authority in that domain. Grace is not merely God's willingness to overlook sin. Grace is God's decisive action to rescue and to forgive and to restore and to empower. Jesus is the last Adam and the true restorer. Where Adam failed in obedience, Christ obeyed perfectly. Where Adam yielded to temptation, Christ overcame it. Where Adam's disobedience opened the door to ruin, Christ's obedience opened the way to righteousness and life so that we could live as the children of God, not being dominated or ruled by sin. Because this does not mean believers become immune to temptation. We do not. But it does mean that we are no longer a Abandoned to sin's dominion. Sin has no authority over us, for sin will have no dominion over you. I love this text. I know this one by heart. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under the law but under grace, according to Romans chapter six verse fourteen. I love this verse because this verse must be received. With both confidence and care. It does not promise that believers will never struggle, because we will struggle, or that sanctification is instant. Sanctification is progressive. It takes time. It declares that sin no longer possesses rightful dominion over those who are in Christ. The believer's The battle is real, but the believer's identity has changed. Ah, the Spirit is present and the reign of sin has been broken through the cross of Christ. This cross is not just a cross. It has been weaponized because grace therefore is more than pardon. Grace is empowering presence. Grace trains, corrects, strengthens, and forms the believer into Christ's likeness. Grace does not produce passivity. Properly understood, grace produces holy dependence and faithful obedience in Christ Jesus. The cross is a symbol, an emblem of victory, and a symbol of defeat for the enemy. Did you guys hear me? Because kingdom authority— we're going to be teaching on this— kingdom authority also requires careful understanding. It is not personal bravado or religious title or loud performance. It is the delegated influence of a life surrendered to Jesus, governed by the Spirit, And anchored in holiness. Authority flows from union with Christ. Say that. Authority flows from union with Christ. Authority flows from union with Christ. Because it is strongest where there is humility. Not only humility, but obedience. Not only obedience, but it must have an intimacy with God. Grace does not simply excuse the believer. Keep me posted on the time. Grace does not simply excuse the believer. Grace empowers the believer in Christ because grace produces repentance, which is available without shame. Grace gives victory And it makes victory possible without self-glory. And spiritual authority is real without becoming fleshly. This is what the cross, kingdom authority, the grace of God gives us. Because Christ does not merely forgive his people, he transforms them and equips them. Because Through the Victorious Kingdom Church, we have victory over sin and over the devil himself. What Christ restores in individuals, he restores every single one of us to walk in victory, to know that we can dominate, because he gathers his people together in one new man. And that's in Jesus, because the kingdom is expressed not only in isolated lives— hear me— but in a community called the church. And Jesus says, and I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, according to Matthew chapter 16, verse 18. Jesus is building his church. The church is not merely a human institution held together by effort, personality, or tradition. She belongs to Christ. She is his body, his bride, and his witness. in the earth to speak of the kingdom rightly and clearly. And this teaching on the kingdom will increase our love for Christ and for his church and not diminish it, because the church is the people through whom the King makes his visible life.

Amen.

Personal and visible to all who see the kingdom lived out publicly, because the world is looking for such an answer. The Bible says that the earth is yearning for the manifestation of the sons of God, because the church is in fact victorious, because Christ is victorious. This doesn't mean that every congregation is flawless. No, You got it wrong. Or every believer is mature. No, you have it wrong. It means the ultimate confidence of church rests in the risen head who reigns over sin, death, and hell. Yes, churches make mistakes. Yes, we're fallible, but the grace of God is given to every single man. And Jesus says, regardless of your mistakes, regardless of your past, and your wrongs. The gates of hell do not prevail because Jesus reigns. So we look at men and women of God that have fallen. I think about so many brothers and sisters that have made mistakes, and I recall scripture, and Jesus said— and Jesus came and said to them all, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. I love this. He knew that we were going to make mistakes, but yet and still Jesus says, go and make disciples of all nations. Matthew chapter 28, verse 18 and 19. Please forgive. Walk in forgiveness. Walk in the grace of God because we're the church of forgiveness. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus. On that foundation, he commissions his church. The church carries the gospel of the kingdom into the world to make disciples, to forgive, to teach the grace of God, the forgiveness of God, the compassion of God. The church carries the gospel, the kingdom message, Message and her mission includes making disciples, teaching truth, practicing compassion, living in holiness, serving others, bearing witness, demonstrating Christlike love. This is not a narrow or passive religion. It is a whole life witness empowered by the Spirit of God. The victorious church is not victorious because she is Impressive in herself? Are there celebrities or stars that attend her? They're human just like we are. They need forgiveness and love just like we do. But the church, she is victorious because her Lord is victorious and because the Spirit of God is at work in every single one of us. And he works through those yielded lives. The church is not called merely to survive history. She is called to reveal the victory of Christ within history. We're not called merely to attend services or consume Christian content. No, it's much larger than that. We're, we're called to embody the mission of Christ, to love the church, strengthen the Pray for the church and participate in the church's kingdom witness in the earth to teach men that Jesus is alive and he forgives. And I need you to hear me because the proper response to this message is not fear but joyful surrender to Jesus Christ. First, do me a favor. First, lay down self-rule, competing loyalties, and misplaced priorities. Alignment with Christ is not the loss of life. It is the recovery of true life, true order, and true purpose. Because seeking first the kingdom means, means bringing every area of life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ our Lord. Second, for those who feel defeated by persistent sin, I need you to hear me. If you made mistakes, God forgives you. Pastors, leaders, if you made mistakes, God forgives you. The church is victorious. And I know that there are many brothers and sisters that have made mistakes and have been attacked in the media. I want you to hear me. If you're listening to this, God has forgiven you. He has restored you. He's restoring you. And understand this, you're not defeated. Weakness or shame is not your name. Jesus is the true restorer. Grace is not merely a covering for failure. It is the power for transformation. Repentance remains necessary, but condemnation has no right— listen to me— condemnation has no right or rule to those who belong to Christ Jesus. You are forgiven. Sin shall not have dominion over you anymore because you are not under the law but under grace. Third, see yourself as an active participant in God's unfolding purpose. The church is not retreating from history. We're not. In the power of the King, she advances. When I say she, I'm talking about the church. She advances with truth, compassion, holiness, and witness. Love the church. Pray for the church. Serve the kingdom of God. Carry the life of the kingdom into every sphere and place of influence that you work at, you live, or even you touch, because Jesus is building his church and his kingdom.

Amen.

And this kingdom is still advancing through yielded lives. I see a church that is victorious. I see a church that is global, where God is teaching his message to all of his young people. I see a church that is raising up leaders. I see a church that is raising up ministry gifts. A church that is victorious, a church that forgives and loves the people of God, those that really are embraced of him. Because what Adam lost, Christ has restored. Where grace begins, grace empowers. And what Jesus builds, the gates of hell cannot open.

Amen.

overcome. And I know that are— there are many of you that are watching me, you're listening, and you've made mistakes. We've all made mistakes. I've made mistakes. I sit here before you not as one that is boastful, no, but humble, because God forgave me. He's still forgiving me, but sin has no more dominion over me. Because I'm full of light, and you're full of light. Stop holding on to your past mistakes, failures, those things that are wrong. That was five or two, five or two.

Grace and love, we step in grace. Five or two, five or two. Came in broken, walked in heavy. Chains on tight, harden already. Grace stepped in smooth and steady. Turned my mess to testimony, confetti. No more shame on replay. No more fear, gotta say. Jesus love hit deep, now I breathe a new way.