Set Ourselves to Submit to God’s Authority and Uphold it, Dealing with any Rebellion

In this universe there are two great principles: God’s authority and Satan’s rebellion, for the center of dispute relates to who has authority; we must contend with Satan by asserting that authority is with God, and we need to set ourselves to submit to God’s authority and uphold God’s authority, allowing the Lord to expose and remove any rebellion.

Lord Jesus, unveil us to see God’s authority. Save us from remaining in ourselves and thinking according to what we are and wish. Oh Lord, have mercy on us and grant us to see Satan’s rebellion and God’s authority. May we submit to God’s authority and may we stand against Satan and his rebellion. Remove any rebellion from us. Keep us under Your authority today! Amen!

In this universe, only God is the supreme authority, and all authority in society, among men, in the family life, and in the church life is ordained by God.

We cannot say, however, that we submit to God’s authority, but we don’t submit to God’s indirect authority, the ones that He has appointed to be over us with His authority.

All authority comes from God; sometimes the authority of God flows through us and we are in a position of authority, but most times we simply need to submit to others, as we submit to God, for God’s authority flows through them.

Even the Lord Jesus had to submit when He was on the earth. He was not above the law in His time, and He was not above the king or the leaders in His days.

He submitted to God to the uttermost, and He was willing to humble Himself to the uttermost; also, He submitted Himself to the authorities God put over Him.

Wow, here was God incarnated to be a man, and He submitted Himself to Herod, Pilate, and the leading Jews, and He was willing to be put to death by them.

He was righteous, He did nothing wrong, and He did nothing to deserve that kind of treatment from others; yet He submitted Himself to God and to the deputy authority He has set over Him. What a pattern!

When He was rejected, reviled, and persecuted, the Lord did not revile in return but kept committing all things to Him who judges righteously.

When certain cities rejected Him, He did not call fire from heaven upon them; rather, He extolled the Father, for He has hidden these things from those who are wise but has revealed them to the infants.

What kind of an attitude is this! What a wonderful pattern we have in the Lord Jesus!

This One now lives in us, and He has given us His life of submission so that we also submit to God’s authority and also to God’s deputy authority, His indirect authority.

God’s Authority and Satan’s Rebellion: we Submit to God’s Authority and God Manifests His Kingdom to Deal with Rebellion through our Submission

In this universe God is the supreme authority; however, Satan has rebelled against God. There are two great principles in the universe: God’s authority and Satan’s rebellion (Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13). The unique controversy between God and Satan concerns authority.

God is the supreme authority; He has all authority, but Satan rebelled against God, seeking to have his own kingdom, his own authority.

Rebellion is the denial of God’s authority and the rejection of God’s rule. In this universe, there’s a battle raging between Satan and his kingdom, and God and His kingdom.

On the earth there are only two categories of people: those who rebel against God and those who obey God’s authority. There’s nothing and there’s no one in between.

Satan was originally created by God; he was an archangel, but due to his pride, he uplifted himself, violated God’s sovereignty, rebelled against God, became God’s adversay, and established his own kingdom (Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:2-19; Matt. 12:26).

Now there are two kingdoms: God’s kingdom and the rebellious kingdom, Satan’s kingdom; these two kingdoms are at war at this very moment.

God created man in His image and according to His likeness and gave man His dominion to subdue Satan.

However, man fell; when man sinned, he rebelled against God and denied God’s authority, rejecting God’s rule. Men fell and fell and fell, until at Babel men rebelled collectively against God to abolish God’s authority from the earth (Gen. 3:1-6; 11:1-9). Oh Lord!

So the Lord came and dealt with this rebellious situation and gave them different languages and they were scattered all over the earth.

Although Satan rebelled against God’s authority and although man violates His authority by rebelling against Him, God will NOT let this rebellion continue; He will establish His kingdom on the earth (Rev. 11:15).

The whole universe was affected by the fall of Satan and the fall of man, and this has created a great problem for God. All creation is now subject to corruption due to man’s rebellion.

God, however, does not call back His authority; He will maintain His system of authority and He will establish His kingdom.

Although Satan rebelled against God’s authority and although man daily violates His authority by rebelling against Him, God will not let this rebellion continue. God will establish His kingdom.

The Lord Jesus came through incarnation not only to redeem us; He came to submit Himself to the Father and bring in the kingdom of God.

He did everything in submission to God, even in perfect cooperation with God’s authority.

He submitted to God the Father in all things, even unto death, and that the death of the cross. He is now in us, repeating the same kind of life in us today, for He is our life of submission in our spirit. He is gaining a realm in which God can execute His authority.

As we submit to God’s authority and to His deputy authorities set over us today, we allow God’s authority to have a free way in us.

As God has a way to have authority in us and among us, His kingdom will be manifested among us through submission.

The centre of dispute in this universe relates to authority: who has authority? May we take the lead to submit to God’s authority by exercising our spirit and being under God’s authority so that we may allow God to manifest His kingdom in us and among us today.

May we take the lead to submit to God’s authority so that the church would be headed up in Christ, and through the church, God would head up all things in Christ to bring in His kingdom (Eph. 1:10).

Lord Jesus, we enthrone You in the center of our being. You are the Lord. You are our God. You are the supreme authority. We give You the first place. We exercise our spirit, Lord, and we enthrone You in our being. Expose any rebellion in us. Expose any rebellion in our mind, emotion, and will. Spread Your kingdom in us. Spread Your kingdom with Your authority from our spirit to our mind, emotion, and will. Oh Lord, we want to be daily transferred out of the authority of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love. Set up Your kingdom in our heart. Execute Your authority in us. We submit to You, Lord, and to Your authority. We exercise our spirit to live by the life of submission in our spirit. May we as the church allow God’s authority to have a free way and manifest His kingdom through submission. Amen, Lord, gain Your kingdom in us and around us through our submission to God’s authority! May Your kingdom come and Your will be done! Praise the Lord, He will establish His kingdom on the earth, in spite of Satan’s rebellion!

We Set ourselves to Submit to God’s Authority and Uphold it, Dealing with any Rebellion

The centre of dispute in this whole universe relates to who has authority (Rev. 4:2-3). We must contend with Satan by asserting that authority is with God (Acts 17:24, 30).

We believers in Christ were saved by God from eternal perdition and we were transferred out of the authority of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love. Now we set ourselves to submit to God’s authority and uphold God’s authority (Matt. 11:25).

God will establish His kingdom the earth, and He does it by starting with us, the kingdom people. We believers have received the gospel, we beleived into the Lord, and now we are in the church life as the kingdom of God.

In the church life we not only enjoy the Lord with the saints; we are also in the kingdom of God, and God is the supreme authority.

We now set ourselves to submit to God’s authority and uphold it. Christ is the only King; there is no other king in the kingdom of God, only Christ is King and Lord.

There are some in the church life and in the Body of Christ who are set to represent Christ with His authority, but they only represent Him, being His indirect authority, His deputy authority.

In Acts 9 we see the record of Paul’s conversion; he wanted to eradicate the church from the earth, but then he met the Lord on the way to Damascus. He realised it was difficult to kick against the goads (God’s authority) with his feet (man’s energy).

He met God’s authority and fell down, acknowledging Jesus as Lord; then, he submitted himself to the instruction of Ananias in Damascus (Acts 9:10).

On the one hand, he met God’s authority; on the other hand, he submitted to God’s deputy authority, a member of the Body of Christ through whom God’s authority flowed at that time.

We all need to meet authority on the way to “Damascus” so that we may submit to God’s authority and, in a very practical way, we would submit to a small brother in “Damascus.”

When we meet God’s authority, when we are smitten by God’s authority, we will realise that it is not people that we deal with – it is God’s authority in people.

We will only think of authority, submitting to God’s authority in a certain person, and we will not deal with persons, for our submission will not be to a person but to God’s authority in that person.

May the Lord shine on us in this matter so that we may set ourselves to submit to God’s authority and uphold it, and may we let Him shine on any rebellion in our being.

Especially as we live at the end of this age, when mankind is going toward an open rebellion against God and will at one point challenge God Himself to fight against Him at Armageddon, we see rebellion all around us.

Many times even we, believers in Christ, are so self-confident, but in reality, we are so blind, for we do not see God’s authority. Oh Lord!

When we come face-to-face with God’s authority at least once, we will submit to the deputy authority whom God appoints. We will set ourselves to submit to God’s authority.

If we read Numbers 16 we see two rebellions: first, there’s the rebellion of the leaders (vv. 1-40) and then the rebellion of the whole assembly (vv. 41-50).

The leaders rebelled against Moses and Aaron, and God came in to judge them; God opened the earth and swallowed them, and fire came from God to burn them.

The whole assembly saw it, and instead of learning from this, they later also rebelled, saying that Moses did this to the leaders. Oh Lord! Did Moses open the earth or send fire from heaven? No, it was God Himself.

When God sees rebellion, He comes in to judge it. When rebellion is present among God’s people, it is God who comes in to judge it, for rebellion is very serious in God’s eyes.

However, some may see God’s judgment upon the rebellious ones and they may still be audacious to say that it is the leaders in the church who should be blamed for this. Oh Lord!

Some people do not see God’s authority and do not realise that all authority is from God; when they see judgment, they blame people and do not deal with God’s authority.

Even worse, rebellion is contagious, and even when rebellion is judged, some may side with the rebellious ones.

May the Lord have mercy on us. We are not talking about things out there in the world; we’re talking about what happened in God’s people in the Old Testament, and if we check with our experience, we have seen this among us also.

God cannot tolerate rebellion, for rebellion is according to the principle of death. It is the principle of Satan, so God comes in to judge rebellion, for rebellion is more serious than any other sin (1 Sam. 15:23).

This is a solemn matter. This is why we need to set ourselves to submit to God’s authority and uphold God’s authority, and we need to allow Him to expose and deal with any rebellion in our being.

Lord Jesus, we set ourselves to submit to God’s authority and uphold God’s authority. Amen, Lord, we worship You and we submit to You. May we receive Your mercy and grace today to meet God’s authority and deal with God’s authority, not with any person through whom God’s authority is flowing at that time. Save us from being self-confident and blind. May we come at least once face-to-face with God’s authority, meeting God’s authority, so that we may submit to God’s authority and to the deputy authority whom God appoints. Amen, Lord, thank You for saving us and rescuing us from the kingdom of Satan; thank You for bringing us into the church life, the kingdom of God. We want to take the lead to submit to God’s authority and to the deputy authority God has ordained. Expose any rebellion in us. Expose our confidence in our self. Expose any self-deception. Expose any blindness. Oh Lord, we just open to You. Save us from any rebellion. Eradicate any rebellion from our being. We enthrone You, Lord!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” chs. 1-3, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The All-inclusive Christ as Revealed in Matthew (2025 Thanksgiving Blending Conference), week 6, Christ as the One Who Has All Authority in Heaven and on Earth – day 3.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – In fulness of the seasons / God’s Christ will head up all. / Then all will own His reigning / And worship, great and small. / Such reign in life and glory / The Church e’en now foretastes / And to His rule submitting / Unto His kingdom hastes. (Hymns #941 stanza 6)
  – ’Tis by His heav’nly rule within / As heav’nly citizens we live; / ’Tis by submission to His rule / Expression of His reign we give. / Here in this heav’nly realm we live, / And with this heav’nly pow’r possessed / We walk and fight in heav’nly light / Until the Kingdom’s manifest. (Hymns #942 stanzas 6-7)
  – And the kingship we must see / With divine authority— / To this rule we’ll all agree, / O glory be to God! / To the Spirit we’ll submit / For the church’s benefit— / This is His prerequisite / In the local churches now. (Hymns #1251 stanza 3)