What does authentic, God-given authority actually look like?

Every person exercises authority somewhere in life: as a parent, spouse, leader, teacher, employer, or minister. The question is not whether you have authority. The question is whether you are using it in a way that actually represents God.

In this episode of CyberChurch, Authentic Authority, I continue my series In His Image by looking at how Jesus modeled authority. He never used authority to control people, demand submission, protect His position, or prove His greatness. He used it to serve, heal, liberate, restore, protect, and help people become strong and mature.

That distinction can transform your marriage, parenting, ministry, leadership, and relationships.

Jesus showed that authentic authority flows from knowing who you are, knowing the Father, and representing His character and nature. When your identity is secure, you don’t need to control people to feel powerful. You can use whatever authority God has entrusted to you for their benefit rather than your own.

If you want greater influence with the people you love and lead, this message will help you evaluate how you’re using authority and learn to follow the model Jesus actually gave.

Watch Authentic Authority and discover how to exercise authority in a way that reveals the character and nature of God.

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Becoming Who You Were Created to Be

What if your highest calling isn’t primarily about what you do for God, but about who you become as you represent Him in this world?

From the beginning, God revealed His purpose for mankind: “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). We were created to represent God on the earth—to reveal His character, nature, and heart through the way we live.

In In His Image, I take you back to God’s original intention for mankind and show how that purpose finds its perfect expression in Jesus. He is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), making Him our reference point for understanding who God is and who we were created to become. 

This series goes beyond knowing your identity in Christ as a biblical doctrine. Truth must become established in the heart. When you begin to see yourself according to your new identity in Jesus, it changes how you approach faith, prayer, authority, righteousness, relationships, and life itself. 

God’s goal has never been for you to struggle to become someone you are not. Transformation is learning to put off the old identity and put on the new man: the person God has already created you to be. 

As you work through this series, you’ll begin to:

• Recover your true identity in Christ
• Discover God’s original purpose for mankind in Genesis 1:26–28
• Understand why becoming like Jesus is at the heart of your highest calling
• See righteousness as a pathway of life rather than religious performance
• Look to Jesus as the perfect revelation of God’s character and nature
• Understand what it means to represent God and carry His name
• Transform how you live, love, pray, believe, and relate to others

Second Corinthians 3:18 tells us that as we behold the Lord, we “are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” When Jesus becomes our clearest picture of God, He also becomes our clearest picture of the life we were created to live. 

You don’t have to spend your life wondering about your purpose or trying to manufacture a better version of yourself. You were created in His image. You were created to reveal His likeness. In Jesus, you can discover who you were created to be.