He Knows My Name
“Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:17-20)
In the preceding passage Jesus sent the 12 out to preach the gospel and heal the sick. Upon their return they were understandably excited that the demons were subject to them in the name of Jesus. Something that is still true today for every Spirit filled believer, more on that in a moment. Jesus’ response is so amazing to me. He says three things...
1. I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. We can see this explained for us in
the book of Revelation where Michael and his angels cast out the devil and his
followers from heaven. Jesus of course was/is a witness to this. This amazing
fact shows not only the power and authority of God over the power of the
enemy, but also shows Jesus’ divinity as He was/is witness to this event.
2. Jesus speaks of the power and authority He has given us over the enemy. Now
this is not a power we possess in ourselves, but, as followers of Jesus Christ, this
authority comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is God’s power, not
ours! It is God’s authority, not ours! In the book of Jude, when Michael the
archangel was disputing with Satan over the body of Moses, Michael said “the
Lord rebuke you”. Why? Isn’t Michael more powerful than the enemy? Michael is
certainly more powerful than we are in our natural strength. But even Michael
would not rebuke the enemy, He asked God to do it. Yes, we have authority over
the enemy, but this authority and power are God’s, given through the indwelling
ministry of the Holy Spirit. I do not fear the enemy because of myself, but
because of Him in me.
3. Finally, Jesus tells His followers, which includes us, do not rejoice that the
spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in
heaven. What a powerful statement. There are too many people who have an
unhealthy obsession with the demonic and have an unscriptural view about
casting out demons. I have been faced with a demon possessed person, it was
not fun, and by God’s grace we asked Him to rebuke that demon and God did it.
But I do not search for it, I do not look for demons around every corner. This is
in line with what Jesus is telling us. He points out that we do have power over
the demonic but that is not something we should rejoice in. What do we rejoice
in? We rejoice in our salvation.
This is how I would like to apply this for us today. We do have authority over the enemy in the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us. I praise God for that. However, this is not the source of our rejoicing. What should be the source of our rejoicing? That we are saved! I think it’s great that we know the name of Jesus and we can operate in the authority of Jesus. But what is so much more important is that He knows our name and that we are known by God. Isaiah 43:1 tells us “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.” That is what we are to rejoice in, that we are known by God, that He has redeemed us in His Son, and as a result we do not need to fear. Praise God. I love that I know His name, I rejoice and rest in the fact that He knows mine!
Image borrowed from – Unsplash.com
