What is the basis of Authority? Who should be in charge in the Family? Your kids school? Your workplace? Your Church? The City, state & nation you’re a citizen of? A Monarch would answer that the basis of authority is Royal lineage & the Divine Right of Kings… A Plutocrat or Aristocrat would say that the basis of authority should be wealth or nobility… Those who believe in Meritocracy & Geniocracy would argue that the basis of authority should be intellect, aptitude, and I.Q. - that the world should be led by geniuses - those who merit power. Ethnocrats like Adolph Hitler believed that superior ethnicity should be the basis of authority. And of course champions of Democracy advocate that authority is rooted in ‘We the People’ - the Citizenry of any nation.
But your Bible & the root word itself proclaim that Authority is rooted in Authorship! The Apostle Paul wrote: “But indeed O man, who are you to reply against GOD? Will the thing formed say to HIM who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this? Does not the Potter have power over the clay?’” (ROMANS 9:20,21) A Potter authors all kinds of characters & creations out of clay, as does a Tinsmith, or Locksmith - and he or she has absolute authority over the material they work with. When a child works with Play-do - you can teach him or her this principle - that Authority is rooted in Authorship. How many of us as kids authored a club and therefore claiming authority over it?
The Prophet Isaiah was inspired by GOD to write: “Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!” The Machinist authors tools and has total authority over them - and that authority is passed onto anyone who purchases one of his tools.
Who should be in charge of a business? The employees, the State, or the author of the business? Jesus said: “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a Landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for His vineyard. After agreeing with the workers on one denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about 9 in the morning, he saw others standing in the Marketplace doing nothing. He said to them, ‘You also go into my vineyard & I’ll give you whatever is right… About noon and about 3 he went out again and did the same thing… When those who were hired about 5 came (to be paid) they each received one denarius. So when the first ones came (to be paid) they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each. When they received it, they began to complain to the Landowner…. He replied to one of them, ‘Friend I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius? …Don’t I have the right to do with what is mine?” (MATTHEW 20:1-15 CSB) In this parable, Jesus implies that the Landowner has authority over the way he conducts his business. Have you ever thought of the position of an employee as an authored position? A business owner can choose to do it all himself or he can choose to author other positions to help him. Some States make it so time consuming & expensive to author employee positions that many Business owners just choose to go it alone.
In the old West it was teachers who were willing to travel to small town America who authored schools. Teachers author a syllabus, the contents of a curriculum, therefore they hold authority over the students they author.
In a Democratic Republic, voters author representatives whom they temporarily empower to govern their towns (Mayor), States (Governor) or Country (President). Just ask Gray Davis, former Governor of California, whom the electorate recalled when enough voters felt he was misusing the power they had temporarily given him.
To see how this principle of authority being vested in authorship applies in the Family and Church - go to YOUTUBE and type in Original Christianity and look for the T.V. show entitled ‘The Root of Authority'.’
GOD THE FATHER is called the Sovereign One (I TIMOTHY 6:15), because HE is the Author of all things! (ISAIAH 44:24) When people learn the truth that authority is based in authorship, it not only helps them understand & respect authority in the Human Realm, but the Divine Realm as well!