Who has the keys in the heavens and on this earth? The answer is Christians. Christians have the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. But what does this mean?
The kingdoms of this universe
In the spiritual realm, there are two kingdoms:
- The Kingdom of God
- The kingdom of the devil (kingdom of darkness)
There are no more kingdoms, than these two. You belong to the Kingdom of God or you belong to the kingdom of the devil.
Between these kingdoms is a war raging. This war will continue until the day comes that one of these kingdoms will be completely destroyed by the other Kingdom.
You might say: “yes, but wait a minute, Jesus has already conquered the devil, He has taken the keys and has all authority in heaven and on earth, so the devil is already defeated. We can rest in Jesus, and sit at His feet in His presence. We mustn’t pay too much attention to the devil, yak, that gives me bad vibes. and by the way you mustn’t scare people”
Well, yes, you are right… Jesus has defeated the devil and Jesus has legally taken the keys of authority, but… the war is not over.
The devil still has the ability to fight and attack Christians, because the devil has not been cast into the eternal lake of fire, yet (Revelation 20:7-10).
Until the devil is cast into the lake of fire, the devil still has the ability to attack Christians and destroy them.
Where do the attacks of the devil take place?
The attacks of the devil take mainly place in the flesh (body and soul (the mind); sickness, (mental) illness, fears, anxieties, weakness, destructive and negative thoughts that don’t line up with the Word of God, etc.
The devil tries to tempt believers in the flesh, so that they will step into his trap and cause them to sin. This is the way the devil captivates Christians.
The devil knows his time is short. Therefore the devil goes around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he can devour. His mission is to bring as many people as possible with him to hell (1 Peter 5:8).
The devil is a murderer, a slaughtered, and he lies and deceives people, and tempts the people to sin, because sin leads to death.
Whosoever walks in sin, walks in the death. The Word of God says that sin leads to death and not to eternal life and the devil knows this as well.
God gave the keys to mankind
Let us go back to the garden of Eden. The devil tempted Eve, she began to doubt God’s words, became disobedient to His words, and she and Adam sinned.
When Eve began to doubt, she hadn’t sinned yet. But Eve let that doubt enter her mind and began to reason.
She could have stayed obedient to the words of God and could have said to the serpent: “No, I will not eat of these fruits, because God has commanded us, to not eat from this tree. I will obey God, because I believe in what He says, and not what you say.” But instead, Eve believed the words of the serpent, and therefore she took the forbidden fruit and ate from the forbidden fruit.
Adam didn’t stop Eve, while he was with her, but Adam also took the forbidden fruit and ate from the forbidden fruit.
When Adam and Eve took the fruit and ate the fruit, they became disobedient to God and obeyed the devil instead.
The devil took the keys
When they obeyed the devil, they handed over their keys of authority to the devil. And so the devil had taken the keys of authority on earth, which God originally had given to mankind and became the ruler of the world.
From the moment man sinned, the spirit of man died and came under the authority of death, and the law of sin and death entered and man fell from his appointed position.
Adam and Eve were no longer spiritual but became carnal and as a result the flesh became visible to them and saw that they were naked.
God wasn’t walking with a spiritual man, but with a carnal man. Through the fall the law of sin and death came into being and reigned in the flesh.
Every person, who would be born on from the seed of man, would be born as a sinner and live under the authority of the devil and death.
After the fall, God walked with several people and eventually God chose a people and made a covenant with Abraham and his Seed. God was with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel). ANd everyone, who would be born of the seed of Jacob (Israël) belonged to God’s covenant people.
The law of sin and death
God made this invisible law that reigned in the flesh and His will known to His people by giving the law of Moses. Through the law God made His will and the works of the devil known to the people and warned the people.
As long as the people kept God’s commandments, they had nothing to worry about. God was with them and they were protected and blessed. But as soon as they deviated from the commandments of God and His precepts, they would be cursed and live in bondage.
God gave them a choice, to chose life through obedience to the law or to chose death, through disobedience to the law (Read also: Do the mountains of blessing and curse still exist in the New Covenant?).
Keeping God’s commandments
The only way for the people of Israel to stay free from bondage of the devil was by keeping the law of Moses. By keeping God’s commandments, precepts, rituals, food laws, sacrificial laws. and feasts, they would be walk in His will and be blessed and not cursed. Because God would be with them and go before them, fight for them and protect them.
When the blood of animals was brought to the altar, and once every year to the mercy seat, the sins and iniquities of His people would be covered and forgiven and (temporary) reconciliation took place between God and His people, so that God could have communion with His people.
The coming of Jesus; the Son of God
Then Jesus came into the flesh, born of the Spirit of God. Because of that Jesus was not born as a sinner; His seed was not affected by evil. Jesus was fully Human and could have sinned, but Jesus loved His Father and lived a life of obedience without sin. Jesus walked according to the will of His Father.
Even in the wilderness, when the devil tried to tempt Jesus with the words of God. Jesus corrected him and defeated him with the true words of God.
Jesus knew His Father and kept His commandments. When the devil tried to tempt Him, by proving Himself that He was the Son of God and by giving Him all the kingdoms of the earth, Jesus didn’t fall into his trap (Read also: ‘I will give you the riches of the world‘).
Jesus knew that the devil was a liar and He had come to the earth for a greater purpose.
The earthly riches and kingdoms were only temporary, but Jesus came to free humanity from the captivity of the devil. Jesus came to free mankind from the power of the devil. He came to deliver them from the darkness and transfer them to the Kingdom of God and reconcile them with God and give them eternal life.
Jesus didn’t give into the desires and lusts of the flesh (greed, love of money, harlotry, idolatry, selfishness, etc) NO! The Spirit ruled in Jesus’ life and therefore Jesus walked after the Spirit and not after His flesh.
Did Jesus have the ability to take what the devil offered Him in the wilderness? Absolutely, but Jesus didn’t. His priority was to do the will of His Father.
Jesus legally took the keys back
When Jesus was crucified, He died, entered Hades, and stayed there for three days. During these three days, Jesus preached the Gospel and conquered hell and death and legally took back the keys, which the devil had taken from Adam.
On the third day, the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus came back with the keys. And so Jesus had legally taken the keys of authority back from the devil.
From that moment on, the devil had no right anymore to possess and captivate man. But the devil still had the ability.
The devil still works according to the law of sin and death. But anyone who believes in Jesus Christ, and becomes a new creation, is seated in Him.
When the new creation walks after the Spirit and not after the flesh, (s)he is redeemed from the law of the sin of death and the curse.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the fles, but after the Spirit.For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace (Romans 8:1-6).
What happens, if you don’t speak the Word of God?
But… if Christians don’t take the Word of God in their mouth and don’t begin to speak the Word of God, and remain carnal and are led by the flesh; their senses, thoughts, emotions, feelings, will, lusts, desires, etc., then it won’t be long, before the enemy leads them back into captivity (Read also: ‘The reason why you don’t experience victory in your life?)
Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galatians 4:1-5)
Christians have the keys
Christians are the sons of God and they must realize, that in Jesus Christ, they have all authority in heaven and on earth.
Jesus has the keys to set people free from every oppression of the devil. If you are born again in Christ and are seated in Christ, you have in Him all that He has. So, in other words, you have the keys; the authority to set people free from the oppression of the devil.
By faith in the name of Jesus, you have the keys. You have the keys; the authority to free people from bondage, to forgive their sins and iniquities, and give them eternal life (a.o. John 20:23).
The devil still operates in the flesh; body and soul. He still works according to the law of sin and death.
But as a born again Christian, as a son of God (this applies to both males and females), you operate in the law of the Spirit of life and not in the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
You are crucified with Christ, which means that you no longer live, but that Christ lives in you.
You’ve laid down your carnality, which led you to sin and death. Therefore the law of sin and death has no hold on you.
You will not look at the cause and effect. But you will look at one thing: the blood of Jesus, and faith in His name, that brings freedom to everyone.
The devil hates God and knows how much God loves people. Therefore the devil wants to destroy people, in order to hurt God. The devil knows his destination, which is the eternal lake of fire. He wants to take as many people as possible, with him. This is his revenge on God.
Let Christians arise!
Therefore arise! Read and study the Word of God. Take the Word in your mouth, so that you no longer be a slave of sin, but become spiritually mature. Know the Word and speak the words of God and live after His will.
Walk in Him and bring life and freedom to people. Free people from their prison of depression, anxiety, sickness, illness, mental disorders, fear, death, powers, etc.
You are seated in Him and He has the keys; He has all authority. If you are seated in Him, you also have the keys; you have all authority in Him.
Now, your job is not to relax, stay carnal and live after the flesh. But your job is to bring the Kingdom of God to the earth and walk after the Spirit. You ought to be doing God’s will and not your will.
Put on the spiritual armour of God
Jesus has set the example and showed us how to walk as a son of God. Therefore begin to walk after the Spirit, put on the spiritual armor and walk in the Word of God.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak (Ephesians 6:10-20)
‘Be the salt of the earth’
