In a most incredible statement, after His resurrection and just before His ascension to heaven, Jesus Christ said:
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me (Matthew 28:18).
Note the word all. He did not say some authority, or most authority. He said all authority. The Greek word for authority here is exousia, and the King James Version translates it as, "All power..."
In other words, there is no authority or power in the entire universe that the Father has not given over to His only begotten Son! The Son has it all.
The Father did not give some of it to Buddha, some to Mohammed, some to a few Hindu gurus, or maybe a little to other religious founders. He did not give it to government leaders. He did not give it to professors or academic leaders. He did not give it to Hollywood stars. He did not give it to network news anchors. Oh, yes, all these people have a degree of human influence, but that is nothing compared with the power we are talking about.
God gave it all to His Son. If the world only understood all the authority and power in the hands of the resurrected Son of God, it would no longer mock or be flippant towards Him or his followers, but would instead fall at His feet in reverent fear and adoration.
Where did Jesus get the power? Of course, He was the Son of God. But He had humbled Himself to become a man, laying aside His deity.
Being in very nature God, (Christ) did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:6-11).
And in this earthly state, He had to get the power the same way we have to get it-from the Holy Spirit.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased (Matthew 1:16-17).
In this one verse, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are mentioned. This is the mystery of the Trinity, the triune nature of God. The word "trinity" itself is not mentioned in the Bible, but there are many references to it, such as the above. They are one but three, and three but one. There are not three Gods but three expressions of the one God. For example, Jesus said, "The Father and I are one," and "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." It is a great mystery, but truth.
Remember, we humans are finite and God is infinite. Our finite minds cannot understand everything about infinity, only what is revealed to us, or else we would be God, and I don’t think our resumes qualify. Typically, cults deny the triune nature of God mainly because cults typically deny the deity of Jesus Christ, a principal revelation of the Bible and a basic doctrine of the church since the first century, both Catholic and Protestant.
The authority of the believer. One of the most important but least understood truths in the Bible is the authority that has been delegated to believers in Christ, available if they believe it and act upon it. Jesus told His disciples (and us):
I have given you authority (Greek: exousia) to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power (Greek: dunamis) of the enemy; nothing will harm you (Luke 10:19).
With serpents, scorpions, and the enemy, Jesus is referring to Satan and his demons. Believers have been granted authority over all of them. The world and individual lives would be totally different if believers understood and exercised that authority, defeating them, instead of being their victims. Satan and his demons, acting through the wrong choices of people, are responsible for all sickness, violence, wars, and all other evils in the world. The exercise of this authority needed to defeat them begins when one receives the delegated power of the Holy Spirit, to be described.
Power delegated. Jesus also said:
You will receive power (dunamis) when the Holy Spirit comes on you... (Acts 1:8, emphasis supplied).
Remember, He said, "You will receive..." That's us!
He was speaking to His followers, then, since, and now. He said that this same power He had would be given to His followers! Jesus was given all authority and power by the Father, and now by this authority He is delegating power to His followers.
Jesus referred to this as "the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about" (Acts 1:4). Note that this divine power being transmitted to humans is both a gift and a promise, and that the agent of transmission is the Holy Spirit: "When the Holy Spirit comes on you..."
Was this just a one-time manifestation in the first century? No, we know that this gift was not just a one-time thing because after the initial giving and manifestation of the gift just a few days later on the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter explained to a crowd:
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off - for all whom the Lord our God will call (Acts 2:39)
Further, the same thing happened other times as described in the book of Acts. After one occasion, at the house of a Gentile Roman soldier, Cornelius, Peter explained:
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?" (Acts 11:15-17).
Those in every generation who have dared to believe this incredible promise have actually seen this power manifested in their lives. As Peter said, who are we to think "that we can oppose God?"