There is but one power in the universe —God Omnipotent (all-power). And that power is exercised through man, made in the image and likeness of God and given dominion (Genesis 1:26). It manifests what appears to be either good or evil, according to what is in the consciousness of man (individually and collectively); but it is all the same power —God power. There is no evil power independent of man which is opposing God and which God (or man) must overcome.
Though Jesus both taught and demonstrated this, most of us have remained ignorant of the fact that this power is ours and that we are indeed exercising it all the time. We attribute the good that we are manifesting in our lives and universe to God and blame the devil for the evil. And of course it is the God power manifesting the good; but it is also the misuse of the God power which is manifesting the evil. But it is not God acting independently of man —or man acting independently of God.
For man is God in expression; and we are expressing whatever we conceive God to be. If all mankind were aware —and believed— that there is but one Power and that it is love and therefore always good and that this Power operates according to what we believe, it would be impossible for evil to be manifested in our world. Man has to believe in evil as a reality for it to be manifested.
It is not at all surprising that our world is self-destructing as a result of the collective beliefs of its inhabitants. Never in the history of the planet have we had the technology for such rapid and far-reaching communication. In a matter of minutes much of the globe’s population can be apprised of any imaginable evil, making it a part of the consciousness of anyone who will take it in. Then the power of agreement comes into play (see Power of Agreement). We experience not only that particular evil, but all the evil ramifications thereof.
We all sit in front of our television sets agreeing that a tornado is headed our way, a hurricane is going to hit New Orleans, this is going to be the worst flu season ever recorded, food prices are going to skyrocket, our homes are going into foreclosure, etc., etc. Or we look at lab reports and agree that we have (or are prime candidates for) the most dreadful physical ailments. We don’t even question anything with “scientific” evidence to substantiate it. Prominent women are even having their breasts removed because they have been told that they have the “gene” for breast cancer.
When I was a child, the world at large had never heard of cholesterol, Alzheimer’s, Aids and not even much cancer, especially breast and skin cancer. Now multiplied millions are dying from these conditions. Of course we had polio, smallpox, diphtheria, tuberculosis and other equally threatening conditions that we rarely hear about now. Yes, I know there are scientific explanations for all this. But what power we have attributed to science when God tells us that the wisdom of man is foolishness to God (1Corinthians 3:19). Jesus proved repeatedly that the laws of science had no power (except that which we attribute to them) when He walked on water, raised Lazarus from the dead, fed the five thousand, etc., etc. And He said that we would do the same works that He did —if we could believe it.
We obviously don’t believe Jesus’ words:
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
and
Mark 16:17-18 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Because we have not experienced these words of Jesus, instead of asking ourselves why, we have devised elaborate doctrines to explain them away.
The truth is that the power of the enemy
is nothing
(non-existent, except in our belief that it is something
to be feared and overcome) because the enemy
is our own carnal thinking (what the Scripture refers to as the devil
) that there is a power apart from God Omnipotent.