From the first account of creation in Genesis, in which man is endowed with dominion, to the final chapter of Revelation, in which it is indicated that he shall reign forever, man's freedom and dominion are asserted with glowing clarity.
Christ Jesus, who fully exemplified this dominion himself, made it clear that man's sovereignty is not based upon material or human power, but upon spiritual understanding. He told his followers that if they remained Christlike they could free themselves and others from evil by knowing the truth, the spiritual facts of being. He further stated that he was endowing them with "power... over all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10: 19). From his demonstrations and teachings we learn that this "power... over all the power of the enemy" was the power to heal sickness, sin, death, poverty, lunacy, destroy subjection to occult influences, and annul whatever claimed to deprive man of the conscious harmony of being.
By studying Jesus' teaching and ministry we learn that the exercise of this dominion consisted of one thing: the ability to discern spiritual truth and demonstrate it, that is, to declare the Word of God effectively. The centurion whose keen analysis of Jesus' power is recounted in the eighth chapter of Matthew cognized this fact and told Jesus that if the Master would only speak the Word, he knew his servant would be healed.
