This week, Michael writes: What men meant for evil, God meant for good. Despite the opposition of this God-rejecting world and the darkness of this sinful world, all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. One of our priorities is that Jesus is Lord of our lives. J. Oswald Sanders wrote many books on Christian leadership. Someone asked him, “Can you receive Jesus Christ as savior and not Lord?” Sanders replied, “I received him as Savior but not Lord because no one taught me what it means to confess ‘Jesus is Lord.’ As soon as someone explained to me the lordship of Christ, I received him as Lord.”
What does it mean to call Jesus “Lord?” Oswald Chambers said, “There is no moral value to a higher authority unless you are obedient to that authority. We are each a slave to our own selfish desires unless we die to self so that we may live to glorify him. The lordship of Jesus Christ means to submit in loving obedience to His will and to His authority.” Christianity is a rescue mission for desperate men and women. When like the prodigal son, we “come to ourselves” then we can return to our Heavenly Father. This is the point of repentance — of changing our direction. The world’s code says that a person cannot say, “I can’t make it on my own.” However, the moment of repentance is when I recognize that in my own power, I’m powerless to overcome the problems, panic, and pandemic of this world.
The consistency of Christianity is our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. The psalmist asked in Psalm 121, “Shall I lift up mine eyes unto the hills? From whence cometh my help?” The next verse says, “My help cometh from the Lord who made heaven and earth.” Recognition of a higher authority in order to please Him is the point of repentance — of turning from myself and unto Him. Sin, missing the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus by doing what God says not to do or not doing what God sys to do, is part of our human nature. Our nature we inherited from Adam is to succumb to the temptations and cares of this world. Jesus said, “in this world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Jesus wasn’t a tyrant who forced His followers to obey his command through coercion against their wills. When a man or woman comes to Christ, they come to the realization that they are no longer in charge of their own life. Chambers said regarding Lordship, Christ says “I require extreme obedience from you with no questioning or complaining on your part and no explanation on mine.” Lordship means that I give up authority over my own life in obedience to His will and His calling. To say, “Jesus is Lord,” means that I surrender my will to His will. Confession that Jesus is Lord means to speak the same word, making God’s Word my word. It also means to make His desires my desires as I subjugate my will to His will.
When Jesus is Lord, nothing belongs to me. Lord means owner. It means that I sign away my own rights and become a bond-slave to Jesus Christ. A bond-slave chooses by the freedom of his will to serve his master from a heart of love. The Old Testament description of a bond-slave is in Deuteronomy 15:12-18. If a Hebrew buys the services of another Hebrew, the servant shall serve his master for six years and after the six years he shall be set free from his legal obligation to serve his master. After six years, if the slave says to his master, I love you and want to serve you for the rest of my life, Deuteronomy 15:16-17 says, “And if it happens that he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you, then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also, to your female servant you shall do likewise.”
Let's continue Michael message on the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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