THE LORD/MY LORD
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The Lord/My Lord
The Lord/My Lord
Good morning children of God! What a beautiful day the LORD has given us! This morning we are going to talk about something that I believe deserves clarity. When we talk about Jesus Christ, we speak about Jesus as both our Lord and our Savior.
We often make salvation the focal point, and I love that, but we do not really talk or think much about the title of “Lord.” Lord is not just a simple title we attach out of respect for Jesus, it means something and it is big. Lets take a trip back to when Jesus was born. In the Gospel according to Luke, we read:
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
I pray that Jesus is your savior this morning. When we talk about Jesus being our savior, we are calling Him our deliverer. He delivered us from evil to righteousness, delivered us from hell to the Kingdom of God, delivered us from the evil one to the hands of Abba daddy. I will testify with my last breath that he saved this wretched soul.
Let’s talk about His Lordship this morning. The Greek word for Lord is kurios. Lord literally means “Master.” The angel’s are declaring that Jesus is the Savior, he is the Messiah and Jesus is the Master of all. David tells us that a host of angel sounds like 10000 X 10000 angels, all declaring Jesus as Savior, the promised Messiah, and the Lord of all!
We must recognize His Lordship. Jesus’ Lordship occured before he came as our savior. He was the Lord before He was your or my savior.
It is His great love for you and me, as the Lord and Master, that brought Him to be born as a lowly human and then to the cross as the atoning sacrifice for you and for me.
Now lets go further back, before Jesus was born in the flesh. Recall that the Apostle John writes:
1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.
The Truth, the Word was, is, and will always be Jesus Christ, the Lord. If our thought process is that Jesus is our Savior, but not the Lord of all, we are thinking backwards. Scripture tells us repeatedly that Jesus is both Lord and Savior. The pre-existent one. Do we believe that Jesus Christ IS THE LORD of all this morning? I am here to tell you this morning that regardless of what anybody thinks or believes, Jesus is The Lord.
Let’s take this a little further this morning. Jesus Christ is the Lord. What if we change one word, what if we go from “the Lord” to “Our Lord?” Maybe we rephrase it as “My Lord, Your Lord.” If we are willing to say and believe that Jesus is “the Lord,” by virtue of this statement we must also be willing to state and believe that He is “Our Lord,” and on a personal level, “my Lord.”
20 And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.
Peter is writing about false teachers in this chapter. Some believers will go “Whew, glad that does not apply to me!” I have what may be a scary observation for you if that is what you are thinking.
If you are known as a believer outside of this room this morning, you are showing the world what it means to be a believer. That falls to you! Others are going to watch and learn from your behaviors as a Christian. You are teaching others what it means to be a Christian.
If we lose sight of Jesus as the Lord of our lives, we are in danger. If you have refused to make Him Lord of your life this morning, you are in danger.
Peter warns us that becoming enslaved to sin again, turning to the world again would be disastrous. This is not to scare the believer into submission, but to warn every believer.
Think about it for a moment. We know the Truth and the Truth is Jesus. If as believers, we deliberately reject Him and twist the Word around for our comfort, we are willingly traveling down and leading others down the path of destruction.
Last Sunday, I found myself praying and weeping during worship, I would weep almost every time I looked at the cross. Sometimes it takes me a few minutes to organize in my mind what I am thinking and feeling during those times. I realized that I was repenting and that I was in intercessory prayer at the same time.
I was repenting of those things in my life where I continue to struggle. Where I still miss the mark. Where I fall short and where I sin. You see, as believers we should detest sin in our lives, and repent, meaning to turn away. When we turn away from sin, we have no choice but to face the cross.
I was in intercessory prayer for this nation, for its leaders, for some of my brothers and sisters in Christ, for those who do not know the Lord, and for those who struggle in the darkness. I do not recall a time in my life when the harvest for Jesus is as plentiful as it is in this moment.
Look at the cross with me for a moment. Jesus has offered all people the opportunity to escape sin, to reject sin, and to have eternal life at the cost of His own life. So many have chosen to not only turn back to sin, but to embrace sin and indulge in sin, all the while encouraging others to do the same. Love me or hate me, I pray for those who are on the wide path that leads to destruction.
This next verse many people think is intended for salvation only. Not so. This verse is a reminder to the most seasoned and mature believer as well as the newest believer.
9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
We are saved from something. What are we saved from? From our sins leading to hell and an eternal separation from God.
We are also saved to and for something - to the absolute, 100%, “Lord of all” headship of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives. The heart cry of every Christian should be echoed in the apostle’s words: “Jesus is Lord!”
Determine that He will be your Lord, choose Him as your Lord from the beginning of your walk with Him to your very last earthly breath.
We have a purpose church, we have a mission, and they are different from one another.
Our Purpose: The Great Commandment
Love God
Love our Neighbors
Jesus the Messiah put this in a simple way that can be neither argued nor misconstrued -
15 “If you love me, obey my commandments.
When we love God, He becomes the true Lord of our lives. It becomes deeply personal. Justifying sin becomes difficult, excuses begin to crumble, and blaming others or this world for our words and actions holds no water.
Jesus has already done the heavy lifting, he took the punishment, it is already done! He alone hand delivered each of us an eternal invitation into His kingdom.
Jesus is the Lord. In loving God, in loving our neighbor, we must recognize and adhere to our mission.
The Mission: The Great Commission
19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Every single believer on this planet is called to this purpose and this mission. By the Word of Jesus Christ, by the blood of Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. You have been set free this morning, Jesus does not Lord His lordship over you. He will not make us make Him Lord of our lives.
He gives each of us the choice moment by moment. Making and keeping Him as Lord of your life is for your benefit, not His. He does not need us, He chose you and He loves us.
Worship Team to Stage
C.S. Lewis is quoted as saying -
“The church exists for no other purpose but to draw men and women into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose.” - C.S. Lewis
At the deepest level of our hearts, our desire should be to be totally submitted to His Lordship over every area of our lives, to obey, to honor the One who died and rose again for us, so that we might be saved. So that we can share His gift, the good news, the Gospel message with all of creation.
Have you made Jesus Lord of your life? I am not asking if you have recieved salvation. Can you stand before the Lord and say “You are Lord of my life?” Do your words and your actions show this broken world that Jesus is Lord?
Alter Call/Prayer