Jesus Is Savior And Lord (Sermon 3) Series

Lessons In Lordship Part 3

Jesus is Savior & Lord

Introduction: Take your Bibles if you would and turn with me to 1 Corinthians 6. Today is our third study in our Lessons in Lordship series. As I was thinking about all the implications that come with a study of the Lordship of Jesus Christ I realized that at the heart of the whole issue of Lordship is the fact that all of us, whether we like it or not, will answer to God. But more personally than that, those of us who have chosen to accept God’s gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ must answer to Him daily.

To make sure that we don’t make this some kind of intellectual pursuit that doesn’t have practical applications I want to keep us grounded in this study. So as an introduction to our study today I want us to look at a scripture passage that has given me a real challenge in the area of Lordship.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

I’ve paraphrased that verse and I’d like us to personalize it by saying it together:I am not my own, I was paid for by Jesus, So I will honor Him with my life.

The question is, "Am I?" Am I honoring Jesus with my life? Does the way I live my life, the things I do, and even think bring honor to Jesus Christ? If not, then I have a Lordship issue. It may be that you struggle with questions like these, and it may be that the reason you do is because you, like many other Christians have compartmentalized your faith. You have accepted Jesus as your Savior, but for some reason you are not acknowledging Him as your Lord.

What I want to do today is to begin showing you in Scripture how interconnected those two are. That Jesus Christ IS both Lord and Savior and that He can’t be one without the other in your life.

Jesus Christ is both Lord and Savior!

Today we are going to be looking a variety of scriptures that show how interconnected the roles of Savior and Lord are in the life and work of Jesus Christ. I hope that you have your Bibles with you to follow along. Once again we will be putting the reference up on the screen but we will not be putting up the verses themselves.

We are going to begin in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2 and our first point of connection comes at the very beginning of Jesus’ earthly life:

1. Jesus was Declared Both Lord and Savior at His Birth.

Luke 2:10-11

10But the angel said to them, Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David.

Isn’t it funny how easily we separate the ideas of Jesus as Savior and Lord even though it was cleared declared by the angels when they announced His birth to the Shepherds. Think about it, if His Lordship was declared to Mary and Joseph before His birth, and to the Shepherds after His birth, and if we can also see the Wise Men come bow down before Him as a Newborn King, why is it we have such a hard time acknowledging it in our own lives?

2. Jesus was Declared Lord by John the Baptist

Matthew 3:1-3

1In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Wilderness of Judea 2and saying, "Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!" 3For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight!"

John doesn’t say: Prepare the way of the Savior or even, Prepare the way for the Messiah. Why? Because that is not what the Prophet Isaiah said. John was quoting Isaiah. At the heart of the prophet’s message was that God’s redemptive plan was being fulfilled through His Son Jesus.

If you continue on in Isaiah 40 you will hear the Prophet say:

10...the Lord GOD comes with strength, and His power establishes His rule.

600 years before He came, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was identified as being the Lord God and that He would by His power would rule.

What does that mean? It means that Jesus came to be LORD! He possessed all the power, strength, and authority when He walked this earth, and yet He willingly laid it all down on the cross to redeem you and me! We should never confuse Jesus’ death with defeat. The cross is the greatest victory in all of human history!