Lessons in Lordship Part 2
4 Words
Introduction: Last week we began our study on the Lordship of Christ by seeing that Jesus is God. Today we are going to continue our study by looking at what I believe are some crucial aspects to the understanding of Lordship. Last week as we were concluding our time of worship I gave you an assignment. It was the same assignment that I had given the students and the faculty at the school prior to beginning our lessons on Lordship. I asked you to consider this question:
If you only had 4 words left to speak in your lifetime, what would they be?
Since some of you may not have been here last week, I want you to take a moment and think about that question:
If you only had 4 words left to speak in your lifetime, what would they be?
Let me share with you just some broad reflections on what the faculty and students said in their final words:
Over half said something about love either for God or for others.
More than a quarter mentioned Jesus by name. Many asked for forgiveness or expressed regret about their life.
You may wonder why I gave this exercise, and because of the way we approach so many things in life, and you may wonder, "What is the right answer." I don’t know that there is a right answer to the question, but I do believe it leads to some spiritual issues that we all need to address and that is what we are going to focus on for the next couple of weeks.
When I was at the school for Spiritual Emphasis Week I had the chance to visit with a one of my former Church members. I told her that I was going to be speaking on Lordship at the school, and about I the assignment that I had given. She told me that she has already determined what her final words will be, and has put them on her headstone at the cemetery. On her stone are the following words:
"Only one life will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last."
She said that she got her adults kids together, picked up burgers at McDonald’s and then went out to the cemetery and had a party so that they could see what she had said. She told me, "I want my kids to know what I’m living for, I wanted them to see those word and see the dash after the day I was born and realize that when my life was over I want it to have all been for the Lord." She looked at me and said, "Pastor, it’s all about what you do with the dash."
I want to challenge you this morning with the idea that you and I need to be inscribing our final words right now. We need to be determining what we are going to do with the dash that God has given us. While we are still living we have a choice on what we want our lives to say, but I want to propose to you that there will come a time when our words will be chosen for us.
Turn with me to Philippians 2:9-11.
There are 4 simple words that I believe are the most powerful words ever spoken, and ever to be spoken. Interestingly there were two students who stated that these would be their last 4 words. These are words that one day everyone will speak. They may not be your last 4 words but I think they are going to be the first 4 words you speak after you die. What are they?
Jesus Christ is Lord!
Philippians 2:9-11
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
One way or the other, all people are going to have to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. Today we all have the opportunity to acknowledge that by choice, by willingly receiving His gift of grace and surrendering our lives to Him.
But not everyone is willing to do that, but that doesn’t change the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord! He isn’t Lord because I said so. He is Lord because He is whether I say so or not. And that is really the whole question that I want to challenge you with over the next couple of days. Not IS Jesus Christ the Lord, but IS Jesus Christ MY Lord.
People don’t like to talk about Lordship because of the implications that arise quite quickly when we consider what it means to both acknowledge and apply Jesus’ lordship to our lives. It is much easier to talk about Jesus as Savior than it is to consider Him as Lord. But I want to propose to you that you absolutely cannot separate the two though we as Christians today have done just that. I remember as a kid growing up in church hearing my Pastor’s offer an invitation that sounded something like this:
I know that many of you here today accepted Jesus as your Savior a long time ago, but today I want to invite you to make Him the Lord of your life.
I know they meant well, and that there is an element of truth behind what they were trying to say, but the fact is: If Jesus isn’t your Lord then He isn’t your Savior either! I want to spend the rest of our time this morning laying a foundation for our understanding of what it means to say: Jesus Christ is Lord.
Are ultimate goal is to focus in on the Lordship of Christ, but I want to first talk about His name: Jesus, and His title: Christ or Messiah. So let’s begin by seeing how the name ‘Jesus’ and Lordship are connected. Turn with me to Luke 1.
1. HIS NAME
The name JESUS means, "Yahweh saves." When the angel Gabriel appeared to both Mary and Joseph he told them that the child that would be born was to be named Jesus. Let’s look at those scriptures together:
Luke 1:26-33
26In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28And the angel came to her and said, "Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you." 29But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.
30Then the angel told her: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.
We get a glimpse into the Lordship of Jesus Christ right here in the announcement of His birth. To be lord means to rule over and Gabriel cleared said that JESUS was going to reign and that His reign was going to be forever that it would have no end. That means that tied right in with JESUS’ name is the fact that He will be LORD forever. Here’s an interesting thought Jesus’ LORDSHIP was announced before He was proclaimed to be the SAVIOR. To see the connection of the two let’s turn to Matthew 1 where we will find Gabriel’s announcement to Joseph:
Matthew 1:20-21
20But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins."
The angel told Joseph that the child that Mary would give birth to was God’s Son and that His name would reflect His mission--to bring salvation from sin. God would fulfill His promise to bring redemption, and at the heart of His promise was the prophecy of Emmanuel--God with us which was fulfilled in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of His Son.
The point I want you to see is that in the announcement of God’s gift of His Son both His Lordship and His mission as Savior are clearly proclaimed. To separate the two is simply not an option if we are going to be faithful to the Word.
2. HIS TITLE
Not only do we need to see God’s Son as JESUS, we also need to take a few minutes and explore the title of Christ or Messiah. The titles of CHRIST (which is a Greek word) or MESSIAH (which is Hebrew) both have the same meaning "Anointed one."
The Jews had longed for a redeemer-king who would sit upon the throne of David and restore the Kingdom of Israel. Their hope was centered more in a political deliverer and savior than in a spiritual one.
That doesn’t mean that there weren’t people who were looking for spiritual deliverance, but those who were seeking that were more likely to be what the New Testament called sinners, people who had been ostracized and made outcasts by the Religious elite. Is it any wonder that it was those same undesirables who most readily accepted Jesus’ message!
Let’s look at a few verses that show us that Jesus clearly declared that He was the Christ, the Messiah. Our first is in John 4 where we find Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman at a well. In His conversation with this foreigner Jesus cleared stated that He was the Messiah:
John 4:25-26
25The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). When He comes, He will explain everything to us." 26"I am He," Jesus told her, "the One speaking to you."
Notice that this outcast (she was a Samaritan, and not even a very good one at that) understood that God’s Messiah was going to come and that He would reveal God’s redemptive plan. Jesus flat out told her--I’m that guy. I am the Messiah. If there was ever any question about whether God’s salvation was for all people Jesus put that to rest right there!
Let’s fast forward to the last week of Jesus life. Turn to John 17. Jesus has just shared the Passover meal with His disciples and then left the Upper Room and gone to the Garden of Gethsemane to spend time in prayer before His arrest. Let’s look at just a few verses from Jesus’ prayer that night:
John 17:1-5
1Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said:
Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You, 2for You gave Him authority over all flesh; so He may give eternal life to all You have given Him. 3This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent: Jesus Christ.
4I have glorified You on the earth by completing the work You gave Me to do. 5Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with that glory I had with You before the world existed.
Some have said that the Apostle Paul was the first to begin using the combination of Jesus Christ as the name of God’s Son, but the fact is Jesus referred to Himself with that expression in His prayer the night He was betrayed. Jesus cleared identified Himself as the One sent--a reference to the promised deliverer or Messiah. Not only that but we also see Him describe His role as both Savior and Lord.
The fact is that it is His authority as Lord that gives Him both the power and the right to be the Savior, to give eternal life to those who believe.
I want to finish this morning by taking a quick look at Jesus’ trial before the High Priest. Turn with me to Mark 14.
Ultimately the truth cost Jesus His life. He had said to His disciples only a few hours before that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no one came to the Father expect through Him. For that statement to become reality Jesus would have to die and rise again. Now Jesus was standing trial before those who more than anyone should have recognized Him as fulfillment to God’s promise.
Mark 14:60-64
60Then the high priest stood up before them all and questioned Jesus, "Don’t You have an answer to what these men are testifying against You?" 61But He kept silent and did not answer anything. Again the high priest questioned Him, "Are You the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?" 62"I am," said Jesus, "and all of you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven."
63Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "Why do we still need witnesses? 64You have heard the blasphemy! What is your decision?" And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.
The Religious Leaders didn’t deserve and answer, but Jesus gave it to them. He stated clearly that He was in fact the Messiah, the Christ, God’s Anointed Redeemer-King. And they rejected Him and declared Him to be deserving of death.
One day those same Religious Leaders who rejected Him will kneel before Him and proclaim: Jesus Christ is Lord!
Conclusion: Today you and I are challenged with asking ourselves: Is Jesus truly the Lord of my life? Can I say it if I’m not really living it? It begins with an acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior--to humbly bow before Him and acknowledge that He alone can provide you with the assurance of a home in heaven when you die.
