CHOOSING CHRIST AS LORD
COLOSSIANS 1:15-20
THE FIRST TWO CHOICES WE LOOKED AT ARE FOUNDATIONAL TO OUR SALVATION. WE HAVE TO CHOOSE TO ACCEPT GOD’S LOVE AND FORGIVENESS BEFORE WE CAN CHOOSE TO DO ANYTHING ELSE.
THE NEXT TWO CHOICES WE HAVE TO MAKE ARE EQUALLY FOUNDATIONAL AND ESSENTIAL, THESE THOUGH FOR YOUR MATURITY AS A CHRISTIAN. WE MUST CHOOSE TO ASK JESUS TO BE THE LORD OF OUR LIVES, AND WE MUST CHOOSE TO ACCEPT THE BIBLE IN ITS TOTALITY AS THE WORD OF GOD.
THE CONCEPT OF AUTHORITY HAS FALLEN ON BAD TIMES IN RECENT YEARS. OCCUPATIONS AND POSITIONS THAT NATURALLY DREW RESPECT NOW BRING DISILLUSIONMENT AND RIDICULE. IT IS THE VOICE OF AUTHORITY THOUGH THAT BRINGS STABILITY, AND MAKES ORDER OUT OF KAOS.
GODLY AUTHORITY IS A GREAT GIFT THAT GOD HAS GIVEN THE WORLD, IF WE ARE WILLING TO SUBMIT TO THAT AUTHORITY.
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN WE HARDLY NOTICE IT, AND TIMES WHEN WE REALLY DISLIKE IT, BUT WE WILL ALL SUBMIT TO THE AUTHORITY OF VARIOUS AUTHORITIES. THE QUESTION THEN FOR US IS: “ARE YOU CHOOSING TO SUBMIT TO THE AUTHORITY OF GOD? ARE YOU CHOOSING TO SUBMIT TO THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST?
IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT YOU WILL CHOOSE WHO YOU WILL SERVE. IT MEANS THAT THE CHOICE TO CHANGE WHO YOU WILL SERVE IS WITHIN YOUR GRASP.
REMEMBER THE WORDS OF JOSHUA.
JOSHUA 24:15: BUT IF SERVING THE LORD SEEMS UNDESIRABLE TO YOU, THEN CHOOSE FOR YOURSELVES THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE, WHETHER THE GODS YOUR ANCESTORS SERVED BEYOND THE EUPHRATES, OR THE GODS OF THE AMORITES, IN WHOSE LAND YOU ARE LIVING. BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSEHOLD, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.”
POINT ONE: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD
WHILE IT IS TRUE THAT WE CAN CHOOSE WHO WE WILL SERVE, ACCEPTING THE CONSEQUENCES AND REWARDS OF THAT DECISION, WE CANNOT IGNORE THE FACT THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD AND THAT ONE DAY WE WILL ALL BOW BEFORE HIM.
PHLIPPIANS 2:9-11:
THEREFORE GOD EXALTED HIM TO THE HIGHEST PLACE AND GAVE HIM THE NAME THAT IS ABOVE EVERY NAME, 10 THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH AND UNDER THE EARTH, 11 AND EVERY TONGUE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER.
FOR SOME IT WILL BE TOO LATE, BUT WE WILL ALL ACKNOWLEDGE THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST.
THE PASSAGES IN REVELATION SHOW JESUS IN ALL HIS GLORY AND POWER, AND OUR RESPONSE WILL BE THE RESPONSE OF JOHN IN CHAPTER 1, “WHEN I SAW HIM I FELL AT HIS FEET AS THOUGH DEAD.”
THESE PASSAGES ALLOW US TO SEE CHRIST IN HIS RESURRECTED GLORY AND SPLENDOUR. THIS IS A FACT THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED BY CHOICE. JESUS CHRIST IS LORD AND WILL FOREVER BE LORD. OUR CHOICE IS WHETHER OR NOT WE WILL SUBMIT TO HIS LORDSHIP.
POINT TWO: ARE YOU FOLLOWING THE RIGHT JESUS
MANY PEOPLE HAVE A MENTAL PICTURE WHO JESUS IS AND IN MANY CASES IT’S DISTORTED OR EXAGGERATED.
1. WE SEE JESUS AS OUR BUDDY: WE ARE ON COOL CASUAL TERMS. THIS IS NOT THE JESUS OF THE BIBLE. IF YOU CONSIDER THE RESPONSIVE READINGS AGAIN I BELIEVE THAT IF WE SAW THE JESUS JOHN SAW WE WOULD REACT IN THE SAME WAY, NOT WITH HIGH FIVES.
2. JESUS IS MY SAFETY NET OR MY GOOD LUCK CHARM: JESUS IS THERE WHEN I NEED HIM, AND AT NO OTHER TIMES WILL WE COMMUNICATE.
3. JESUS IS MY RELIGIOUS ARTIFACT: JESUS IS AT THE CHURCH AND I WILL GO THROUGH VARIOUS RITUALS THERE TO GET A WARM FUZZY FEELING, BUT WILL NOT HAVE CONTACT WITH JESUS DURING THE WEEK.
4. JESUS IS MY MEAL TICKET: THIS IS A FORM OF PROSPERITY GOSPEL THAT SAYS THAT JESUS WILL TAKE CARE OF ALL MY DESIRES. IT’S A FORM OF SERVING YOURSELF.
5. JESUS IS MY SOCIAL CONSCIENCE: JESUS IS MY MOTIVATION TOWARDS HORIZONTAL GOODNESS. WE HOWEVER DO NOT WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THE CROSS AND RESURRECTION, HEAVEN OR HELL.
THERE IS SOME TRUTH IN ALL THESE STATEMENTS, BUT IT IS DISTORTED AND REALLY A PLAN FOR YOU TO REMAIN IN CONTROL.
POINT THREE THE TEXT:
AS WE LOOK AT THE TEXT PAUL BRINGS US TO THE CONCLUSION THAT NO ONE OTHER THAN JESUS COULD BE LORD. CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING.
1. JESUS IS UNIQUE AS GOD:
V.15: THE SON IS THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD,
RICH LITTLE WAS A MASTER IMPERSONATOR AND I REALLY LOVED HIS COMEDY, BUT ONE FACT WAS ALWAYS CLEAR. HE WAS NOT THE REAL THING.
JESUS IS THE REAL LORD. HE IS UNPARALLELED, AND UNPRECEDENTED. HE STANDS IN THE SOLITUDE OF HIMSELF IN UNBREAKABLE SOLIDARITY WITHIN THE TRIUNE GOD.
V.15: THE FIRSTBORN OVER ALL CREATION.
THE WORD FOR IMAGE USED IN THIS VERSE IS IKON (EIKON). IT MEANS THAT JESUS IS THE EXACT REPLICA OF GOD. HE IS THE VISIBLE REPRESENTATION OF ETERNAL GOD. JESUS IS THE ONLY GOD WE’LL EVER SEE.
JOHN 1:14, 18:
THE WORD BECAME FLESH AND MADE HIS DWELLING AMONG US. WE HAVE SEEN HIS GLORY, THE GLORY OF HE ONE AND ONLY SON, WHO CAME FROM THE FATHER, FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH. NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN GOD, BUT THE ONE AND ONLY SON, WHO IS HIMSELF GOD AND F IS IN CLOSEST RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER, HAS MADE HIM KNOWN.
IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES, THE FIRSTBORN MALE RECEIVED HALF OF EVERYTHING, AND THE REST OF THE FAMILY WOULD SPLIT THE REST. THE CONCEPT BECAME SO ENGRAINED IN SOCIETY THAT “FIRSTBORN” EVENTUALLY CAME TO MEAN “UNIQUE IN RANK AND PRIVILEGE.”
PSALM 89:27: AND I WILL APPOINT HIM TO BE MY FIRSTBORN, THE MOST EXALTED OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH.
DAVID IS CALLED THE “FIRSTBORN” ALTHOUGH HE WAS THE EIGHTH AND YOUNGEST CHILD IN HIS FAMILY. HE WAS UNIQUE IN RAND AND PRIVILEGE.
IN COLOSSIANS 1:15 GOD IS CONFIRMING IN HIS WORD THAT JESUS IS LORD AND THE SECOND PERSON OF THE TRINITY.
2. JESUS CHRIST IS LORD: HE IS THE CREATOR:
COLOSSIANS 1:16: 16 FOR IN HIM ALL THINGS WERE CREATED: THINGS IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH, VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE, WHETHER THRONES OR POWERS OR RULERS OR AUTHORITIES; ALL THINGS HAVE BEEN CREATED THROUGH HIM AND FOR HIM
JESUS AS THE SECOND PRE-INCARNATE PERSON OF THE TRINITY, SPOKE THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE INTO EXISTENCE. AS GOD HE BREATHED LIFE INTO ADAM, AND THEN MADE EVE.
140 BILLION GALAXIES, EACH WITH BILLIONS OF STARS, EACH STAR REPRESENTING AN INNUMERABLE VARIETY OF SOLAR SYSTEMS. JESUS IS CREATOR OF IT ALL.
WHEN PAUL WROTE COLOSSIANS, JESUS LORDSHIP WAS BEING QUESTIONED. THE PEOPLE THOUGHT JESUS WAS A VERY GOOD ANGEL. WHEN PAUL SPEAKS ABOUT “WHETHER THRONES OR DOMINIONS, RULERS OR AUTHORITIES”, HE IS MAKING IT CLEAR THAT JESUS WAS FAR GREATER THAN AN ANGEL. IN FACT HE CREATED THE ANGELS.
3. JESUS IS LORD: HE IS THE SOURCE
COLOSSIANS 1:17: HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND IN HIM ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER
JESUS ALWAYS EXISTED. BEFORE THERE WAS TIME THERE WAS JESUS. THERE WAS NEVER A TIME WHEN THERE WAS NOT JESUS. IN JESUS’ POWER THE WHOLE UNIVERSE IS HELD TOGETHER.
NOW CONSIDER THIS. WE KNOW HOW MUCH DAMAGE HARVEY AND IRMA UNLEACHED IN THEIR PATHS. HOW MUCH MORE DAMAGE COULD HAVE BEEN DONE IF JESUS DID NOT HOLD BACK IT’S FULL FURY.
ONE DAY WE WILL SEE THAT FULL FURY AND JESUS WILL NOT WITHHOLD IT.
2 PETER 3:10-13:
BUT THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL COME LIKE A THIEF. THE HEAVENS WILL DISAPPEAR WITH A ROAR; THE ELEMENTS WILL BE DESTROYED BY FIRE, AND THE EARTH AND EVERYTHING DONE IN IT WILL BE LAID BARE. 11 SINCE EVERYTHING WILL BE DESTROYED IN THIS WAY, WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE OUGHT YOU TO BE? YOU OUGHT TO LIVE HOLY AND GODLY LIVES 12 AS YOU LOOK FORWARD TO THE DAY OF GOD AND SPEED ITS COMING. F THAT DAY WILL BRING ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF THE HEAVENS BY FIRE, AND THE ELEMENTS WILL MELT IN THE HEAT. 13 BUT IN KEEPING WITH HIS PROMISE WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH, WHERE RIGHTEOUSNESS DWELLS.
WE LIVE IN RELATIVE SAFETY BECAUSE OF THE SUSTAINING POWER OF THE SECOND PERSON OF THE TRINITY. HE WHO CALMED THE SEAS WITH HIS DISCIPLES IS HE WHO CREATED THEM.
4. JESUS IS LORD: HE IS THE HEAD
COLOSSIANS 1:18: AND HE IS THE HEAD OF THE BODY, THE CHURCH;
I THINK WE WOULD ALL AGREE THAT A BODY WITHOUT A HEAD HAS NO FUTURE. THE HEAD IS OUR CONTROL CENTER. CHRIST IS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH. HE IS THE FOCAL POINT.
5. CHRIST IS LORD: HE IS PRE-EMINENT
COLOSSIANS 1:18: SO THAT HE HIMSELF WILL COME TO HAVE FIRST PLACE IN EVERYTHING.
JESUS IS TO BE OUR TOTAL FOCUS OF LIFE AND WORSHIP.
HE IS TO HAVE FIRST PLACE IN OUR: CHURCH
FAMILY
HEARTS
WHERE A PERSON’S HEART IS, THERE HIS COMMITMENT AND DEDICATION WILL BE ALSO.
CONCLUSION:
THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST IN YOUR LIFE IS THE LITMUS TEST OF A TRULY TRANSFORMED HEART.
MATTHEW 7:21-23:
21 “NOT EVERYONE WHO SAYS TO ME, ‘LORD, LORD,’ WILL ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, BUT ONLY THE ONE WHO DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN. 22 MANY WILL SAY TO ME ON THAT DAY, ‘LORD, LORD, DID WE NOT PROPHESY IN YOUR NAME AND IN YOUR NAME DRIVE OUT DEMONS AND IN YOUR NAME PERFORM MANY MIRACLES?’ 23 THEN I WILL TELL THEM PLAINLY, ‘I NEVER KNEW YOU. AWAY FROM ME, YOU EVILDOERS!
THE QUESTION WE MUST ASK OURSELVES TODAY IS WHETHER JESUS IS LORD OF ALL OUR LIFE, OR JUST THE PARTS WE ALLOW HIM TO BE.
IS JESUS LORD OF YOUR: POCKETBOOK
WORK
TELEVISION
WHAT ABOUT WHAT WE PUT INTO OUR BODY, OR THE WORDS AND DEEDS THAT COME OUT OF IT?
THERE USED TO BE AN AUTO COMMERCIAL ON T.V. WHERE THE PERSON WOULD SAY “YOU CAN PAY ME NOW, OR PAY ME LATER.” WE CAN ACCEPT HIM AS SAVIOUR AND LORD NOW, OR STAND BEFORE HIM AS LORD AT THE JUDGMENT.
AT THE END OF THE DAY THE ULTIMATE TEST OF LORDSHIP IS NOT THE CHOICE OF DECIDING TO BELIEVE. MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE IN THEIR HEADS THAT THERE IS A GOD BUT HAVE NO RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
THE ULTIMATE TEST OF LORDSHIP IS YOUR CHOICE TO ALLOW YOUR WILL TO SUBMIT TO HIS, AT THAT POINT WHERE HE AND YOU DISAGREE ON WHAT TO CHOOSE.
HE IS LORD OF YOUR LIFE IF YOU CHOOSE HIS CHOICES ABOVE YOUR OWN. NOW THE ENCOURAGING PART OF THIS IS THAT AS YOU DRAW CLOSER TO THE LORD IN MATURITY, HIS DESIRES AND YOUR DESIRES WILL BE MUCH CLOSER, AND THERE WILL BE NO NEED TO CHOOSE.
THIS MORNING WILL YOU CHOOSE TO MAKE JESUS LORD OF ALL YOUR LIFE?
