The Lordship of Christ – Part 2 (Our Responsibilities to the Lordship of Christ)
Joshua 24:14-15 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
I. Reverent obedience.
1. God connects his protection (the benefit of Lordship) with obedience to his laws (the responsibility of Lordship).
LEV 25:18,19 " `Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. 19 Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety.
It’s too easy to understand and live the love of God, without understanding and living the Lordship of Christ. Yes, he loves us—but he demands obedience.
2. Religious formalities are not as important as simple obedience.
1 Samuel 15:22 But Samuel replied, "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
3. Jesus reiterates this point when someone tries to mystify his life—by exalting his mother.
LK 11:27, 28 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." 28 He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
4. The way of Christianity doesn’t mean that obedience is no longer required because of faith. Instead Paul reveals the obedience that comes from faith.
Romans 1:5 Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
5. Jesus points out the importance of obedience to his Lordship. It is foolish to claim to acknowledge Lordship without obedience.
Luke 6:46 "Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
6. Obedience doesn’t allow you to decide what you will and won’t obey. The Words of Christ are not suggestions or advice: they are commands! (Water Buffalo Theology)
John Kenneth Galbraith, in his autobiography, A Life in Our Times, illustrates the devotion of Emily Gloria Wilson, his family’s housekeeper:
It had been a wearying day, and I asked Emily to hold all telephone calls while I had a nap. Shortly thereafter the phone rang. Lyndon Johnson was calling from the White House.
"Get me Ken Galbraith. This is Lyndon Johnson."
"He is sleeping, Mr. President. He said not to disturb him."
"Well, wake him up. I want to talk to him."
"No, Mr. President. I work for him, not you. When I called the President back, he could scarcely control his pleasure. "Tell that woman I want her here in the White House."
John Kenneth Galbraith, A Life in Our Times, Houghton Mifflin, Reader’s Digest, December, 1981.
7. We must obey both the written Word of God and the commands of God through the Holy Spirit.
The president’s letters…
II. Service. In return for the benefits of Lordship, you must serve.
1. God has saved us and made us who we are for the purpose of service.
REV 5:10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."
Unamuno, the Spanish philosopher, tells about the Roman aqueduct at Segovia, in his native Spain. It was built in 109 A.D. For eighteen hundred years, it carried cool water from the mountains to the hot and thirsty city. Nearly sixty generations of men drank from its flow. Then came another generation, a recent one, who said, "This aqueduct is so great a marvel that it ought to be preserved for our children, as a museum piece. We shall relieve it of its centuries-long labor."
They did; they laid modern iron pipes. They gave the ancient bricks and mortar a reverent rest. And the aqueduct began to fall apart. The sun beating on the dry mortar caused it to crumble. The bricks and stone sagged and threatened to fall. What ages of service could not destroy idleness disintegrated.
Resource, Sept./ Oct., 1992, p. 4.
2. The way that we serve God is to serve his purposes—by serving the Kingdom—the people of God.
The sheep & the goats
3. Service is for everyone within the Kingdom.
Ephesians 4:12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
4. Our service (together with obedience) actually attracts others to the Gospel—thus building the Kingdom. Because it is a Kingdom of service.
2 Corinthians 9:13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.
5. Though service is universal—what type of way we serve within the Kingdom is different for each of us. But that doesn’t make anyone exempt from service.
1 Corinthians 12:5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
1 Peter 4:10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.
During World War II, England needed to increase its production of coal. Winston Churchill called together labor leaders to enlist their support. At the end of his presentation he asked them to picture in their minds a parade which he knew would be held in Picadilly Circus after the war.
First, he said, would come the sailors who had kept the vital sea lanes open. Then would come the soldiers who had come home from Dunkirk and then gone on to defeat Rommel in Africa. Then would come the pilots who had driven the Luftwaffe from the sky.
Last of all, he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in miner’s caps. Someone would cry from the crowd, ’And where were you during the critical days of our struggle?’ And from ten thousand throats would come the answer, ’We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal.’"
Not all the jobs in a church are prominent and glamorous. But it is often the people with their "facs to the coal" who help the church accomplish its mission.
