Who's The Boss?

WHO’S THE BOSS

Romans 14:7-12

INTRODUCTION:

1. If there is one subject that Christians need to hear about more than any other, it is this matter of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

2. ILL: Who’s the Boss? Last Christmas my wife and I went home to the Philadelphia – South Jersey area where I grew up, to visit with my family. The people in this part of the country have a very pronounced accent. They say “mawl,” “basketbawl,” and “how ya’ doin’”. As we shopped in the Deptford mall, we heard a man and his daughter having a rather amusing conversation. The daughter obviously did not want to obey her dad and was fussing about having to do so. The dad asked her the question, “Who’s da bowss?”

3. Who’s the boss in your life? Who is in control? Who is lord?

4. Many people talk about “making Jesus Lord.” The truth of the matter is, you can not make Jesus Lord, God has already beat you to it.

5. Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

6. The central message of the Bible is that “Jesus Christ is Lord.” The fact that He is Lord demands that we submit ourselves to Him. All of history is moving towards the moment when all of God’s creation will declare that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God.

7. The word “Lord” is kurios in the Greek. It is the equivalent of the Hebrew word Adonai, which means Lord and carries with it the idea of a master-servant relationship in which the servants only right is to do the will of his master. Interestingly, it does not denote a master-slave relationship, rather, specifically that of a master-servant. The difference is that a slave has his rights taken from him – he has no choice. However, a servant willingly gives up his rights out of a heart of love to serve his master.

8. It does not matter about your background or social standing, your riches or your poverty; Jesus Christ deserves to be Lord of your life.

9. ILL: Queen Victoria When Queen Victoria had just ascended to her throne she went, as is the custom of Royalty, to hear a rendering of Handel’s Messiah. She had been instructed as to her conduct by those who knew the custom, and was told that she must not rise when others stood at the singing of the Hallelujah Chorus. When the magnificent chorus was being sung and the singers were shouting “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!” she sat with great difficulty. It seemed as if she would rise in spite of the custom of kings and queens. Finally, when they came to the part of the chorus where with a shout they proclaim Him King of kings and Lord of lords, suddenly the young queen rose and stood with her head bowed in recognition of the One and Only true King and Lord – Jesus Christ!

10. THEREFORE, WE MUST SUBMIT TO THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST

WHY?

I. BECAUSE OF THE REALM OF HIS LORDSHIP V. 7-8

1. Romans 14:7-8

2. In verse 7 and verse 8 we are confronted with the fact that Christ is the Lord whether we live or whether we die. The point is that we are to submit to the Lord in everything.

3. The idea of Lordship is the fact that Jesus, on the basis of who He is and what He has done, has power and authority over every area of our lives.

4. First, He is the Lord of life V. 8

5. Notice the phrase, “we live unto the Lord…”

6. One of the greatest problems in Christianity today is irresponsible living. This is the result of our misunderstanding the doctrine of the grace of God. Seemingly, people think that the grace of God is a license to sin and live any way they want to live. This is called antinomianism, and Paul had an answer for this practice.

7. Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?”

8. The grace life is one that is lived under the absolute control of the Lord Jesus Christ.

9. Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

10. Christ must always come first in everything, for He is first.

11. Colossians 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”