August 9, 2015
Scripture:
Hymn 28 - O what a Saviour is Jesus the Lord
Prayer
Last time I talked we started a series called “Jesus is my…” This week, we will look at “Jesus is my Lord.”
What is a lord? Well, there was a time when certain people had the title “lord.” In Europe, about five hundred years ago, they had a manor system. A person who owned a large portion of land was called a “lord.” He would divide that land up into sections, and individuals would live on and be responsible for those sections. The manor would have its own blacksmith, miller, its own church, and other necessities. A manor was a whole community living together.
The man in authority over the manor was called a lord. He would sort out crime, and keep things in order. The people work for the lord. What ever the lord said, was done; they had to obey him.
Acts 10:36 - Peter was preaching. He said that, through God’s word, they knew that Jesus is the Lord of all.
Acts 2:36 - After the Spirit of God had come upon the disciples, Peter had talked to the people who were involved in crucifying Jesus. He told them that Jesus was Lord of all: He is the top man.
Philippians 2:5-11
Jesus endured the cross and is now highly exalted. On the resurrection morn, every tongue will confess Him as Lord.
In the gospel, owning Christ as Lord is part of salvation.
Roman 10:9, Darby translation
“Lord” is not just another title for Jesus; it’s a relationship we can have with Him. He is the Lord of our life. What is our response? We should obey and be subject to Him.
He is all-powerful and all-caring. He deserves our total honour, thanks, and praise; We can go to Him with our needs, and He will guide us. It is precious that we can say Jesus is my Lord, and know He has a plan for us.
So we have looked at “Jesus is my Saviour”, and “Jesus is my Lord.” May we give Him the rightful place as Lord in our lives!
Ephesians 2:18-22
Referring to God as “Father” isn’t something you find in the Old Testament. After the resurrection, Jesus declared that—through His work—we were brought into sonship with the Father. We have a family tie; are part of God’s household. That’s precious.
Before, we Gentiles were strangers; but then comes verse 19, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” We are all fellow citizens! First we are family, now we find that we all live in the same city: Heaven. Different citizenships have different cultures and customs; and what we find is that, originally, we were strangers to God, now we are strangers to earth. The leaders of the world today don’t look to the Bible for guidance; why would we want to have part with them? Philippians 3:20. Our citizenship is in heaven, and we haven’t been called to political action to make this world a better place. Our minds are to be on things above.
We have been made family, we have been made fellow citizens, and thirdly we have been made a building (verse 20). 1 Corinthians 3:9-10. We are part of God’s building, and Paul himself helped pour the foundation—the teaching of the apostles and prophets. It is now up to us to build soundly upon that foundation: not with wood, hay and stubble, but with the truth of God.
Peter tells us that we are living stones in this building, which is constructed by the Lord Himself, according to Matthew 16:18. In 1 Peter 2:5-6 we find that Jesus is the chief corner stone, besides the foundation and the cap stone, of this building. It won’t collapse!
Verse 21. The building is the body of Christ. It includes all Old Testament saints, all New Testament saints, and all those being added to Christ today. That is the building that is growing. The habitation, however, mentioned in verse 22, is on earth, and includes only saints that are currently living. It is God’s earthly presence, and changes as saints die, and as more get saved. As saints on earth, we are part both of the habitation of God, and of the building. Of course, these are all in Christ, and the Spirit works within us individuals as we interact with each other.
Hymn 226 — I once was a stranger to grace and to God
Prayer