Jesus is Lord.
Seeing the Whole Picture
It’s important to see the whole picture. We act and respond in accord to the picture we see. That means if we don’t see the whole picture, there’s a good chance we won’t act and respond correctly.
- The whole picture will help us better understand salvation.
- The whole picture will help us see and believe that it is a really good thing for Jesus to be our Lord.
- The whole picture will help us better understand the seriousness and urgency of the mission we have been given as followers of Jesus.
Commitment vs Surrender
Someone asked Josef Tson, a Romanian pastor, to tell them about his perspective on American Christianity. He said, “Well, in America, the key word is commitment.” He said, “The word commitment did not come into use in the United States until about the sixties. It was in the dictionary but not in full use. “But” he said, “over and over again in the churches in America today, you hear about the word commitment, commitment, commitment. Josef said, “I began to think about that. When a new word comes in, it generally pushes an old word out, so I began to think, ‘What word is commitment taking the place of?’” And he said, “As I read the Bible, I found out that the word that commitment has replaced is the word surrender.” He was asked, “Well, Josef, what is the difference between commitment and surrender?” He said, “When you make a commitment, you’re in control, but when you surrender, you’re no longer in control.” He said, “For example, you can commit to win souls, because you decide to do it. You can commit to study your Bible. You can commit to tithe. You can say, ‘I have decided to do this or that.’ But, he said, “Suppose a man puts a gun on you and says, ‘Stick ‘em up.’” He said, “You lift your hands this way, and you don’t commit to anything. You surrender. “Now”, he said, “Americans like to be in control. They like to make commitments, but the true word is surrender. He is Lord.”
Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
- This is a startling passage. It’s possible to say that Jesus is Lord and do religious things in His name and not be saved, not be following Jesus.
- One thing we learn is that Jesus being our Lord is more than lip service, it’s more than saying Lord, Lord.
Jesus is Lord.
- Lord means absolute master, the one who is the owner.
- This word was used for the owner of land or property. They owned the land and were the master of how that land got used.
- Jesus is referred to as Lord over 700 times in the New Testament.
- In Luke 6:46 Jesus asked a question. “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46 ESV) When you call someone Lord, you’re saying, you’re my master. And so Jesus is going, “Why are you guys calling me master? Every time I ask you to do something, you don’t do it. So why would you call me Lord and not do what I say?”
Two kingdoms.
We need to see that there are two kingdoms. The Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. In Matthew 12:26 Jesus said, “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?” Two verses later Jesus said, “If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” For just a couple minutes I want us to see the reality of the kingdom of Satan. We talk often, and we should, and we will talk much more of the kingdom of God. But too often we don’t recognize the whole picture and that there is this other kingdom. And if we don’t see the whole picture, I don’t see how we will act and respond correctly.
Kingdom of satan
“We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19 ESV) What an amazing role and status this statement gives to Satan! He holds the whole world in his power. Is this your view of the world? Not to be aware of it, not to be stunned by it, is to be very vulnerable to it. But what does it mean? Well, if the entire world lies in the power of the evil one, then the evil one is a ruler of this world, and this world is an evil place to live, and this time we live in is an evil time. This is what we read in other parts of the New Testament as well. Paul says that “who (Jesus) gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,” (Galatians 1:4 ESV) The age we live in is simply called “evil.” The world lies in the power of the “evil one” and so the age of this world is “evil.”
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—” (Ephesians 2:1-2 ESV) Satan is called the “prince of the power of the air.”
Listen to how Jesus addresses a Jewish crowd that did not believe in Him as Lord. “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44 ESV)
Helps us better understand salvation.
Salvation is a free gift from God. Saved by grace through faith. When we see the whole picture, we can start to understand that we have been saved from the rule and kingdom of Satan into the rule and Kingdom of God. Paul tells Christians (in Colossians) what happened to them when they were converted “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14 ESV)
We have been saved form Satan being our lord, our master, to Jesus being our Lord, our Master. The free gift we receive by grace is entrance into the Kingdom of God. We cannot earn our way into God’s Kingdom; we cannot do enough good to gain entrance into God’s Kingdom. There is only one way to get out of the kingdom of Satan into the Kingdom of God and that is through Jesus Christ.
When by faith we receive this gift of entrance into the Kingdom of God we have a new Lord a new Master. That’s why Jesus says, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46 ESV) We haven’t been saved from obedience. The free gift of salvation doesn’t eliminate having a Lord, a master. Our freedom in Jesus is not a freedom to live how we want. It’s freedom from slavery to sin, Satan, death, darkness. We are now slaves to God. “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:22-23 ESV)
It’s good that He is Lord.
Seeing the whole picture helps us see that it is really good that Jesus is or can be your Lord. Truth is, either Satan is your lord or Jesus is your Lord. So, it’s the simple question, “Who do you want ruling your life? Who do you want to get advice from? Who do you want to rely on when life gets tough? Which one do you want to put your hope and trust in?” (See chart below)
The mission.
The whole picture also helps us understand the seriousness and the urgency of the mission we have been given. This is a wartime mission. The church is on a mission to rescue people from the kingdom of Satan and by the Gospel of Jesus Christ bring them into the Kingdom of God.
Yes, Jesus has already defeated Satan, but the whole picture is that God is patient, and He is making time for more people to be rescued from the kingdom of darkness, and the church is how He has chosen to do that. If Jesus is your Lord, you are a citizen of Heaven but God’s plan to rescue as many people as possible from the domain of darkness is you and me. We are living in enemy territory with the mission of rescuing as many people as we can. The question is will we surrender to the lordship of Jesus?
Living Hope Ministries 