The Lordship of Jesus Christ (2)

Sunday, 18 October 2020 05:19

The Lordship of Jesus Christ (2) - Taiwo Akinola

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I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send ....? Then said I, Here am I; send me ~ Isaiah 6:8.

Introduction:

In all our Christian pilgrimage and in all the privileges that are accorded us in Him, Jesus Christ is Lord. However, we must constantly ask ourselves these pertinent questions: what should the lordship of Jesus Christ mean to us, and what does it entail?

The subject of the Lordship of Jesus Christ truly entails much. It involves yielding your life to Him in absolute surrender, and allowing Him to be in total control of your life. When a Christian fails to acknowledge Christ’s lordship, he leaves behind ruined lives of mediocrity, irrelevance and grave dangers of God’s wrath (2 Corinthians 5:10-11).

Naturally, people without a lord to oversee them or a master to guide them are usually erratic, irresponsible and indistinct. For instance, my life was clueless until I surrendered it to Jesus Christ in a very vidid encounter with Him. Then, He blessed and changed me for ever. Alleluia!

The lordship of Jesus Christ should practically compel us to give Him the honour that’s due Him. He earned His Lordship, and He is eminently worthy of it. We are His Church, He is the Head, and we ought to find supreme delight and satisfaction in His headship. And, we must allow this truth to sweetly but effectually enforce that lordship over us. Indeed, the salvation of our souls and our walk with Christ begin by recognising and confessing that He is Lord (Rom.10:9-10).

Understanding His Complete Lordship

Each person on earth has an inner, unseen aspect of life, and an outer, visible and public life. Where Jesus Christ is truly Lord, He becomes Lord of the seen and the unseen, and He presides over the visible and the invisible, the private and the public aspects of our lives.

Notwithstanding that we often give more attention to the physical body, our true spiritual health is determined by the spirit and soul – not the body. The inner man is the seat of our mind, emotion and will, and it’s the sanctuary wherein we think, choose, decide, dream and plan.

The importance of our private lives must never be underestimated. It is in them that our outward lives find their clearest models, and it’s the real place where Jesus Christ is essentially enthroned as Lord.

Jesus Christ cannot be Lord of a part, He must be given control of the entire life. And, when Jesus Christ is thus enthroned as Lord over a life, He becomes the Compass, the Sole Ruler and the Master of such a life in all entirety. Only such lives that have surrendered their crowns and their possessions to Him can expect to be preserved blameless at His coming (1 Thessalonians 5:23). And, only such lives can sit with Christ on His throne to rule and reign!

Total Obedience and Kingdom Advancement

Obedience is the very essence of the subject of Christ’s lordship. We move forward in our spiritual growth in direct proportion to our obedience to the revealed truth of God’s Word. And, yes indeed, even the abundant Christian life does not come without a price; unreserved obedience to the demands of Christ’s lordship is a cost involved.

If Jesus Christ is your Lord indeed you will be ever willing and ready to match your deeds to His words, knowing full well that a definite activity of the will must be involved in recognizing His lordship.

God showed Peter, in a vision, a sheet which had all manner of four-footed animals, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, “Rise Peter, kill and eat.” But Peter answered, “Not so, Lord” (Acts 10:12-14).

Whereas we commend that he did this in consonance with the entrenched and prevalent holy traditions of the Jews at that time, yet it was a big absurdity to say ‘no’ to the Lord! Indeed, so big beyond the pale!!

A steward never dictates to his master. Similarly, saying ‘Not so, Lord’ was impertinent, contradictory and insolently rude! It is either you cross out the first two words, ‘not so’, and leave the word ‘Lord’; or else cross out the word ‘Lord’ and leave ‘not so’.

Fullness of joy and struggle-free living begin when we hand over the last constituency of our lives to Jesus Christ. And, when we acknowledge and obey Him implicitly as Lord, our lives become very relevant to the cause of advancing God’s kingdom on earth.

In 1 Kings chapters 17 and 18, we read of Elijah’s examples. Each time God spoke to him, he obeyed promptly and implicitly. Consequently, he was used powerfully in the advancement of God’s kingdom. Please note that, sometimes, delayed obedience carries the same effects and penalties of total disobedience.

Friend, consider your ways. If Christ doesn’t have all the keys to every room in your life, or if there’s still a room marked “private – keep away”, surrender all to Him, including the keys to the compartment of your career, job, time, plans, friends, leisure, life-partner, children, money and possessions.

The lordship of Jesus Christ also involves willing services, and a readiness to say, “Here am I Lord, send me”. These will certainly add speed to our gospel assignments on earth, whatsoever it is!

The lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives involves our willingness to go wherever He sends us, whenever He sends us, regardless of the cost. Friend, are you willing to say, “anywhere, Lord! anytime, Lord! any cost, Lord?”

In conclusion, truly embracing the Lordship of Jesus Christ calls for self mortification, and involves total and Christlike submission at all times (Jn.4:34; Rom.8:29). There should be no rivals to the thrones of our lives, they all must be occupied by the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Happy Sunday!

To be continued ...