HE IS LORD, BUT OF WHAT?

There is little doubt that all of those who claim to be a Christian, are aware that the Bible presents Jesus Christ as Lord.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of them are Christian in name only.  They have made a mental decision to commit to a church, and some of them even experience an emotional response to the preaching of the Word of God, but they have not become born again believers.  The reason is, the new birth is totally the work of God (Jn. 1:13; Phil. 1:6).  Man's mind can acknowledge the historical Jesus, and his heart can be moved by emotional preaching, but unless he is drawn to Jesus by the Father (Jn. 6:44), and experiences the miraculous metamorphosis of the new birth provide by the Holy Spirit (Jn. 3:3-8), he might just as well have "joined" any of the thousands of man-made religions.  Christianity is, itself, a religion.  Born again believers in Christ are not a part of a religion, but are in a relationship with God; we are His children (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5; 1 Jn. 3:2).

To call Jesus Lord, does not make one a born again believer.  Jesus clearly taught that calling Him Lord was not the same thing as relating to Him as a servant would to his master (Mt. 7:21-22; 25:11).  The Bible refers to the Lord in the Old Testament by calling Him the "LORD of hosts" nearly four hundred times.  The word "host" in the Hebrew צָבָא (tsaba'), and in the Greek στρατιά (stratia), meaning "a vast army of angels" (1 Kgs. 22:19; Lk. 2:8-15).

He is called the LORD of all the earth six times, and the LORD of heaven once (Josh. 3:11, 13; Ps. 97:5; Mic. 4:13; Zech. 4:15; 6:5; Dan. 5:23).  He is called "Lord of the Harvest" (Mt. 9:58); "Lord of the Sabaoth" (Rom. 9:29; Jam. 5:4), "Lord of Glory" (1 Cor. 2:8; Jam. 2:1), and "Lord of peace" (2 Thes. 3:16).  And finally, He is called "Lord of lords" five times (Deut. 10:17; Ps. 136:3; 1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 17:14; 19:16).

The ultimate question is, is Jesus your Lord?  Does He rule over your decisions, relationships, habits, conversations, and actions?  Do you ask yourself, "What Would Jesus Do?"  Do you reverence Him, and do you see yourself as His servant?  The answer to these questions can be seen in how you treat your fellow human beings!  As Lord, He declares we are to love others, and in so doing, we are, in turn, loving Him (Gal. 5:13-14). 

 

You can fool others; you can fool yourself; but you cannot fool the Lord God Almighty!