Is Christ Jesus Your Lord?

(Overcomer Wu)

We Christians say the word 'Lord' quite often. Some people, in fact, pepper their prayers with 'Lord' at the beginning or after every phrase. Nothing is wrong with this, nor does it necessarily mean much unless He is indeed the Lord of our lives. Christians also like to declare 'Jesus is Lord!' This is a good practice; however, have you ever considered if the Lord Jesus Christ is in fact your Lord or is the phrase simply an empty slogan to you? And what does it mean to have Him as our Lord? Well in its purist sense, the word 'Lord' identifies Jesus as the absolute Master and Sovereign Ruler of our lives. Calling Jesus 'Lord' signifies our recognition of and submission to His sovereign rule. As our Sovereign, Jesus is the ultimate Head/Ruler/King/Sovereign One in our lives; there should be no part of us that He is not Lord over, and no part of our lives to which He does not have access. Plainly stated, Jesus be the captain of at the helm of our ship and He should have the master key to every room of our heart to do as He wish. If we are honest with ourselves, I'm afraid most of us fall short of this goal of our salvation.

Indeed, we are saved not only to have Christ Jesus as our Savior, but also as our Lord. In fact, Romans 10:9 is one of the common verses that we like to quote for people in our gospel preaching which says, "That if you confess with your mouth the LORD Jesus, and believe... you shall be saved."  The title of the Christ Jesus as Lord is repeated and emphasized again in verses 12-13. This strongly indicates  that for us to be saved in the first place requires that we first recognize and are willing to yield to Him as our Lord! Most Christians like to simply know Jesus Christ as their Savior, because for Him to be Lord of their lives would be highly intrusive and perhaps even offensive to some. How convenient it is to just be saved and live our lives the way we want without yielding to the lordship of Christ which implies, among other things, that we give Him absolute control over our lives and doing only what is in accordance with His will and desires.  How often do we live as though we recognize this fact? Or, a more appropriate question may be, how often do we not live as though we believe this?

Romans 14:9 tells us, "For Christ died and lived again for this, that He might be LORD both of the dead and the living." Are there parts of our lives that we try to reserve for our own and apart from God's sovereign control?  The Lord will not force His lordship on us. He can only knock on our doors and it is entirely up to us to open to Him every door or not. Hence, to the church in Laodicea, the Lord says, "I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in...." This is a verse spoken not to unbelievers as is often misquoted, but rather it is spoken to the believers. Without access to all the rooms and chambers in our hearts, the Lord cannot possibly make His home in all our hearts (Eph 3:17).  Not surprisingly, to those who are willing to open their entire heart to the Lord Jesus and let Him rule and reign within their hearts completely; their reward someday will be to sit with Him on His throne as the Lord promised to the overcomers in the church in Laodicea just one verse after the above quoted verse, v.21.

Furthermore, if Jesus isn't Lord of ALL, including you and me, then He cannot be "Head over ALL things to the Church” (Eph 1: 22). Thus, for God's purpose to be fulfilled in making Christ to be Head over ALL things to the Church, it is indispensable that we yield to the lordship and headship of Christ in our lives and that practically in our hearts. That means all the decisions that we make, all the actions that we take, and even all the thoughts that we entertain should be under His lordship. Eventually and inevitably, every knee, including God's enemies, shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord whether willingly or under duress as Philippians 2:10-11 assure us. Yet to those who willingly allowed Christ Jesus to be the Lord of their lives today before He returns in His 2nd coming, we shall not only share in the reward of Rev 3:21, but also be privileged to bring about the fulfillment of God's plan and God's purpose in making Christ Jesus the Lord of ALL in the universe, both the heavens and the earth! Jesus is Lord -- may this be our daily, moment by moment reality! Let me close with one of the wonderful stanzas in a hymn written by brother C.M. Noel pertaining to our topic:

In the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow,

Every tongue confessed Him King of glory now;

'Tis the Father's pleasure we should call Him LORD,

Who from the beginning was the Mighty Word.