Title: The Lordship of Jesus Christ in our Personal Hearts
Bible Book: Philippians 2 : 5-11
Author: John Bisagno
Subject: Lordship; Living for Jesus; Jesus is Lord; Christian Living
Objective:
Introduction
Philippians 2:5-11
We focus on a baby in a manager. But Jesus, though He died on the cross, didn't just come to stand in a corner. He came to sit on a throne. He didn't just come to die here. He came to dictate here. He didn't come to take part. He came to take over. He didn't just come to board here. He came to be boss. He didn't just come to resident. He came to be president. He was and he will be. But now the only place the Kingdom of God is in the church and in our hearts.
I. Lordship is as Simple as Obedience
There are many preachers today that don't speak on Lordship because it is so involved. It's so heavy. It's so complex. Let's make it light and easy; just do what the man says. How many analogizes did Jesus use to compare the relationship to himself and his people to Lordship? He says I'm the King and you are the servants. I am the shepherd and you are the sheep. He's the captain and we're the soldiers. He's the master and we are the servants. What is consistent in all of those analogizes? It is obvious, that it is that somebody is in control and someone is subject to their control. He says to us, that as Lord of our lives. We need to understand very simply that He is in charge. Jesus Christ tells us no sometimes. Don't say that. Don't do this. Don't go in there. Don't make that decision. It's cut and dry (yes or no). We need to ask ourselves, what part of no do we don't understand. If he is Lord, he didn't come to just take part, He came to take over. Jesus Christ is never interested in being an escape goat to keep you out of hell. He came to rule in the world, church and personally in our lives. Lordship, strip away all of the theology and complexity, boils down to one thing. Just do what He says.
II. Jesus Christ has the Right to be Lord
There is a difference in what we have the right to do and what we deserve to do. In politics one would say to us that there are some men and women born Americans, US citizens who have the right to hold high office. But, who don't necessarily deserve to hold that office.
There is a difference. Jesus has both. Jesus has the right to be the Lord of our life. He has earned that right for many reasons. Jesus is not an ambassador from God. He is not a spokesman for God. He is not a representative of God nor is He a profit of God. No Muslim will profess that Mohammad was God. No Christian would deny that Jesus Christ was and is God.
One day Nicodemus came to him and they had a little discussion about salvation, lordship. Nicodemus began by saying to Jesus; "Pastor we know that you are a teacher come from God. Because no man can do these miracles that you are doing except that God be with him." Wrong! Nicodemus was not a teacher come from God. He was God come to teach.
Let's focus on the Deity of Jesus Christ. That in that manager was God wrapped in swaddling clothes. Swaddling clothes are grave clothes that you would wrap a dead body in, in the Holy Land. The marks of death were on him from his birth. He was God in the flesh. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. In the original Hebrew language that's a plural word and it literally says that in the beginning the Gods created the heaven and earth. Creation analogized that it was the Father's idea. He said he created all things of the Son's hand and then the Holy Spirit moved and then made the form out of what Jesus Christ had created. So you have; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all together in the work of creation. It did not start to happen at Christmas time. He is and has always been. In fact, the prolong to John begins by saying "when all things began the Word was already there; that is the mind of God made tangible in human form," capital "W" references Jesus Christ.
The prologue continues, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." Colossians 1:15 tells us that Jesus Christ is the Glue. He holds everything together. He is Truth. He is creator and sustainer of all things. When we say that Jesus has the right to be Lord of our lives in every decision. We are simply saying because he is God. He has the right to be God in the personal affairs and choices of our lives.
III. Jesus Christ Deserves to be Our Lord
Jesus has the right and has earned the right to and deserves to be the Lord of our life. Less than a block away from Calvary there is a bus station. It is said that it is the spot upon which Jeremiah the Prophet lived in a cave called Jeremiah's grotto. Jeremiah's grotto was where he did most of his writing. In Lamentations 1:12 he wrote; "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?" Did the Spirit of God look down 20 centuries later and stir His heart, knowing that from that very spot tens and hundreds of thousands every year would walk by and pay no attention to Calvary? He died, He humbled himself, and He made himself nothing! He became obedient to death, even death on the cross. Therefore, because of that, God exalted Him the highest place. If you've been to the cross and you have seen what happened and there is no "therefore" in your life. He deserves to be Lord of my life. Then you have never really been to the cross.
IV. The Alternative to Lordship is Devastating
You have two choices. You choose to make Him Lord or you do not choose to make Him Lord. There are no options. There is something about sin, rebellion about denying Christ control of our life and living by "I do as I please. Thank you." Attitude that comes from the hiss of the serpent inside, which somehow says: "I'll be different".
David thought he was the exception. He was king after all! He surveyed his domain and took what he would. And when he sinned the prophet came and said you are going to repay four-fold. You will reap what you sowed. When David's baby was eight days old he died. Now the first harvest was in the barn. David learned that his own brother had assaulted his daughter, Tamar. The second harvest was in the barn.
Then Absalom slew Amnon in rebellion in the third and finally Absalom, David's own son rebelled and tried to take the kingdom from him. David was the Old Testament figure of Jesus Christ. And yet, God has no favorites. Those who choose to live outside the Lordship of Jesus Christ pay a terrible consequence.
V. Lordship Is A Continuous Decision
We must make this over and over again.
It is in every moral decision we make. You don't make the decision for Lordship one time. That commitment is only as good as the next opportunity you have. Sanctification is not arriving at a state of holiness. Sanctification is the pursuit of holiness. It is not something that you would obtain in this life, it is something that you will never stop pursuing in this life. Sanctification is a process. It is a decision that is made over and over again. You have to continue to read the Word of God and pray every day and keep getting stronger as you go. The Lordship of Christ is not just an experience, it's a process. The decisions you make over and over.
VI. Lordship Can Become Habitual
You do the right thing long enough and eventually it will get down in your brain and soul and it will get a little bit easier.
VII. Lordship is the Consummate Test of Salvation
Lordship is the test of your salvation. Does not contribute to your salvation. Does not give you salvation. Does not add to your salvation. Lordship tests, verifies and validates your salvation.
Many people see the Apostle Paul as a champion fighting for salvation by grace through faith without works. That is true. And they see James as his opponent who argued with him and said that faith without works is death. Both are true. They are saying test your salvation.
There are two kinds of faith in the Bible, real faith and saving faith. The two books, James and John in the New Testament are written to say you can and must test your salvation. It is not the good works that contribute in any way to the finished work of grace. It is that which measures salvation, that tests and validates that your faith and salvationare real. Doing proves that salvation is real. There are two kinds of faith. If you do not continue in his word you are not His disciple. Lordship means obedience.
