A Call to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Do you remember the bullet points from an article by Dr. Vern Poythress, Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary, entitled 10 Things You Should Know about the Lordship of Christ?
1)Christ is Lord over all because He is God.
2)Christ is Lord over all because in His human nature He has accomplished perfect obedience, has won salvation for us, and has been given universal dominion as a reward.
3)Christ claims authority over both believers and unbelievers.
4)We are to obey Christ in all things.
5)We are to serve Christ all the time, in all of life, with all our heart.
6)The means of grace guide us and equip us to grow in serving Christ.
7)Serving Christ makes a pronounced difference in every area of life.
8)Because of Christ’s lordship over the world, we can sometimes learn and cooperate with unbelievers in short-term projects.
9)Christ gives distinctive authority and responsibilities to people in various spheres of life.
10)Through Christ, God establishes a pronounced distinction between the church and other institutions on earth.
Let’s focus on the fourth one:
We are to obey Christ in all things.
In antiquity, Lords, or sovereigns, or monarchs expected obedience from their subjects. We are citizens in the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we are also children of the King and Scripture teaches “children must obey their parents.”
Do you remember the old Sunday School song? “The Wise Man Built is House Upon the Rock.” (I know, some of you are singing it now and are even doing the hand motions!) The song is based on the parable Jesus told, recorded for us by Matthew (7:24-27).
In the story, there are two builders—a wise builder and a foolish builder. It seems they both have access to the same building materials. They both experience the same challenges—rain, flooding, and hurricane force winds. Jesus says both builders are like people who hear His words. But one house withstands the storm while the other house collapses.
What was the difference between the wise and the foolish builder? Remember, both build houses from the same materials, experience the same challenges, and even hear the word of the Lord. The difference is the wise builder—the contractor who built his house on the rock—not only heard the word of the Lord—he put God’s word into practice. He was obedient. The foolish contractor—who built his house on the sand—did not obey.
Brothers and sisters, we are building for our Lord as we follow Him wholeheartedly this year. We have the right materials, we will experience challenges, we have the Word of God to guide us—but we need to be obedient servants and children of our Lord and King.
May we look to Jesus as our example, who said,
The one who sent me is with me; he had not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him. (John 8:29)
1)Christ is Lord over all because He is God.
2)Christ is Lord over all because in His human nature He has accomplished perfect obedience, has won salvation for us, and has been given universal dominion as a reward.
3)Christ claims authority over both believers and unbelievers.
4)We are to obey Christ in all things.
5)We are to serve Christ all the time, in all of life, with all our heart.
6)The means of grace guide us and equip us to grow in serving Christ.
7)Serving Christ makes a pronounced difference in every area of life.
8)Because of Christ’s lordship over the world, we can sometimes learn and cooperate with unbelievers in short-term projects.
9)Christ gives distinctive authority and responsibilities to people in various spheres of life.
10)Through Christ, God establishes a pronounced distinction between the church and other institutions on earth.
Let’s focus on the fourth one:
We are to obey Christ in all things.
In antiquity, Lords, or sovereigns, or monarchs expected obedience from their subjects. We are citizens in the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we are also children of the King and Scripture teaches “children must obey their parents.”
Do you remember the old Sunday School song? “The Wise Man Built is House Upon the Rock.” (I know, some of you are singing it now and are even doing the hand motions!) The song is based on the parable Jesus told, recorded for us by Matthew (7:24-27).
In the story, there are two builders—a wise builder and a foolish builder. It seems they both have access to the same building materials. They both experience the same challenges—rain, flooding, and hurricane force winds. Jesus says both builders are like people who hear His words. But one house withstands the storm while the other house collapses.
What was the difference between the wise and the foolish builder? Remember, both build houses from the same materials, experience the same challenges, and even hear the word of the Lord. The difference is the wise builder—the contractor who built his house on the rock—not only heard the word of the Lord—he put God’s word into practice. He was obedient. The foolish contractor—who built his house on the sand—did not obey.
Brothers and sisters, we are building for our Lord as we follow Him wholeheartedly this year. We have the right materials, we will experience challenges, we have the Word of God to guide us—but we need to be obedient servants and children of our Lord and King.
May we look to Jesus as our example, who said,
The one who sent me is with me; he had not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him. (John 8:29)
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