A Call to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. All of us need to serve under the Lordship of the One who has called us to be faithful followers.
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 examine the eighth one:
Because of Christ’s lordship over the world, we can sometimes learn and cooperate with unbelievers in short-term projects.
Are you familiar with the doctrine of common grace? Common grace is the doctrine that teaches that God has bestowed his grace and kindness upon all humankind.
The psalmist wrote, “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.” (Psalm 145:9)
Jesus said God causes “his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45)
Now, please realize that common grace—God’s kindness to all—does not mean we believe in universalism—all people have a joyful eternal future with God. No, only saving grace guarantees that—God’s sovereign call to those whom he has chosen to be his children through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
But we do believe God can use unregenerate people to perform good deeds in our world. As Paul said to a group of non-believing Gentiles, they “do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law.” (Romans 2:14)
So, that brings us back to the eighth truth about the Lordship of Christ: Because of Christ’s lordship over the world, we can sometimes learn and cooperate with unbelievers in short-term projects.
Are you willing to work with others to help feed the hungry? Can you stand beside an unbeliever to hand out food? Would you participate in a 5K to raise funds for someone who is battling cancer? This is another way we might cooperate with unbelievers in a short-term project. We do this because we want to share the love of Christ. Unbelievers do this because of God’s common grace—wanting to demonstrate good deeds. We can work side by side and learn how to be more effective servants of our Lord.
And of course, when we cooperate with unbelievers for the common good, we also have the opportunity to share about God’s saving grace as we build those relationships.
Perhaps you have some stories of how you have been able to cooperate in common grace situations. We’d love to hear about them. I'd love to hear about it in the comment section below. May God give us many more opportunities, and may they lead to the occasion of sharing his saving grace.
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 examine the eighth one:
Because of Christ’s lordship over the world, we can sometimes learn and cooperate with unbelievers in short-term projects.
Are you familiar with the doctrine of common grace? Common grace is the doctrine that teaches that God has bestowed his grace and kindness upon all humankind.
The psalmist wrote, “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.” (Psalm 145:9)
Jesus said God causes “his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45)
Now, please realize that common grace—God’s kindness to all—does not mean we believe in universalism—all people have a joyful eternal future with God. No, only saving grace guarantees that—God’s sovereign call to those whom he has chosen to be his children through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
But we do believe God can use unregenerate people to perform good deeds in our world. As Paul said to a group of non-believing Gentiles, they “do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law.” (Romans 2:14)
So, that brings us back to the eighth truth about the Lordship of Christ: Because of Christ’s lordship over the world, we can sometimes learn and cooperate with unbelievers in short-term projects.
Are you willing to work with others to help feed the hungry? Can you stand beside an unbeliever to hand out food? Would you participate in a 5K to raise funds for someone who is battling cancer? This is another way we might cooperate with unbelievers in a short-term project. We do this because we want to share the love of Christ. Unbelievers do this because of God’s common grace—wanting to demonstrate good deeds. We can work side by side and learn how to be more effective servants of our Lord.
And of course, when we cooperate with unbelievers for the common good, we also have the opportunity to share about God’s saving grace as we build those relationships.
Perhaps you have some stories of how you have been able to cooperate in common grace situations. We’d love to hear about them. I'd love to hear about it in the comment section below. May God give us many more opportunities, and may they lead to the occasion of sharing his saving grace.
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