We believe in Jesus Christ His Only Son our Lord. Every word in this sentence is meaningful.
His name was Jesus. This was a common name in the first century, like Bill or Fred or Jeff today. There were at least ten prominent contemporaries of Jesus who shared his name. We Christians believe in a real person named Jesus who walked the roads of Galilee and Judea, who sailed in ships, and who lived and worked and slept and ate like any other man.
He was the Christ. He was the annointed one, the Messiah. For centuries the Jewish people had waited for a special deliverer to come upon the scene. Jesus was the answer to all their prayers.
He was God's only son. Jesus enjoyed a special relationship with God the Father. And what is remarkable is that God the Father sent his only son Jesus into the world to give his life so that we could be forgiven of sin and experience a life beyond our wildest imagination.
He is our Lord. Back in those days all Roman citizens were required to come before the magistrates annually and declare that "Caesar is Lord." Faithful Christians refused and risked their lives because of their commitment that only "Jesus is Lord."
Is Jesus the ultimate authority in your life? Is he your Lord? What are the competing Lords for you? The Government? Your boss? Popular opinion? The culture? Your friends? The almighty dollar? Your spouse? Oprah? Some teacher or mentor?
What would it look like if Jesus was truly Lord of your life?
Check out Romans 10.9 and John 3.16.
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Anonymous (Andrea) said: I try to make Jesus the Lord of my life! This is not always easy, as I do feel that I get lost in the day to day relationships of my loved ones,co-workers, etc. What they express to me, often gets placed before Jesus. I do find that when I do not agree with them , or when I feel that their decision making about something is wrong, I then trun to Jesus for my re-assurance of my own Faith and belief system. If I put Jesus as my Lord everday of my life, with no other before him, I may be able to handle life situations much easier.
ReplyDeleteIs Jesus the ultimate authority in your life? I do try to let Him be, it's a struggle but I believe I'm doing things to make sure He is. What are the competing Lords...? Why myself,of course. I like to be in control, like things my way! I struggle with negativity about most everything especially within my thought process. It's so hard but little by little these attitudes are being chipped away and being filled with God. I want Jesus as my Lord, there's no doubt about that. I'm grateful He's forgiving and the best role model. What would it look like? - peace, gentleness, quiet, so much quiet and with that the ultimate joy! Amen.
ReplyDeleteWow - I think that if the Roman soldiers were waiting for me to declare Caesar my Lord, that's exactly what I'd do. Yes, chicken liver here. And that's my point... if Jesus is Lord of us totally, Lord of us - there should be no fear. If you look at all the awesome Christians that were martyred through-out history, - they had it: No Fear. Joan of Arc - no fear. Christians in the catacombs- no fear. How about more modern, the teenage girl that became a victim of the shootings at Colombine becuase she refused to denounce her faith (her name escapes me now, but the book about her is awesome - check it out at CBD!) Fear is the opposite of faith, yet I know I still battle fear daily. These people had it all figured out... me still struggling...
ReplyDeleteHow does one answer that question? That's like asking someone "What is it like to be in heaven?"
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